America in World War I. America: Neutrality to War zWhen the war began in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the U.S. would remain neutral and not.

America in World War I

America: Neutrality to War

When the war began in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the U.S. would remain neutral and not support either side

Sinking of the Lusitania

May 1915 – Lusitania sunk by a German submarine

128 Americans among the 1200+ dead

U.S. was outraged, but not willing to go to war

Stalemate in Europe

The war was a stalemate by 1916

Neither side was capable of winning, yet hundreds of thousands were still dying in the trenches of the “Western Front”

Map of the Western Front:NW France and German border

The U.S. as Peacemaker?

Wilson tried to act as a mediator Wanted U.S. to be the

“peacemaker” for Europe Hoped to achieve a “peace

without victory”Efforts at a diplomatic solution

to end the war failed

War Means Good Business

Although the U.S. was neutral, American banks and companies were allowed to trade with the belligerents (nations currently at war)

Most of these goods and loans went to the Allies – Great Britain and France

American ships carried goods to EuropeThe U.S. economy boomed due to war

production

American Ships in DangerGerman U-boats targeted American cargo

ships1916 - Germany promised to stop

attacking neutral ships if U.S. would convince Great Britain to end its North Sea blockade of German ports

The British refused – WHY?

Closer to Entering the WarFeb 1917 –

Germany resumed “unrestricted submarine warfare”, sinking any ship that came near England or France

The U.S. broke off all relations with Germany

German U-boats began to sink American ships again

Fact: Few American lives were lost to German subs, but dozens of ships were sunk or damaged between 1914-1917

The “Zimmermann Note”Feb 1917 –

President Wilson was given the “Zimmermann Note” by the British

This intercepted telegram exposed a proposed anti-American alliance between Germany and Mexico

The “Zimmermann Note”

Wilson kept it secret for a month before it was leaked to the press – WHY?

Thought to be a fraud, its authenticity was confirmed by Germany in March when it was published

Wilson Asks for War

April 1917 – President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany

Wilson promised this would be a “war to end all wars” and would make the world “safe for democracy”

Senate: 82-6 for warHouse: 373-50 for

war

The U.S. Goes to War

April 6, 1917 – U.S. declared war on Germany and entered the Great War

U.S. is completely unprepared

Wilson immediately began working on plans for peace

Wartime Propaganda

George Creel headed the Committee on Public Information

Mission was to encourage support for the war by enlisting or buying “liberty bonds”

Songs, movies, news stories, posters, etc., used

General John J. PershingNicknamed “Black

Jack” since he had led African-American units as a young officer

Commanded the A.E.F. – “American Expeditionary Force”

Successfully kept US Army from being split up by Allied command

Most influential Army officer of the early 1900s

369th Infantry (NY)

The “Harlem Hellfighters” – NY National Guard unit

Fought in French Army since US Army would not allow black troops in combat at first

First unit to have black officersFirst US Army unit to enter Germany in Nov

1918

Eddie RickenbackerRace car driver

from OhioAmerica’s top

flying “ace”Scored 26 kills

in just 7 months of combat

Changed spelling of name so it wouldn’t be “too German”

Sgt. Alvin C. York

Religious “mountain man” from Tennessee

America’s most decorated soldier in WWI

Hero of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive – last major Allied attack of war

Sgt. Alvin C. YorkOctober 8, 1918Killed 28 German

soldiersTook 132 German

prisonersCaptured or

eliminated 35 machine guns

Earned highest awards for bravery from U.S., British, and French armies

Other Famous Americans of World War I

Walt Disney – Red Cross ambulance driver

Ernest Hemingway – ambulance driver

Harry Truman – artillery captain

American Soldiers in the Great War

4.3 million men mobilized for war

350,000 casualties (killed, missing and wounded)

8% casualty rate was the lowest of any nation involved in the fighting in Europe

Russia Quits the WarFeb 1917 – Czar

Nicholas II overthrown

Oct 1917 – Russian Communists (Bolsheviks) took over

Led by V.I. Lenin, the new Soviet Union (communist Russia) signed peace treaty with Central Powers and left the war

The entire Romanov family was executed in Summer of 1918 to prevent any return of the monarchy

The End of the “Great War”U.S. entry into war

made up for exit of Russia

Allied Powers finally pushed Germans back by Fall 1918

Armistice signed – Nov 11, 1918

1918-1919 – nations met in France to negotiate peace deal

Treaty of Versailles Talks held at

famous Versailles Palace

Woodrow Wilson represented U.S. personally

“Big Four” – leaders of Great Britain, France, Italy & U.S.

Germany and Soviet Union were excluded from all negotiations

The “Big Four” at

Versailles

Delegates crowded into Hall of Mirrors

Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”“Fourteen Points” – Wilson’s plan for

a lasting peace after WW1Main points: 1)Self-determination for all nations2)Freedom of the seas & free trade3)Prohibit secret alliances4)Reduce armaments (weapons) for

all nations5)Creation of new nation of Poland6)Return to pre-war boundaries for

most

Wilson’s League of NationsMost controversial

part of Fourteen Points was the League of Nations

League was to be an international assembly that would work to keep peace and respond to aggressive nations

A Harsh and Vengeful TreatyBritain and

France wanted to punish Germany for WW1

Terms were very harsh

Wilson’s great desire to get the League of Nations led him to agree to other terms he did not like

The Punishment for WW1 Treaty of Versailles:1) Took away Germany’s armed forces2) Took land from the Central Powers,

especially Germany and Austria-Hungary3) Demanded Germany pay war reparations

(debts) for France and Great Britain ($33 billion)

4) France, Belgium & Great Britain took Germany’s colonies across the globe

5) Created new nations: Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and split Austria-Hungary into separate nations

6) Established Wilson’s League of Nations

The Treaty at HomePublic support originally

in favor of TreatyOpposition grew to

U.S. involvement in League of Nations

Feared U.S. would become involved in conflicts around the world

Opposition led by Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (Mass.)

Defeat of the Treaty in U.S.Wilson campaigned to

get public support for Treaty

Suffered stroke in Pueblo, CO in Sept 1919

Wilson refused to compromise on the League

U.S. Senate never ratified the Treaty

U.S. never joined League of Nations