Think back… What did George Washington warn us about? You idiots! To stay out of European Conflicts!!

Think back…

• What did George Washington warn us about?

You idiots!

To stay out of European Conflicts!!

The Great War

Why did the U.S. get involved in a European war?

The U.S. was set to make a “killing”

• By 1917, the U.S. GNP was 20% higher than it was in 1913 (That means that we were producing a LOT more!)

• We would lend money to countries who would then use that money to buy stuff from us!

• We did most of our trading, though, with the Allies.

As profitable as war was, it posed some problems

• Under international law, countries at war could intercept and detain neutral ships, inspect them and confiscate contraband.

• In 1915-the British Navy began a blockade of Germany

• The Germans responded with their new weapon…Zie Unterseeboot!

The Germans warned that the waters around the British Isles were a war zone

• The Lusitania was a British ship that was sailing from NY to England.

• The Germans sunk it with a torpedo

• 128 Americans died

Should we go to war?

• The debate over involvement began to intensify

• Women’s groups, political and labor radicals were some of the people who opposed involvement.

• Who do you think favored intervention?

1916 Presidential Election

• Wilson wants to be re-elected and uses the slogan: HE KEPT US OUT OF WAR!!!– He wins the election with the vote from the

South and West-who wanted nothing to do with the war

• We stay out!

Germany appeared to be winning the war and decided to take a

• They sent a secret message to the Mexicans– Remember…the Mexicans were basically in the

middle of a revolution and Pancho Villa was still leading people in anti-American sentiment

THE ZIMMERMANN NOTE

April 1917-Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of

war!

“The world must be made safe for democracy”

We ended up declaring war on April 6, 1917

•Many people were opposed to war, they called it a

“Rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight”•Many people were excited to go “Over there”

Over ThereJohnnie, get your gun,

Get your gun, get your gun,Take it on the run,

On the run, on the run.Hear them calling, you and me,

Every son of liberty.Hurry right away,

No delay, go today,Make your daddy glad

To have had such a lad.Tell your sweetheart not to pine,

To be proud her boy's in line. (chorus sung twice)

Johnnie, get your gun,Get your gun, get your gun,

Johnnie show the HunWho's a son of a gun.

Hoist the flag and let her fly,Yankee Doodle do or die.

Pack your little kit,Show your grit, do your bit.

Yankee to the ranks,From the towns and the tanks.

Make your mother proud of you,And the old Red, White and Blue.

(chorus sung twice)

“Over There”

ChorusOver there, over there,

Send the word, send the word over there -

That the Yanks are coming,The Yanks are coming,

The drums rum-tummingEv'rywhere.

So prepare, say a pray'r,Send the word, send the word to

beware.We'll be over, we're coming over,

And we won't come back till it's overOver there.

Should we have gone to war?

“The world must be made safe for democracy.”

 “We shall fight for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in

their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, and to make the world itself at last free”Woodrow Wilson

Vs. 

“Let the capitalists do their own fighting.” 

“The capitalists tell us it is patriotic to fight for your country and shed your blood for the flag. Very Well! Let them set the example.

It is their country; they own it and therefore according to their logic it is their patriotic duty to the youth of the nation…”

Eugene Debs

• Upon entering the war, the French and British came over and asked to borrow money from us, so they could buy weapons/munitions, etc. from us

• Not much was expected from the American military other than money, supplies, and naval support.• We sent a small contingent of 14,500 men in June of 1917 led

by General John Pershing (the AEF)• He then advocated for a million men…and got them by

Spring of 1918…but only through strenuous efforts.• Conscription was enacted in 1917…by end of war 2 million

men crossed the Atlantic and 1.4 million saw combat

This was a Total War

• “Homefront” had to be mobilized

1. Propaganda

2. “War socialism”

3. Curtailment of Civil Liberties

Propaganda

• Committee on Public Information headed by George Creel– Propaganda

– 75,000 “4 Minute Men” gave impromptu speeches.– Movies such as “The Kaiser: Beast of Berlin”– Exhibitions of frightfulness committed by the Germans!– Posters, songs, no more hamburgers…“liberty

sandwiches”

“War Socialism”

– New agencies created to organize at home• Food Administration, Council of Nat. Defense, War

Industries Board (most important one-headed by Bernard Baruch-who became a virtual dictator over the economy…allocated raw materials, told manuf. what to produce, fix prices, build new plants, etc.). National War Labor Board setup to avert strikes.

Controlling the people (thought) was a top priority

• Sedition and Espionage Acts– Made it a crime to speak against war or “incite

insubordination” and then…for “saying, printing, or writing anything “disloyal, profane scurrilous, or abusive” about the American form of government, Constitution, army or navy.• More than 1,000 convictions! Debs… “I would rather be a free soul in

jail than a sycophant and a coward in the streets.” arrested and put in jail.

– Ran for pres in 1920 and received nearly a million votes!

– Schenck v. U.S. (1919) upheld these acts

A New Labor Force also changed the homefront

• Immigration ceased and 4 million men went into armed services.

• Women went into workforce• Great Migration began as Northern

businesses sent recruiting agents into deep South. 400,000 AA migrated northward

Great Migration by Jacob Lawrence

By 1930-# of AA in North TRIPLED that of 1910

“To die from frost is far more glorious than at the hands of a mob”-Chicago Defender

Racial Tensions increased in North

• Chicago Race riot in 1919

Racial feeling, which had been on a par with the weather during the day took fire shortly after 5 o’clock when white bathers at the Twenty-ninth street improvised beach saw a colored boy on a raft paddling into what they termed “white” territory. A snarl of protest went up from the whites and soon a volley of rocks and stones were sent in his direction. One rock, said to have been thrown by George Stauber of 2904 Cottage Grove avenue, struck the lad and he toppled into the water. Cop Refuses to Interfere. Colored men who were present attempted to go to his rescue, but they were kept back by the whites, it is said. Colored men and women, it is alleged, asked Policeman Dan Callahan of the Cottage Grove station to arrest Stauber, but he is said to have refused. Then, indignant at the conduct of the policeman, the Negroes set upon Stauber and commenced to pummel him. The whites came to his rescue and then the battle royal was on. Fists flew and rocks were hurled. Bathers from the colored Twenty-fifth street beach were attracted to the scene of the battling and aided their comrades in driving the whites into the water. Negroes Chase Policeman. Then they turned on Policeman Callahan and drove him down Twenty-ninth street. He ran into a drug store at Twenty-ninth street and Cottage Grove avenue and phoned the Cottage Grove avenue police station. Two wagon loads of cops rolled to the scene, and in a scuffle that ensued here Policeman John O’Brien and three blacks were shot. Reserves Called Out. In less than a half hour after the beach outbreak, Cottage Grove avenue and State street from Twenty-ninth south to Thirty-fifth were bubbling caldrons of action. When the situation had gotten beyond the control of the Cottage Grove police, Acting Chief of Police Alcock was notified. He immediately sent out a call to every station in the city to rush all available men to the black belt.

Chicago Tribune-28 July, 1919

For Women, intervention in WWI had more positive effects.

• Traditional support was there from women– Red cross, conservation organizations, army

nurse corps, organized war bond drives

• New opportunities arose– Dockworkers, railway crews, steel mills, etc.– “I’ll never work in nobody’s kitchen but my own any more.”– BUT, most returned to previous jobs after war– Overall, though, the movement for suffrage was greatly enhanced.

• As a direct result of WWI…the 19th Amendment was passed! Yippee!

• To what extent should a defeated wartime enemy be punished?

• Is harsh punishment practical?

• Worthwhile?

• Legitimate?

What do you do after the war?

What happens to the Central Powers?

The Paris Peace Conference Palace of Versailles

• the victorious nations meet to decide the fate of Europe

The Big Four: Britain’s Lloyd George, France’s Clemenceau, Italy’s Orlando, and President Woodrow Wilson all met to negotiate a peace treaty in France’s Hall of Mirrors, Versailles. Germany, nor any of the Central Powers were represented at the settlement talks.

President Wilson Has His Ideas for Peace

14 Points - the principles making up Wilson’s plan for world peace following WWI -> provided liberty & self-determination for all nations, even the enemies.

League of Nations (the 14th Point) - an association of nations established to promote international cooperation & peace.

Sounds like a great idea, right?

WRONG - Both Congress and the Allies reject Wilson’s plan for peace - not strict enough

The allies have their own ideas!

REVENGE!!!Britain & France wanted to make

Germany pay for the death, destruction, and hardship that they

had caused.

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles - treaty that ended World War I, expressed the selfish territorial aims of mainly Great Britain and France.

what the treaty called for . . .• established 9 new nations• gave France and Britain mandates

(temporary colonies)• demilitarized Germany• forced Germany to pay $33 billion in

reparations• forced Germany to sign a “war-guilt

clause” (stating that Germany was solely responsible for WWI)

Europe 1914

Europe 1919

What did the Treaty fail to take into consideration?

Ethnic Map of Europe 1918

Major Problems with the Treaty

• humiliated Germany (not only did they have to pay for the war, they had to accept the total blame for the war)

• upset Russia (they lost land)• created international instability (disputes

over territories, disputes over governments)

The Treaty of Versailles “sewed the seeds” for World War II. It created even more international unrest than before World War I!!!

Sacrifices That Proved In Vain• ruined farms, factories, and towns• destruction of commerce• political & social disorder• financial bankruptcy• four years of want & suffering• over 10 million dead• over 20 million wounded

*Yet nothing was accomplished, all of these sacrifices for nothing! But, why? Why did the meeting powers decide on the Treaty of Versailles? REVENGE!!!