The First World War U.S. History - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The First World War

U.S. History

Chapter 11

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Section 1: World War I Begins

The four (4)

MAIN

causes of World War I were:

Militarism

the development of armed forces and using them as a tool of democracy.

By 1890 – Germany strongest. Building up a strong navy to compete with GB. Soon other nations joined in the naval race.

Alliance System

– Triple Entente –

Allies

– France, Britain, and Russia – organized to create a “balance of power” against the Triple Alliance -

Central Powers

– Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

provided a sense of security.

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Causes continued

Imperialism

building of empires by extending economic and political control over weaker nations

.

Nationalism

the devotion to the interests and the culture of one’s nation.

Germany

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An Assassination Leads to War

Balkan Peninsula – the “powder keg of Europe”

Ethnic rivalries

Europe’s leading nations had interests there

Russia – wanted access to Mediterranean Sea

Germany – wanted rail link to the Ottoman Empire

A-H controlled Bosnia, accused Serbia of exerting rule over Bosnia.

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June 28, 1914 –

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

– heir to Austrian throne – in Sarajevo (Bosnian capital). He and wife assassinated by

Gavrilo

Princip

,

a member of the Black Hand an organization that supported Serbian nationalism.

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A-H declared war on Serbia.

Russia had signed a treaty with Serbia to defend them against A-H. They begin to mobilize for war due to the secret treaty. Germany demands Russia demobilize. They did not.

Alliance system brought many nations into the war:

Aug. 1 Germany declared war on Russia.

Aug. 3 Germany declared war on France.

Germany invades Belgium (neutral).

Britain declares war on Germany (b/c of treaty with France) and A-H.

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The Fighting Starts

August 2, 1914 – Germany invades neutral Belgium.

Schlieffen Plan

– hold Russia while driving through Belgium toward Paris. Take France, and then concentrate

on Russia.

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Trinity of World War I

Trenches

Barbed wire

Machine gun

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Trenches

3 main kinds – front line, support, and reserves.

Wide enough for two people to pass and provided little shelter from the outside. Mud walls, muddy ledges to sit on. Look at picture on page 376.

“No Man’s Land”

– area between the trenches, filled with barbed wire.

Trench warfare

– armies fighting for just a few yards of ground.

Continued for 3 years.

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Trench Warfare

– type of fighting during World War I in which both sides dug trenches protected by mines and barbed wire

Trench Warfare

Cross-section of a front-line trench 

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British trench, France, July 1916 (during the Battle of the Somme)

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French soldiers firing over their own dead

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An aerial photograph of the opposing trenches and no-man's land in Artois, France, July 22, 1917. German trenches are at the right and bottom, British trenches are at the top left. The vertical line to the left of centre indicates the course of a pre-war road.

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Trench Rats

"The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself."

"I saw some rats running from under the dead men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat."

Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where they fell. These corpses, as well as the food scraps that littered the trenches, attracted rats.

Quotes from soldiers fighting in the trenches:

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Death Rate Increases

1

st

Battle of the Somme – July 1, 1916 – mid Nov. – British – 60,000 causalities first day alone with final total about 1.2 million

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Americans Question Neutrality

Wilson - “impartial in thought as well as deed.”

Proclamation of Neutrality on August 4, 1914.

Slide21

Divided Loyalty

Socialists – Germany and England trying to control markets.

Pacifists – war is evil, US - example of peace.

Naturalized immigrants – followed their homelands.

Ex. German-Americans strong sympathy for Germany. But many felt close to Britain b/c of heritage, language. Germany seen as the bully.

Slide22

Cause #1 – Economic Ties to Allies

US economic ties stronger with Allies – trade with Britain and France doubled that with Germany – 1914 - $800 million to GB and their Allies, $170 million to the Central Powers.

Also the most stable. Allies ordered a lot of war materials during first two years of war from American manufacturers, so much that we faced a labor shortage.

Slide23

The British Blockade

Britain blockaded German coast –

called

“Orders in Council”

– didn’t want weapons/war materials to get through –

expanded list of contraband to include foodstuff and fertilizer.

GB also blockaded neutral ports and mined the entire North Sea.

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Results:

American ships couldn’t reach Germany.

Germany could not import food and fertilizer – led to a famine in 1917 –

750,000 Germans starved to death.

Americans were upset at the blockade, but how the Germans responded made the US madder!!

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The European Conflict

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Cause #2 -

German U-boat Response

U-boats

(submarines)

- would target any ship in the waters around Britain, often without warning of the attack.

May 7, 1915 British passenger ship

Lusitania

sunk.

Of the 1,198 killed, 128 American passengers killed. Germans said the ship

contained ammunition.

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Turned American opinion against Germany.

Wilson protested sharply to Germany – demanded Germany respect neutral rights

– called Lusitania notes. But Wilson took no military action.

July 1915 –

Arabic

sunk – 2 Americans killed. Wilson protested again. Germany agreed not to sink any more passenger ships.

March 1916 – promise broken – French ship sunk – the

Sussex

– several Americans injured.

Slide29

US threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Germany if they didn’t stop

violating neutral rights.

Germany said they would stop the unrestricted submarine warfare IF the US would get GB to lift the blockade against food and fertilizer.

Slide30

The 1916 Election

Dem – Wilson – “He Kept Us Out of War.”

Also promised to continue to Progressive policies.

Rep – Charles Evans Hughes

Wilson won by a small margin.

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Preparedness Movement – supported our building up out national defenses – preparing for out involvement in the war.

Rearmament underway by summer of 1916.

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Cause #2 Continued

German’s Jan. 1917 – resumed unrestricted submarine warfare – would sink all ships in British waters, neutral or hostile.

Sinking of 4 unarmed merchant ships – 36 lives lost

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Cause # 3 – Zimmerman Note

Zimmerman note

– a telegram from Alfred Zimmerman,

the German foreign minister

to the German ambassador in Mexico.

It was intercepted by the British and decoded.

It proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico – offered help to recapture the “lost territories” of TX, NM, and AZ if Mexico were to join the war effort.

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America Acts

April 2, 1917 – War message Senate 82 – 6 for war. House 373 – 50.

4 reasons we went to war with the Allies:

German attacks on American shipping.

Economic investment in Allied cause.

Cultural links to the Allies.

Zimmerman Note

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America Joins the Ranks

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Section Two American Power Tips the Balance

America Mobilizes

Mobilizing for “total war.” Would require all areas – manpower, agricultural, industrial, transportation, and population resources.

Lot’s of questions - Who’s going to organize it? Run it? How pay for it?

US not prepared for war.

Slide39

Raising An Army

Before the war the US Army ranked 17

th

in the world – very small. Needed to create a whole new army.

Selective Service Act – required men 21 – 30 to register with the government.

24 million men had registered by end of 1918. 3 million were called up.

400,000 African-American - segregated units

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8-month training period – 6 months in U.S. and 2 months overseas - rarely happened.

Most were swept in to service with no training.

17-hour days – target practice, bayonet drill, kitchen duty, clean up duty.

Drilled with fake weapons - real ones were in short supply.

Slide41

Mass Production

US - find a way to transport men and

equipment across the ocean.

4 steps :

shipyard workers exempt from draft.

Shipbuilding standardized – parts make elsewhere and brought in to be assembled.

Government took over commercial and private ships and converted them for war use.

shipyard work – important

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America Turns the Tide

Convoy system

–destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups.

Depth charges and sound waves (sonar) to detect u-boats.

Allowed shipping losses to be cut in half.

This helped with the moral of BR and FR.

230-mile barrier of mines laid across the North Sea

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Fighting in Europe

Allies had been fighting for 2 ½ years – tired and demoralized, 70% casualties.

Americans - fresh and excited.

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American Expeditionary Force

(AEF) – 2 million men led by

General John J. Pershing

– arrived in Europe at the end of 1917 –

fought for 8 months until the armistice.

- called doughboys

Slide47

New Weapons

Machine Gun – 600 rounds per minute.

Tanks – steel, bullets bounced right off.

Used to “mow down” soldiers and barbed wire.

Airplane

British built a bomber force of 22,000 planes to attack German weapons factories and army bases.

Poison Gas – sickened, suffocated, burned, and blinded victims.

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The War Introduces

New Hazards

New weapons – bad injuries and hazards.

Dysentery, poison gas, lack of sleep, battle fatigue, “shell shock” – emotional collapse.

Trench foot –

led to amputation.

Trench mouth –

infection of the gums.

Slide50

Poison Gas Deaths: 1914-1918

Country

Non-Fatal

Deaths

Total

British Empire

180,597

8,109

188,706

France

182,000

8,000

190,000

United States

71,345

1,462

72,807

Italy

55,373

4,627

60,000

Russia

419,340

56,000

475,340

Germany

191,000

9,000

200,000

Austria-Hungary

97,000

3,000

100,000

Others

9,000

1,000

10.000

Total

1,205,655

91,198

1,296,853

Slide51

British

Vickers machine gun crew

, western front,

World War I

.

Slide52

American Troops Go on the Offensive

Russia pulled out of the war in 1917 (

Russian government overthrown, Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshivik Party take over).

Germany shifted concentration to France.

Moved to within 50 miles of Paris.

Slide53

The Collapse of Germany

11/3/18 – A-H surrendered to the Allies.

German sailors mutinied

Germany’s allies are deserting them

critical food shortages from British blockade

military blows

Germany fearful of an attack on their own soil.

11/11 at the 11

th

hour, Germany signed an

armistice

– a truce.

Slide54

The Final Toll

Deaths – 22 million

Wounded – 20 million

Refugees – 10 million

Cost - $338 billion

US – 48,000 men died, 62,000 men dying of diseases, 200,000 wounded.

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Section Three The War at Home

Women joined work force in large numbers – wages increased.

workforce grew from internal sources

–

women and African Americans, Mexicans, and White Southerners.

Slide57

Congress Gives Powers to Wilson

Newton Baker

- Secretary of War. Because WWI was such an immense conflict, the entire

economy

had to be refocused on the war effort.

The shift from producing

consumer

goods to producing

war supplies was too complicated and important a job for private industry to handle on its own, so

business and government collaborated in the effort. In this process, the power of government

was greatly expanded.

Slide58

Congress gave President Wilson direct control

over much of the

economy

, including the power to fix

prices

and to regulate – even to

nationalize

- certain war-related industries.

Slide59

War Industries Board

The main regulatory body was the

War Industries Board

(WIB) - 1917

Led by

Bernard Baruch.

Organized the nation’s economy.

Regulated war industry activities, developed new industries and sources of supply, controlled prices, and distributed and sold all war materials.

Mass-produce war materials, set production quotas

Under the WIB

industrial production

increased.

Price controls applied at the

wholesale

level, prices

soared

,

corporate

profits soared

Slide60

Labor:

'Women working in larger munitions factories were known as Canaries because they dealt with TNT which caused their skin to turn yellow. Around 400 women died from overexposure to TNT during World War One. Other hazards were more obvious and minor problems were common.'

From the biography of a '

Munitionette

', Miss Joan Williams

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Other Agencies

Railroad Administration – oversaw the railroads. Allowed goods to be shipped quickly to eastern ports so they could be sent overseas.

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Fuel Administration

– monitored

coal

supplies and rationed

gasoline

and heating oil.

Many people adapted

“gasless Sunday’s,” “lightless nights,”

invented Daylight Savings Time.

Slide63

War Economy

Wages rose – hourly wages rose by

20%

. A household’s income was largely undercut by rising

food

prices and

housing

costs.

By contrast,

stockholders

saw enormous profits.

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National War Labor Board

–

mediate labor disputes so that strikes could be avoided. Workers agreed not to strike and employers pledged not to engage in lockouts.

Slide65

Food Administration

–to

produce

and

conserve

food. Headed by

Herbert Hoover

.

Didn’t ration. Called on the public to conserve – “

meatless,” “Sweetless,” “wheatless,” “porkless,”

days.

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Homeowners planted “

victory gardens

”

As a result of these and similar efforts, American food

shipments to the Allies

tripled

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Restricted use of foodstuffs for the manufacturing of alcohol. Patriotic self-denial and the fact that most brewers were of German descent helped lead to the 18

th

Amendment – prohibited alcoholic drinks.

Slide69

Selling the War

2 major tasks –

raising money

and convincing the

people

to

support

the war.

Slide70

War Financing

$35.5

billion

1/3 raised through

taxes

and a high

excise

tax on tobacco, liquor, and luxury goods.

Rest through “

Liberty Loan

” and “

Victory bonds”The government sold these bonds through 10’s of thousands of volunteers - movie stars and “4 minute men.”

Slide71

The cartoonist has here an opportunity to show graphically just what the bond quota of his local community will purchase.

A $50 bond will buy:

14 rifle grenades.

160 first-aid packages to dress wounds.

Truck knives for an entire rifle company.

A $100 bond will:

Clothe a soldier.

Buy 5 rifles.

Feed a soldier for 8 months.

A $1,000 bond will buy:

An X-ray apparatus outfit.

Pistols for an entire company.

How Your Liberty Bond Will Fight

Slide72

$5,000 worth of bonds will buy:

1 Liberty truck.

7 Lewis machine guns.

$50,000 worth of bonds will:

Maintain a submarine for over a year.

Construct a base hospital with 500 beds.

$100,000 Will buy 5 fighting airplanes.

$1,000,000 worth of bonds will maintain a battleship for a year.

$1,800,000 worth of bonds will build one destroyer.

$28,000,000 worth of bonds will build one new battleship complete.

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· “

Four-Minute Men

” made speeches urging Americans to make sacrifices for the goals of freedom and democracy.

Slide76

Committee on Public Information

“It is not an army we must shape and train for war, it is a nation.”

To popularize the war, the government set up the nation’s first

propaganda

agency – the CPI. Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to influence people’s

thoughts

and

actions

.

Head of the CPI –

George Creel.

used pamphlets, posters, motion pictures, new stories, advertisements, pictures, and speakers, the reasons for American participation.

Slide77

Attacks on Civil Liberties Increases

The main targets of these attacks were Americans who had emigrated from other nations, especially those from

Germany

and

Austria-Hungary

. The most bitter attacks were directed against the nearly 2 million Americans who had been born in

Germany

or of German descent.

Many Americans with German names lost their jobs

. Some towns with German names changed them. People even resorted to violence against German Americans.

Slide78

No German music, German books removed from shelves, German foods renamed (hamburger called Salisbury steak, sauerkraut called liberty cabbage). Some Germans faced violence, like lynchings and tar/feathering.

Slide79

Espionage and Sedition Acts

In June 1917 Congress passed the

Espionage

Acts, and in May 1918 it passed the

Sedition

Acts. Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts a person could be

fined up to $10,000

and sentenced to

20

years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive

about the government or the war effort.Clearly violated the spirit of the First Amendment

Slide80

Their passage led to 2,000 prosecutions with over half resulting in convictions. Newspapers and magazines that opposed the war or criticized any of the Allies lost their

mailing privileges.

The Acts targeted

socialists

and

labor

leaders. Eugene V. Debs was handed a

10

year prison sentence for speaking out against the war and draft.

Turn to page 396.

Slide81

Schenck v. U.S. 1919

Charles Schenck – member of the

Socialist Party

who was against the draft - “deed against

humanity

” - convicted of

sedition

and sentenced to prison. Law violated

free speech

.

Supreme Court – said under

wartime conditions the words in leaflets were not protected by

free speech, especially when it posed a “clear and present danger” to the nation.

Slide82

The War Encourages Social Change

Wars often unleash powerful social forces – important changes transformed the lives of

African Americans

and

Women

.

Slide83

African Americans and the War

Black public opinion about the war was

divided

. On one side were people like W.E.B. DuBois who believed that blacks should

support

the war – the war would strengthen calls for

racial justice

.

Great Migration

– movement of a large number (over half a million) of

southern blacks to cities in the

North.

Why? 1. escaping racial discrimination

2. cotton fields ruined due to

boll weevils, droughts, and floods.

Slide84

In the North there were more job opportunities. Henry Ford opened his assembly line to black workers in 1914. WWI and the drop in

European

immigrants increased job opportunities for Af-Am.

However, racial

prejudice

against Af-Am also existed in the North.

Slide85

Women and the War

Women moved in to jobs that had been held

exclusively

by

men

. They became

railroad

workers, cooks, dockworkers, and

bricklayers

.19th

Amendment

Slide86

The Flu Epidemic

In the fall of 1918, the U.S. suffered a homefront crisis when an international flu epidemic affected about

¼

of the population. Effect –

mines

shut down, telephone service cut in half, and factories and offices staggered working hours to avoid

contagion

. Doctors did not know what to do. In the army, more than a

quarter

of the soldiers caught the disease. Historians believe that the influenza virus killed as many as 30 million people worldwide

Slide87

World War I came to a sudden end. After 4 years of slaughter and destruction, the time had come to forge a

peace

settlement. Americans hoped that this

“war to end all wars”

would do just that. Leaders of the victorious nations gathered at

Versailles

outside of

Paris

to work out the terms of

peace and President Wilson traveled to Europe to ensure it.

Slide88

Section Four Wilson Fights for Peace

Fourteen Points

– Wilson’s

peace

plan

Slide89

no

secret treaties

among nations.

Freedom of the seas

Tariffs and other economic barriers among nations removed to encourage free trade.

Nations should

reduce arms

“to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety thus lessening the possibility of military responses.”

Colonial policies should consider the interests of the colonial people.

through 13. boundary changes

Slide90

14.   

League of Nations

– an international organization that would address diplomatic crises – nations could discuss and settle grievances without resorting to war.

Slide91

Wilson decided to lead the American delegation at the peace convention. This infuriated the Republicans who had regained control of Congress. They were also mad that he did not include a Republican Senator to take with him, mainly Henry Cabot Lodge (who despised Wilson anyway).

Wilson left on Dec. 4, 1918 – first President to cross the Atlantic while in office.

Slide92

The “Big Four”

Each leader had their own goal for the peace talks

French –

Georges Clemenceau

–make sure FR not attacked anymore.

Britain–

David Lloyd George

–make Germany pay.Italy – Vittorio Orlando – wanted control of the Austrian-held territory.

US – Wilson – world peace through the League of Nations.

Slide93

Central Powers were not at the peace conference – something Germany would hold against them.

Russia not there – now communist (USSR).

Slide94

Debating the Treaty of Versailles

Provisions

9 new nations including

Poland

, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. Shifted boundaries of other nations.

5 areas carved out of the Ottoman Empire -given to GB and FR as

temporary colonies

Germany – no

army

, had to pay

reparations

– war damages – of $33 billion to the Allies.

Slide95

The Treaty’s Weaknesses

Germany’s treatment under the Treaty would eventually lead to WWII. Why?

1. Germany humiliated –

war-guilt clause

– had to admit sole responsibility.

2. Germany’s lack of ability to

pay the reparations

– lost colonies needed to raise money to pay bill.

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3. Russia, now the USSR, lost more territory

than Germany and after the Treaty signed became determined to get it all back.

4. Claims for self-determination were ignored.

Slide98

Opposition to the Treaty

Wilson faced strong opposition to the Treaty when he returned home.

Many believed it was too harsh. Why?

1. Economic consequences could hurt the US.

2. Simply an exchange of colonial rulers. 3. Many groups were not under their own rule.

Slide99

Foreign policy of isolationism League –

would drag the country into European conflicts

!!

Henry Cabot Lodge

–

main opposition

Slide100

Wilson didn’t want to compromise.

Wilson - speaking tour

Treaty voted down twice

US

never joins

the League of Nations

Slide101

The Legacy of the War

America - “

return to normalcy

”

US government and US military gained power.

Social change for

African Americans

and

women

.

Europe – social and political systems damaged due to war destruction and loss of life.First communist state established in Russia, militant fascist governments moving into Italy, Spain, and Germany.

In US, WWI called the “WAR TO END ALL WARS!”