WWI Reviewed

WWI

1914-1919

Mrs. Miller/U.S. History

U.S. Entry into WWI

-Violations of U.S. Neutrality

Examples: Lusitania, Sussex sinking

-Zimmerman Note

British intercept a German proposal to Mexico for a joint alliance. If Mexico would attack
U.S., they would be allowed to recover lost territory.

-Spring of 1917, Germany returns to Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

-April 1917, Wilson Congress to declare war against Germany.

Key Factors

1.

German attacks on American shipping

2.

Zimmerman Telegram proposing Germany alliance with Mexico

3.

U.S. economic investment in allies

4.

Wilson’s desire to be involved in post-war settlement

MOBILIZING FOR WAR

U.S. not prepared for war

-Selective Service Act: organizes a draft for soldiers to
fight in the war-American Expeditionary Force headed by
General Pershing.

Total War Effort: all aspects of the country mobilizes for
the war effort.

-War was financed by War Bondsand income taxes from the
16th amendment.

FEDERAL AGENCIES

NATIONAL WAR LABOR BOARD= help mediate labor disputes and
prevent strikes. (AFL supported war/ IWW opposed)

WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD= set production priorities for war

US FOOD ADMINISTRATION= headed by Herbert Hoover, encouraged
Americans to conserve food for the war effort

WWI boosted support for 18th amendment: 1. Conserve
resources, 2. Also due to Anti-German sentiment in the U.S.

Silencing Dissent

COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION= headed by George Creel:
Promote the U.S. war effort with propaganda

ESPIONAGE ACT (1917)= prohibited interference with the draft
or war effort

SEDITION ACT (1918)= banned anybody from criticizing the
government

-Anti-German sentiment increases and Nativists attack all
things German (“The Huns”)

SCHENCK v. U.S. (1919)

-Charles Schenck was arrested under the Espionage Act for
mailing leaflets to men eligible for the draft.

-The Supreme Court supports the argument that freedom of
speech could be restricted

- CONGRESS HAS THE POWER TO RESTRAIN SPEECH IF IT POSED A
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.

NATIONAL SECURITY > CIVIL LIBERTIES

SOCIAL IMPACT ON THE HOMEFRONT

*GREAT MIGRATION: STARTING IN 1910, LARGE MIGRATION OF
AFRICAN AMERICANS TO NORTHERN CITIES (escape Jim Crow, WWI
presented job opportunities in Northern factories when white
men were drafted for war)

*Nearly 400,000 African Americans served in segregated units

*Race riots break out in many cities in 1919

*Women play a role in wartime factories

*Sacrifices of women on homefront in WWI leads to ⅔ majority supporting 19th
amendment.

WILSON’S 14 POINTS

-What? Wilson’s proposal for the Post-War world

-Goal: Preventing another World War

-How?

*Guaranteed freedom of the seas *Eliminate economic trade
barriers *Military reduction (demilitarization) *No more
colonies (self-determination:self-govt, no colonization) *No
more secret treaties *Called for formation of a League of
Nations to help prevent another world war

BIG FOUR

David Lloyd George of Great Britain

Vittorio Orlando of Italy

George Clemenceau of France

Woodrow Wilson of U.S.

-several conflicting interests represented at this peace
conference

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

*Much of Wilson’s 14 point proposal is rejected by the
allied powers

*Wilson did get the League of Nations included.

* Wilson has to get it approved by the Republican controlled
Congress

*Republicans hated the idea of the United States joining the
League of Nations (Henry Cabot Lodge leads the opposition to
this treaty)

BATTLE OVER THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

-U.S. HAS THE TRADITION OF BEING ISOLATIONISTS (George
Washington warned about permanent foreign alliances)

-Opposition over Article X (Nations would pledge to help
other nations out) *Fear the League would force the U.S. to
deal with foreign issues around the world

-Desire amongst many to be isolationist following WWI

***CONGRESS REJECTS THE TREATY*** Many mark the U.S.
rejection of the League of Nations as a withdrawal of the US
from international affairs in the 1920s.

Wake of WWI

*In the wake of World War I, leaders in the international community sought to
prevent the possibility of another war. Rising Japanese militarism and an
international arms race heightened these concerns.

*Between 1921 and 1922, the world’s largest naval powers gathered in
Washington, D.C. for a conference to discuss naval disarmament and ways to
relieve growing tensions in East Asia

*In 1921, U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes invited 9 nations to
Washington, D.C. to discuss naval reductions and the situation in the Far
East. The United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy were invited to take part in
talks on reducing naval capacity, while Belgium, China, Portugal, and the
Netherlands were invited to join in discussions on the situation in the Far
East. 3 major treaties emerged out of the Washington Naval Conference: the
Five-Power Treaty, the Four-Power Treaty, and the Nine-Power Treaty.

FIVE-POWER TREATY

The Five-Power Treaty, signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan,
France and Italy was the cornerstone of the naval disarmament program.

GOAL WAS: to maintain a set ratio of warship tonnage which allowed the United
States and the United Kingdom 500,000 tons, Japan 300,000 tons, and France and
Italy each 175,000 tons.

-Since the United States and the United Kingdom maintained navies in both the
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to support their colonial territories, the
Five-Power Treaty allotted both countries the highest tonnage allowances. The
treaty also called on all five nations to stop building capital ships and
reduce the size of their navies by scrapping older ships.

FIVE POWER TREATY, CONT.

Though the treaty was widely regarded as a success, the inclusion of Article
XIX, which recognized the status quo of U.S., British, and Japanese bases in
the Pacific but outlawed their expansion, created a controversy amongst U.S.
policymakers.

Many members of the U.S. Navy in particular worried that limiting the
expansion of fortifications in the Pacific would endanger U.S. holdings in
Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines.

Additionally, although the Five-Power Treaty controlled tonnage of each navy’s
warships, some classes of ships were left unrestricted.

As a result, a new race to build cruiser ships emerged after 1922, leading the
five nations to return to the negotiating table in 1927 and 1930 in an effort
to close the remaining loopholes in the Treaty.

FOUR-POWER TREATY

*United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan agreed to consult with
each other in the event of a future crisis in East Asia before taking action.

*This treaty replaced the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902, which had been a
source of some concern for the U.S.

*Following World War I, U.S. policymakers saw Japan as the greatest rising
military threat. Heavily militarized and looking to expand its influence and
territory, Japan had the potential to threaten U.S. colonial possessions in
Asia and the profitable China trade.

FOUR-POWER TREATY, CONT.

*Because of the 1902 agreement between the United Kingdom and Japan, however,
if the United States and Japan entered into a conflict, the United Kingdom
might be obligated to join Japan against the United States.

*By ending that treaty and creating a Four-Power agreement, the countries
involved ensured that none would be obligated to engage in a conflict, but a
mechanism would exist for discussions if one emerged.

NINE-POWER TREATY

*The final multilateral agreement made at the Washington Naval Conference, the
Nine-Power Treaty, marked the internationalization of the U.S. Open Door
Policy in China

*The treaty promised that the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan,
France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and China—would respect the
territorial integrity of China.

*The treaty recognized Japanese dominance in Manchuria but otherwise affirmed
the importance of equal opportunity for all nations doing business in the
country. For its part, China agreed not to discriminate against any country
seeking to do business there.

nine -power treaty, cont

*Like the Four-Power Treaty, this treaty on China called for further
consultations amongst the nations in the event of a violation. As a result, it
lacked a method of enforcement to ensure that all powers abided by its terms.

*Together, the treaties signed at the Washington Naval Conference served to
uphold the status quo in the Pacific: they recognized existing interests and
did not make fundamental changes to them.

*At the same time, the United States secured agreements that reinforced its
existing policy in the Pacific, including the Open Door Policy in China and
the protection of the Philippines, while limiting the scope of Japanese
imperial expansion as much as possible.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement to outlaw war signed on August 27,
1928. Sometimes called the Pact of Paris for the city in which it was signed,
the pact was one of many international efforts to prevent another World War,
but it had little effect in stopping the rising militarism of the 1930s or
preventing World War II.

On August 27, 1928, fifteen nations signed the pact at Paris. Nations included
France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, India, Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy
and Japan.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928

Later, an additional forty-seven nations followed, so the pact was eventually
signed by most of the established nations in the world. The U.S. Senate
ratified the agreement 85–1, though it did so only after making reservations
to note that U.S. participation did not limit its right to self-defense or
require it to act against signatories breaking the agreement.

In the end, the Kellogg-Briand Pact did little to prevent World War II or any
of the conflicts that followed. Its legacy remains as a statement of the
idealism expressed by advocates for peace in the interwar period. Frank
Kellogg earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 for his work on the Peace Pact.