Four underlying causes
Nationalism-extreme patriotism among ethnic groups and nations
Imperialism-intense competition between Britain, France, Germany, and
Russia to build empires-each feared the others were getting too powerful
System of Alliances-by 1914 two major alliances had developed
Triple Entente
France, Britain, and Russia
Triple Alliance
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
Russia had a treaty with Serbia
Militarism-all of the nations were involved in an arms race
Archduke Ferdinand assassinated
Austrian
June 1914
Killed by a Serbian
System of alliances kicked in
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
Russia declared war on Austria
Germany declared war on Russia and then France
Great Britain declared war on Germany
American neutrality
For most of the war
Bryan and Debs opposed war
Schlieffen Plan
Trench warfare
Stalemate
New weapons
Big Bertha
Poison gas
British blockade
Contraband
Widening definition
Neutral ships
Negative American reaction
German U-Boats
Lusitania
1915
2000 people killed including 128 Americans
Sussex Pledge
French ship the Sussex was sunk
U.S. threatened to break off relations with Germany
Germany pledged to stop unrestricted submarine warfare if U.S. would
convince Britain to lift food blockade
U.S. refused
Unrestricted submarine warfare continued
U.S. prepared for war
Election of 1916
Wilson
Charles Evans Hughes-Republican
Peace and Progressivism
Very close Wilson victory
Alliances changed names
Italy left Triple Alliance and joined Triple Entente which became the
Allies
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey formed the Central Powers
Wilson pushed for peace without victory
Factors that led to American involvement
Resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare
Zimmermann Note
Proposed a German Mexican alliance against the U.S.
Four ships sunk
Russian Revolution
Now democracies against brutal monarchies
Strong economic ties with The Allies
Wilson's War Message
April 1917
Congress declared war
U.S. mobilized for war
Selective Service Act
Registration for all men between 21 and 30
10 million registered by June 5
About 4.2 million inducted
About 2 million reached Europe, 3/4 of whom saw combat
Blacks served extensively but were segregated
Productivity increased
War Bonds
Powers of federal government increased
Congress gave Wilson the power to fix prices, regulate and even
nationalize industries
Americans asked to sacrifice for war effort
Civil liberties suffered
German Americans discriminated against
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Could be fined $10,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years for interfering
with the draft, obstructing the sale of bonds, or saying anything
disloyal, profane or abusive about the government or the war effort
Led to some 6000 arrests and 1500 convictions
Debs sentenced to 10 years for opposing the war(pardoned by Harding
after 3)
U.S. Congressman was denied his seat for opposing the war
Americans had immediate effect
Air combat
Another revolution in Russia
Democratic government overthrown by Lenin and the Bolsheviks
Russia made peace with Germany in March 1918
Superior power of Allies had become evident by September 1918
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated in November
Germany signed an armistice two days later
When U.S. entered the war it was like a crusade
Make the world safe for democracy
War to end all wars
Fourteen Points
Proposed to Congress while war was still going on
Rules for lasting peace
Divided into three groups
Causes of war
Open diplomacy; no secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
No tariffs or other economic barriers between nations
Arms reduction to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety
Colonial policies that take colonial interests into account
Self determination
Eight points
Right of ethnic groups to determine which nation they wanted to be
apart of
League of Nations
Final point
Body to keep world peace
Member nations would be bound to protect nations that were attacked
Treaty of Versailles
Big Four
Wilson
Georges Clemenceau-France
David Lloyd George-Britain
Vittorio Orlando-Italy
Wilson gave in on most of the fourteen points in order to get the League
of Nations
Signed June 1919
Results
Nine new nations emerged
Boundaries of other nations shifted
Some areas that were a part of the old Ottoman Empire were made
mandates(temporary colony until the area was ready for self rule and then
independence)of Britain and France
Iraq
Syria
Lebanon
Palestine(Israel and Jordan)
Former German colonies became mandates
German army drastically reduced
Germany must pay reparations $32 billion
Weaknesses
Too harsh on Germany
Reparations
War Guilt Clause
Germany had to say that it was solely responsible for WWI
This made German opposition to the treaty universal which was one
reason for the rise of Hitler in 1933
When Austria-Hungary was split, three million German speaking people
who wanted to remain a part of Austria became the northern part of
Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland
One of the steps leading to WWII was German occupation of the
Sudetenland
Russia was left out
Lost more territory than Germany
Some to Poland, some to Romania, and some to the newly created
Baltic nations of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania(created as a
buffer against communism)
Russia became the Soviet Union in 1922
Soviet Union was determined to gain back as much of its former
territory as possible
Southeast Asia
Ruled by France
Nationalist movement for independence had been developing since 1890
in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh asked Wilson for help
Wilson believed self determination was only for Europeans and had Ho
Chi Minh thrown out
Ho Chi Minh later founded the Indochinese Communist Party and led the
fight against American forces in the Vietnam War
The Senate rejected the treaty
Objections
Too harsh on Germany
New national boundaries did not satisfy every group’s demand for
self determination
Isolationist objections to the League
Did not recognize Monroe Doctrine
Did not acknowledge member nations’ authority over their own
internal affairs
Did not say a member nation had a right to withdraw
Did not require congressional approval of actions taken by the U.S.
in the League
Senate divided into three groups
Those who supported immediate ratification
Moderates headed by Henry Cabot Lodge who favored participation in
the League but with reservations to protect American interests
Those who favored total rejection
Wilson would not compromise with the moderates and took his case to the
people on an 8000 mile tour in September 1919
After 22 days and 35 speeches he had a stroke on October 2
Treaty came up for vote in November
Lodge introduced a number of amendments known as the Lodge Reservations
Wilson appealed from death bed to reject Lodge Reservations
The Senate rejected the Lodge reservations but failed to get the 2/3
vote necessary to approve the treaty
Treaty came up again in March 1920 and again Wilson urged rejection if
the reservations were included
Again the Senate rejected the treaty
U.S. finally signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921 when Wilson
was no longer president
