THE WAR TO END WAR, 1917-1918 (Chapter 30)
I. War by Act of Germany
A. WW talked about “peace w/o victory” trying to mediate an end to war
1. G. announced unlimited sub warfare, intending to sink all ships in zone
2. revoked Sussex pledge
3. WW broke diplomatic relations w/G.
B. Zimmermann note intercepted and published March 1, 1917
1. Zim proposed G-Mex alliance, offering TX, NM, AZ
2. U-boats sank 4 unarmed US ships
C. Russian revolution took R. out of the war
D. WW asked Cong for war “to make the world safe for democracy”
1. US munitions makers and bankers dragged US into war?
2. no, they thrived under neutrality and did so w/o wartime taxation
3. war declared April 6, 1917
II. Wilsonian Idealism Enthroned
A. “fearful” thing to lead peaceful Americans into war
1. G. U-boats had defeated US isolationism (strongest in Midwest)
2. 6 Sen’s and 50 US Rep’s voted no to decl of war
B. “war to end war” and to “make world save for democracy’
1. America is idealist, altruistic, not greedy or seeking territory
2. WW fired up the public w/patriotism and idealism vs autocracy
3. many Americans wanted to “hang the Kaiser”
III. Fourteen Points
A. No secret treaties, freedom of seas, remove eco. barriers to trade, reduce
armaments, adjust colonies to consider wishes of all people, self-
determination for minorities, international org for collective security
B. Many foreigners and Americans disagreed
IV. Creel manipulates minds
A. Committee on Public Information: propaganda led by George Creel
1. 150,000 workers including 75,000 four-minute men who gave
patriotic speeches
2. posters, leaflets, pamphlets, WW quotes, movies (“The Beast of Berlin”)
3. George Cohan’s “Over There”
B. Led to great enthusiasm, mobilization and later disillusionment
V. Enforcing loyalty and stifling dissent
A. G-Amer’s were 8 million out of 100 million
1. tales of espionage and sabotage
2. one G. socialist lynched in IL
3. G. dropped as language taught in h.s.
4. music by G. composers like Beethoven dropped
B. Espionage Act and Sedition Act
1. prosecution of IWW, Debs, Socialists
2. some press censorship
3. Debs later pardoned by Warren G. Harding
VI. The Nation’s Factories Go to War
A. few programs for military preparedness prior to 1917
1. army had only 100,000 men (15th in world)
2. most Americans did not want fed govt to take over economy
B. Bernard Baruch named to War Industries Board
1. “Labor Will Win the War”
2. women in factories and on farms
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3. pres. finally endorsed women’s suffrage (19th Am. passed 1920)
4. many blacks went north for jobs
C. Gompers and unions supported war effort
1. inflation made prices go up faster than wages
2. many strikes, Taft appt’d as mediator for Nat War Labor Bd
3. Wobblies tried many tactics to slow down war production
D. Hoover led the Food Administration
1. relied on voluntary compliance, not force
2. proclaimed wheatless Wed’s and meatless Tuesdays
3. “victory gardens”
4. urged people not to drink (save barley for food for soldiers)
5. boycott brewers (many were German)
6. helped lead to Prohibition 1919
7. food exports to Allies tripled
E. Halt the Hun drives: buy war bonds (Liberty Loan)
1. raised $21 billion through sale of bonds
2. confiscated G. ships
3. raised taxes
VII. Making Plowboys into Doughboys
A. Allies needed US manpower
1. conscription necessary, but unpopular
2. no substitutes could be hired, all men 18-45 registered
B. “Work or Fight”
1. men in key industries like shipbuilding were exempt
2. army grew to 4 million in only a few months
3. 4000 conscientious objectors
VIII. Fighting in France—belatedly
A. Russia out of war allowed G. to move more troops to Fr
1. G. knew it would take months before US could mobilize
2. US boys landed in Fr Apr 1918
3. “Lafayette we are here.”
4. WW sent troops to Russia (Archangel and Siberia), fought Bolseviks
B. G. moved toward Paris in spring 1918 w/500,000 troops
1. had to retreat about 40 mi from Paris at Chateau-Thierry
2. US boys arrived, met Fr girls “Mademoiselle from Armentieres”
3. Second Battle of the Marne, Foch counter-offensive
4. Sept 1918: 9 US divisions + 4 Fr divisions beat G’s at St. Mihiel
C. Black Jack Pershing led troops close to Swiss border
1. Meuse-Argonne offensive lasted 47 days and engaged 1.2 million US
2. heavy fighting in Argonne forest, 10% were casualties
3. Sgt. Alvin York killed 20 G.s and captured 132 more
D. Br blockade effective, G. running out of supplies and men
1. propaganda leaflets dropped from balloons and rockets
2. Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland and lived another 23 yrs.,
“unwept, unhonored, unhung”
3. armistice on Nov 11 at 11 AM 1918
4. great victory celebration in US, though our troops had only been in
two real battles
5. most of Pershing’s weapons and supplies were manuf’d in Europe
IX. Wilson Steps Down from Olympus
A. Wilson considered the moral leader of the world
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1. at home “Politics is Adjourned” while the war was on
2. Rep’s picked up seats in Cong in 1918
3. Wilson went to Paris for peace conf, took no Rep’s with him
(WW hated Henry Cabot Lodge)
B. WW the idealists battled the imperialists in Paris
1. Big Four: WW, Clemenceau, Orlando, George
2. revolts, possibility of spread of communism in 1919
3. WW: League of Nations important, let big countries rule small
colonies in “trust” under L. of N. supervision
C. Hammering Out the Treaty
1. isolationists, many Republicans, “irreconcilables” were opposed
2. Fr demanded Rhineland and Saar valley: result was compromise
3. Italians walked out on WW in dispute over Fiume, a seaport near Yugo.
4. compromise w/Japan over Shantung peninsula
5. G. didn’t like terms of the Treaty
6. Wilson wanted League, sacrificed some other Points, lost popularity
7. millions of Europeans now free from foreign dynasties, e.g. Poles
X. Opposition to Treaty in US
A. Nationalists said it was too easy on G., Liberals said it was too harsh
1. _G-A’s and I-A’s dissatisfied
2. Irish opposed it since it gave Br too much influence
B. Lodge wanted to amend the treaty, had many hearings
1. WW went on US tour to talk to Americans about treaty
2. not popular in Midwest, followed by isolationist senators Borah, Johnson
3. more popular in Far west, but collapsed in Pueblo, CO Sept 1919
4. went back to DC, had stroke, lay sick in White House for months
C. Lodge announced “reservations” about treaty
1. US would reserve rights of Monroe Doctrine, Const., national sovereign
2. Article X of League was unacceptable, binding US to aid any member
who was victim of aggression
3. WW asked Dem’s in Senate to vote against treaty w/Lodge reservations
4. treaty never ratified
D. Treaty defeated by Lodge-Wilson controversy, isolationism, traditionalism,
disillusionment, partisanship, Wilson’s refusal to compromise
1. “He kept us out of peace.”
XII. Solemn Referendum of 1920
A. Rep’s hoped to recapture White House, were ambiguous on League of N.
1. nom’d Harding, newspaperman & Sen. from OH
2. Silent Cal Coolidge for vp
3. Dem ticket was: James Cox/Franklin Roosevelt
B. Harding popular w/new women voters, won 16 million to 7 million
1. Debs won 900,000 votes while in prison in Atlanta
2. people tired of moralism, idealism, self-sacrifice
3. wanted return to “normalcy”
4. no hope for US to join League
C. US not ready to lead the world, at least not through the League of Nations
1. G and Fr began to rearm
2. US did nothing, ignored Europe
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