History 171C The United States and the World

The United States and the First World War

Wilson and the Caribbean 1915—U.S. Marines occupied Haiti following breakdown of order in that country

Wilson and the Caribbean 1915—U.S. Marines occupied Haiti following breakdown of order in that country Guillaume Sam

Wilson and the Caribbean 1916—U.S. Marines occupied Dominican Republic after it defaulted on its loans

Wilson and the Caribbean 1916—U.S. Marines occupied Dominican Republic after it defaulted on its loans

Wilson and the Caribbean

Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan

The United States and the First World War

Main causes of World War I: Unstable and dangerous alliance system Germany, Austria, & Italy vs. Britain, France, & Russia

Main causes of World War I: Decline of Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires

August 1914—Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo ignited World War I

Triggering of alliances: Austria and Germany vs. Serbia, Russia, France, and Britain

Why was World War I so hard to stop? Alliance System

Advances in warfighting technology Barbed wire Machine gun Why was World War I so hard to stop?

Power of nationalism in Europe Why was World War I so hard to stop?

Devastating effect of World War I on Western consciousness

Determination to remain neutral Attempt to promote peaceful settlement Wilson’s initial response to the war

Need to secure maritime rights against pressure from belligerents Problem of U.S. neutrality:

How to end British blockade without alienating U.S.? Germany’s dilemma:

The promise and peril of submarine warfare Germany’s dilemma:

1915—Sinking of Lusitania caused division among Americans

Resignation of Secy of State Wm. Jennings Bryan

Sussex Pledge, —Sinking of Lusitania caused division among Americans

1916—“Preparedness” Campaign Theodore Roosevelt

Intense antiwar sentiment 1915

“I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier,” 1915 Ten million soldiers to the war have gone, Who may never return again Ten million mothers’ hearts must break, For the ones who died in vain Head bowed down in sorrow in her lonely years, I heard a mother murmur through her tears:

Chorus: “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier, I brought him up to be my pride and joy, Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder, To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?” Let nations arbitrate their future trouble, It’s time to lay the sword and gun away, There’d be no war today, If mothers all would say, “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier.”

What victory can cheer a mother’s heart, When she looks at her blighted home? What victory can bring her back, All she cares to call her own? Let each mother’s answer in the years to be, “Remember that my boy belongs to me!”

Chorus: “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier, I brought him up to be my pride and joy, Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder, To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?” Let nations arbitrate their future trouble, It’s time to lay the sword and gun away, There’d be no war today, If mothers all would say, “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier.”

1916—Wilson reelected on slogan, “He kept us out of war.”

Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare Events pushing U.S. toward war in 1917

Zimmerman Telegram

Events pushing U.S. toward war in 1917 The early promise of the Russian Revolution Alexander Kerensky

Wilson’s desire to influence postwar settlement Events pushing U.S. toward war in 1917

Mainly justified as effort to make world “safe for democracy” April 1917—U.S. declaration of war against Germany (later Austria, too)

Events on Eastern Front:

—Russian offensive against Germany and Austria

Events on Eastern Front: —German counteroffensive; growing unrest inside Russia

Russian Revolution Spring 1917—Czar Nicholas II abdicated; provisional liberal government took over Spring-Fall 1917—Bolsheviks challenged provisional government Late 1917—Bolsheviks took over

Late 1917—Bolsheviks exposed Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916

January 1918—Wilson issued Fourteen Points

March 1918—Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

—Allied intervention in Russia Wilson’s motives: Succumbing to Allies’ pressure to help reconstitute eastern front Keeping an eye on the Allies

U.S. actions on Western Front Limitations of U.S. involvement: Fighting only on Franco-German front Calling Britain and France “associated powers, ” not allies

Still, U.S. played important role in halting German offensive in spring/summer 1918