American Power in WWI

BIG IDEAS MAIN IDEA: The U.S. Mobilized a large army and navy to help the Allies achieve victory WHY IT MATTERS NOWS: During WWI, the U.S. military evolved into the powerful force that it remains today

Selling the War American citizens bought war bonds to help raise funds for the government Seen as a patriotic duty George Creel’s Committee on Public Information created propaganda in favor of the war

Mobilization Before the War After the War 200,000 men in the service Women not used in war services Little government regulations in businesses Civil Service Act = 2million plus enter the war 13,000 women in non combat positions Government takes control of the shipping industry

CONVOY SYSTEM Uses the protection of U.S. destroyers to escort merchant ships and help increase trade Keeps German U-boats out of the North Sea

War Technology Machine Guns: 600 rounds per min Anti Aircraft Airships and Airplanes: carried guns, bombs, and zeppelins Tanks: Run on tread and made of steel Poison Gas: Suffocate, burn and blind the enemy

Germany Falls German sailors faced mutiny Austria-Hungry surrendered German soldiers and civilians organize revolutionary councils Socialist leaders take over control of Berlin and establish the German Republic

Impact of the War 22 million killed 20 million wounded 10 million refugees $338 billion spent on the war 62,000 killed by disease alone

BIG IDEAS 1. WWI spurred social political, and economic change in the U.S. on the home front 2. Wilson’s plans for peace are modified by Allied leaders in Europe and by Americans eager to remove the country from foreign entanglements.

American Resistance Troops returning with “shellshock” and unable to get proper care Conscientious Objectors do not fight in war based on moral grounds despite the draft

Government Controls Dissent Government took away civil liberties from citizens Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1918 Made it illegal to interfere with the draft Say anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the gov’t/war effort

The Great Migration African Americans escaping the Jim Crow Laws in the South Factory opportunities and less discrimination in the North (IE Ford factories) Jobs open for African Americans and women because of the war effort

Wilson’s 14 Points No secret treaties or alliances Freedom of the seas and support of free trade Consider attitudes of colonial people Reduce military to lowest point needed for safety Made specific boundary changes for different nationalities

The Big Four British Prime Minister David Lloyd George French Premier Georges Clemenceau Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando U.S. President Woodrow Wilson

Treaty of Versailles Rejected most of Wilson’s 14 points Officially end WWI Established 9 new nations; breaking up the Ottoman Empire Demilitarized Germany Created the League of Nations– U.S. would not join

What about Germany? War-guilt clause: full responsibility $33 Billion in reparations and war damages Depression, famine, and unemployment set the Nazi Party up for Success in 1933

Why was there so much opposition to the treaty of Versailles and Wilson’s plan for peace in his 14 points? Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points: Five Points Delivered in Joint Session, January 8, 1918 1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. 4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. 5. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be Determined. 10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development. 14. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.