The Home Front During World War 1 Topic 4.2

Back Home Government launched campaign to raise money from the American people Funding the war Liberty Bonds-special war bonds to support the Allied cause Could later be redeemed for original value of bonds plus interest $20 billion raised Lent money to the Allies

Liberty Bonds “Every Scout to Save a Soldier” Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts set up booths on street corners to sell bonds Government recruited famous actors to lead public rallies to buy bonds

People began calling the Germans Huns Reference to a people who had brutally invaded Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries

Victory gardens

Managing the Economy Government called on industry to switch from producing commercial goods to war goods Shift the national economy from peacetime to wartime production

Managing the Economy War Industries Board Headed by financer Bernard Baruch Oversaw the nation’s war-related production Divided up raw materials Told manufactures what and how much to produce Set controlled cost of goods

Managing the Economy National War Labor Board Worked to settle any labor disputes that might disrupt the war effort Labor leader Samuel Gompers promised to limit labor problems in war-production industries

War Trade Board Licenses trade with foreign countries Punishes companies suspected of dealing with the enemy.

Regulating Food and Fuel August 1917-Congress passed the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act Gave the president the power to manage the production and distribution of food and fuels vital to the war effort Lever Food and Fuel Control Act created Fuel Administration Sponsored gasless days to save fuel Price-Fixing Committee

Regulating Food Herbert Hoover’s role-leader in Food Administration “Food will win the war.” Worked to increase farm output and reduce waste Had the power to impose Price Controls and rationing (distributing goods to consumers in a fixed amount) Voluntary restraint and increased efficiency Regulating Food

Regulating Food and Fuel Writing to women in 1917 Hoover preached a “Gospel of the Clean Plate” “Stop, before throwing any food away, and ask can it be used?....Stop catering to different appetites. No second helpings. Stop all eating between meals…One meatless day a week. One wheatless meal a day”

African and Mexican Americans Found Work in war related industries Companies that had once refused to hire minorities now actively recruited them for work

Women Diminished work force also created new opportunities for women Some found jobs on farms Telegraph messengers 400,000 women joined the industrial workforce

Immigration WWI virtually stopped the flow of immigrants from Europe

Enforcing Loyalty 1917- George Creel-Journalist (former muckraker) Head of the Committee on Public Information Popular support for the war Posters advertising recruitment and Liberty Bonds Propaganda

Back Home Espionage or spying The government feared secret agents might try to undermine the war effort by destroying transportation or communication networks. Put the government on alert Restrictions in immigration

Back Home Espionage Act 1917 Illegal to interfere with draft Ban treasonable or seditious newspapers, magazines, or printed materials Sedition Act 1918 Illegal to obstruct sale of LB’s Illegal to say anything bad about the USA Violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech Many felt the needs of war required harsh measures

Sedition – Political Radicals Eugene Debs Arrested after delivering an anti-war speech Case went to the Supreme Court Court ruled Debs had acted with intention of obstructing the war effort 10-year jail sentence for criticizing the government

Back Home Also began the practice of Daylight savings time Turning ahead one hour for the summer By shifting an hour of sunlight from early morning (most people were asleep) to the evening Increased the number of daylight hours available for work

The End of WWI 4.3

What does President Wilson Want? “The world to be made safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force and selfish aggression”

He wants LASTING PEACE and INTERNATIONAL STABILITY. His goal was to establish a permanent agency where countries could work together to resolve disputes “There must be not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized common peace” Prime Minister David Lloyd George of the UK, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France, and President Woodrow Wilson

What is Wilson’s Plan? Fourteen Points-President Wilson’s proposal in 1918 for a postwar European peace Make no secret diplomatic agreements (End to secret treaties) Allow freedom of the seas in peace and war. Removal of trade barriers Reduction of military forces Self determination (the right of people to choose their own form of government) A permanent agency to settle disputes (League of Nations)

League of Nations Wilson proposes League of Nations (part of his 14 points) Nations of the world would join together to ensure security and peace for all members Heart of his proposal was Members of the League would regard an attack on one country as an attack on all The League would not have any military power/depended on the members to back it up with their armies

The Paris Peace Conference January 1919 What countries are at the Paris Peace Conference? The United States (Wilson) Great Britain (David Lloyd-George) France (Georges Clemenceau) Italy (Vittorio Orlando) The big four!!! Russia absent from conference Civil War

Provisions of the Treaty French and British wanted to cripple Germany!! Germany was forced to….. Give up her industrial regions (important lands) Destroy its air force and navy; allowed to keep a police force and no army. Must sign a War Guilt Clause admitting to responsibility for the war. Pay $33 billion in reparations This was money she did not have Make Germany an economic dependent of the victorious Allies ;

Provisions of the Treaty Conference created new nations out of the territory Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany Most borders were drawn with the ethnic populations of the region in mind (Self-determination) Clean divisions were impossible Created new ethnic minorities in several countries

Provisions of the Treaty Before WWI After WWI

Allies presented the treaty to the Germans on May 7, 1919 Germans initially refuse to sign the Treaty of Versailles They are forced to sign

Wilson Returns with Treaty Many legislators had doubts about the results of the conference The Irreconcilables-Isolationist Some senators opposed the treaty because it committed the United States to the League of Nations Feared that if the U.S. join the League of Nations, other countries would have a say in American foreign affairs. Wilson Returns with Treaty

Wilson Returns with Treaty Reservationists- opposed to the treaty as it was written Henry Cabot Lodge (Chairman if the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) Announced that the League was unacceptable

Wilson’s Crusade Wilson needs approval of Congress  DIFFICULT US tour 32 addresses in 33 days Stroke & paralyzed one side of his body

US Ends War Formal End to the Hostilities Congress rejected the Treaty of Versailles Resolution finally passed Warren G. Harding was in office Separate peace w/ Germany after Wilson leaves office(1921) Never joined League of Nations

Postwar Adjustments War gave big boost to American businesses The US is now the worlds largest creditor nation Despite its new power, we turn away from world power and return to an ISOLATIONIST foreign policy

The soldiers return… There was no plan to return soldiers to society Jobs proved scarce Women and minorities were let go Black soldiers returned to Jim Crow America

Postwar Gloom - Some Americans felt disillusioned that the war ended an era of progress and optimism September of 1918 unusually deadly form of the influenza or flu virus appeared