Mobilizing the Home Front Propaganda and the War Effort Recruiting soldiers Buying War Bonds Saving Food Contributing to the War Industry (weapons factories) Joining the Red Cross

“First Call” the Poster Art of World War I

British Recruitment Ad, 1915 following the sinking of the ship “Lusitania”

Civic organizations use the media to call for war. Poster from the Mayor’s Committee, New York 1917

“Go soldiers and fulfill your role as Christians. Oh gentleman, complete your duty to your fatherland and earn your place in Heaven.” German recruitment poster, 1914

“Committee on Public Information” established as the nations first propaganda agency.

About two-thirds of all war financing came from the selling of “war bonds” to the public.

U.S. Food Administration poster, 1917

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Fighting in the Great War Trench Warfare –Most of the fighting occurred in man-made trenches –Video: Gallipoli, The Trenches Scene –gallipoli interactive mapgallipoli interactive map Christmas truce –Christmas 1914, fighting stopped for a day –Video: The Christmas Truce Machine Guns Chemical Warfare –Mustard gas

Experience of Soldiers Extreme brutality Coping with never before seen violence Exhaustion Mustard gas Trenches Aerial bombardments Video: Gallipoli Massacre

Soldier’s Journals “I dove down beside that road…and recognized those Boche helmets! In a twinkling I was passed them…and came diving down upon them from the rear. I just held both triggers down hard while the fiery bullets flew streaming out of the two guns…I had a vague confused picture of…rearing horses, falling men, running men, general mess…I found myself trembling with excitement and overawed at being a cold-blooded murderer, but a sense of keen satisfaction came too. It was only the sort of thing our own poor doughboys have suffered so often.” (Hamilton Coolidge)

Coping Mechanisms Camaraderie British Pals’ battalions ‘Those who joined together should serve together’ = very popular –Companies, businesses, towns & cities formed their own battalions –They trained & served together –Over 300 battalions were formed in this way & 250,000 men joined up Writing Memoirs or Poetry Entertainment on the Front

Soldier’s Journals “I got within fifty feet of the German machine-gun nests when a bullet plowed through the top of my skull…As I lay there I could plainly see the German gunners and hear them talking…They reloaded their gun and turned it on me. The first three bullets went through my legs and hip and the rest splashed up dust and dirt…That night…one of my comrades…who later in the battle as himself killed, crawled out and started to carry me back to the lines…The Germans…turned their guns our way…Thinking it impossible for him to get me to the lines alone, he piled up a half-dozen bodies of my poor dead “buddies” and barricaded my position. There I remained for several hours longer…the boys piled up around me were my own camp-mates whom I knew…Back of the lines the surgeons came out…and exclaimed, “What, ain’t you dead yet?” (Joyce Lewis)

Wilfred Owens, English Poet ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, – The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. September - October, 1917

Coping with Death Video: Gallipoli :The Trenches Scene How do the soldiers deal with the daily occurrence of death in the trenches?

African-American and French Comradeship “We were fully equipped with French rifles and French helmets. Our wagons, our rations, our machine guns and everything pertaining to the equipment of the regiment for trench warfare was supplied by the French Army. It was considered that it would take us at least six weeks before we would be able to march into line and take our position on the front. Sergeants and non-commissioned officers and different members of the machine gun companies, Stokes mortars, were sent to the French schools for an intensive training in the handling of these implements of warfare. Daily, the other members of the troop were taken out by the French interpreters and instructed on trench warfare and formations for the approach and advance in military maneuvers. So rapidly did our boys learn the formations that in less than three weeks the time the General in command of the 61 st Division recommended that a battalion of our boys be moved and put in the trenches alongside French soldiers for first hand instructions. This move was hailed with great joy by our boys. There had sprung up between them and their French buddies a great comradeship. The French officers had taken our officers and made pals out of them. The non- commissioned officers in the French army who held a little more elevated position than the non-commissioned officers in our army by virtue of their long military campaign, treated our boys with all the courtesy and comradeship that could be expected. Cheeriest of all was the good comradeship that existed between our enlisted men and the faithful old French poilu. You could see them strolling down the road arm in arm, each hardly able to understand the other, as our boys’ French was as bad as their English. In their souls and in their breasts there seemed to beat the same emotion. They were for one cause – liberty and freedom.

Stage 3: Victories of the Allies (late ) Towards Armistice –Allied Powers take the advantage Italians win victory over Austria-Hungary Oct 1918 Gen Foch directs counter offensive in West Significant gain by Allies Aug 1918 –Arrival of American army –New weapons - tanks

Stage 3: Victories of the Allies (late ) Interactive Map The Western Front 1918 German desertions increase Revolutionary groups appear Republic is proclaimed in Berlin William II abdicates Germany signs armistice in Compiègne on Nov 11, 1918 Democratic nations victorious both militarily and politically

Treaty of Versailles Article 231 punishes Germany for starting the war (& not Austria or Serbia) –War-guilt clause –Helped Hitler’s rise to power

The Big four The Treaty of Versailles Wilson ClemenceauLloyd George Stalin

League of Nations Article X called for members to give assistance to others if needed –Congress, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, detested this stipulation Congress has Constitutional power to declare war, Article X could force the US into war without Congress’ approval

Debate in Congress America is going to grow more and more powerful, and the more powerful she is the more inevitable it is that she should be trustee for the peace of the world…All Europe knew that we were doing an American thing when we put the Covenant of the League of Nations at the beginning of the treaty…The most cynical men I had to deal with…before our conferences were over all admitted that the League of Nations, which they had deemed an ideal dream, was a demonstrable, practical necessity. This treaty cannot be carried out without the League of Nations… The rest of the world is necessary to us, if you want to put it on that basis. I do not like to put it on that basis. That is not the American basis. America does not want to feed upon the rest of the world. She wants to feed it and serve it. America…is the only national idealistic force in the world and idealism is going to save the world…That is the program of civilization.” Woodrow Wilson, Speech at helena, Montana, September 1919 Woodrow Wilson - Need for the League

Debate over the League Henry Cabot Lodge - Danger of the League Never forget that this league is primarily – I might say overwhelmingly – a political organization, and I object strongly to having the politics of the United States turn upon disputes where deep feeling is aroused but in which we have no direct interest. It will tend to delay the Americanization of our great population, and it is more important not only to the United States but to the peace of the world to make all these people good Americans than it is to determine that some piece of territory should belong to one European country rather than to another. For this reason I wish to limit strictly our interference in the affairs of Europe and of Africa. We have interests of our own in Asia and in the Pacific which we must guard upon our own account, but the less we undertake to play the part of umpire and thrust ourselves into European conflicts the better for the United States and for the world.” Speech in the Senate, Aug 1919

league of Nations

Why did the Treaty Fail? Isolationists, many who were Republican did not like the League of Nations (led by Henry Cabot Lodge) Many people wanted the US to stay out of foreign affairs (Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation) The league would commit the US to foreign affairs –Wilson refused to budge

CountryPopulationMilitary Deaths Civilian Deaths % Population Military Wounded France39.6 M1.4 M300, %4.3 M Russia175.1 M2 M1.5 M2%4 M United Kingdom 45.4 M887,000109, %1.7 M U.S.92 M117, %206,000 Italy35.6 M651,000589, %954,000 Austria- Hungary 51.4 M1.1 M467, %3.6 M Germany64.9 M2 M426, %4.2 M Ottoman Empire 21.3 M772,0002.2M13.7%400,000 WAR CASUALTIES FOR ALLIED AND CENTRAL POWERS

Effects of the War on Civilians 5 million civilians perished from disease and starvation (especially in Russia and the Ottoman Empire) Submarines, naval blockades & warplanes extended suffering of the war beyond the front lines Aerial bombardments killed many civilians (British and German cities bombed by air raids)

Making Peace

After winning the war, the Allies dictated a harsh peace settlement that left many nations feeling betrayed. Hard feelings left by the peace settlement helped cause World War II. Overview Assessment Woodrow Wilson Fourteen Points self-determination Treaty of Versailles League of Nations Making Peace MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

1. Look at the graphic to help organize your thoughts. Explain the effects of World War I. Making Peace Effects of WWI Millions of lives lost $338 billion cost Land, towns, and villages destroyed Widespread disillusionment

1.What major changes do you see? 2.Which countries are created as a result of the war? 3.Which countries’ borders are affected by the outcome of the war?

ANSWER 2. Do you think the peace settlements at Versailles were fair? Why or why not? Consider the warring and nonwarring nations affected. THINK ABOUT Germany’s punishment the creation of new nations Making Peace the mandate system Fair: Germany was punished for its aggression, and numerous independence claims were addressed through the creation of new nations. Unfair: Germany was too harshly punished, and colonial peoples did not get their independence. Possible Responses:

Effects of the War in the U.S. US reverts to isolationism –Harding (1920) campaigned on a return to “normalcy” Red Summer –Race riots in Northern Cities – Great Migration Fear of Communism –1 st Red Scare Increase of Nativism –2 acts passed which severely reduced immigration –Desire to go back to the way things were before

Reading Material World War I The Unfinished Nation by Alan Brinkley Chapter 23: America and the Great War pp Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe Part 1 War and International Relations The world in 1914: outbreak of the First World War, pp Questions, p. 16 The first World War and its aftermath, pp Questions, p. 41 The League of Nations, pp Questions, p. 49