1. Unit VIIC AP United States History
WORLD WAR I
Unit VIIC
AP United States History

2. Fundamental Question
To what extent was the American public supportive of increased foreign involvement?

3. Great War in Europe ( )
Archduke and wife of Austria-Hungary assassinated by Serbian nationalist on June 28, 1914
Alliances and ultimatums dragged Europe into a destructive conflict

4. American Neutrality and Opinion
Wilson proclaims neutrality on August 4, 1914
Preserve economic prosperity
American loans to Allies
Opinion
American Press favored Allies and criticized Central Powers
Ethnic opinions based on national allegiance
Isolationists
Populists, Progressives, William Jennings Bryan, Socialists, Midwest, West, women, Jane Addams

5. The Path to War German U-Boats National Security League
Lusitania sunk on May 7, 1915 killing 128 Americans
Sussex Pledge
Sussex in March 1916
Wilson threatened sanctions and Germany promised to abide by freedom of the seas
National Security League
Encouraged preparedness and heightened Americanization
German unrestricted submarine warfare
Russian Revolution (1917)
Zimmermann Telegram (1917)
German request for Mexico alliance in return for lost land by U.S.
Wilson requested declaration of war by Congress against Germany
April 6, 1917 by near unanimous vote

6. American Domestic War Effort
War Agencies
War Industries Board
Mass production, standardization, price and supply controls
National War Labor Board
Representatives from labor and business arbitrated labor disputes to prevent disruptions
Food Administration
Committee on Public Information
War propaganda agency
Liberty Bonds
Financial support for American war effort
Portrayed as an act of patriotic duty

7. American Propaganda

8. American Domestic Insecurity
Espionage Act of 1917
Prohibition of:
Interfere in military operations
Interfere in military recruitment
Support of U.S. enemies
Promote insubordination
Schenk v. United States (1919)
“Clear and present danger”
Sedition Act of 1918
In times of war:
Prohibit disloyal, profane, scurrilous, abusive language against U.S. government, military, and flag
American Protective League
Private organization assisted government with surveillance and raids on suspected radicals and enemy sympathizers

9. American War Front Selective Service Act of 1917
Conscription of 21-31; by 1918
American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
Inspired to preserve democracy and defend American honor
General John J. Pershing
Convoy system
War Events
Spring Offensive (1918)
German offensive in Western theater
Battle of the Marne (July-August)
Hundred Days Offensive (1918)
Allied counteroffensive; leads to end of the fighting
Battle of the Somme (August)
Battle of Argonne Forest (Sept-Nov)
Armistice (11/11/1918)
German capitulation
Casualties
117,000 Americans
1 million British,
1.6 million French,
3.3. million Russian,
2.4 million German,
2.9 million Ottoman,
1.5 million Austrian-Hungarian

10. Spanish Flu Influenza Pandemic (1918-1920) Infected and Deaths
500 million infected
20-50 million deaths
Impact and Spread
Targeted healthy young adults
World War I conditions
Mass transportation

11. Minorities in World War I
Women
Factory jobs
Military opportunities
Rescinded after war except nurses
Blacks
Great Migration to North
400,000 served in AEF in segregated units
Mexicans
Agricultural and mining opportunities in Southwest and Midwest
Germans
Targeted as “Huns”
Registration and internment

12. Wilson and Peace Fourteen Points Treaty of Versailles
“peace without victory”
Self-determination
League of Nations
Treaty of Versailles
German guilt, reparations
Wilson and Senate Treaty Ratification
Senate Opposition
Irreconcilables
Strongly opposed the Treaty of Versailles
Reservationists
Henry Cabot Lodge
Amendments to Treaty to limit American involvement
Wilson’s Public Campaign
Wilson debilitated by a stroke from exhaustion
Senate rejects Treaty and League of Nations

13. Postwar America Economic Impact
Demobilization
Difficult transition from war economy to peace economy
Recession of
Depression of
Overproduction
Increased labor force
Fed raised interest rates
Government decreased spending

14. Postwar America Labor Unions and Strikes
Union Membership
Expanded with government support during WWI
AFL reached 4 million by 1920
Strikes of 1919
Seattle General Strike
Boston Police Strike
Steel Strike
Coal Strike
Anti-union sentiment increases
Association with radicals

15. Postwar America Race Riots
Red Summer of 1919
Three dozen cities experienced race riots
Economic competition and First Red Scare
Chicago (July-August)
Blacks react to stoning of young man
Omaha (September)
Brutal lynching of William Brown

16. Postwar America First Red Scare
Causes
War Propaganda
Russian Revolution
Strikes and Riots
Targets
Anarchists, Bolsheviks, Socialists, Communists, Wobblies
1919 Bombings
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer
Palmer Raids
Deportations
Public Opinion
Initially, Americans and press vigorously supported raids
Later, the public denounced violations of civil liberties