1. Fighting WWI Old Methods New Methods Cavalries, bayonets, trenches
Machine guns
Gas
Tanks
Airplanes

2. What do we know so far?
American
HISTORY
World War I

3. What prompted america to join the war in europe?
Why did the US break from its stance on neutrality?

4. Neutrality 1914- most Americans saw no reason to join the war
Why do you think this was?
American lives/property not threatened
Does not mean Americans were indifferent- public opinion was strong & divided

5. Different viewpoints
Socialists- thought was capitalist and imperialist struggle to control markets
Pacifists- thought war was evil and US should set example of peace
Others- didn’t want sons to experience warfare

6. Many US citizens still had ties to countries they came from
Divided Ties
Many US citizens still had ties to countries they came from
Central powers: Germany, Austria (Ireland)
Allies: Britain

7. US Ties to allies German war tactics British propaganda Economic ties
Sweep through Belgium, destroying cities
British propaganda
Economic ties
Trade with Britain & France

8. Leading to war- u-boats
Any British or Allied ship around Britain would be sunk
Lusitania sinking
May 7, 1915
1,198 died, 128 Americans

9. Leading to war- u-boats
Wilson protested to Germany
More liners sunk, more Americans die
US-German agreement:
German aggression would continue if US didn’t stop British blockade

10. Leading to war- u-boats
Jan Wilson attempts to mediate peace
German response:
All ships (hostile or neutral) would be sunk on sight
What would you do?
Wilson waits for “actual overt acts”

11. Actual overt acts Zimmermann note
Telegram from German foreign minister to German ambassador in Mexico
Proposed alliance
If US joined war, lost territory would be recovered

12. March 1917- Russian revolution
Actual overt acts
March Russian revolution
Monarchy replaced with representative government
Now “democracies vs brutal monarchies”

13. Wilson declares war
April 2, 1917
US would… “make the world safe for democracy”

14. America prepares for war
America was not prepared for war
needed large, modern army
Raising An Army
Selective Service Act- May 1917
required men to register to be selected for service
24 million registered, 3 million drafted

15. People in Service African American Service
400,000 served in segregated units
Most assigned to noncombat
Women in Service
Army Corps of Nurses
denied rank, pay, benefits
13,000 held noncombat positions in Navy & Marines
369th Infantry Regiment -Saw more continuous duty on front lines than any other

16. Americans at war
When America joined (1917), forces had been fighting for two and a half years
America provided:
numbers/troops
freshness and enthusiasm
Doughboys- American infantrymen
most from farms or small towns

17. Causes of American involvement
Fill in map and vocab
Respond to cartoons about American involvement in WWI

18. Cartoons

19. “Shell Shock”
Why is this episode called Shell Shock? What did/ does the term mean?
Why was World War I different from all previous wars? Describe at least two ways the war was different/unique.
How did propaganda shape or change American views of World War I?