1. American History II - Unit 3
World War I
American History II - Unit 3

2. Review
How did the Roosevelt Corollary reflect Roosevelt’s Big Stick diplomacy?
Speak softly = Roosevelt Corollary declaration
Carry a big stick = Roosevelt’s intent to use military force to “aid” Latin American countries and prevent European intervention, would use force against European powers if necessary
How was Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy different than Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy?
Taft focused less on immediate military intervention, and focused more on financial intervention (ex: loans, bail-out packages) so Latin American countries would not default on loans.
How was Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy different than Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy and Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy?
Wilson, unlike Taft and Roosevelt, refused to recognize governments that were undemocratic and/or hostile to US interests.
Wilson would wait for provocation and then retaliate with military force.

3. 3.5 – World War I Abroad

4. Long-Term Causes of WWI: M.A.I.N.
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
The development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy.
Increased military spending and stockpiling of weapons across Europe/Asia
Allies: France, GB, and Russia (later US)
Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
For centuries, European countries had been competitively building empires and spreading their economic/political influence.
A devotion to the interests and culture of one’s country.
Can lead to ethnocentrism and aggression.
An extreme form of patriotism.
COMPETITION & RIVALRIES

5. EUROPE 1914
What are advantages and disadvantages of belonging to an alliance system?

6. Immediate Cause of WWI
Preexisting tensions between European countries  Balkan Peninsula = “powder keg of Europe”
June Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria assassinated in Bosnia by a Serbian activist  Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
Alliance system domino effect
Germany (allied with Austria-Hungary) declared war on Russia (supported Serbia) and France (Russia’s ally)
Germany invaded Belgium (member of the Allies)  GB declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary

7. World War Erupts August 1914 - Germany’s Schlieffen Plan
Drive through Belgium into France, defeat both
Move on to defeating Russia
Attacks on two fronts:
Western front: France/Germany border
Eastern Front: Russia/Germany border
Belgium overrun, but France halted Schlieffen Plan stalemate in trench warfare

8. Trench Warfare
Trench warfare – military operations in which the opposing forces attack and counterattack from systems of fortified ditches
characteristic of the Western Front
gained little ground per time spent in trenches
terrible conditions
“no man’s land” – the area between trenches, barren land marked by bodies, shell craters, and barbed wire
Stalemate: neither side making progress

9. Trench Warfare Battle of the Somme July – Nov 1916 1.2 million deaths
Only 7 miles gained

13. American Sentiments Toward WWI
Wilson desired US neutrality – over 3,000 miles away
Immigrants generally supported their homelands’ respective alliances (German-Americans support Germany, etc)
Some Americans wanted isolation
Some Americans supported the Allies
GB ‘s common culture/ancestry
Germany’s brutal destruction of Belgium
More economic ties to Allies compared to Central Powers
US Exports to Europe
(by the $millions)

14. US Involvement Looms
By 1915, US favored an Allied win to ensure that the Allies repaid war debts to US BUT still didn’t want to get involved.
BG naval blockade of Germany – 2 results
US ships carrying goods for Germany did not challenge the British blockade  US goods rarely made it to German destinations, originally angered US (can’t make $)
Many Germans died of starvation

15. 2 Events that Led to US Entrance into WWI
Germany sinks Lusitania
Germany fought GB blockade with U-boats (submarines) – any ship in water around GB would be sunk
May 7, 1915 – German U-boat sunk GB’s passenger ship Lusitania with 128 Americans on board
Germany claimed boat carried ammunition  US outraged with Germany and Central Powers
Wilson – no military action, but threatened to cut off diplomatic relations with Germany if they didn’t stop using “unrestricted submarine warfare”
Germany – agreed only if the US could persuade BG to lift blockade, if not warfare would continue

16. 2 Events that Led to US Entrance into WWI
The Zimmermann Note
Wilson reelected in 1916 – still advocated for US neutrality and peace between nations at war.
Zimmermann Note - Jan. 1917, telegram from the German foreign minister to a German ambassador in Mexico, intercepted by British
Proposed a German-Mexican alliance
Should the US enter the war, Germany would support Mexico in regaining land in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Proved Germany was hostile towards the US…

17. US Enters WWI
April 2, 1917 – Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, Congress agreed
“Property cannot be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind… We are glad… to fight… for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its people… The world must be made safe for democracy… We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no domination. We week no indemnities… It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war… But the right is more precious than its people.”
-Woodrow Wilson, 1917

18. Green – Allies
Orange – Central Powers

19. US Naval Success
German U-boat attacks threatened US supply and merchant ships crossing the Atlantic
Convoy system – a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups  cut US shipping losses in half
230 mile barrier of mines across the North Sea from Scotland to Norway
1918 – German difficulty to replace losses and man U-boats, while only 637 of 2 million Americans died in U-boat attacks

20. US in Europe
“I have never seen or heard of such an elaborate, complete line of defense as the British had built at this point. There was a trench with dugouts every three hundred yards from the front line… Everything was fronted with barbed wire and other entanglements. Artillery was concealed everywhere. Railroad tracks, narrow and standard gauge, reached from the trenches back into the one of supply. Nothing had been neglected to hold this like, save only one important thing, enthusiasm among the troops, and that was the purpose of our presence.”
Joseph Lawrence,
US solider in the AEF
Allies benefited from US soldiers’ enthusiasm and freshness  boosted morale in trenches
General John Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force (AEF – armed forces fighting in Europe)
US soldiers shocked by warfare conditions and new technology

21. New Technologies Change Warfare
New technology – “mechanized warfare”
Improved machine gun
Airplanes
Tanks
Poison gas
Observation balloons

22. New Hazards Caused by War
Trenches – lice, rats, trench foot, trench mouth, disease, consumption of polluted water, stench of decaying bodies, poison gas inhalation, lack of sleep
“shell shock” – battle fatigue, term coined during WWI to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many men never recovered (precursor to PTSD)

23. War Comes to a Close 1917 - Russia exits war
Russian Revolution – communist Lenin comes to power
Germany and Central Powers wearing thin
Nov. 3, 1918 – Austria-Hungary surrendered to Allies
Nov. 9, 1918 – socialist leaders in Germany rebel against kaiser and set up German republic
Nov. 11, 1918 at 11 am (11/11 at 11) – Germany agrees to an armistice (agreement to end fighting)
US and Allies relieved
bloodiest war by 1918
Over 110,000 American lives lost, 20,000 Americans wounded

24. Armistice (Veterans) Day
Nov. 11, 1919 – Wilson declares “Armistice Day”
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.“ – Wilson, 1919
Changed by Congress to “Veterans Day” in 1954

25. Did You Know…
The NCSU Bell Tower is actually called the Memorial Bell Tower (WWI Memorial)
Completed in 1937, the tower serves to remember the 33 NCSU alumni that perished in WWI
The door reads, “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares” – a reference to the Book of Isaiah in which the world is peaceful and weapons are converted to prosperous and useful tools.
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