APUSH Chapter 22: World War 1

Espionage Act (1917)

The vague prohibition of this law, against obstructing the nation's war effort, was used to crush dissent and criticism during World War I.

Sedition Act 1919

The wartime Sedition Act loosely defined sedition and invited repression of freedom of speech for dissenters. Under the act, Socialist Eugene V. Debs was sent to prison for making an antiwar speech.

Sussex Pledge

After the French channel steamer "Sussex" was sunk by a German submarine in May 1916, protests pressured Germany to pledge to stop sinking merchant vessels with submarine warfare.

Palmer Raids

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, concerned that the United States was in danger of a communist takeover in 1919, ordered a series of roundups and raids on suspected communists. The raids, a product of the postwar Red Scare, clearly violated the civil liberties of many innocent people.

Committee on Public Information

During World War I, President Wilson created the CPI and appointed journalist George Creel to head it. The committee's objective was to maximize national loyalty and support for the war. It was a hard-working wartime propaganda organization.

Fourteen Points

In January 1918, President Wilson outlined a peace plan with fourteen points, including no secret diplomacy, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, non-colonization, and national self-determination.

Lusitania

In May 1915, the British passenger ship "Lusitania" was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland. One hundred twenty-eight Americans were among the dead. President Wilson demanded Germany pay an indemnity to victims' families and promise to stop attacking passenger ships. Germany agreed to pay an indemnity.

Reservationists

Many senators had reservations about the wisdom of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They wanted to modify the treaty to protect their own political interests and to assure American sovereignty in world affairs. They were particularly suspicious of the treaty's creation of a League of Nations.

Henry Cabot Lodge

Massachusetts Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, a personal and political enemy of President Woodrow Wilson as well as an intense nationalist and partisan, organized the reservationists who opposed U.S. membership in the League of Nations.

Leauge of Nations

The League of Nations was President Wilson's fourteenth point in his plan for a "peace without victory." He proposed the League as an international peacekeeping organization, and it was incorporated into the 1919 Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. But questions about League membership caused the U.S. Senate to refuse to ratify the treaty and to reject U.S. membership in the League.

Zimmerman Telegram

The Zimmermann telegram to Mexico from the German foreign minister was intercepted and published in the United States. In it Germany offered to help Mexico regain territories it had lost to the United States in the event the United States and Germany went to war. Americans were outraged by this potential threat to their national security.

Irreconcilables

The handful of Senate "irreconcilables," led by Senator Borah of Idaho, were basically isolationists uncompromising in their opposition to the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and U.S. membership in the League of Nations.

National War Labor Board

This government agency supervised labor relations during World War I, guaranteeing union rights in exchange for industrial stability.

Red Scare

This post-World War I public hysteria over Bolshevik influence in the United States was directed against labor activism, radical dissenters, and some ethnic groups.

Treaty of Versailles (US Rejection)

This treaty ended World War I and created the League of Nations.