Chapter 23: Waging Neutrality

Allies

France, Russia, Great Britain, Italy, Japan

Settlement

1. Germany was forced to give up all conquered lands. 2. Forced to accept full responsibility for the war & pay reparations. 3. Limits it military to a small self-defense force, destroy military bases & promise no to make or buy armament.

What event prior to WW1 caused tensions between EU and Germany?

1. unification of Germany through warfare 2. Complex & Shifting set of alliances: Triple Entente- France, GB & Russia. Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria, Hungry & Herzegovina. 3. 1908- America Hungry annexed Bosnia & Herzegovina. 4. Militarism EU had forgotten about the horrors of the Napoleonic war.

Anglo-American Ties

1915: US gives tactic support to British naval blockade of Germany. May 1915: German sub sinks the Lousitainia Americans demanded a though stand against Germany, but did not want to be drawn into the war.

What they wanted

Both Allies & the Central Powers had sacrificed too much to settle for anything short of outright victory. Germany wanted to annex territory in eastern EU, Belgium, & France & to take over Belgian & French colonies in Africa: Austria sought after Balkan territory.

Middle class women

Achieved two obj: woman suffrage & prohibition

Zimmerman Note

An intercepted message from the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German minister in Mex. It proposed that in the event of war between the US & Germany, Mex should ally itself w Germany, in exchange, Mex would recover it lost territory in Texas, New Mex & Arizona.

US officially enters ww1

April 6th, 1917

Central power weakens

As they weaken, the western front was wearing thin, they finally signed an armistice in Nov 11 1918.

Shift in American Attitudes:

At first most Americans wanted to stay out of the war, Wilson claimed to be neutral & so did the country as a whole, but the US felt culturally, economically, politically connected to the Allies.

Chain reaction

Austria Hungry gave Serbia unreasonable ultimatum. Russia backed the Serbs, Germany blacked Austria Hungry. Germany declares war on Russia & France. Germany struck at France by marching through neutral Belgium. Great Britain reacted & declared was on Germany.

Trench Warfare

Became the style of fighting during WW1

Wilson's beliefs at first

Believed in idealism but also made sure that our vital interests were protected.

Internationalists

Believed that the US should play a vigorous role in world affairs & serve as a force of honorable behavior. (Albert)

Sedition Act

Broad law restricting criticism of America's involvement in WW1 or its gov, flag, military, taxes or officials.

American Expeditionary Force (AEF)

Commanded by Gen. John J Pershing saw little fighting before spring of 1918

1917 Selective Service Act .

Created the military draft. 3 mill were drafted and another 2 mill volunteered

Belleau Wood

First battle in May 1918, US troops helped to turn the tide of the war after Germany attempted their Western Front w/ troops from the East. Allies launched their own attacked German trenches in the Agonne Forest, by Sept the Allies overwhelmed the Germans.

The Economy of War

Economic issues soon threatened American neutrality. International law permitted neutral nations to sell or ship war material to belligerents & w the economy mired in a recession when the war began, many Americans looked to war orders to spur economic recovery. But the British navy prevented trade w the Central Powers. Only the Allies could buy American goods. Their orders for steel, explosives, uniforms, wheat, & other products, however, pulled the country out of the recession.

Mass Slaughter

Enveloped EU as huge armies battled to a stalemate. The British & French faced the Germans along a line of trenches stretching across France & Belgium from the English Channel to Switzerland. Little movement occurred despite great efforts & terrible casualties from artillery, machine guns, & poison gas. The belligerents subordinated their economies, politics, & cultures to military demands.

Isolationalists

Feared the US involvement would intervene w reforms @ home (Robert M. lafollette

National War Labor Board

Fed & State gov created agencies to oversee the wartime economy. The NWLB guaranteed the rights of unions to organize & margin collectively. Labor unions sharply increased their membership under this protection.

Destroying decent

German wasn't allowed to be taught or spoken, anything German was bad and people would get harassed if caught being questionable

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's plan to quickly strike France w/o Russian mobility.

Sussex Pledge

Germany's pledge during WW1 not to sink merchant ships w/o warning, on the conditions that Britain also observe recognized rules of international laws.

Central Powers

Germany, Austria, Hungry, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire

Committee on Public Info (CPI)

Gov agency during WW1 that sought to shape public opinion in support of the war effort through newspapers, pamphlets, films, & other media. Led by Gorge Creed

Sussex incident

In April 1916, a German sub torpedo the French ship Sussex, injuring 4 Americans. Wilson threatened to break diplomatic relations if Germany didn't abandon unrestricted warfare against merchant vessels, enemy as well as neutral.

14 Points

In Jan 1918 Wilson announced his 14 Points which addressed several immediate war issues. The purpose of his plan was to remake international order so future disputes could be kept from deteriorating into war

Sinking of the Lusitania;

In May 95, a German sub sank a British passenger boat, the Lusitania. It had been carrying arms, & the German embassy had warned Americans against traveling on the ship, but the loss of life— 1,198 people, including 128 Americans & the rules of war: in the fact of such wholesale murder on the high seas, is a waste of time. This was a difficult stance, Wilson demanded that Germany abandon it submarine campaign. His language was so harsh that Bryan resigned, warning that by requiring more of Germany than of Britain, the Pres. violated neutrality & threatened to draw the nation into war.

Liberty Bonds

Interest-bearing certificates sold by the US gov to finance the American WW1 effort.

Point 1-5

Invoked principles to guide international relations freedom of the seas: open diplomacy, reduction of arms, free trade, & fair settlement of colonial claims.

Paris Peace Conference

Jan 18th 1919, Allied leaders met @ Versallies. US, France, Italy & GB made up the Big 4. Central Powers & USSR were excluded. EU wanted Germany condemned as a war criminal, completely disarmed & forced to pay reparations. EU'S main concern w/ Wilson plan was self determination. Wilson allowed the Allies to drastically modify the 14 Points to make the treaty move along even the Wilson didn't agree.

Espionage Act

Law whose vague prohibition against obstructing the nation's war effort was used to crush dissent & criticism during WW1

Reservationists

Led by Henry Cabet Lodge, refused to pass the treaty w/o major changes. Felt it eroded congressional authority to declare war & the league might interfere w domestic policy. Wilson Toured the country to grab support for the treaty.

Food Administration

Led by Herbert Hoover, he persuaded millions of Americans to accept meatless and heatless days, so that the Food Admin could feed military and for gain consumers.

The Railroad Administration

Led by William McAdoo, it operated the nation's railroads as a unified system to move supplies & troops efficiently.

Preparedness

Military buildup in prep for possible US involvement in WW1 mostly northeastern reps.

American attitudes

Most Americans believed that the us had no vital interest in the war and would not become involved. Pres. Wilson issued a neutrality proclamation and urged Americans to be neutral.

The Battle of Preparedeness

Most Americans opposed expensive military preps. Leading feminists, such as Jane Adams, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, & Carrie Chapman Catt, formed the Woman's Peace Party in 1915, & other organizations, such as the American League of Armaments, also campaigned against preparedness. At fist Wilson opposed preparedness but reserved his position when the sub crisis w Germany intensified.

14th Point

Most important point: The creation of the League of Nations. Their decisions were enforced by economic sanctions & military forces set up by each country. Central Powers said it was nothing more than just propaganda & dismissed it.

National Propaganda themes:

National unity, the loathsome character of the enemy, & the war as a grand crusade for liberty & democracy.

Points 6-13

Proposed creating new nations, shifting old boarders or ensuring self- determination.

Inreconsibles

Robert M. Lafollette refused to pass the treaty in any form. Opposed the League of Nations bc they felt it would put the US in foreign disputes & they wanted to focus on reforms back home.

Training conditions

Soldiers were trained in hastily made camps where they followed prohibition & were taught personal hygiene & English. Training camps, military units & jobs were all segregated. 40,000 women were recruited as non combatant personal.

American Protection Leauge

Sought to purge radicals & reformers from the nation's economic & political life.

Declaration of London

Statement drafted by an international conference in 909 to clarify international law & specify the rights of neutral actions. Germany agreed to this, but Britain didn't. Instead, skirting or violating established procedures, Britain blockade Germany, mined the North Sea, & forced neutral ships into British ports to search their cargoes & confiscate material deemed useful to German war effort. These British actions infringed with on the US trading rights.

Trying to get the US to join the war

The Allies would try to get the US to join the war, and the Central Powers would hope that the US would remain neutral. England knew how to evoke sympathy & blew up German atrocities, many times & used propaganda to make Germany seem even worse. Germany was bad at Propaganda, & their deeds offended the US.

What was the cause of WW1?

The Assassination of Archduke Frans Ferdinand who was shot by Gavrillo Princip On June 28, 1914.

African Americans & War work

The demand for industrial labor caused a huge migration of black people from the South to the North where they worked in shipyards, steel mills, & packing houses. 1/2 a million African Americans moved north during the war, doubling & tripling the black pop of Chicago, Detroit, & other industrial cities. There were a lot of race riots against black people.

Self Determination

The right of a people or a nation to decide its own political allegiance or form of gov w/o external influence

Diplomacy of Neutrality

The same imbalance characterized American diplomacy. Wilson insisted on American neutral rights but acquiesced in British violations of those rights, while sternly refusing to yield to German actions. Wilson argued that while British violations of international law cost Americans properties, markets & time. German violations cost lives

March 19 1920

The senate killed the treaty, it was never ratified & the us never joined the League of Nations. The US signed a separate peace treaty w Germany

Financing the war

The war was financed by raising taxes, borrowing money. The gov. raised 2/3 of the war costs by borrowing. Most of the loans came from banks & wealthy investors, but the gov also campaigned to sell liberty bonds.

Black women

They replaced whit women in the garment & textile industries, social reformers spoke of a new day for the colored women worker. But their optimism was unwanted. Racial as well as gender see continued to mark employment, & wartime improvements were temp.

Submarine warfare:

This policy ties the US to the British war effort & provoked a German response. With its army stalemated on land & it navy no match for Britain's, Germany decided in Feb 1915 to use it subs against Allied shipping in a war zone around the British Isles. Neutral ships risked being sunk by mistake, partly bc British ships legally flew neutral flags.

Financing the War

To finance their war purchases, the Allies borrowed from American bankers. Initially, Sec of State, Bryan persuaded Wilson to prohibit loans to the belligerents. Wilson ended the ban. Sec of the Treasury William McAdoo argued that it would be disastrous not to finance the Allie's purchases, on which our prosperity depended on. By April of 1917, American loans to the Allies exceeded $2 billion, near a hundred times the amount lent to Germany.

What the Allies wanted

Wanted to destroy German military & commercial power, weaken the Austro-Hungarian Empire, take Germany's colonies in African, & supplant Turkish influence in the Middle East. To break deadlock, Germany resumed unrestricted sub warfare.

Wilson's fight for the 14 Points

Wilson didn't give up on his fight for the League of Nations & it was included when they ratified the Treaty. on June 28th 1919. American opinion of the treaty was equally split. Wilson returned to a Rep. Congress where ignored, both the treaty & the Peace Conference.

Wilson's Inclination

Wilson leaned towards the Allies, he admired England's Parliament & liberal party's social reforms & he believed a German victory threatened America's economic, political & strategic interest. Even w/ sympathy leaning towards the Allies, most citizens wanted remain neutral.

1916 Election

Wilson made a speaking tour to generate public support for enlarging the armed forces. The slogan "He kept us out of war" appealed to the pop desire for peace, & the Dem campaign became 1 long peace rally. The Reps were divided. They had hoped to regain their progressive members after TR urged the Progressive Party to follow him back into the Rep. The rep nominated Charles Evan Hughes, A Supreme Court justice & former NY gov. Unfortunately for Hugens, TR attacks on Wilson for not pursuing a war policy persuaded many voters that the Rep was a war party. The desire for peace, observers concluded, had determined the election.

Side War

Wilson wanted to try Moral Diplomacy w Mex to ensure that the new Mex leader would be friendly towards the US. Mex was experiencing a political upbeat and war almost broke out on several occasions, the biggest threat came when revolutionary, Pancho Villa ordered his troops to attack the US in attempts to provoke war. Although Wilson sent troops to MEX, WW1 kept the US from war w Mex

Views of Wilson's diplomacy

Wilson's diplomacy victory, then. was hallow. Peace for America would depend on the British adopting a course they had already rejected. As Wilson saw it however, any little German lieutenant can put us into war @ any time by some calculated outrage. Wilson's diplomacy had left the nation's future @ the mercy of others.

Moral Diplomacy

Wilson's foreign policy: doing what is morally right, not necessarily what is the most beneficial.

Women's workforce during war

Women would have jobs that had been closed to them before. They worked in munition plants and in the steel industry.

War Industries Board

established in july, 1917. It promoted business interests, helped suspend anti-trust laws, & guaranteed huge profits. Led by Bernard Baruch