Chapter 21: America and the Great War, 1914-1920
Put the following postwar events in chronological order.
- Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress. - Peace talks begin in Paris. - The Treaty of Versailles is signed. - President Wilson begins a transcontinental speaking tour to bolster public support for the League of Nations.
Put in chronological order the following German actions that pushed the United States to join the war.
- German U-boats sink the Lusitania. - German U-boats sink the Arabic. - The Germans agree to the Sussex Pledge. - The Germans announce a policy shift: they would wage unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean. - The British intercept the Zimmermann telegram and learn of a German conspiracy. - German U-boats sink five American ships in the Atlantic Ocean.
Put the following post-World War I events in chronological order.
- Postal workers intercept nearly forty mail bombs addressed to government officials. - A bomb destroys the front of U.S. Attorney General Palmer's house in Washington, D.C. - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed to head a government agency tasked with gathering information on radical groups, such as anarchists and socialists. - Federal agents round up 5,000 suspected radicals and deport some to Russia.
Complete the passage below describing the ramifications of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with German support, attempted to exercise control over Serbian internal affairs. In response, Russia mobilized forces in defense of Serbia. This initial military mobilization activated both major European military alliances: the Central Powers composed of Italy, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the opposing Allied Powers made up of Great Britain, Russia, and France. It was the German declaration of war that, at that time, began the bloodiest war in human history.
Identify the ways in which the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts contributed to the war effort.
They helped sell war bonds that eventually helped fund the war effort.
The German decision on January 31, 1917 to sink all non-German ships in the Atlantic ultimately resulted in the United States joining World War I.
True
Although one early commentator wrote in the Literary Digest, "Our isolated position and freedom from entangling alliances [ensure that] we are in no peril of being drawn into the European quarrel," America would ultimately be drawn into the conflict. Put in chronological order the following events that contributed to the United States joining the First World War.
- World War I begins with a German declaration of war. - President Wilson allows American banks to loan money to the governments of nations at war. - The sinking of the Lusitania outrages the American public and leaders. - Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic. - The American public reacted angrily to the Zimmermann telegram.
What was content of the Zimmermann telegram, and why was it so significant in bringing the United States into World War I?
A German official contacted the Mexican government and encouraged Mexico to invade the United States, which pushed the United States toward joining the war.
Complete the passage below describing the American fear of a Communist revolution.
Communists were few in number in the United States during the immediate aftermath of the First World War, roughly 70,000. Most Americans believed that there were many more fomenting a Communist revolution based on the violent acts of a few radical militants. Additionally, a number of mail bombs were sent to politicians, which helped fuel the anti-Communist hysteria. This fear motivated the roundup that occurred during the Red Scare.
Analyze the poster below. What does it reveal about the fear of espionage during World War I?
Correct Answer(s) - Anyone could inadvertently share information that an enemy could use against America. - The "enemy" was often difficult to detect, and blended in with other Americans.
What were some of the issues that impeded the implementation of President Wilson's ideal peace plan?
Correct Answer(s) - At the end of the war, Wilson left the United States for six months to attend the peace talks. - Wilson's Fourteen Points were considered to be too idealistic for European leaders, who would not support them without reservations. - Wilson opposed Republicans in Congress who supported him during the war. - In a partisan political move, Wilson refused to appoint Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to the American peace talks delegation.
Identify some of the components of the Revenue Act of 1916 pushed through Congress by opponents of "preparedness."
Correct Answer(s) - It instituted a 100 percent increase in the federal income tax. - It imposed a 12.5 percent tax on weapons manufacturers. - It implemented an additional tax on "excessive" corporate profits.
Identify some of the factors that contributed to the Red Summer of 1919.
Correct Answer(s) - Many whites associated African American civil rights activists with communism. - The Great Migration of African Americans out of the South into northern urban areas led to heightened racial tension in many cities.
How did the Battle of Verdun indicate that World War I would be different from any previous war ever fought?
Correct Answer(s) - Over 300,000 combatants perished during that single battle alone, indicating that World War I would be far bloodier than previous wars. - The amount of artillery expended on the battlefield devastated the countryside.
Identify some of the problems that the United States faced domestically following the end of World War I.
Correct Answer(s) - Racial tensions increased and resulted in race riots as over 350,000 African Americans moved out of the South. - American workers began striking in far greater numbers. - Americans developed an overwhelming fear of communism. Incorrect Answer(s) - Americans struggled to resist the intrusive influence of foreign superpowers following the end of World War I.
How did the Bolshevik Revolution affect the war?
Correct Answer(s) - The Bolsheviks ended Russia's fighting in World War I, eliminating the fighting on the Eastern Front. Incorrect Answer(s) - The Bolsheviks switched sides in the war, becoming allied with Germany and the Central Powers. - The Bolsheviks renewed the Russian war effort against the Central Power, drawing many German troops away from the Western Front as America entered the war. - The Bolsheviks shifted Russian forces toward fighting the Ottoman Empire, drawing Ottoman troops away from the Western Front.
In December 1917, seven months after the United States declared war on Germany, French premier Georges Clemenceau told an American journalist, "A terrible blow is imminent. Tell your Americans to come quickly." What was Clemenceau's concern?
Correct Answer(s) - The Bolsheviks' seizure of power meant that Russia would no longer play a role in the war, and the Germans would soon launch a massive offensive along the Western Front. - Though America had entered the war, the time and effort spent enlisting, training, and organizing its troops meant that it had made little contribution to the fighting along the Western Front at this time.
In what ways did the entry of the United States into World War I contribute to the defeat of the Central Powers?
Correct Answer(s) - The mobilization of over 1 million U.S. troops helped French and British troops halt and turn the German spring offensive in 1918. - The 1.2 million U.S. soldiers deployed during the Meuse-Argonne offensive critically turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allied Powers.
What were some of the characteristics of World War I that made it the first industrial war?
Correct Answer(s) - The weaponry was technologically sophisticated. - The devastation of the war was so intense that it reshaped the entire landscape of many battlefields.
Identify the overarching issues addressed in President Wilson's Fourteen Points.
Correct Answer(s) - They called for the elimination of trade barriers and the ability for countries to trade during war time. - They addressed how countries should conduct diplomacy. - They addressed territorial claims after World War I. Incorrect Answer(s) - They included insurances of racial equality after the war. - They asserted that the United States would determine when the use of military force was legitimate in international conflicts.
Identify the positions President Wilson held, and ultimately conceded, during and following the Paris Peace Conference.
Correct Answer(s) - Wilson ultimately relented to French demands for German territorial concessions. - Wilson had to forego his desire to see all ethnic groups experience a degree of self-determination.
Shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, millions of young working-age men were removed from the labor force as a result of the draft. How did this change impact women's roles in the job market?
Correct Answer(s) - Women increasingly took industrial jobs as the men who would traditionally fill those positions were away fighting the war.
In the decision of Schenck v. United States (1919), the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Charles T. Schenck for distributing leaflets that contained anti-war material, on the basis that the Espionage and Sedition Acts violated Schenck's First Amendment right to free speech.
False
President Wilson's populist transcontinental speaking tour caused enough voters to put pressure on their senators to get the Treaty of Versailles ratified.
False
How was Wilson's Fourteen Points received by heads of state of European nations at the Paris Peace Conference?
They rebuked Wilson's unrealistic idealism as unattainable, while attempting to gain as much as possible for their respective nations.
German general Erich Ludendorff said that "America became the decisive power in the war." Place the following events in chronological order to explain the importance of American troops to the defeat of Germany.
- Tsar Nicholas II abdicates the Russian monarchy. - Lenin signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. - The return of German troops from the Eastern Front strengthens the Western Front for a final campaign against France and Belgium. - Over 1 million Americans take part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive to repel the German advance into France. - The Allied offensive forces German leaders to ask for peace based on Wilson's Fourteen Points.
President Wilson said, "It is not the army we must train and shape for war, it is a nation." What does this quotation illustrate about America's readiness for war?
Americans needed to prepare to make sacrifices on the home front as industries were converted to meet the supply needs of the armed forces.
Identify the criticisms levied against Wilson's League of Nations proposal.
Correct Answer(s) - Some critics believed that the goals set forth in the League of Nations proposal were far too idealistic to be accomplished. - Some critics argued that it would put limits on American sovereignty. - Some critics argued that it would reignite German militarist nationalism.
Identify how the First World War shaped postwar events on the international stage.
Correct Answer(s) - The resolution to the war, and particularly the terms of peace, left Germany wanting revenge. - The war accelerated the triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Combat-related deaths of civilians and combatants accounted for the majority of those killed during World War I.
False
During the period when the United States remained neutral, it treated both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers equally.
False
The majority of the American troops who died during World War I died in combat.
False
Complete the passage below describing the political battle within the United States over whether to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and join the League of Nations.
In the aftermath of World War I, President Wilson was able to assert his influence over the Paris Peace Conference because of the role that the United States played in the victory of the Allied Powers. The government that was most effective in opposing President Wilson's vision of a postwar world was his own. The ratification process was constantly obstructed in the U.S. Senate. As a result, President Wilson embarked on a transcontinental speaking tour to sway the American people to support the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. In the end, the Senate rejected the treaty.
Identify how the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment changed the political landscape of the United States.
It immediately reshaped the electoral landscape, as women accounted for 40 percent of the electorate in the presidential election of 1920.
Identify the location of the Western Front, a region that saw on average 900 Frenchmen and 1,300 Germans die each day.
Middle Region
Complete the passage below describing the readiness of the United States for war at the time it declared war on Germany.
When the United States declared war on Germany, the U.S. Army was unprepared for battle. The size of the existing army was grossly inadequate compared to those of the Central Powers and Allied Powers; further, American troops were armed with outdated weaponry. The federal government's authority grew in order to expedite the American entry into World War I. Nearly 3 million troops between the ages of twenty-one and thirty were drafted to fight in World War I.
How did President Wilson respond to the request from African American civil rights leaders for the inclusion of a fifteenth point in Wilson's Fourteen Points that promised an end to racial discrimination?
Wilson did not respond to their request.
What aspect of American neutrality during the first years of World War I does this cartoon criticize?
the Wilson administration's policy of strict neutrality, while not limiting U.S. banks from loaning money to nations at war to buy weapons, food, and other supplies from the United States
A British army chaplain declared World War I to be a "Waste of Muscle, Waste of Brain, Waste of Patience, Waste of Pain ... Waste of Glory, Waste of God." What unique aspects of World War I does this quotation address?
the brutal nature of industrial warfare and the massive casualties it inflicted on combatants
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was part of which of the following larger conflicts that led to the outbreak of World War I?
The conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia
