NCWW - World War I (Lesson)
World War I
World War I – Origins
When World War I began in Europe in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson was determined to guarantee U.S. neutrality and keep the United States out of the war, but in 1915 the luxury liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine (U-boat), killing most of the people on board, including over 100 U.S. citizens. This led to a crisis between the United States and Germany that was only resolved when Germany agreed to abandon unrestricted submarine warfare that endangered U.S. trade and American lives. However, in 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, creating great anti-German sentiments among Americans and heightened tensions which led to the U.S. decision to enter the war.
The origins of the war are complex. Some causes include nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the “alliance system” in Europe. At the end of the 1800s, nationalism in Europe was on the rise and European nations believed that it was a “survival of the fittest” among countries.
Increasing literacy rates and affordable newspapers led to the promotion of nationalistic sentiments among the masses. The nationalistic goals included a competition to colonize the remaining parts of Africa and Asia---the competition heightened tensions among European nations.
The arms buildup in the European nations (especially rivals Great Britain and Germany) further exacerbated the geopolitical tensions.
Adding “fuel to the fire,” a combination of sensitive alliances among rival countries made the situation untenable and the situation soon degraded into a broad-scope war because of mutual defense treaties that dragged even more nations into the war.
The War Begins!
The many causes of the war (see above) were ignited by the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Slavic nationalist while he and his wife were visiting Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1914.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia, and the alliances brought Germany into the war on the side of Austria-Hungary; Russia, France, and Great Britain came into the war on the side of Serbia.
In the beginning, Russia, France, and Great Britain (formerly known on an informal basis as the Triple Entente) and now the coalition was known as the Allied Powers and included Belgium, Montenegro, Japan, Serbia, and several other countries joined as the war advanced.
Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Germany were known as the “Triple Alliance” and formed the Central Powers which expanded to include the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and several other belligerents. Italy joined the Allied Powers in 1915.
The war lasted for 4 years (1914-1918) and resulted in the tragic loss of 8.5 million troops.
The United States’ Isolationism
At the beginning of the conflict the United States believed it could remain neutral during the war. There were several reasons for the Americans’ commitment to neutrality in the first three years of the war.
Isolationism: From the days of George Washington’s warning about becoming involved in international conflicts in his Farewell Address in 1796, the United States’ goal was to avoid conflict on the ground in Europe. Americans remained committed to isolationism in the early 20th century.
Additionally, American neutrality meant that the United States could continue to trade with both sides during the war.
Immigration Patterns
The United States was home to millions of people from both sides of the conflict and the immigrants tended to side with their countries of origin.
The United States Finally Enters the War
Even though the United States was neutral at the beginning, there were several causes that pushed the US into the conflict. President Woodrow Wilson focused on the “freedom of the seas” and said that the U.S. would trade and sell weapons to either side of the conflict. However, Great Britain had blockaded Germany, so trade shifted to Great Britain as the war dragged on.
Between 1914 and 1917, U.S.-Great Britain trade increased by 300% and U.S.-Germany trade dwindled to nearly nothing.
Germany responded by warning Great Britain and the United States that sailing vessels in the Atlantic Ocean would be subject to attacks by U-boats (submarines). In May 1915 the Lusitania (a passenger ship that carried cargo) was sunk by a German U-boat, killing many passengers including 128 Americans. The Arabic, another ship that was sunk by a German U-boat killed two more Americans in August 1915. (The Germans asserted that the Lusitania was carrying cargo from the United States to assist Great Britain’s war effort on board.)
Germany wanted to prevent the United States from entering the war, so the Germans agreed to the Arabic Pledge (1915) in which the Germans agreed to stop attacking passenger ships without warning. In 1916, a German U-boat attacked a French ferry, the Sussex, and killed 80 people and injured hundreds including Americans. Germany then posted the Sussex Pledge (1916) to assuage the United States. President Wilson was incensed and threatened to end relations with Germany.
With the Sussex Pledge, Germany rededicated itself to the Arabic Pledge and extended it to include merchant ships (unless it was determined that war materials were on board). The United States took advantage of the pledge and ramped up its trade with Great Britain, making the Germans increasingly angry.
In 1916 President Wilson ran for re-election on the campaign slogan, “He kept us out of the war” yet as the war continued on, Wilson shifted to a pro-war stance. (This shift divided American public opinion.)
The United States finally entered the war in 1917 after the secret “Zimmerman Note” or “Zimmerman Telegram” became public. The secret communique between the German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman to Mexican government leaders indicated that Germany would help Mexico retake the territory it lost in the Mexican-American War (basically all of the American Desert Southwest) if Mexico supported Germany in the war.
Americans viewed the Zimmerman Note as a threat to their territory which increased support for the United States’ entry into the war.
In January 1917 Germany announced that it would revoke the Sussex Pledge and unrestricted U-boat warfare against Great Britain and its allies would resume; and in February and March of that year, hundreds of American ships were sunk by German U-boats. This was the final straw for President Wilson, and in April 1917 the United States declared war on Germany.
World War I – Impacts
The war created jobs in Northeastern and Midwestern cities. African Americans, tired of living under the repression that was common in the South, moved to the North by the thousands and established themselves in ethnically distinct and culturally rich neighborhoods. This movement of African Americans was called the Great Migration, not to be confused with the Great Migration by Puritans in 1630.
During the war, laws were passed that prohibited people from speaking out against it. The Espionage Act of 1917 made it a crime to communicate any information that would interfere with U.S. military operations or aid its enemies. Wilson supported this law to silence critics and pacifists. The next year, labor leader Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist Party presidential candidate in the presidential elections of 1904, 1908, and 1912, was convicted for hindering military recruiting by making a speech against it; he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Many people supported such laws although they violated the spirit of the First Amendment.
Social changes during the war led to two constitutional amendments.
Americans' anti-German feelings led to a campaign to outlaw beer and other alcoholic beverages, and this campaign suited the Progressive Era's opposition to saloons as an extension of the 19th-century temperance movement.
Congress passed the 18th Amendment, which prohibited "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." The amendment was more commonly referred to as “Prohibition.” The campaign began during the run up to the war and was finally ratified by the states on January 16, 1919.
Ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote was propelled by the country's gratitude for women's economic contributions during the war. The women had filled jobs in factories that the war created after men volunteered and were drafted into military service. (This was not the first war in which women had held things together on the home front. Historically, women had been taking men’s place on the home front since the Colonial Period.)
Isolationism, revisited
Before the United States entered the war, Wilson had given a speech in which he described Fourteen Points he felt were key to avoiding future wars. One point called for the creation of an international peacekeeping organization called the League of Nations. During the post-war treaty negotiations, Wilson worked hard to get as many as possible of his Fourteen Points included in the treaty and succeeded in securing the creation of the League of Nations.
However, American opposition to the League of Nations ultimately led the Senate to refuse to ratify the treaty after the war was over. Isolationists in the Senate believed that by joining the League the United States would be drawn into future conflicts in Europe and elsewhere. Though Wilson traveled across America to create public support for the treaty's ratification, the Senate eventually rejected it. The United States never joined the League of Nations.
View the following presentation that gives information about World War I and its impact on the U.S. and contains many examples of World War I Era posters.
View this handout with more information about World War I. Links to an external site.
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UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD, PHOTOGRAPHER. PUTTING A KICK IN THE STAID OLD SCHUYLKILL HERE GO A FEW BARRELS OF BEER -- NOT 1/2 OF 1 PERCENT -- INTO THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER. PHOTOGRAPH. RETRIEVED FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, <WWW.LOC.GOV/ITEM/2012649416/>.