The Great War
The Road to US Involvement
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How did the war begin?
War!
Troops!
Heyyy!
It’s cool!
War!
Shhh!
Invade!
War!
War!
What the Front!?
(WWI from 1914-1917)
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The Western Front
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The Eastern Front
The Italian Front
The Palestinian Front
The East African Front
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Air
The Atlantic
Pacific Islands (New Guinea)
Other Fronts
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The USA Joins the War
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The US declares neutrality on August 4th, 1914
The US did not want to get entangled in a foreign war and had no large standing
army.
Public Opinion about the war was split
The largest immigrant groups in the US at the time were Irish and Germans, both
generally favored the Central Powers.
The US shared common language, heritage, and style of government with the British.
Before the war…
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Why join the war?
The sinking of the Lusitania (1915)
A passenger ship that was sunk by a German U Boat; 1,198 passengers were killed,
128 US Citizens. Germany quickly apologized and ordered that their U Boats stop
targeting passenger ships.
The Resuming of Unrestricted submarine warfare (1917).
Germany begins targeting all ships trying to make port in Great Britain; 3 American
ships were sunk.
The Zimmerman Telegram (1917)
Germany promised to help Mexico regain territories lost during the Mexican American
War if they allied themselves with Germany.
U.S.A.!!
- Woodrow Wilson
“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the
tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We
desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material
compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the
champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have
been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”
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Wilson creates The Committee on Public Information headed by George Creel
produced anti German propaganda designed to sway public opinion against the central
powers.
Created films, music, etc.
The first use of widely disseminated propaganda posters in the US.
Anti German Sentiment
George Creel - Head of the CPI; former muckraking journalist
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"Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people...Propaganda works on the
general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory
of this idea.”
Where is the appeal?
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Where is the appeal?
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"Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people...Propaganda works on the
general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory
of this idea.”
Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1926
Sauerkraut → “Liberty Cabbage”
dachshunds → stoned to death
Robert Prager
Lynched by a mob in Illinois
His crime = speaking German to a neighbor
12 men tried for the murder, all acquitted
American Histeria
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Busch, Pabst, Schlitz, Miller
Anti-Saloon League linked “beer” and “treason” in the minds of Americans.
Gave prohibitionists the final push they needed to pass the 18th amendment by 1919
Unanticipated Enemy
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Passed by Congress 2 months after declaring war
Prohibited “obtaining information, recording pictures, or copying descriptions of
any information relating to the national defense with intent or reason to believe
that the information may be used for the injury of the United States or to the
advantage of any foreign nation.”
Postmaster General ordered that post offices report the mailing of “suspicious
material.”
by 1918, 74 newspapers had lost their mailing privileges
Schenck v. United States
Supreme Court upheld the Constitutionality of the law; “Congress has more latitude
in limiting speech in times of war.”
The Espionage Act
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Julian Assange - WikiLeaks
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1917 - Congress passed the Selective Service Act
required men to register with the Government to be randomly selected for military
service.
about 3 million were called up, 2 million made it to Europe, 75% saw actual combat.
400,000 African Americans served
the 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front line than any
other American unit.
Raising an Army
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US took drastic measures to expand the fleet
dock workers were exempted from the draft.
PR campaign emphasizing the importance of dock workers.
To combat U-Boat attacks, The US and allies employed the Convoy System
destroyers escorted merchant ships across the Atlantic.
Getting them “Over There”
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April 4th, 1917 - The USA declares war on Germany
General John Pershing would lead the AEF
“The forces of the United States are a separate and distinct component of the
combined forces the identity of which must be preserved.“
American forces first saw action in May, 1918. over 1.2 Million Americans would
fight in the war, and the US would sustain roughly 323,000 casualties
USA!!!
Joseph Douglas Lawrence
“I have never seen or heard of such an elaborate, complete line of defense as the
British had built at this point… nothing had been neglected to hold this line, save
only one important thing, enthusiasm among the troops, and that was the purpose of
our presence.”
American Impact
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The Spring Offensive
Background
The Battle
Aftermath
Mr. Kelly’s $.02
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Spring of 1918, Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff last ditch effort to end the war
before the full effect of the AEF could be felt.
Culminated in the Second Battle of the Marne (July 15-20)
As French troops retreated, Pershing sent 5 divisions to halt the German offensive
(“Retreat, hell! We just got here!”)
American Marine and Army units refused to give ground, and by July 20th, the
Germans began to retreat (“The Americans are killing everyone.”).
The Spring Offensive
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The 100 Days Offensive
Background
The Battle
Aftermath
Mr. Kelly’s $.02
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Began with the Battle of Amiens (August 8-11)
British, French, Australian, American, and Canadian Forces take the offensive
against the Germans.
Through combined tank, plane, Infantry and cavalry attacks, The Entente began to
advance all along the Western front.
The 100 Days Offensive
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100 days offensive would break the back of the Germans.
Kaiser Abdicates on November 9th, armistice signed on November 11th.
Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28th, 1919 (5 years to the day after Franz
Ferdinand’s assassination)
End of the War
Problems with Peace
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The Treaty of Versailles
The Big Three
Woodrow Wilson
The United States
David Lloyd George
Great Britain
Georges Clemenceau
France
Wilson’s Fourteen points
End to secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
Free trade
Reduced national armies and navies
The adjustment of colonial claims
6 - 13. The adjustment of borders and the creation of new nations (self-
determination of nations; allowing people to decide for themselves under which
governments they wanted to live)
14. “A general association of nations” that would protect all states.
The Paris Peace Conference
Clemenceau and George did not share Wilson’s vision of a lasting peace.
They were primarily concerned with making sure that Germany would be too weak to
ever challenge France or Britain again.
The two sides “compromised” and the treaty of Versailles was signed on June 29th,
1919
Compromise
Created the League of Nations: an international association of nations with the
primary objective of maintaining peace.
Germany lost substantial territory and all overseas colonies.
Reduced the German army to a small internal police force.
No U boats & no air force
The “war guilt” clause
Germany had to accept all responsibility for causing the war, and pay all the
Entente’s war debts ($33 billion).
Separate Peace
The Entente would form separate treaties with the other defeated nations:
Austria Hungary: would be divided up based on Nationalities.
The Ottoman Empire: forced to give up almost all of their former territory;
retained what is modern day turkey.
Russia: Germany was forced to give up all land acquired by the treaty of Brest-
Litovsk; The former Russian territory would become new nation-states
“A Peace Built on Quicksand”
The US Senate would reject the Treaty of Versailles.
Would not join the League of Nations.
Woodrow Wilson would suffer a stroke on October 2nd, 1919 that would leave him
incapacitated until the end of his presidency in 1921.
The Terms of the Treaty left lingering resentment across the world
European colonialism continued in Asia and Africa.
Japan and Italy, who had joined the Entente in hopes of gaining more territory,
gained very little.
The Christmas Truce
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***BONUS MATERIAL***
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