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Battle scene on the western front during World War I.

1915 German U-boats

sink the Lusitania, and
1,198 people die.
1914 Hollywood,
California, becomes 1915 Alexander Graham
the center of movie Bell makes first transcon- 1916 Woodrow Wilson
production in the U.S. tinental telephone call. is reelected president.

USA 1914
WORLD
1915 1916

1914 Archduke Franz 1914 Germany declares 1915 Albert Einstein 1916 The battles of
Ferdinand and his wife war on Russia and France. proposes his general Verdun and the Somme
are assassinated. Great Britain declares war theory of relativity. claim millions of lives.
on Germany and Austria-
Hungary.

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INTERACT
WI T H HI S T O RY

The year is 1917. A bitter war is raging

in Europe—a war that has been called
a threat to civilization. At home many
people are urging America to wake up
and get involved, while others are
calling for the country to isolate itself
and avoid the fight.

Do you think
America should
enter the war?
Examine the Issues
• Is it right for America to intervene
in foreign conflicts?
• When American lives are threat-
ened, how should the government
respond?
• Should America go to war to make
the world “safe for democracy”?

RESEARCH LINKS [Link]

Visit the Chapter 19 links for more information
about The First World War.

1918 Congress passes

1917 The Selective Service the Sedition Act.
Act sets up the draft. 1919 Congress approves
1918 President Wilson the Nineteenth
1917 The United States proposes the League of Amendment, granting
declares war on Germany. Nations. women the vote.

1917 1918 1919

1917 Russia 1918 The Bolsheviks establish 1919 A worldwide

withdraws from a Communist regime in Russia. influenza epidemic
the war. kills over 30 million.
1918 The First World War ends.

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World War I
Begins
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

As World War I intensified, The United States remains •nationalism •no man’s land
the United States was forced involved in European and •militarism •trench warfare
to abandon its neutrality. world affairs. •Allies •Lusitania
•Central Powers •Zimmermann
•Archduke Franz note
Ferdinand

One American's Story

It was about 1:00 A.M. on April 6, 1917, and the members of the U.S.
House of Representatives were tired. For the past 15 hours they had
been debating President Wilson’s request for a declaration of war
against Germany. There was a breathless hush as Jeannette
Rankin of Montana, the first woman elected to Congress, stood
up. Rankin declared, “I want to stand by my country but I can-
not vote for war. I vote no.” Later she reflected on her action.

A PERSONAL VOICE JEANNETTE RANKIN

“ I believe that the first vote I cast was the most significant vote
and a most significant act on the part of women, because women
are going to have to stop war. I felt at the time that the first woman
[in Congress] should take the first stand, that the first time the first
woman had a chance to say no to war she should say it.” ▼
—quoted in Jeannette Rankin: First Lady in Congress Jeannette Rankin was
the only member of the
After much debate as to whether the United States should join the fight, House to vote against
Congress voted in favor of U.S. entry into World War I. With this decision, the U.S. entering both
the government abandoned the neutrality that America had maintained for World War I and World
War II.
three years. What made the United States change its policy in 1917?

Causes of World War I

Although many Americans wanted to stay out of the war, several factors made
American neutrality difficult to maintain. As an industrial and imperial power,
the United States felt many of the same pressures that had led the nations of
Europe into devastating warfare. Historians generally cite four long-term causes of
the First World War: nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the formation of a
system of alliances.

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NATIONALISM Throughout the 19th century, politics in the Western world were
deeply influenced by the concept of nationalism—a devotion to the interests
and culture of one’s nation. Often, nationalism led to competitive and antago-
nistic rivalries among nations. In this atmosphere of competition, many feared
Germany’s growing power in Europe.
In addition, various ethnic groups resented domination by others and longed
for their nations to become independent. Many ethnic groups looked to larger
nations for protection. Russia regarded itself as the protector of Europe’s Slavic
peoples, no matter which government they lived under. Among these Slavic peo-
ples were the Serbs. Serbia, located in the Balkans, was an independent nation,
but millions of ethnic Serbs lived under the rule of Austria-Hungary. As a result,
Russia and Austria-Hungary were rivals for influence over Serbia.
IMPERIALISM For many centuries, European nations had been building
MAIN IDEA empires, slowly extending their economic and political control over various peo-
Analyzing
ples of the world. Colonies supplied the European imperial powers with raw mat-
Causes erials and provided markets for manufactured goods. As Germany industrialized,
A How did it competed with France and Britain in the contest for colonies. A
nationalism and
imperialism lead MILITARISM Empires were expensive to build and to defend. The growth of
to conflict in nationalism and imperialism led to increased military spending. Because each
Europe? nation wanted stronger armed forces than those of any potential enemy, the
A. Answer imperial powers followed a policy of militarism—the development of armed
Nationalism forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy.
and imperialism
By 1890 the strongest nation on the European continent was Germany, which
encouraged
each European had set up an army reserve system that drafted and trained young men. Britain was
nation to pursue not initially alarmed by Germany’s military expansion. As an island nation, Britain
its own interests had always relied on its navy for defense and protection of its shipping routes—
and compete
and the British navy was the strongest in the world. However, in 1897, Wilhelm II,
for power.
Germany’s kaiser, or emperor, decided that his nation should also become a major
sea power in order to compete more successfully against the British. Soon British
and German shipyards competed to build the largest battleships and destroyers.
Vocabulary France, Italy, Japan, and the United States quickly joined the naval arms race.
alliance: a formal
ALLIANCE SYSTEM By 1907 there were two major defense alliances in Europe.
agreement or
union between The Triple Entente, later known as the Allies, consisted of France, Britain, and
nations Russia. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
▼

German Emperor
Wilhelm II (center)
marches with two
of his generals,
Hindenburg (left)
and Ludendorff,
during World
War I.

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Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the Ottoman Empire—an empire of

mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks—were later known as the
Central Powers. The alliances provided a measure of international security
because nations were reluctant to disturb the balance of power. As it turned out,
a spark set off a major conflict.

An Assassination Leads to War

That spark flared in the Balkan Peninsula, which was known as “the powder keg
of Europe.” In addition to the ethnic rivalries among the Balkan peoples, Europe’s
leading powers had interests there. Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean
Sea. Germany wanted a rail link to the Ottoman Empire. Austria-Hungary, which
had taken control of Bosnia in 1878, accused Serbia of subverting its rule over
Bosnia. The “powder keg” was ready to explode.
In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to
the Austrian throne, visited the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. As

N OW THEN the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nation-
alist Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the
Archduke and his wife Sophie. Princip was a member of the
Black Hand, an organization promoting Serbian national-
ism. The assassinations touched off a diplomatic crisis. On
July 28, Austria-Hungary declared what was expected to be a
short war against Serbia.
The alliance system pulled one nation after another into MAIN IDEA

the conflict. On August 1, Germany, obligated by treaty Analyzing

to support Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia. On Effects
B Why were so
August 3, Germany declared war on Russia’s ally France. After
many European
CRISIS IN THE BALKANS Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany nations pulled into
After World War I, Bosnia became and Austria-Hungary. The Great War had begun. B the conflict?
part of a country that eventually
became known as Yugoslavia.
B. Answer
The alliance
Although Yugoslavia included vari-
ous religious and ethnic groups,
The Fighting Starts system pulled
one nation after
the government was dominated another into
by Serbs.
On August 3, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, following
a strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan. This plan called the conflict.
In 1991, Yugoslavia broke apart,
and Bosnia declared indepen- for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick
dence in 1992. However, Serbs drive through Belgium to Paris; after France had fallen, the
wanted Bosnia to remain part of two German armies would defeat Russia. As German
Serbian-controlled Yugoslavia.
troops swept across Belgium, thousands of civilians fled in
A bloody civil war broke out.
This war became notorious for terror. In Brussels, the Belgian capital, an American war Vocabulary
the mass murder and deportation correspondent described the first major refugee crisis of refugee: a person
of Bosnian Muslims, a process the 20th century. who flees in
known as “ethnic cleansing.” In search of
1995, the United States helped protection or
negotiate a cease-fire. A PERSONAL VOICE RICHARD HARDING DAVIS shelter, as in
But peace in the Balkans did “ [We] found the side streets blocked with their carts. times of war
not last. In the late 1990s, or religious
Into these they had thrown mattresses, or bundles of
persecution
Albanians in the province of grain, and heaped upon them were families of three
Kosovo also tried to break away Skillbuilder
generations. Old men in blue smocks, white-haired and Answers
from Serbia. Serbia’s violent
bent, old women in caps, the daughters dressed in their 1. About 10 miles.
response, which included the
“ethnic cleansing” of Albanians, one best frock and hat, and clasping in their hands all 2. The Allies
prompted NATO to intervene. that was left to them, all that they could stuff into a pil- surrounded the
Today, peacekeepers in the low-case or flour-sack. . . . Heart-broken, weary, hungry, Central Powers;
because of this,
Balkans struggle to control the they passed in an unending caravan.” Germany had to
continuing ethnic violence. —from Hooray for Peace, Hurrah for War fight on two
fronts.

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Europe at the Start of World War I

N
W

E
S NORWAY
British
Blockade SWEDEN Petrograd
(St. Petersburg)
Tannenberg, Aug. 1914
Germans stop Russian
advance.
Moscow
ATLANTIC IRELAND North
S e a DENMARK

Ea
(Br.)
R U S S I A

s te r
50°N

n F r o n t O c t . 19 1 7
G R E AT c Sea
B a lti Tannenberg
B R I TA I N
London
NETHERLANDS
Berlin
OCEAN
Brussels
May 1915 GER MANY
BELGIUM
Lusitania sunk.
Paris
LUXEMB OURG

Vienna
Bay
of SWITZERLAND AUS TR IA-
Biscay HUNGARY
FRANCE
40°N
ROMANIA
Ad

PORTUGAL
ri

Sarajevo B la ck S e a
at

N
SERBIA
ic

S PA I N ITALY K A
L BULGARIA
Sarajevo, June 1914 MONTENEGRO A
Se B
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Rome a S U L A
is assassinated. I N Constantinople
ALBANIA N (Istanbul)
E A e Se a
P ge
10°W an Gallipoli O T T O M A N
M e d i t e r r a n e a n
GREECE E M P I R E
0°

S
e
a
The Western Front 1914–1916 Gallipoli, April 1915–Jan. 1916
Allied forces defeated in bid to
establish a supply route to Russia.
el

A Marne, 1st battle, Sept. 1914

a nn Allies stop German advance on Paris.
NETHERLANDS
Ch Ypres, 2nd battle, May 1915
20°E
Allied Powers, 1916
is h
B
E ngl Germans use chemical weapons for
Central Powers, 1916
the first time.
B Brussels Neutral countries
Verdun, Feb.–July 1916
BELGIUM use C French hold the line in longest battle German submarine activity
Me of the war.
So

m
me D Somme, 1st battle, July–Nov. 1916 Battle
D Disastrous British offensive.
LUXEMBOURG 0 250 500 miles
ro n German troop movement
F

t on Ju 0 250 500 kilometers

ly Allied troop movement
se
Oi Aisne 1 , 19 1 6
C Metz
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER
ne
M

A
Rhi
e,
ar

nc
ne

Paris
va
1. Location About how many miles
Farthe
Me

Se Lunéville
i st G e r m a n a d G E R M A N Y separated the city of Paris from
use
ne

S e pt. 5 , 1 9 1 4
German forces at the point of their
Mo

0 50 100 miles
sel

N
closest approach?
le

0 50 100 kilometers
F R A N C E 2. Place Consider the geographical
W E
location of the Allies in relation to
S
the Central Powers. What advantage
SWITZERLAND
might the Allies have had?

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Unable to save Belgium, the Allies retreated to the Marne River in France,
C. Possible
where they halted the German advance in September 1914. After struggling to Answer
outflank each other’s armies, both sides dug in for a long siege. By the spring of To maintain their
1915, two parallel systems of deep, rat-infested trenches crossed France from the morale by
Belgian coast to the Swiss Alps. German soldiers occupied one set of trenches, changing their
surroundings
Allied soldiers the other. There were three main kinds of trenches—front line, sup- periodically.
port, and reserve. Soldiers spent a period of time in each kind of trench. Dugouts,
or underground rooms, were used as officers’ quarters and command posts. MAIN IDEA
Between the trench complexes lay “no man’s land”—a barren expanse of mud Drawing
pockmarked with shell craters and filled with barbed wire. Periodically, the sol- Conclusions
diers charged enemy lines, only to be mowed down by machine gun fire. C C Why do you
The scale of slaughter was horrific. During the First Battle of the Somme— think soldiers
were rotated in
which began on July 1, 1916, and lasted until mid-November—the British suf- the trenches?
fered 60,000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 mil-
lion, yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands. This bloody trench
warfare, in which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued for over
three years. Elsewhere, the fighting was just as devastating and inconclusive.

Trench Warfare

A Front line trench

B Support trench Artillery fire “softened
up” resistance before
C Reserve trench
an infantry attack.
D Enemy trench

Communication trenches Barbed wire

connected the three entanglements
kinds of trenches.

B
“No Man’s Land”
(from 25 yards
A to a mile wide)
Dugout

Saps were shallower trenches in

“no man’s land,” allowing access to
machine-gun nests, grenade-throwing
positions, and observation posts.
D

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Skillbuilder Americans Question Neutrality

Answers
1. U.S. exports In 1914, most Americans saw no reason to join a struggle 3,000 miles away. The
to Europe more
war did not threaten American lives or property. This does not mean, however,
than doubled.
2. Before: U.S. that individual Americans were indifferent to who would
exports were win the war. Public opinion was strong—but divided.
stable. After:
exports to the
Allies increased,
DIVIDED LOYALTIES Socialists criticized the war as a capi-
talist and imperialist struggle between Germany and England
ECONOMIC
and exports to to control markets and colonies in China, Africa, and the
Germany Middle East. Pacifists, such as lawyer and politician William
dropped. TRADE ALLIANCES
Jennings Bryan, believed that war was evil and that the
United States should set an example of peace to the world. Maintaining neutrality proved diffi-
cult for American businesses.
Many Americans simply did not want their sons to expe-
Trade with Germany became
rience the horrors of warfare, as a hit song of 1915 conveyed. increasingly risky. Shipments were
“ I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier, often stopped by the British block-
ade. In addition, President Wilson
I brought him up to be my pride and joy.
and others spoke out against
Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder, German atrocities and warned of
To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?” the threat that the German Empire
Millions of naturalized U.S. citizens followed the war posed to democracy.
From 1912 to 1917, U.S. trade
Vocabulary closely because they still had ties to the nations from which relationships with European coun-
emigrate: to leave they had emigrated. For example, many Americans of tries shifted dramatically. From
one’s country or German descent sympathized with Germany. Americans of 1914 on, trade with the Allies
region to settle in quadrupled, while trade with
Irish descent remembered the centuries of British oppres-
another; to move
sion in Ireland and saw the war as a chance for Ireland to Germany fell to near zero.
Also, by 1917, American banks
gain its independence.
had loaned $2.3 billion to the
On the other hand, many Americans felt close to Allies, but only $27 million to the
Britain because of a common ancestry and language as well Central Powers. Many U.S. lead-
as similar democratic institutions and legal systems. ers, including Treasury Secretary
Germany’s aggressive sweep through Belgium increased William McAdoo, felt that American
prosperity depended upon an
American sympathy for the Allies. The Germans attacked
Allied victory. (See trade on page
civilians, destroying villages, cathedrals, R47 in the Economics Handbook.)
libraries, and even hospitals. Some atrocity
stories—spread by British propaganda— U.S. Exports to Europe, 1912–1917
later proved to be false, but enough proved
true that one American magazine referred 2,000
to Germany as “the bully of Europe.”
More important, America’s economic 1,600
Dollars (in millions)

D. Answer ties with the Allies were far stronger than

The U.S. favored its ties with the Central Powers. Before the 1,200
Britain and
France because war, American trade with Britain and
it traded exten- France was more than double its trade with 800
sively with them Germany. During the first two years of the
and because war, America’s transatlantic trade became 400
Germany was
the aggressor. even more lopsided, as the Allies flooded
0
American manufacturers with orders for all 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917
MAIN IDEA sorts of war supplies, including dynamite,
Great Britain France Germany
Analyzing cannon powder, submarines, copper wire
All Other European Countries
Motives and tubing, and armored cars. The United
D Why did the States shipped millions of dollars of war
United States
SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Graphs
supplies to the Allies, but requests kept 1. By how much did total U.S. exports to Europe
begin to favor
Britain and coming. By 1915, the United States was rise or fall between 1914 and 1917?
France? experiencing a labor shortage. D 2. What trends does the graph show before the
start of the war, and during the war?

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▼
This image of a The War Hits Home
U-boat crew
machine-gunning Although the majority of Americans favored victory for the Allies rather
helpless survivors than the Central Powers, they did not want to join the Allies’ fight. By
of the Lusitania
1917, however, America had mobilized for war against the Central Powers
was clearly meant
for two reasons: to ensure Allied repayment of debts to the United States
as propaganda.
In fact, U-boats and to prevent the Germans from threatening U.S. shipping.
seldom lingered THE BRITISH BLOCKADE As fighting on land continued, Britain began to
after an attack. make more use of its naval strength. It blockaded the German coast to pre-
vent weapons and other military supplies from getting through. However,
the British expanded the definition of contraband to include food. They also
extended the blockade to neutral ports and mined the entire North Sea.
The results were two fold. First, American ships carrying goods for
Germany refused to challenge the blockade and seldom reached their desti-
nation. Second, Germany found it increasingly difficult to import foodstuffs
and fertilizers for crops. By 1917, famine stalked the country. An estimated
750,000 Germans starved to death as a result of the British blockade.
Americans had been angry at Britain’s blockade, which threatened
freedom of the seas and prevented American goods from reaching German
ports. However, Germany’s response to the blockade soon outraged
American public opinion.
GERMAN U–BOAT RESPONSE Germany responded to the British
blockade with a counterblockade by U-boats (from Unterseeboot, the
German word for a submarine). Any ship found in the waters around ▼
Britain would be sunk—and it would not always be possible to warn crews and A newspaper ad
passengers of an attack. for the Lusitania
One of the worst disasters occurred on May 7, 1915, when a U-boat sank the included a
British liner Lusitania (lLQsG-tAPnC-E) off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the warning from the
1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans. The Germans defended their action on German Embassy.
the grounds that the liner carried ammunition. Despite Germany’s explanation,
Americans became outraged with Germany because of the loss of life. American
public opinion turned against Germany and the Central Powers.

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Despite this provocation, President Wilson ruled out a military response in

favor of a sharp protest to Germany. Three months later, in August 1915, a U-boat
sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. Again the United
States protested, and this time Germany agreed not to sink any more passenger
ships. But in March 1916 Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed
French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, and about 80 passengers,
including Americans, were killed or injured. Once again the United States warned
MAIN IDEA that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics.
Analyzing
Again Germany agreed, but there was a condition: if the United States could not
Effects persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers, Germany would
E How did the consider renewing unrestricted submarine warfare. E
German U-boat
campaign affect THE 1916 ELECTION In November 1916 came the U.S. presidential election.
U.S. public The Democrats renominated Wilson, and the Republicans nominated Supreme
opinion? Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes. Wilson campaigned on the slogan “He
E. Answer Kept Us Out of War.” Hughes pledged to uphold America’s right to freedom
Because the of the seas but also promised not to be too severe on Germany.
U-boat campaign
killed Americans The election returns shifted from hour to hour. In fact, Hughes went
and destroyed to bed believing he had been elected. When a reporter tried to reach him
American prop- with the news of Wilson’s victory, an aide said, “The president can’t be
erty, it turned disturbed.” “Well,” replied the reporter, “when he wakes up, tell him
American public
opinion against he’s no longer president.”
Germany.

The United States Declares War ▼

Wilson campaign
After the election, Wilson tried to mediate between the warring alliances. The button
attempt failed. In a speech before the Senate in January 1917, the president called
for “a peace without victory. . . . a peace between equals,” in which neither side
would impose harsh terms on the other. Wilson hoped that all nations would join
in a “league for peace” that would work to extend democracy, maintain freedom of
the seas, and reduce armaments.
GERMAN PROVOCATION The Germans ignored Wilson’s calls for peace.
Germany’s leaders hoped to defeat Britain by resuming unrestricted submarine war-
fare. On January 31 the kaiser announced that U-boats would sink all ships in
British waters—hostile or neutral—on sight. Wilson was stunned. The German deci-
sion meant that the United States would have to go to war. However, the president
held back, saying that he would wait for “actual overt acts” before declaring war.
The overt acts came. First was the
Zimmermann note, a telegram from
the German foreign minister to the Alliances During WWI
German ambassador in Mexico that was Allies Central Powers
F. Answer intercepted by British agents. The Australia India Austria-Hungary
It raised the telegram proposed an alliance between Belgium Italy Bulgaria
possibility of the Mexico and Germany and promised British Colonies Japan Germany
war spreading Canada & Montenegro Ottoman Empire
that if war with the United States broke
to the Americas. Newfoundland New Zealand
out, Germany would support Mexico in France Portugal
MAIN IDEA recovering “lost territory in Texas, New French North Romania
Making Mexico, and Arizona.” Next came the Africa & French Russia
sinking of four unarmed American mer- Colonies Serbia
Inferences
F Why did the Great Britain South Africa
chant ships, with a loss of 36 lives. F
Zimmermann note Greece United States
Finally, events in Russia removed
alarm the U.S. Although not all of the countries listed
government? the last significant obstacle to direct above sent troops into the war, they
U.S. involvement in the war. In March, all joined the war on the Allied side at
various times.
the oppressive Russian monarchy was

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replaced with a representative government. Now supporters

of American entry into the war could claim that this was a
LD STAGE
W OR war of democracies against brutal monarchies.
AMERICA ACTS A light drizzle fell on Washington on
REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA April 2, 1917, as senators, representatives, ambassadors,
At first, the Russians surprised members of the Supreme Court, and other guests crowd-
the Germans by mobilizing rapid- ed into the Capitol building to hear President Wilson
ly. Russian troops advanced deliver his war resolution.
quickly into German territory but
were turned back at the Battle
of Tannenberg in August 1914.
A PERSONAL VOICE WOODROW WILSON
Throughout 1915, the Russians “ Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and
endured defeats and continued innocent people cannot be. The present German submarine
to retreat. By the end of 1915 warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.
they had suffered about 2.5 mil- . . . We are glad . . . to fight . . . for the ultimate peace of
lion casualties. The war also the world and for the liberation of its peoples. . . . The
caused massive bread shortages
world must be made safe for democracy. . . . We have no
in Russia.
Revolutionaries ousted the czar selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion.
in March 1917 and established We seek no indemnities. . . . It is a fearful thing to lead
a provisional government. In this great peaceful people into war. . . . But the right is
November, the Bolsheviks, led by more precious than peace.”
Lenin and Trotsky, overthrew the —quoted in American Voices
provisional government. They set
up a Communist state and sought Congress passed the resolution a few days later. With
peace with the Central Powers.
the hope of neutrality finally shattered, U.S. troops would
follow the stream of American money and munitions that
had been heading to the Allies throughout the war. But
Wilson’s plea to make the world “safe for democracy” wasn’t just political pos-
turing. Indeed, Wilson and many Americans truly believed that the United States
had to join the war to pave the way for a future order of peace and freedom. A
resolved but anxious nation held its breath as the United States prepared for war.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•nationalism •Central Powers •no man’s land •Lusitania
•militarism •Archduke Franz Ferdinand •trench warfare •Zimmermann note
•Allies

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. SYNTHESIZING 5. ANALYZING ISSUES
In a chart like the one shown, list Describe some ways in which Why do you think Germany
the causes for the outbreak of World War I threatened the lives escalated its U-boat attacks
World War I. of civilians on both sides of in 1917? Think About:
the Atlantic. • Germany’s military buildup
Causes of WWI 4. SUMMARIZING • the effects of the British
Why were America’s ties with the blockade
Allies stronger than its ties with the • Germany’s reason for using
Central Powers? submarine warfare

Which was the most significant

cause? Explain your answer.

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American Power
Tips the Balance
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

The United States mobilized During World War I, the United •Eddie Rickenbacker •General John
a large army and navy to help States military evolved into the •Selective Service J. Pershing
the Allies achieve victory. powerful fighting force that it Act •Alvin York
remains today. •convoy system •conscientious
•American objector
Expeditionary Force •armistice

One American's Story

Eddie Rickenbacker, famous fighter pilot of World War I, was well known as
a racecar driver before the war. He went to France as a driver but transferred to
the aviation division. He learned to fly on his own time and eventually joined
the U.S. Army Air Service. Rickenbacker repeatedly fought the dreaded Flying
Circus—a German air squadron led by the “Red Baron,” Manfred von Richthofen.

A PERSONAL VOICE EDDIE RICKENBACKER

“ I put in six or seven hours of flying time each day. . . .
My narrowest escape came at a time when I was fretting
over the lack of action. . . . Guns began barking behind
me, and sizzling tracers zipped by my head. . . . At least
two planes were on my tail. . . .
They would expect me to dive. Instead I twisted
upward in a corkscrew path called a ‘chandelle.’ I
guessed right. As I went up, my two attackers came
down, near enough for me to see their faces. I also saw
the red noses on those Fokkers [German planes]. I was
up against the Flying Circus again.”
—Rickenbacker: An Autobiography
ACE OF ACES
After engaging in 134 air battles and downing 26 Eddie Rickenbacker and
the First World War
enemy aircraft, Rickenbacker won fame as the Allied pilot
with the most victories—“American ace of aces.”

America Mobilizes
The United States was not prepared for war. Only 200,000 men were in service when
war was declared, and few officers had combat experience. Drastic measures were
needed to build an army large and modern enough to make an impact in Europe.

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▼
Drafted men line
up for service at
Camp Travis in
San Antonio,
Texas, around
1917.

RAISING AN ARMY To meet the government’s need for more

fighting power, Congress passed the Selective Service Act in
May 1917. The act required men to register with the government
in order to be randomly selected for military service. By the end
of 1918, 24 million men had registered under the act. Of this
number, almost 3 million were called up. About 2 million troops
reached Europe before the truce was signed, and three-fourths of
them saw actual combat. Most of the inductees had not attend-
ed high school, and about one in five was foreign-born.
About 400,000 African Americans served in the armed
forces. More than half of them served in France. African Vocabulary
American soldiers served in segregated units and were exclud- segregated:
ed from the navy and marines. Most African Americans were separated or
isolated from
▼ assigned to noncombat duties, although there were exceptions.
others
James Montgomery The all-black 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front
Flagg’s portrayal of lines than any other American regiment. Two soldiers of the 369th, Henry
Uncle Sam became Johnson and Needham Roberts, were the first Americans to receive France’s
the most famous highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre—the “cross of war.”
recruiting poster in A. Answer
The eight-month training period took place partly in the United States and
American history. Congress passed
partly in Europe. During this time the men put in 17-hour days on target prac- the Selective
tice, bayonet drill, kitchen duty, and cleaning up the grounds. Since real weapons Service Act,
were in short supply, soldiers often drilled with fake weapons—rocks instead of which required
hand grenades, or wooden poles instead of rifles. 24 million men
to register for
Although women were not allowed to enlist, the army reluctantly accepted the draft.
women in the Army Corps of Nurses, but denied them army rank, pay, and ben-
efits. Meanwhile, some 13,000 women accepted noncombat positions in the navy MAIN IDEA
and marines, where they served as nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators, Summarizing
with full military rank. A A How did the
United States
MASS PRODUCTION In addition to the vast army that had to be created and raise an army
trained, the United States had to find a way to transport men, food, and equip- for the war?
ment over thousands of miles of ocean. It was an immense task, made more dif-
ficult by German submarine activity, which by early 1917 had sunk twice as much
ship tonnage as the Allies had built. In order to expand its fleet, the U.S. govern-
ment took four crucial steps.

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First, the government exempted many shipyard workers from the draft and
gave others a “deferred” classification, delaying their participation in the draft.
Second, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined in a public relations campaign to
emphasize the importance of shipyard work. They distributed service flags to fam-
ilies of shipyard workers, just like the flags given to families of soldiers and sailors.
They also urged automobile owners to give shipyard employees rides to and from
work, since streetcars were so crowded. Third, shipyards used prefabrication tech-
MAIN IDEA
niques. Instead of building an entire ship in the yard, standardized parts were
Summarizing built elsewhere and then assembled at the yard. This method reduced construc-
B How did the
tion time substantially. As a result, on just one day—July 4, 1918—the United
United States
expand its navy States launched 95 ships. Fourth, the government took over commercial and pri-
so quickly? vate ships and converted them for transatlantic war use. B
B. Answer
It exempted
shipyard workers America Turns the Tide
from the draft,
used a public German U-boat attacks on merchant ships in the Atlantic were a serious threat
relations cam- to the Allied war effort. American Vice Admiral William S. Sims convinced the
paign to stress
the importance British to try the convoy system, in which a heavy guard of destroyers
of shipbuilding, escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. By fall of
used prefabrica- 1917, shipping losses had been cut
tion construction in half.
techniques, and World War I Convoy System
took control of The U.S. Navy also helped lay a
private ships for 230-mile barrier of mines across the
transatlantic North Sea from Scotland to Norway. cruiser safe
duty. zone merchant ships
The barrier was designed to bottle
up the U-boats that sailed from
German ports and keep them out of
the Atlantic Ocean.
By early 1918 the Germans defensive boundary
found it increasingly difficult to destroyer
replace their losses and to staff their
fleet with trained submariners. Of
enemy
the almost 2 million Americans who submarine
sailed to Europe during the war,
only 637 were lost to U-boat attacks.
FIGHTING IN EUROPE After two and a half years of fighting, the Allied forces
were exhausted and demoralized. One of the main contributions that American
troops made to the Allied war effort, apart from their numbers, was their freshness
and enthusiasm. They were determined to hit the Germans hard. Twenty-two-year-
old Joseph Douglas Lawrence, a U.S. Army lieutenant, remarked on the importance
of American enthusiasm when he described his first impression of the trenches.

A PERSONAL VOICE 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. There was a trench with
dugouts every three hundred yards from the front line in Ypres back
four miles to and including Dirty Bucket. Everything was fronted with
barbed wire and other entanglements. Artillery was concealed every-
where. Railroad tracks, narrow and standard gauge, reached from the
trenches back into the zone of supply. 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.”
—Fighting Soldier: The AEF in 1918
Lieutenant Joseph D. Lawrence

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Fighting “Over There”

KEY PLAYER The American Expeditionary Force (AEF), led by
General John J. Pershing, included men from widely
separated parts of the country. American infantrymen were
nicknamed doughboys, possibly because of the white belts
they wore, which they cleaned with pipe clay, or “dough.”
Most doughboys had never ventured far from the farms or
small towns where they lived, and the sophisticated sights
C. Answer
and sounds of Paris made a vivid impression. However,
World War I
doughboys were also shocked by the unexpected horrors of introduced new
the battlefield and astonished by the new weapons and tac- weapons and
tics of modern warfare. refined existing
weapons; tanks
GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING NEW WEAPONS The battlefields of World War I saw the first and airplanes
1860–1948 helped introduce
large-scale use of weapons that would become standard in
When General Pershing, the
modern war. Although some of these weapons were new, oth- mechanized
commander of the American warfare.
Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived ers, like the machine gun, had been so refined that they
in France, he found that the Allies changed the nature of warfare. The two most innovative MAIN IDEA
intended to use American troops weapons were the tank and the airplane. Together, they her- Forming
simply as reinforcements. alded mechanized warfare, or warfare that relies on machines Generalizations
Pershing, however, urged that the powered by gasoline and diesel engines. C C How did World
AEF operate as an independent War I change the
fighting force, under American
Tanks ran on caterpillar treads and were built of steel
nature of warfare?
command. so that bullets bounced off. The British first used tanks
Pershing believed in aggressive during the 1916 Battle of the Somme, but not very effec-
combat and felt that three years tively. By 1917, the British had learned how to drive large
of trench warfare had made the numbers of tanks through barbed wire defenses, clearing a
Allies too defensive. Under
path for the infantry.
Pershing, American forces helped
to stop the German advance, cap- The early airplanes were so flimsy that at first both sides Background
turing important enemy positions. limited their use to scouting. After a while, the two sides used When the U.S.
entered the war,
After the war, Pershing was made tanks to fire at enemy planes that were gathering informa-
its air power was
General of the Armies of the tion. Early dogfights, or individual air combats, like the one weak. Then, in
United States—the highest rank
described by Eddie Rickenbacker, resembled duels. Pilots sat July 1917,
given to an officer.
in their open cockpits and shot at each other with pistols. Congress
appropriated a
Because it was hard to fly a plane and shoot a pistol at the
hefty $675 million
same time, planes began carrying mounted machine guns. to build an air
But the planes’ propeller blades kept getting in the way of the bullets. Then the force.
Germans introduced an interrupter gear that permitted the stream of bullets to
avoid the whirring blades.

Science
Science
TECHNOLOGY AT WAR
Both sides in World War I used new technology to attack more soldiers from greater
distances than ever before. Aircraft and long-range guns were even used to fire on
civilian targets—libraries, cathedrals, and city districts.
The biggest guns could shell a city from 75 miles.

Machine Guns
Firepower increased to 600
rounds per minute.

Airships and Airplanes

One of the most famous WWI planes, the British Sopwith Camel, had
a front-mounted machine gun for “dogfights.” Planes were also loaded
with bombs, as were the floating gas-filled “airships” called zeppelins.

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Meanwhile, airplanes were built to travel faster and carry heavy bomb loads.
By 1918 the British had built up a strategic bomber force of 22,000 planes with
which to attack German weapons factories and army bases.
Observation balloons were used extensively by both sides in the war in
Europe. Balloons were so important strategically that they were often protected
by aircraft flying close by, and they became prime targets for Rickenbacker and
other ace pilots.

The War Introduces New Hazards

The new weapons and tactics of World War I led to horrific injuries and
hazards. The fighting men were surrounded by filth, lice, rats, and polluted water
that caused dysentery. They inhaled poison gas and smelled the stench of decaying
bodies. They suffered from lack of sleep. Constant bombardments and other expe-
riences often led to battle fatigue and “shell shock,” a term coined during World
War I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered.
Physical problems included a disease called trench foot, caused by standing
in cold wet trenches for long periods of time without changing into dry socks
MAIN IDEA or boots. First the toes would turn red or blue, then they would become numb,
Analyzing
and finally they would start to rot. The only solution was to amputate the toes,
Effects and in some cases the entire foot. A painful infection of the gums and throat,
D What were called trench mouth, was also common among the soldiers. D
the physical and Red Cross ambulances, often staffed by American volunteers, carried the
psychological
effects of this new
wounded from the battlefield to the hospital. An American nurse named Florence
kind of warfare? Bullard recounted her experience in a hospital near the front in 1918.
D. Answer
The new warfare A PERSONAL VOICE FLORENCE BULLARD
caused physical
ailments such as “ The Army is only twelve miles away from us and only the wounded that are too
trench foot and severely injured to live to be carried a little farther are brought here. . . . Side by
psychological side I have Americans, English, Scotch, Irish, and French, and apart in the cor-
ailments such ners are Boche [Germans]. They have to watch each other die side by side. I am
as shell shock. sent for everywhere—in the . . . operating-room, the dressing-room, and back
again to the rows of men. . . . The cannon goes day and night and the shells are
breaking over and around us. . . . I have had to write many sad letters to American
mothers. I wonder if it will ever end. ”
—quoted in Over There: The Story of America’s First Great Overseas Crusade

In fact, the end was near, as German forces mounted a final offensive.

Antiaircraft Gun Tanks

Tanks, like this French light tank, were used
to “mow down” barbed wire and soldiers.

Poison Gas
A yellow-green chlorine fog
sickened, suffocated,
burned, and blinded its
victims. Gas masks
became standard issue.

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5°E

North Sea
Allied Victories, 1917–1918 Allied Powers
Central Powers
50°N
Neutral countries N
G R E A T B R I T A I N German offensive,

el
n W
an NETHERLANDS Mar.–July 1918
Ch E
Ypres, 3rd battle, July–Nov. 1917 Armistice line,
Nov. 11, 1918 S
Allied victory costs over half a
million casualties. E n g lis h Brussels Battle
Lille

Rhi
Arras BELGIUM 0 50 100 miles

ne
Cologne

So
M e u se

mm
e 0 50 100 kilometers
Cantigny, May 1918 U.S. troops
fill gaps between French and British lle
Laon G E R M A N Y

e
os
lines during German offensive. Compiègne Sedan

M
Aisne
Se Ois
e LUXEMBOURG
in
e
Meuse-Argonne,
Paris Sept.–Nov. 1918 American AUSTRIA–

Ma
Château-Thierry, June 1918 advance helps end the war.

rne
Metz HUNGARY
U.S. troops help stop the ARGONNE
German advance on Paris. FOREST St. Mihiel, Sept. 1918
F R A N C E Lunéville
Pershing leads American

se
Meu
army to victory.
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER Marne, 2nd battle, July–Aug. 1918
1. Location Did the Germans achieve their The turning point of the war. Allies
45°N goal of capturing Paris in their March 1918 advance steadily after defeating
offensive? Why or why not? the Germans.
2. Place What geographical feature of SWITZERLAND
5°W northern France made it particularly well
suited to trench warfare?

Skillbuilder American Troops Go on the Offensive

Answers
1. No, because When Russia pulled out of the war in 1917, the Germans shifted their armies from
they were the eastern front to the western front in France. By May they were within 50 miles
stopped
by the Allies. of Paris. The Americans arrived just in time to help stop the German advance at
2. The region is Cantigny in France. Several weeks later, U.S. troops played a major role in throw-
very flat. ing back German attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood. In July and MAIN IDEA
August, they helped win the Second Battle of the Marne. The tide had turned Drawing
against the Central Powers. In September, U.S. soldiers began to mount offensives Conclusions
against the Germans at Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne area. E E How did
American forces
AMERICAN WAR HERO During the fighting in the Meuse-Argonne help the Allies
area, one of America’s greatest war heroes, Alvin York, became famous. win the war?
A redheaded mountaineer and blacksmith from Tennessee, York sought E. Answer
exemption as a conscientious objector, a person who opposes warfare American forces
on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” helped stop the
German advance
York eventually decided that it was morally acceptable to fight if the and helped turn
cause was just. On October 8, 1918, armed only with a rifle and a revolver, the tide against
York killed 25 Germans and—with six other doughboys—captured 132 the Central
prisoners. General Pershing called him the outstanding soldier of the AEF, Powers.
while Marshal Foch, the commander of Allied forces in Europe, described
his feat as “the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all
“ Bullets were the armies of Europe.” For his heroic acts, York was promoted to sergeant
and became a celebrity when he returned to the United States.
cracking just
over my head.” THE COLLAPSE OF GERMANY On November 3, 1918, Austria-
SERGEANT YORK
Hungary surrendered to the Allies. That same day, German sailors
mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly.
Everywhere in Germany, groups of soldiers and workers organized rev-
olutionary councils. On November 9, socialist leaders in the capital,
Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne.

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Although there were no Allied soldiers on German territory and no truly

decisive battle had been fought, the Germans were too exhausted to continue
fighting. So at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month
of 1918, Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed the armistice, or truce,
that ended the war.
THE FINAL TOLL World War I was the bloodiest war in history up to that time.
Deaths numbered about 22 million, more than half of them civilians. In addition,
20 million people were wounded, and 10 million more became refugees. The
direct economic costs of the war may have been about $338 billion. The United
States lost 48,000 men in battle, with another 62,000 dying of disease. More than
200,000 Americans were wounded.
For the Allies, news of the armistice brought great relief. Private John Barkley
described the reaction to the news.

A PERSONAL VOICE JOHN L. BARKLEY

“ About 9 o’clock in the evening we heard wild commotion in the little town.
The French people, old and young, were running through the streets. Old men
and women we’d seen sitting around their houses too feeble to move, were
out in the streets yelling, ‘Vive la France! Vive la France! Vive l’America!’. . . .
Down the street came a soldier. He was telling everybody the armistice
had been signed. I said, ‘What’s an armistice?’ It sounded like some kind of
machine to me. The other boys around there didn’t know what it meant either.
When the official word came through that it meant peace, we couldn’t
believe it. Finally Jesse said, ‘Well kid, I guess it really does mean the war is over.’
I said, ‘I just can’t believe it’s true.’
But it was.”
—No Hard Feelings

Across the Atlantic, Americans also rejoiced at the news. Many now expected
life to return to normal. However, people found their lives at home changed
almost as much as the lives of those who had fought in Europe.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•Eddie Rickenbacker •convoy system •General John J. Pershing •conscientious objector
•Selective Service Act •American •Alvin York •armistice
Expeditionary Force

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS 4. ANALYZING
Fill in a web like the one In what ways did WWI VISUAL
below to show how Americans represent a frightening new SOURCES
responded to the war. kind of warfare? Think About: This World War I
• the casualty figures poster shows
• new military technology the role of non-
combatants over-
American Responses • shell shock
seas. What is the
to World War I message in this
propaganda
poster?
Why was the entire population
affected by America’s entry
into World War I?

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The War at Home

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

World War I spurred social, Such changes increased •War Industries •George Creel
political, and economic government powers and Board •Espionage and
change in the United States. expanded economic •Bernard M. Sedition Acts
opportunities. Baruch •Great Migration
•propaganda

One American's Story

The suffragist Harriot Stanton Blatch visited a munitions plant in New

Jersey during World War I and proudly described women at work.

A PERSONAL VOICE HARRIOT STANTON BLATCH

“ The day I visited the place, in one of the largest shops women had
only just been put on the work, but it was expected that in less than
a month they would be found handling all of the twelve hundred
machines under that one roof alone. The skill of the women staggers
one. After a week or two they master the operations on the ‘turret,’
gauging and routing machines. The best worker on the ‘facing’
machine is a woman. She is a piece worker, as many of the women
are. . . . This woman earned, the day I saw her, five dollars and forty
cents. She tossed about the fuse parts, and played with that
machine, as I would with a baby. ”
—quoted in We, the American Women
▼
Before World War I, women had been excluded from many jobs. Harriot Stanton Blatch followed
However, the wartime need for labor brought over a million more in the footsteps of her famous
women into the work force. For women, as for the rest of society, mother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
World War I brought about far-reaching changes.

Congress Gives Power to Wilson

Winning the war was not a job for American soldiers alone. As Secretary of War
Newton Baker said, “War is no longer Samson with his shield and spear and
sword, and David with his sling. It is the conflict of smokestacks now, the com-
bat of the driving wheel and the engine.” Because World War I was such an
immense conflict, the entire economy had to be refocused on the war effort. The
shift from producing consumer goods to producing war supplies was too compli-
cated and important a job for private industry to handle on its own, so business
and government collaborated in the effort. In the process, the power of govern-
ment was greatly expanded. Congress gave President Wilson direct control over
much of the economy, including the power to fix prices and to
regulate—even to nationalize—certain war-related industries.

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WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD The main regulatory body was the War
Industries Board (WIB). It was established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918
under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch (bE-rLkP), a prosperous business-
Background man. The board encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to
In 1913 Henry increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing prod-
Ford speeded up
ucts—for instance, by making only 5 colors of typewriter ribbons instead of 150.
factory production
with a constantly The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials.
moving assembly Under the WIB, industrial production in the United States increased by about
line. Wartime 20 percent. However, the WIB applied price controls only at the wholesale level.
production spread
As a result, retail prices soared, and in 1918 they were almost double what they
this technique
throughout the had been before the war. Corporate profits soared as well, especially in such indus-
country. tries as chemicals, meatpacking, oil, and steel.
The WIB was not the only federal agency to regulate the economy during the
war. The Railroad Administration controlled the railroads, and the Fuel
Administration monitored coal supplies and rationed gasoline and heating oil. In
addition, many people adopted “gasless Sundays” and “lightless nights” to con-
serve fuel. In March 1918, the Fuel Administration introduced another conserva-
tion measure: daylight-saving time, which had first been proposed by Benjamin
Franklin in the 1770s as a way to take advantage of the longer days of summer.
WAR ECONOMY Wages in most industries rose during the war years. Hourly wages
for blue-collar workers—those in the metal trades, shipbuilding, and meatpacking,
for example—rose by about 20 percent. A household’s income, however, was largely
undercut by rising food prices and housing costs.
By contrast, stockholders in large corporations saw enormous profits. One indus-
trial manufacturer, the DuPont Company, saw its stock multiply in value 1,600 per-
cent between 1914 and 1918. By that time the company was earning a $68-million
yearly profit. As a result of the uneven pay between labor and management, increas-
ing work hours, child labor, and dangerously “sped-up” conditions, unions boomed.
Union membership climbed from about 2.5 million in 1916 to more than 4 million
A. Answer in 1919. More than 6,000 strikes broke out during the war months.
Labor disputes To deal with disputes between management and labor, President Wilson estab-
would slow
down produc- lished the National War Labor Board in 1918. Workers who refused to obey board
tion and decisions could lose their draft
jeopardize exemptions. “Work or fight,” the The War Economy, 1914–1920
the American board told them. However, the
war effort.
board also worked to improve fac- Average Annual Income Consumer Price Index*
MAIN IDEA tory conditions. It pushed for an
60
Making eight-hour workday, promoted 1914 $627
Consumer Price Index

Inferences safety inspections, and enforced 55

1915 $633
A Why would the child labor ban. A 50
labor disputes 1916 $706
affect the FOOD ADMINISTRATION To 45
1917 $830
war effort? help produce and conserve food,
40
Wilson set up the Food Admin- 1918 $1,047
istration under Herbert Hoover. 35
1919 $1,201
Skillbuilder Instead of rationing food, he 30
Answers called on people to follow the 1920 $1,407 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920
1. The prices “gospel of the clean plate.” He
doubled, while Source: Historical Statistics *A measure of changes in the prices of goods and
income more declared one day a week “meat- of the United States services commonly bought by consumers; see Economics
Handbook, page R39.
than doubled. less,” another “sweetless,” two
2. A working days “wheatless,” and two other SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Graphs
family would 1. How did the rise in average annual income compare with the
days “porkless.” Restaurants
have benefited rise in prices from 1914 to 1920?
from the removed sugar bowls from the 2. How might the combined change in wages and prices affect
increase in table and served bread only after a working family?
buying power. the first course.

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▼
A Japanese-
American family
tends a victory
garden in New York
City in 1917.

Homeowners planted “victory gardens” in their yards.

Schoolchildren spent their after-school hours growing tomatoes and
▼ cucumbers in public parks. As a result of these and similar efforts,
A wartime poster encourages American food shipments to the Allies tripled. Hoover also set a high
Americans to conserve government price on wheat and other staples. Farmers responded by
resources. putting an additional 40 million acres into production. In the
process, they increased their income by almost 30 percent.

Selling the War

Once the government had extended its control over the economy, it was faced
with two major tasks: raising money and convincing the public to support the war.
WAR FINANCING The United States spent about $35.5 billion on the war effort.
The government raised about one-third of this amount through taxes, including
a progressive income tax (which taxed high incomes at a higher rate than low
incomes), a war-profits tax, and higher excise taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury
goods. It raised the rest through public borrowing by selling “Liberty Loan” and
“Victory Loan” bonds.
The government sold bonds through tens of thousands of volunteers. Movie
stars spoke at rallies in factories, in schools, and on street corners. As Treasury MAIN IDEA
Secretary William G. McAdoo put it, only “a friend of Germany” would refuse to Summarizing
buy war bonds. B B How did the
government raise
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION To popularize the war, the govern- money for the
ment set up the nation’s first propaganda agency, the Committee on Public war effort?
Information (CPI). Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to B. Answer
influence people’s thoughts and actions. The head of the CPI was a former muck- The government
raking journalist named George Creel. raised some
money through
Creel persuaded the nation’s artists and advertising agencies to create thou- taxes and some
sands of paintings, posters, cartoons, and sculptures promoting the war. He through the sale
recruited some 75,000 men to serve as “Four-Minute Men,” who spoke about of bonds.
everything relating to the war: the draft, rationing, bond drives, victory gardens,
and topics such as “Why We Are Fighting” and “The Meaning of America.”
Nor did Creel neglect the written word. He ordered a printing of almost
25 million copies of “How the War Came to America”—which included Wilson’s
war message—in English and other languages. He distributed some 75 million
pamphlets, booklets, and leaflets, many with the enthusiastic help of the Boy

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Scouts. Creel’s propaganda campaign was highly effective. However, while the
campaign promoted patriotism, it also inflamed hatred and violations of the civil
liberties of certain ethnic groups and opponents of the war.

Attacks on Civil Liberties Increase

Early in 1917, President Wilson expressed his fears about the consequences of
war hysteria.

A PERSONAL VOICE WOODROW WILSON

“ Once lead this people into war and they’ll forget there ever was such a thing
as tolerance. To fight you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless
C. Answer
Recent immi- brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the
grants suffered courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street. Conformity would be the
persecution; only virtue, and every man who refused to conform would have to pay the penalty.”
German immi- —quoted in Cobb of “The World”
grants and
those of German The president’s prediction came true. As soon as war was declared,
descent suf-
fered the most conformity indeed became the order of the day. Attacks on civil liberties, both
bitter attacks. unofficial and official, erupted.

MAIN IDEA ANTI-IMMIGRANT HYSTERIA The main targets of these attacks were
Americans who had emigrated from other nations, especially those from
Developing
Historical
Germany and Austria-Hungary. The most bitter attacks were directed against the
Perspective nearly 2 million Americans who had been born in Germany, but other foreign-
C What effect born persons and Americans of German descent suffered as well. C
did the war have Many Americans with German names lost their jobs. Orchestras refused to
on the lives of
recent immigrants?
play the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Some towns with
German names changed them. Schools stopped teaching the German language,
and librarians removed books by German authors from the shelves. People even
resorted to violence against German Americans, flogging them or smearing them

Analyzing
THE ENEMY WITHIN
After the United States entered the war, government
propaganda helped inflame prejudice against recent
immigrants. In the suspicious atmosphere of the time,
conspiracy theories flourished, and foreign spies were
believed to be everywhere. This cartoon reveals the
hysteria that gripped the country in 1917.

SKILLBUILDER Analyzing Political Cartoons

1. What is happening in this cartoon?
2. What does the cartoonist suggest will happen
to “enemy aliens”?
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R24.

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with tar and feathers. A mob in Collinsville, Illinois, wrapped a German flag
around a German-born miner named Robert Prager and lynched him. A jury
cleared the mob’s leader.
Finally, in a burst of anti-German fervor, Americans changed the name of
German measles to “liberty measles.” Hamburger—named after the German city
of Hamburg—became “Salisbury steak” or “liberty sandwich,” depending on
whether you were buying it in a store or eating it in a restaurant. Sauerkraut was
renamed “liberty cabbage,” and dachshunds turned into “liberty pups.”
ESPIONAGE AND SEDITION ACTS In June 1917 Congress passed the
Espionage Act, and in May 1918 it passed the Sedition Act. Under the Espionage Vocabulary
and Sedition Acts a person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 sedition: rebellion
years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, pro- against one’s
government;
fane, or abusive about the government or the war effort.
treason
Like the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, these laws clearly violated the spir-
it of the First Amendment. Their passage led to over 2,000 prosecutions for
loosely defined antiwar activities; of these, over half resulted in convictions.
Newspapers and magazines that opposed the war or criticized any of the Allies
lost their mailing privileges. The House of Representatives refused to seat Victor
Berger, a socialist congressman from Wisconsin, because of his antiwar views.
Columbia University fired a distinguished psychologist because he opposed the
war. A colleague who supported the war thereupon resigned in protest, saying,
“If we have to suppress everything we don’t like to hear, this country is resting
on a pretty wobbly basis.”
The Espionage and Sedition Acts targeted socialists and labor leaders.
Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten-year prison sentence for speaking out
against the war and the draft. The anarchist Emma Goldman received a
two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine for organizing the No MAIN IDEA
Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to Analyzing
Russia. “Big Bill” Haywood and other leaders of the Industrial Workers of Effects
D What impact
the World (IWW) were accused of sabotaging the war effort because they
did the Espionage
urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher pay. Haywood
and Sedition Acts
was sentenced to a long prison term. (He later skipped bail and fled to have on free
Russia.) Under such federal pressure, the IWW faded away. D speech?
D. Answer
▼ The Acts led to
This Industrial
The War Encourages Social Change thousands of
prosecutions;
Workers of the people were
Wars often unleash powerful social forces. The period of World War I was no
World (IWW) fired from their
exception; important changes transformed the lives of African Americans
sticker encourages jobs; antiwar
workers to join and women. newspapers and
the union. AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE WAR Black public opinion about the war was magazines lost
their mailing
divided. On one side were people like W. E. B. Du Bois, who believed that blacks privileges.
should support the war effort.

A PERSONAL VOICE W. E. B. DU BOIS

“ That which the German power represents today spells
death to the aspirations of Negroes and all darker races for
equality, freedom and democracy. . . . Let us, while this war
lasts, forget our special grievances and close our ranks
shoulder to shoulder with our own white fellow citizens
and the allied nations that are fighting for democracy.”
—“Close Ranks”
▼

W. E. B. Du Bois

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Du Bois believed that African-American support for the war would strength-
en calls for racial justice. In contrast, William Monroe Trotter, founder of the
Boston Guardian, believed that victims of racism should not support a racist gov-
ernment. Trotter condemned Du Bois’s accommodationist approach and favored
protest instead. Nevertheless, despite grievances over continued racial inequality
in the United States, most African Americans backed the war.
THE GREAT MIGRATION In concrete terms, the greatest effect of the First World
War on African Americans’ lives was that it accelerated the Great Migration,
the large-scale movement of hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks to cities
in the North. This great population shift had already begun before the war in the
late 19th century, when African Americans trickled northward to escape the Jim
Crow South—but after the turn of the century, the trickle became a tidal wave.
E. Answer Several factors contributed to the tremendous increase in black migration.
World War I First, many African Americans sought to escape racial discrimination in the South,
increased job which made it hard to make a living and often threatened their lives. Also, a boll
opportunities
for African weevil infestation, aided by floods and droughts, had
Americans in ruined much of the South’s cotton fields. In the North,
steel mills, there were more job opportunities. For example, Henry History Through
munitions Ford opened his automobile assembly line to black workers
plants, and
stockyards. in 1914. The outbreak of World War I and the drop in
European immigration increased job opportunities for THE MIGRATION OF THE
MAIN IDEA African Americans in steel mills, munitions plants, and NEGRO, PANEL NO. 1
stockyards. Northern manufacturers sent recruiting agents (1940–41)
Making
Inferences to distribute free railroad passes through the South. In This painting by Jacob Lawrence
E How did shows three of the most common
addition, the publisher of the black-owned newspaper
the war open destinations for African Americans
Chicago Defender bombarded Southern blacks with articles leaving the South. Why do you
opportunities
for African contrasting Dixieland lynchings with the prosperity of think the artist has not shown
Americans? African Americans in the North. E any individual facial features?

Image not available

for use on CD-ROM.
Please refer to the
image in the textbook.

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However, racial prejudice against African Americans also

HISTORICAL existed in the North. The press of new migrants to Northern
cities caused overcrowding and intensified racial tensions.
S P O TLIG H T Nevertheless, between 1910 and 1930, hundreds of
thousands of African Americans migrated to such cities as
RACE RIOTS Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. Author Richard
Racial prejudice against African Wright described the great exodus.
Americans in the North some-
times took violent forms. In July
1917, a race riot exploded in East A PERSONAL VOICE RICHARD WRIGHT
St. Louis, Illinois. White workers, “ We are bitter no more; we are leaving! We are leaving our
furious over the hiring of African homes, pulling up stakes to move on. We look up at the
Americans as strikebreakers at high southern sky and remember all the sunshine and all
a munitions plant, rampaged
the rain and we feel a sense of loss, but we are leaving.
through the streets. Forty blacks
We look out at the wide green fields which our eyes saw
and nine whites died.
Another riot erupted in July when we first came into the world and we feel full of
1919 in Chicago when a 17-year- regret, but we are leaving. We scan the kind black faces
old African American swam from we have looked upon since we first saw the light of day,
the water off a “black beach” to and, though pain is in our hearts, we are leaving. We take
the water off a “white beach.” one last furtive look over our shoulders to the Big House—
There, white bathers threw rocks
high upon a hill beyond the railroad tracks—where the Lord
at him until he drowned.
of the Land lives, and we feel glad, for we are leaving.”
African Americans retaliated,
and several riots broke out in the —quoted in 12 Million Black Voices
city. Order was restored after sev-
eral days of violence that WOMEN IN THE WAR While African Americans began
involved about 10,000 people.
new lives, women moved into jobs that had been held
exclusively by men. They became railroad workers, cooks,
dockworkers, and bricklayers. They mined coal and took
part in shipbuilding. At the same time, women continued to fill more traditional
jobs as nurses, clerks, and teachers. Many women worked as volunteers, serving at
Red Cross facilities and encouraging the sale of bonds and the planting of victory MAIN IDEA
gardens. Other women, such as Jane Addams, were active in the peace movement. Analyzing
Addams helped found the Women’s Peace Party in 1915 and remained a pacifist Effects
even after the United States entered the war. F F What effect
President Wilson acknowledged, “The services of women during the did the war have
on women’s lives?
supreme crisis have been of the most signal usefulness and distinction; it is high
F. Answer
time that part of our debt should be acknowledged.” While acknowledgment of Women moved
that debt did not include equal pay for equal work, it did help bolster public into jobs that
support for woman suffrage. In 1919, Congress finally passed the Nineteenth had been held
Amendment, granting women the right to vote. In 1920 the amendment was exclusively
by men.
ratified by the states.
▼

Women worked
in a variety of
jobs during the
war. Here, women
assemble an
aircraft wing.

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THE FLU EPIDEMIC In the fall of 1918, the United States suffered a home-
front crisis when an international flu epidemic affected about one-quarter of the
U.S. population. The effect of the epidemic on the economy was devastating.
Mines shut down, telephone service was cut in half, and factories and offices
staggered working hours to avoid contagion. Cities ran short of coffins, and the
New York City
corpses of poor people lay unburied for as long as a week. The mysterious illness
street cleaners
seemed to strike people who were otherwise in the best of health, and death
wore masks to
could come in a matter of days. Doctors did not know what to do, other than to avoid catching
recommend cleanliness and quarantine. One epidemic survivor recalled that “so influenza.
many people died from the flu they just rang the bells; they didn’t dare take ▼
[corpses] into the church.”
In the army, where living conditions allowed contagious illnesses to
spread rapidly, more than a quarter of the soldiers caught the disease.
In some AEF units, one-third of the troops died. Germans fell victim in
even larger numbers than the Allies. Possibly spread around the
MAIN IDEA world by soldiers, the epidemic killed about 500,000 Americans
Making
before it disappeared in 1919. Historians believe that the
Inferences influenza virus killed as many as 30 million people
G How did worldwide. G
wartime conditions World War I brought death and disease to
help spread
the flu?
millions but, like the flu epidemic, the war also
G. Answer came to a sudden end. After four years of
In the army, slaughter and destruction, the time had come
living conditions to forge a peace settlement. Americans hoped
allowed conta- that this “war to end all wars” would do just
gious illnesses
to spread that. Leaders of the victorious nations gath-
rapidly. ered at Versailles outside Paris to work out the
terms of peace, and President Wilson traveled
to Europe to ensure it.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•War Industries Board •propaganda •Espionage and •Great Migration
•Bernard M. Baruch •George Creel Sedition Acts

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS 5. EVALUATING
In a chart like the one shown, list How did the war affect government Do you think that the war had a
some of the changes that the war power? Think About: positive or a negative effect on
brought about for each group. • how private business worked American society? Think About:
with government • how the propaganda campaign
Changes Brought About influenced people’s behavior
by the War • how much control the president
gained over the economy • the new job opportunities for
African Americans African Americans and women
• the Espionage and Sedition Acts
Women • how the government controlled
4. MAKING INFERENCES industry
Immigrants
Why do you think the flu spread so
quickly among the troops?
Explain how each group benefited
from or was disadvantaged by
these changes.

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SCHENCK v. UNITED STATES (1919)

ORIGINS OF THE CASE Charles Schenck, an official of the U.S. Socialist Party, distrib-
uted leaflets that called the draft a “deed against humanity” and compared conscription
to slavery, urging conscripts to “assert your rights.” Schenck was convicted of sedition and
sentenced to prison, but he argued that the conviction, punishment, and even the law
itself violated his right to free speech. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.
THE RULING A unanimous court upheld Schenck’s conviction, stating that under wartime
conditions, the words in the leaflets were not protected by the right to free speech.

LEGAL REASONING
The Supreme Court’s opinion in the Schenck case, written
by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., has become
LEGAL SOURCES
famous as a guide for how the First Amendment defines
the right of free speech. Holmes wrote:
LEGISLATION
“ The question in every case is whether the words
used are used in such circumstances and are of U.S. CONSTITUTION, FIRST AMENDMENT (1791)
such a nature as to create a clear and present “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the free-
danger that they will bring about the substantive dom of speech, or of the press.”
evils that Congress has a right to prevent.” THE SEDITION ACT (1918)
"(W)hoever . . . shall willfully utter, print, write or
Justice Holmes noted that “in ordinary times” the publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive
First Amendment might have protected Schenck, but language about the form of government, . . .
“[w]hen a nation is at war many things that might be Constitution, . . . military or naval forces, . . . flag, . . .
or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the United
said in time of peace . . . will not be endured.”
States . . . shall be punished by a fine of not more
The analogy that Holmes used to explain why than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than
Schenck could be punished for his words has become twenty years, or both."
probably the best-known observation ever made about
free speech:
RELATED CASES
“ Protection of free speech
would not protect a man in DEBS v. UNITED STATES
falsely shouting ‘Fire!’ in a (MARCH, 1919)
theatre and causing a panic.” The conviction against Eugene Debs for speaking
against the war and the draft is upheld.
Writing for the Court, Holmes FROHWERK v. UNITED STATES
implied that during wartime, (MARCH, 1919)
Schenck’s leaflet was just that The publisher of a newspaper that had criticized the
dangerous. war is sentenced with a fine and ten years in prison.

ABRAMS v. UNITED STATES

(NOV., 1919)
Leaflets criticizing the U.S. expeditionary force in
Russia are found to be unprotected by the First
Amendment. Holmes writes a dissenting opinion
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., calling for the “free trade of ideas.”
Supreme Court Justice
▼

1902–1932

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WHY IT MATTERED HISTORICAL IMPACT

During the course of World War I, the federal govern- Disagreements about what kinds of speech are “free”
ment brought approximately 2,000 prosecutions for under the First Amendment continue. During the 1950s,
violations of the Espionage Act of 1917 or the Sedition when people were jailed for supporting Communism,
Act of 1918, the same laws under which it convicted and during the Vietnam War, when war protestors sup-
Schenck, Debs, and Frohwerk. ported draft resistance, these issues again reached the
By the fall of 1919, however, Holmes had changed Supreme Court.
his mind. The case of Abrams v. United States concerned The Court has also been asked to decide if young
leaflets that criticized President Wilson’s “capitalistic” people in schools have the same First Amendment
government for sending troops to put down the rights as adults. In Tinker v. Des Moines School District
Russian Revolution. Justice Holmes, joined by Justice (1969), the Court ordered a school to readmit students
Louis Brandeis, dissented from the majority of the who had been suspended for wearing black arm bands
Court, which upheld the conviction. In his dissent, in protest of the war in Vietnam.
Holmes emphasized the importance of a free exchange This so-called symbolic speech, such as wearing an
of ideas so that truth will win out in the intellectual armband or burning a draft card or a flag to express an
marketplace. His reasoning won him acclaim as a pro- opinion, has sparked heated debate. In Texas v. Johnson
tector of free speech. (1989), the Court, by a narrow five to four vote, inval-
The belief that truth will eventually win out in the idated a law under which a man who burned an
marketplace of ideas has become important legal justi- American flag to protest Reagan administration poli-
fication for promoting freedom of speech. cies had been convicted. The decision so outraged
some people that members of
Congress considered amending
the Constitution to prohibit any
“physical desecration” of the flag.
The amendment did not pass. Our
freedoms of expression continue
to depend upon the words in the
first article of the Bill of Rights,
written more than 200 years ago.

▼
In 1965 Mary
Beth Tinker and
her brother,
John, were
suspended from
school for
wearing
armbands that
▼ symbolically
criticized the
Eugene Debs was arrested for antiwar speeches like the one he
Vietnam War.
gave at this 1916 presidential campaign stop.

THINKING CRITICALLY

CONNECT TO HISTORY CONNECT TO TODAY

1. Analyzing Primary Sources Read Justice Holmes’s 2.
dissent in Abrams v. United States. Compare it with the IINTERNET ACTIVITY [Link]
opinion he wrote in Schenck v. United States. Explain the Visit the links for Historic Decisions of the Supreme
major difference or similarity in the two opinions. Court to research articles about free speech issues.
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R22. Select several of these issues—such as whether hate
groups have a right to march—to discuss with other
students in your class. Choose one issue and, as a
group, write down as many arguments as you can on both
sides of the issue. Then present a debate to the class.

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Wilson Fights
for Peace
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

European leaders opposed Many of the nationalist issues •Fourteen Points •Treaty of
most of Wilson’s peace plan, left unresolved after World War I •League of Versailles
and the U.S. Senate failed to continue to trouble the world Nations •reparations
ratify the peace treaty. today. •Georges •war-guilt clause
Clemenceau •Henry Cabot
•David Lloyd Lodge
George

One American's Story

In January 1918, at the magnificent Palace of Versailles outside Paris, President

Wilson tried to persuade the Allies to construct a just and lasting peace and to estab-
lish a League of Nations. Colonel E. M. House, a native of Texas and a member of
the American delegation to Versailles, later wrote about the conference.

A PERSONAL VOICE COLONEL E. M. HOUSE

“ How splendid it would have been had we blazed a new and better trail! . . .
It may be that Wilson might have had the power and influence if he had
remained in Washington and kept clear of the Conference. When he
stepped from his lofty pedestal and wrangled with representatives of
other states, upon equal terms, he became as common clay. . . .
To those who are saying that the Treaty is bad and should never
have been made and that it will involve Europe in infinite difficul-
ties in its enforcement, I feel like admitting it. But I would
also say in reply that empires cannot be shattered and new
states raised upon their ruins without disturbance.”
—quoted in Hooray for Peace, Hurrah for War

House saw what happened when Wilson’s

idealism ran up against practical politics. The Allied
▼ victors, vengeful toward Germany after four years of
warfare, rejected most of Wilson’s peace program.
Colonel Edward
M. House was
a friend and
advisor to
President
Wilson Presents His Plan
Woodrow Wilson.
Rejection was probably the last thing Wilson expected when he arrived in Europe.
Everywhere he went, people gave him a hero’s welcome. Italians displayed his pic-
ture in their windows; Parisians strewed the street with flowers. Representatives of
one group after another, including Armenians, Jews, Ukrainians, and Poles,
appealed to him for help in setting up independent nations for themselves.

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FOURTEEN POINTS Even before the war was over, Wilson

presented his plan for world peace. On January 18, 1918, he
delivered his now famous Fourteen Points speech before KEY PLAYER
Congress. The points were divided into three groups. The
first five points were issues that Wilson believed had to be
addressed to prevent another war:
1. There should be no secret treaties among nations.
2. Freedom of the seas should be maintained for all.
3. Tariffs and other economic barriers among nations
Vocabulary should be lowered or abolished in order to foster
free trade: the free trade.
buying and selling 4. Arms should be reduced “to the lowest point consis-
of goods without
tent with domestic safety, thus lessening the possi-
tariffs, or fees
bility of military responses” during diplomatic crises.
5. Colonial policies should consider the interests of
WOODROW WILSON
the colonial peoples as well as the interests of the 1856–1924
imperialist powers. At the end of the war, President
The next eight points dealt with boundary changes. Wilson wanted the United States
Wilson based these provisions on the principle of self-deter- to become more involved in inter-
national affairs. He believed the
mination “along historically established lines of nationali- nation had a moral obligation to
ty.” In other words, groups that claimed distinct ethnic help maintain peace in the world.
identities were to form their own nation-states or decide for Wilson’s sense of moral purpose
themselves to what nations they would belong. had a lasting influence on
The fourteenth point called for the creation of an inter- American foreign policy.
national organization to address diplomatic crises like those
that had sparked the war. This League of Nations would
provide a forum for nations to discuss and settle their grievances without having
to resort to war.
THE ALLIES REJECT WILSON’S PLAN Wilson’s naiveté about the political
aspects of securing a peace treaty showed itself in his failure to grasp the anger felt
by the Allied leaders. The French premier, Georges Clemenceau (klDmQEn-sIP),
had lived through two German invasions of France
and was determined to prevent future invasions.
MAIN IDEA David Lloyd George, the British prime minis-
ter, had just won reelection on the slogan
Developing
Historical “Make Germany Pay.” The Italian prime
Perspective minister, Vittorio Orlando, wanted control
A Why did the of Austrian-held territory. A
Allies reject Contrary to custom, the peace con-
Wilson’s plan?
ference did not include the defeated
A. Answer Central Powers. Nor did it include
Clemenceau Russia, which was now under the con-
was determined
to prevent trol of a Communist government, or
another German the smaller Allied nations. Instead, the
invasion of “Big Four”—Wilson, Clemenceau,
France; the Lloyd George, and Orlando—worked
Allied leaders
were all angry out the treaty’s details among them-
with Germany. selves. Wilson conceded on most of his
Fourteen Points in return for the estab-
lishment of the League of Nations.
▼

(left to rIght) David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau,

and Woodrow Wilson in Paris in 1919.

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Europe and the Middle East, 1915 Europe and the Middle East, 1919

ICELAND ICELAND
N N
W W

SWEDEN
E SWEDEN E FINLAND
S NORWAY S NORWAY

Sea
North Sea North ESTONIA
Sea

lti c
Sea
ltic

LATVIA
IRELAND IRELAND

Ba
DENMARK R U S S I A DENMARK R U S S I A
Ba

50°N (Br.) GREAT 50°N (Br.) GREAT LITHUANIA

BRITAIN BRITAIN E.
NETHERLANDS PRUSSIA
NETHERLANDS (Ger.)
GERMANY
BELGIUM BELGIUM G E RM AN Y
ATLANTIC POLAND
ATLANTIC LUXEMBOURG CZ E
LUXEMBOURG C HO
OCEAN FRANCE OCEAN SLOV
FRANCE AKI A
AUSTRIA-
SWITZERLAND HUNGARY SWITZERLAND AUSTRIA HUNGARY
YU ROMANIA
ROMANIA GO

AL
L

Ad

Ad
Black Sea SL Black Sea
GA

AV

G
SERBIA

ria
ria

ITALY IA

RTU
RTU

tic
tic

SPAIN MONTENEGRO BULGARIA SPAIN ITA LY Sea BULGARIA

PO
Se
PO

a ALBANIA
ALBANIA OTTOMAN
Med Med GREECE TURKEY
ite GREECE EMPIRE ite
rr rr
an an SYRIA
ea ea
n 20°E 30°E n 20°E 30°E LEBANON IRAQ
S e a ARABIA S e a PALESTINE TRANS-
JORDAN

Allied Powers GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER

0 250 500 miles 0 250 500 miles New nations
Central Powers 1. Region What had happened to
0 250 500 kilometers German territory in the east by 1919? 0 250 500 kilometers Allied-occupied zones
Neutral countries
2. Location Which new nation absorbed
Serbia and Montenegro by 1919?
Skillbuilder
Answers
1. Poland had Debating the Treaty of Versailles
been formed out
of parts of On June 28, 1919, the Big Four and the leaders of the defeated nations gathered
German territory
in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles to sign the peace treaty. After four
in the east.
2. Yugoslavia years of devastating warfare, everyone hoped that the treaty would create stabili-
had absorbed ty for a rebuilt Europe. Instead, anger held sway.
Serbia and
Montenegro. PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY The Treaty of Versailles (vEr-sFT) established
nine new nations—including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia—and shift-
ed the boundaries of other nations. It carved five areas out of the Ottoman Empire
and gave them to France and Great Britain as mandates, or temporary colonies.
Those two Allies were to administer their respective mandates until the areas were B. Answer
The treaty
ready for self-rule and then independence. forced Germany
The treaty barred Germany from maintaining an army. It also required to assume sole
Germany to return the region of Alsace-Lorraine to France and to pay responsibility for
reparations, or war damages, amounting to $33 billion to the Allies. starting World
War I; it forced
THE TREATY’S WEAKNESSES This treatment of Germany weakened the abil- the nation to pay
ity of the Treaty of Versailles to provide a lasting peace in Europe. Several basic huge war repa-
rations and
flaws in the treaty sowed the seeds of postwar international problems that even-
stripped it of
tually would lead to the Second World War. its colonial
First, the treaty humiliated Germany. It contained a war-guilt clause possessions in
forcing Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting World War I. Although the Pacific.
German militarism had played a major role in igniting the war, other European MAIN IDEA
nations had been guilty of provoking diplomatic crises before the war.
Summarizing
Furthermore, there was no way Germany could pay the huge financial B How did the
reparations. Germany was stripped of its colonial possessions in the Pacific, which Treaty of Versailles
might have helped it pay its reparations bill. B affect Germany?

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In addition, for three years the Russians had fought on the side of the Allies,
suffering higher casualties than any other nation. However, because Russia was
excluded from the peace conference, it lost more territory than Germany did. The
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (or Soviet Union), as Russia was officially
called after 1922, became determined to regain its former territory.
Finally, the treaty ignored claims of colonized people for self-determination,
as in the case of Southeast Asia, where the Vietnamese people were beginning to
demand the same political rights enjoyed by people in Western nations.
OPPOSITION TO THE TREATY When Wilson returned to the United States, he
faced strong opposition to the treaty. Some people, including Herbert Hoover,
believed it was too harsh. Hoover noted, “The economic consequences alone will
pull down all Europe and thus injure the United States.” Others considered the
treaty a sell-out to imperialism because it simply exchanged one set of colonial
rulers for another. Some ethnic groups objected to the treaty because the new
national boundaries it established did not satisfy their particular demands for self-
determination. For example, before the war many Poles had been under German
rule. Now many Germans were under Polish rule.
DEBATE OVER THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS The main domestic opposition,
however, centered on the issue of the League of Nations. A few opponents believed
that the League threatened the U.S. foreign policy of isolationism. Conservative sen-
ators, headed by Henry Cabot Lodge, were suspicious of the provision for joint
economic and military action against aggression, even though it was voluntary. They
wanted the constitutional right of Congress to declare war included in the treaty.

P O I N T COUNTERPOINT
“The League of Nations was “The League of Nations posed a threat
the world’s best hope for lasting peace.” to U.S. self-determination.”
President Wilson campaigned for the League of Nations Senator William Borah was one of the foremost critics
as “necessary to meet the differing and unexpected of the Treaty of Versailles because he objected to U.S.
contingencies” that could threaten world peace. Wilson membership in the League of Nations. Borah feared
believed that the League would create a forum where that membership in the League “would draw America
nations could talk through their disagreements. He also away from her isolation and into the internal affairs
hoped it would provide collective security, in which and concerns of Europe” and involve the United States
nations would “respect and preserve as against exter- in foreign wars. “Once having surrendered and become
nal aggression the territorial integrity and existing politi- a part of the European concerns,” Borah wondered,
cal independence of all members of the League,” and “where, my friends, are you going to stop?”
thereby prevent devastating warfare. Many opponents also feared that the League
Critics complained that membership in the League would nullify the Monroe Doctrine by limiting “the right
would limit American independence in international of our people to govern themselves free from all
affairs. However, Wilson argued that League member- restraint, legal or moral, of foreign powers.”
ship included “a moral, not a legal, obligation” that Although Wilson argued that the League of Nations
would leave Congress free to decide its own course of would have no such power of restraint, Borah was
action. Wilson tried to unconvinced. He respond-
assure Congress as well THINKING CRITICALLY ed to Wilson’s argument
as the general public that by asking, “What will your
the League was “not a 1. CONNECT TO HISTORY Summarizing Both supporters League amount to if it
straightjacket, but a vehicle and opponents of the League hoped to preserve peace. does not contain powers
of life.” It was also a defi- How did each group propose to secure peace for the that no one dreams of
United States?
nite guaranty . . . against giving it?”
the things that have just SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R4.
come near bringing the
whole structure of 2. CONNECT TO TODAY Identifying Problems What are
civilization into ruin.” some contemporary arguments against United States
participation in international organizations such as the
United Nations or the World Court?

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History Through
ECHOES OF THE GREAT WAR
In the 1920s and 1930s, a number of Hollywood horror films were influ-
enced by memories of the Great War. The Hunchback of Notre Dame and
The Phantom of the Opera featured men who, like many veterans, were
forced to live with shameful disfigurements.
Other films recalled the war’s bleak
landscapes. For example, parts of the
movie Frankenstein were filmed on the
same sets as All Quiet on the Western
Front, the famous war film. James Whale,
who directed Frankenstein, was
a veteran of the war. Like
many of his generation,
he remained profoundly
disturbed by the horrors
the war had unleashed. ▼
Chaney in The Hunchback
of Notre Dame (1923)
▼

Lon Chaney in
The Phantom ▼
of the Opera (top) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
(1925) (bottom) Frankenstein (1931)

SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Visual Sources

1. Why might the theme of human disfigurement be especially
powerful to the generation that lived through World War I?
2. How do horror films of your time reflect specific fears and
anxieties of the current generation?
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R23.

WILSON REFUSES TO COMPROMISE Wilson unwisely ignored the

Republican majority in the Senate when he chose the members of the American
delegation. If he had been more willing to accept a compromise on the League, it
would have been more likely that the Senate would have approved the treaty.
Wilson, however, was exhausted from his efforts at Versailles.
Despite ill health, Wilson set out in September 1919 on an 8,000-mile tour.
He delivered 34 speeches in about 3 weeks, explaining why the United States
should join the League of Nations. On October 2, Wilson suffered a stroke (a rup-
tured blood vessel to the brain) and lay partially paralyzed for more than two
C. Answer
months, unable to even meet with his cabinet. His once-powerful voice was no It was feared
more than a thick whisper. that U.S. mem-
When the treaty came up for a vote in the Senate in November 1919, Senator bership in the
League would
Lodge introduced a number of amendments, the most important of which qual-
force the United
ified the terms under which the United States would enter the League of Nations. States to shape
It was feared that U.S. membership in the League would force the United States its foreign policy
to form its foreign policy in accord with the League. Although the Senate reject- in accord with
the League.
ed the amendments, it also failed to ratify the treaty.
Wilson refused to compromise. “I will not play for position,” he proclaimed. MAIN IDEA
“This is not a time for tactics. It is a time to stand square. I can stand defeat; I can-
Making
not stand retreat from conscientious duty.” The treaty again came up for a vote Inferences
in March 1920. The Senate again rejected the Lodge amendments—and again C Why were
failed to muster enough votes for ratification. some people
afraid of the
The United States finally signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921, after
treaty’s influence
Wilson was no longer president. The United States never joined the League of over American
Nations, but it maintained an unofficial observer at League meetings. C foreign policy?

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The Legacy of the War

When World War I ended, many Americans looked forward to a return of what
Warren G. Harding called “normalcy.” However, both the United States and the
rest of the world had been utterly transformed by the war. At home, World War I
had strengthened both the U.S. military and the power of government. It had also
accelerated social change, especially for African Americans and women. In addi-
tion, the propaganda campaign had provoked powerful fears and antagonisms
that were left unchanneled when the war finally came to an end.
In Europe the destruction and massive loss of life severely damaged social and
political systems. In many countries the war created political instability and vio-
Vocabulary lence that persisted for decades. During the war years, the first Communist state
fascist: was established in Russia, while after the war, militant fascist organizations seized
characteristic of control in Italy, Spain, and Germany.
or relating to
Appalled by the scale of destruction, Americans
fascism, a system
began to call World War I “the war to end all wars,” in Domestic Consequences
of totalitarian
government the hope that humanity would never again be willing to of World War I
fight such a war. However, unresolved issues in Europe
would eventually drag America into an even wider war. • accelerated America’s emergence as
the world’s greatest industrial power
The Treaty of Versailles had settled nothing. In fact, some
Europeans longed to resume the fight. The ominous • contributed to the movement of
shape of things to come emerged in the writings of an African Americans to Northern cities
Austrian named Adolf Hitler, an angry veteran of World
War I: “It cannot be that two million [Germans] should • intensified anti-immigrant and
have fallen in vain. . . . No, we do not pardon, we anti-radical sentiments among
demand—vengeance!” Two decades after the end of the mainstream Americans
Great War, Adolf Hitler’s desire for vengeance would
• brought over one million women into
plunge the world into an even greater war, in which the the work force
United States would play a leading role.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•Fourteen Points •Georges Clemenceau •Treaty of Versailles •war-guilt clause
•League of Nations •David Lloyd George •reparations •Henry Cabot Lodge

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. DEVELOPING HISTORICAL 5. HYPOTHESIZING
Re-create the spider diagram PERSPECTIVE Predict Germany’s reaction to
shown below. Fill in the web with Why didn’t the Treaty of Versailles the Treaty of Versailles. Give
information about the provisions lay the foundations for a lasting reasons for your predictions.
and weaknesses of the peace? Think About:
Treaty of Versailles and s
on • what Germans thought of the
opposition to it. visi 4. SUMMARIZING
war-guilt clause
o
Pr Why did so many Americans oppose
the Treaty of Versailles? • German reaction to reparations
The Treaty of • how Germans felt about the loss
Versailles of territory
es
ess ion
ak
n
osit
We Op
p

Do you think Congress should have

rejected the treaty?

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CHAPTER ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMES

For each term or name below, write a sentence explaining its
VISUAL SUMMARY connection to World War I.
1. nationalism 6. armistice
THE FIRST WORLD WAR 2.
3.
trench warfare
Zimmermann note
7.
8.
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Great Migration
4. Selective Service Act 9. Fourteen Points
5. General John J. Pershing 10. Treaty of Versailles
LONG-TERM CAUSES

• Nationalist tensions in Europe MAIN IDEAS

• Competition for colonies Use your notes and the information in the chapter to answer
• Arms races and militarism the following questions.
• Formation of defense alliances
World War I Begins (pages 578–586)
1. What were the main reasons for U.S. involvement in the war?
IMMEDIATE CAUSES 2. Where did Germany begin its war offensive, and what
happened there?
• Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
American Power Tips the Balance (pages 587–593)
• Austria-Hungary’s retaliation against
Serbia 3. How did the United States mobilize a strong military during
World War I?
• Declarations of war between rival 4. What new weapons made fighting in World War I deadlier
alliances than fighting in previous wars?
• Germany’s invasion of Belgium
The War at Home (pages 594–601)
5. What methods did the U.S. government use to sell the war to

✹
the nation?
6. What events during the war undermined civil liberties?

WORLD WAR I Wilson Fights for Peace (pages 604–609)

7. What were the major effects of the Treaty of Versailles?
8. How did Wilson’s support for the League of Nations stand in
the way of Senate support for the Treaty of Versailles?
IMMEDIATE EFFECTS
CRITICAL THINKING
• Destruction and immense loss of life
1. USING YOUR NOTES In a chart like the one shown, provide
• Revolution in Russia
causes for the listed effects of World War I.
• Social change in United States
• Allied victory over Central Powers Causes Effects
• Treaty of Versailles
U.S. enters World War I
• Formation of mandates (temporary
colonies)
Germany collapses
• League of Nations
U.S. economy becomes
more productive
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
• Breakup of empires
2. DEVELOPING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Between 1914 and
• U.S. policy of isolationism 1920, Americans debated the role their country should have
• United States’ emergence as global in world affairs. From the events of World War I, what might
economic giant Americans have learned about intervention in the affairs of
• Rise of militant extremist parties in other nations?
Europe
• Eruption of World War II 3. INTERPRETING MAPS Look at the maps of Europe before
and after World War I (page 606). Describe the changes in
national boundaries after the Versailles peace settlement.

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Standardized Test Practice

Use the map and your knowledge of United States Use the graph and your knowledge of United States
history to answer question 1. history to answer question 2.

N
Military Casualties
W E

S
Austria-Hungary
Russia
North France
Sea Sea
ltic C Germany
Ba

A Italy
B
Great Britain
Bulgaria
United States
D
Black
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ad Sea Casualties (percent of soldiers)
ria
tic
Se
a
2. The countries with the greatest percentage of
military casualties were all —
F members of the Allied Powers.
Mediterranean Sea
G members of the Central Powers.
1. Which country was an ally of the United States H located far from the battlefront.
during World War I? J bordering one of the war’s two fronts.
A country A
B country B
C country C
D country D ADDITIONAL TEST PRACTICE, pages S1–S33.

ITEST PRACTICE [Link]

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
1. INTERACT Recall your discussion of 2. LEARNING FROM MEDIA View the
W I T H H I ST O RY the question on page 577: American Stories video “Ace of Aces:
Eddie Rickenbacker and the First World War.”
Do you think America should enter Discuss the following questions in a group; then
do the activity.
the war?
• What is your impression of Eddie Rickenbacker?
Write a speech, arguing for or against American
• How did Rickenbacker adapt his skills and
involvement in World War I. Use information from
talents to wartime?
the chapter to support your argument. Give your
speech to the class. Cooperative Learning Activity Rickenbacker’s
bravery and aviation skills made him a hero. What
qualities make people heroes? Using stories and
images from magazines and newspapers, make a
list of current heroes on a chart for display in your
classroom.

The First World War 613