THE US IN WORLD WAR I

(1914-1918)

#1 - 1989

• "The United States entered the First World War not 'to make the world safe for democracy' as President Wilson claimed, but to safeguard American economic interests." Assess the validity of this statement.

#2 - 1979

• "Between 1776 and 1823 a young and weak United States achieved considerable success in foreign policy when confronted with the two principal European powers, Great Britain and France. Between 1914 and 1933, however, a far more powerful United States was far less successful in achieving its foreign policy objectives in Europe."

Discuss by comparing United States foreign policy in Europe during the period 1776-1823, with United States policy in Europe during the following period:1914-1932.

#3 - 1982

• Prior to American involvement in both the First and Second World Wars, the United States adopted an official policy of neutrality. Compare the policy and its modifications during the period 1914 - 1917 to the policy and its modifications during the period 1939 - 1941

#4 - 1991

• DBQ: It was the strength of the opposition forces, both liberal and conservative, rather than the ineptitude and stubbornness of President Wilson that led to the Senate defeat of the Treaty of Versailles. Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1917 - 1921, assess the validity of this statement.

#5 - 1995

• Assess the relative influence of THREE of the following in the American decision to declare war on Germany in 1917.

German naval policy

American economic interests

Woodrow Wilson's idealism

Allied propaganda

America's claim to world power

• A. "Great War" - A surprise to US
• B. World's first "Total War"
  • August 1914 to November 11, 1918 (11/11/18)
  • 32 Nations
  • 30 Million Die
  • $350 Billion
  • Political, Social and Economic Effect?

• 1. "Balance of Power" System
  • designed by Prince Metternich
  • 1815 - Congress of Vienna
  • Collapse building in Europe since 1871 - Balance of power changed in Europe
• 2. England was #1 had the responsibility to maintain the system
  • only had a powerful navy the balance broke down
• 3. Hague Conference - 1899
  • created to settle disputes through arbitration not used
  • devised rules of war that failed to take new weapons into account
• 4. No means of using international force to prevent war
• 5. World economy - interdependent - needed peace
  • a. raw materials
  • b. markets
  • c. growth
• 6. System was not flexible enough to adjust to changes by the industrial revolution
  • a. industrialization led to competition for colonies
  • b. competition led to military buildups
  • c. military buildups led to alliances
  • d. nationalism led to conflict (Serbia's desire for freedom)

• Have-not countries tried to catch up to France and England
• 1. Franco - Prussian War - 1870-1871 - German unification and expansion
  • Ems telegram - used to sucker Napoleon III into declaring war while unprepared
  • Bismarck used threat of war with France to force smaller German states to turn to Prussia
    • creating Germany (nationalism)
  • c. Germany defeated France and took Alsace-Lorraine (imperialism)
  • d. $1 billion indemnity designed to weaken France further
  • e. military occupation until paid and humiliation of treaty signed at Versailles
  • f. France - paid quickly desired to recover Alsace-Lorraine and get revenge
    • both began to build militaries to prepare for war with each other - look for allies
• 2. Turkey - Sick Man of Europe (Balkans) - S.E. Europe
  • a. Turkey had begun to disintegrate - unable to hold the Ottoman Empire together
  • b. Crimean War (1853-1856)
    • 1. Russia attacked Turkey to obtain the Dardanelle Straits (warm water port)
      • a. England stopped them - maintained balance of power
      • b. keep Russians from threatening Suez Canal
    • 2. Turkey weakened
  • c. Balkan Crisis - powderkeg of Europe
    • 1. now Austria-Hungary also wanted the same territory because it was landlocked
    • and needed ports
    • 2. Russo-Turkish War - 1877-1878
      • a. Russia won - obtained Dardanelle Straits
      • b. Germany double-crossed Russia sided with Austria-Hungary
      • c. Russia forced to give Straits back
  • This set up a potential war between Austria-Hungary and Russia over the Balkins
• 3. Russo-Japanese War - 1904
  • Japan humiliated Russia and increased Russian need for a warm water port

• nationalism within these nations gave support for buildup
  • (US imperialism is a good example of this public support)
• 1. Germany moved up to #4 - had always had a powerful army
  • a. unification made them the fastest growing power
  • b. to challenge England for #1 - they built a German navy - Dreadnaughts
• 2. France - #5 had always had both
  • a. after Germany defeated them they began to build even faster
  • b. wanted revenge began to race Germany
• 3. Italy had never had either sought to catch up
• 4. Russia was huge and so was their army - #3 until Russo-Japanese war
  • a. Japan was #41 - showed that Russia was overrated - based on size
  • b. they needed an industrial revolution to catch up in quality
  • c. this required a warm water port
• 5. England had to continue to build up its navy to stay #1
  • a. it also had to prevent others from becoming too powerful
  • b. maintain status quo
• 6. Austria-Hungary - #2 - but losing ground
  • a. was powerful but landlocked - to become #1 it needed ports
  • b. to build a navy it needed the Balkans

• 1. Triple Entente
  • a. France - needed allies to get even with Germany
  • b. Russia - needed help to gain Balkans joined France - 1891
  • c. England - isolated, feared naval blockade - imported food - 1904
• 2. Triple Alliance
  • a. Germany - wanted allies against France and had chosen between A-H and Russia in 1879
  • b. Austria-Hungary - needed support to gain port which would upset England and Russia
  • c. Italy - willing to side with which ever side was going to win - wanted territory
• 3. Von Schlieffin Plan - 1906
  • a. German plan to fight and win a two front war against France and Russia
  • b. key to plan was timetable
    • 1. Germans measured routes to Paris - best route through Belgium
    • 2. counted on neutral Belgium to let them pass without fighting
    • 3. they had 6 weeks from the time Russian troops started moving west to capture
      • Paris and put their troops on trains for the Eastern Front

• - Germany united 1871
• - Italy - Late 1860's united
• - National "Sore Spots" -
  • 1) Italy lost territory to Austria
  • 2) France lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany
  • 3) Balkan Peninsula - desire for independence by colonies (Serbia)
• 1. Turkey - Sick Man of Europe (Balkans) - S.E. Europe
• 2. rebellions occurred as Empire began to disintegrate
  • a. Greece
  • b. Bulgaria
  • c. Rumania
  • d. Serbia (Yugoslavia today)
  • e. all wanted independence
• 3. Balkan Crisis - powderkeg of Europe
  • a. Serbia became the focal point
  • b. Russians - Slavic so were Serbs - offered protection from Austria-Hungary
  • c. Serbia did not want to become a part of either

• 1. 6/28/14 - in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip - 19 yr. old
• 2. attempt to free Balkans and Serbia
• 3. Franz Joseph I got blank check from Germany to punish Serbia by taking it over
• 4. sent ultimatum to Serbia - gave 48 hrs. to reply
• 5. Serbia was willing to meet all demands short of giving up its independence
  • wanted the Hague to settle the dispute - Russia agreed
• 6. Austria-Hungary declared war - 7/28 - did not want Hague involved
• 7. Serbia asked Russia for aid
• 8. Russian mobilization - 7/29 - set the Von Schlieffin plan in motion
• 9. official start of WWI - led Germany to attack Belgium to get to France - 8/4
  • Belgium resistance lasted 16 days = Von Schlieffin plan fails
• 10. England declared war on Germany 8/4

A. 1st Total War

• 8/14 - European war
• 1. 30 nations - 61 million troops
• 2. mass armies and people at home
• 3. mass destruction
  • machine gun, tank, plane, sub, poison gas, hand grenades, flamethrowers
  • land and sea mines, Big Bertha artillery - range - 75 miles
  • very bloody, high casualties
• 4. Two front war

B. Two sides

• 1. Central Powers
  • a. Austria-Hungary
  • b. Germany
  • c. Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
  • d. Bulgaria
• 2. Allied Powers
  • a. Russia
  • b. France
  • c. Great Britain
  • d. Japan
  • e. Italy switched sides when Schlieffin plan failed
  • f. Serbia

C. Western Front

• 1. 9/14 - war stalled at Marne River - 60 miles from Paris
• 2. 600 miles of trenches (English Channel to Swiss border)
• 3. separated by no-man's land
• 4. Basically unchanged until 1918 - US entry
• Stalemate

D. Russian (Eastern Front)

• German victories slowly pushed into Russia
• Russia suffered high casualties - public turned against the war and the Czar
• Same strategy used against Napoleon - burn everything

A. NEUTRALITY - Wilson's official position - 8-4-14

• A majority of Americans wished to avoid war (favored Allied Powers)
  • 1. businessmen wanted to make $ through trade with both sides
  • 2. we could decide who won - richest neutral with most powerful navy
• B. Goals in Foreign Policy?
  • National Security
  • Trade
  • Spread Democracy
  • Humanitarianism
  • Morality (Wilson)
• C. Aug. 4 - "Proclamation of Neutrality"
  • 1. Is this possible?
  • 2. Strong ties to Europe - especially England
  • 3. Wilson demanded "belligerents" follow rules of warfare regarding neutrals
• D. "Strained Neutrality" - 2 1/2 years
  • 1. With England
    • a. 1905 Declaration of London
    • b. England violated it
      • "contraband"
      • "continuous voyage"
      • "Blockade" Central Powers
      • Declared North Sea "Military Zone"
      • "Blacklisted" firms
      • Should U.S. protest?
  • 2. With Germany
    • a. Schlieffen Plan (2-prong attack)
      • - Defeated Russia at Tannenburg in 1915
      • - In West - stopped by Belgian resistance
      • - Stalemate
      • - Heavy Casualties
      • - Trench warfare until war's end
    • b. New Strategy
      • - U-Boat (German word "Unterseebooten")
      • - Changed war (no safety for passengers)
      • - Declared water around British Isles "War Zones"
      • - Wilson - "Strict Accountability"

V. U.S. entry into WWI

A. What moved us to enter the war against Germany?

• 1. What should US foreign policy be based on?
• 2. Idealism - ideological quest for democratic principles, equal opportunity, optimistic
• 3. Realism - national security, economic needs, capitalism, anti-revolutionary, stress on order
• 4. US entry into WWI inevitable or avoidable? what were the alternatives?
• 5. How neutral was the US?

B. U.S. had a cultural tie to England

• 1. even immigrant created divided loyalties
• 2. language, literature, law
• 3. many volunteered to help the Allies

C. Propaganda - British cut underwater cable from Germany

• news was one sided
• 1. Bryce Report: Belgian Neutrality violated by Germany
• 2. Deportation of citizens
• 3. Zeppelin - bombing London
• 4. Kaiser Wilhelm - atrocities - painted as militaristic and barbaric
• 5. US Yellow Journalism

D. Cabinet - pro-Allies except for W.J. Bryan = neutral

E. British Blockade - England took advantage of Pro-Br. feelings in U.S.

• 1. Contraband - food and clothing: everything destined for Central Powers
• 2. All ships taken to England and searched
• 3. Blockaded neutrals to keep them from shipping to Germany
• 4. North Sea mined - maximum blockade without upsetting U.S.
• 5. Lansing demanded British obey the law - they ignored us - we let them

F. Morgan Loans - Allied Arsenal

• 1. total trade increased from $824 million (1914) to $3.2 billion (1916)
• 2. munitions trade increased from $40 million (1914) to $1.3 billion (1916)
• 3. cash and carry - government would not loan - nor would it allow others to until 1915
• 4. 1915 - allies ran out of cash and got private not government loans
• 5. J.P. Morgan - loaned $2.3 billion to British and French between 1915 and 1917
  • used to purchase weapons and food
• 6. Bankers and munitions manufacturers could not resist profits
  • if Allies lost - they would not get their money
  • "vested interest"
• 7. Industrial Revolution changed neutrality - laws did not adjust

G. German Blockade - U-boat - violated Freedom of the Seas

• 4/4/15 - declared war zone - could not warn - vulnerable
  • 3/28/15 Falaba
  • 5/1/15 Gulflight
• 1. Lusitania - 5/7/15 - British passenger liner attacked
  • a. 1198 dead (128 US)
  • b. German ads warned against travel - 4/15/15
  • c. ship carried munitions
  • Wilson - Future incidents viewed "deliberately unfriendly"
  • d. U.S. demanded a stop of sub attacks - Bryan resigned - called a traitor
  • e. Lansing replaced Bryan - harsh with Germany not with England
  • f. US public was outraged - turning point #1
• 2. German pledges - not to sink ships without warning and a chance to evacuate
  • a. Arabic Pledge - 8/19/15 - 2 Americans killed - paid an indemnity
    • 9/1/15 - no passenger ships would be attacked
  • b. Sussex Pledge - 3/24/16 - French passenger ship - wounded several Americans
    • 1. no merchant ships would be attacked if US would be neutral
    • 2. kept promise for 9 months - used time to build more subs
    • 3. waited for US to return to neutral position
    • 4. difference between GB and Germany = life vs. property

H. Preparedness -1915

• 1. Army - 80,000 = only enough to provide security at home
• 2. Navy - powerful, yet not large enough to take the war to Europe
• 3. Air Force - part of army - 16 planes
• 4. Wilson proposed enlarging all 3 using taxes
• 5. Isolationists, Progressives and even Conservatives were opposed
  • Wilson got part of what he was after
    • a. June 3, 1916 - National Defense Act
      • 1) Army from 100,000 to 220,000
      • 2) National Guard 400,000
      • 3) $500 million - Navy
      • 4) Tax wealthy, Inheritance Tax, Windfall Profits Tax
    • b. Aug. 1916 - Council for National Defense
• Did this move us closer to war?

I. Gore-McLemore resolutions - 2/16

• 1. attempted to prevent Americans from travel into war zones
• 2. public approved - Wilson did not - felt it would be a humiliation
• Could this have kept us out of war?

J. House-Grey Memorandum (Peace Without Victory) - 2/16

• 1. Wilson tried to force an end to the war - offered to mediate
• 2. US threatened to declare war on Germany if they would not meet
• 3. clearly sided with Allies - those who favored our entry into the war pushed it
• 4. both England and Germany wanted peace with victory

K. Election of 1916

• 1. Charles Evans Hughes (R) - tied to the pro-war faction
• 2. Woodrow Wilson (D) - "kept us out of war" - winner
• 3. Blacklist of US companies dealing with Central Powers
  • 1. Strained relations with England
  • 2. US never returned to neutrality

L. Peace Without Victory

• A. Jan. 22, 1917 - Wilson speaks to Congress
• B. Too late for negotiation

M. German Unrestricted submarine warfare - 2/1/17

primary cause of US entry

• 1. gambled on US entry not making a difference - reinstituted war zone and enlarged it
  • Feb. 2 - Laconia sank, Americans killed
  • Feb. 3 - U.S. broke relations w/Germany
• 2. expected to starve England into submission before US could make a difference
• 3. Wilson had issued ultimatums threatening war during the Lusitania and Sussex crisis
• 4. He was forced to cut off relations with Germany to save face
  • This put us on the verge of war

N. Zimmerman Note - 2/24/17 intercepted

• 1. sent to Mexico - intercepted by British who held it till the right time - 3/1
• 2. proposed Mexico declare war on US if US went to war with Germany
• 3. Wilson wanted to become an armed neutral - filibustered
  • Feb. 26 - Wilson asks Congress to arm merchant ships
• 4. England released note - public demanded war

O. Tsar Nicholas II overthrown - 3/17

• 1. Kerensky and democracy came briefly to Russia then came Lenin and Trotsky
• 2. US viewed war as - democracy vs. autocracy
• 3. removed one of Wilson's major objections to the war

P. 3/17 - 3 US ships attacked (200 US deaths - total) - US demanded war

Q. Wilson War Message - 4/2/17 - Idealism (Democracy)

• 1. April 4 - Congress approves war declaration
• 2. 370-50 House / 82-6 Senate - unrestricted sub warfare made the difference
• 3. US sought balance of power
  • a. Peace Without Victory
  • b. based on 14 Points
• 4. US had economic interest in the outcome
• 5. most Americans just wanted to win - idealism not overwhelming to them
• April 6 - Wilson signs Declaration of War into law
  • Why?
    • 1. Sub warfare
    • 2. Ideological interests with Allies
    • 3. Economic interests
    • 4. Allied propaganda
    • 5. Morally right - Wilson
• Is it too late for US to mobilize?
• Based on the information up to this point does it appear that the US made the correct decision?
• Would the outcome change your perspective?

A. Increased Presidential Powers

• Wilson - "It is not an army we must shape and train, it is a nation."
• 1. Wilson provided strong leadership
• 2. Given emergency powers by Congress
• 3. Council of National Defense - created agencies - 500
  • created a level of regulation never seen before
  • Overman Act - gave Pres. special powers

B. Mobilization of the Economy

• 1. Committee on Public Education and Information - 4/17
  • a. George Creel
  • b. influence public opinion to create support for the war effort - selling the war
  • c. censorship - Program to limit press and speech
    • 1. Trading with the Enemies Act - censored magazines in foreign languages
    • 2. all sources were limited
  • d. Suppression of Dissent
    • 1. Espionage Act - 1917
      • a. $10,000 fine and 20 yrs. prison for spreading false rumors to impede the war effort
    • 2. Sedition Act - 1918 - extended the espionage act
      • a. casual remarks against the government or war effort led to arrest of 1500+
      • b. most important restriction
      • c. illegal to obstruct draft or war bonds
      • d. Schenck v. U.S. - 1919 - ruled this law Constitutional
      • e. 9-0 - Oliver Wendell Holmes
        • clear and present danger to national security
        • leaflets challenging draft
      • Abrams vs. U.S. Sedition Act const.
    • 3. Congressmen were refused seats
    • 4. Socialists and Communists were persecuted
      • Eugene V. Debs given 10 yr. prison sentence for predicting the triumph
      • of socialism over capitalism - pardoned 12/21
    • 5. ACLU created to protect civil rights - 1920 - American Civil Liberties Union
  • e. anti-German sentiment out of control at home
    • 1. books burned
    • 2. names changed
    • 3. people fired, tarred and feathered, even hanged
  • f. opposition to any deviant social behavior led to Prohibition, immigration restriction
    •  
    • d. Food Administration - Herbert Hoover
    • e. Fuel Administration - Harry Garfield
    • f. War Labor Board - Frank Walsh
    • g. U.S. Employment Service
    • h. Financing the war-
      • Borrowing - 2/3 of cost paid by sale of war bonds
• 2. Selective Service Commission - 5/17 - army = 200,000 when we entered the war
  • a. conscription - military draft - no substitutes - 18 to 45
  • b. 3 million drafted / 2 million volunteered / only 1.7 million served in combat
• 3. War Industries Board - 7/17
  • a. Bernard Baruch
  • b. coordinated industry and expanded production of war materials - set prices
  • c. created shortages of domestic goods at home
    • Railroad Admin. - William McAdoo
    • Shipping Board - Albert Laskin
• 4. Food Administration - 8/17
  • a. Herbert Hoover
  • b. increased farm output - set prices high
  • c. voluntary rationing - encouraged public to conserve food
    • 1. wheatless and meatless days
    • 2. victory gardens
• 5. War Labor Board - 4/18
  • a. mediated labor disputes to prevent strikes
  • b. Samuel Gompers - AFL
    • 1. no strikes
    • 2. 8 hr. day
    • 3. unions legalized given right to collective bargaining
    • 4. wages rose faster than prices
  • c. Union membership increased from 2.7 million to 4+ million
• 6. Financing the war
  • Sec. of Treasury William McAdoo.
  • 1. Raised taxes and tariffs - 10 billion
  • 2. Liberty war bonds - 23 billion - main source of income

C. Women and Blacks

• 1. Women
  • a. industrial jobs
  • b. Red Cross
  • c. 19th Amendment
• 2. Blacks
  • a. 400,00 drafted - not allowed to serve in combat except in segregated units - 40,000
  • b. soldiers became black leaders
  • c. rising expectations disappointed - race riots - 1917-1919
  • d. movement from southern farms to factory jobs in northern cities - 500,000
• 3. Mexican-Americans
• 4. Organized Labor

Did the affects of mobilization change your mind about the correctness of entering the war?

Why or why not?

• A. US forces were under the Allied command of Marshall Foch - France
  • 1. 6/17 - small in number - French wanted to use them as replacements
  • 2. not much difference at 1st
  • 3. convoy system did have an immediate impact
• B. 1918 - Russia surrendered to Germany
  • 1. Germans helped Lenin return to Russia
  • 2. 11/8/17 - Bolshevik Revolution - Trotsky headed army
  • 3. Americans felt cheated
  • 4. 3/3/18 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
    • a. Russia gave up Baltic states, Poland, and Ukraine
    • b. Br. and US invaded Russia (Archangel and Vladivostok)
    • c. US withdrew 5000 troops in late 1920
  • 5. This gave the Germans a chance to win by moving their entire army to the Western Front
  • 6. American men and supplies were pouring in by 1/18 and stopped the German advance
• C. American Expeditionary Force (AEF) led by John J. Pershing then broke stalemate on Western Front
• D. 11/11/18 - armistice (Germany expected it to be based on the 14 points)
• E. Allied powers might have survived, but would not have won without US aid

We were on the winning side - Does that fact alone justify the decision to enter the war?

A. European Plan

• 1. secret treaties existed between the Allied countries which we did not know about
• 2. Europeans planned to divide up the world for profit
• 3. The Bolsheviks were cut out of their share for surrendering and published the secret documents
• 4. This caused conflict between Europe and the US

B. Wilson's 14 Points - Peace Without Victory - 1/8/18

• 1. need for world order - one international government devoted to justice
• 2. open treaties
• 3. freedom of seas
• 4. removal of trade barriers
• 5. reduction of arms and elimination of wars for empires
• 6. national self-determination - political boundaries set by cultural ties
• 7. League of Nations - world peacekeeping organization to protect weak and settle disputes
• 8. Completely in conflict with European plan
• 9. This plan convinced Germany to sign the armistice
  • they felt that they had not lost the war since they had not been invaded

C. Treaty of Versailles - 1919 - Which plan would be used?

• 1. Big Four
  • a. David Lloyd George - Prime Minister - Great Britain
    • 1. goal - maintain naval supremacy
    • 2. goal - make Germany pay for war damages
  • b. Georges Clemenceau - France
    • 1. goal - revenge - do to Germany what had been done to them
    • 2. goal - make Germany pay for damages
    • 3. goal - make sure Germany was not powerful enough to seek revenge
  • c. Vittorio Orlando - Italy
    • 1. goal - expand by acquiring territory
  • d. Woodrow Wilson - US - 1st to leave US while President
• 2. They met at the Palace of Versailles
  • Paris Peace Conference (Jan.-June 1919)
  • site of the treaty signing which ended the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 - not a good sign
• 3. 1st issue agreed on was the League of Nations
  • a. General Assembly - 1 vote/nation
  • b. Executive Council of 5 - voted on joint action for military
  • c. Germany and USSR left out
• 4. Wilson's failure to invite Republicans to France
  • created immediate opposition to the League at home
  • a. Wilson left to return home to convince the US to support the League
  • b. While he was gone England and France wrote the rest of the treaty based on their plan
  • c. compromised because he believed the League was critical
• 5. Article 231 - war guilt clause - required Germany to accept full guilt for starting the war
• 6. Germany and Austria-Hungary lost huge chunks of land
  • a. Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
  • b. Rhineland demilitarized as a buffer between France and Germany
    • occupied by Fr. - 15 yrs.
  • c. Polish Corridor taken from Germany
  • d. Saar Valley taken by League to ensure reparations payments - 15 yrs.
  • e. All German colonies were taken away
  • f. Poland and the Baltic States - Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were not returned to
  • USSR
  • g. Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were carved out of territory controlled by A-H
• 7. Reparations of unspecified amount required Germany to pay for damages caused by the war
  • a. eventually the amount was set at $33 billion
  • b. designed to keep Germany broke until paid off in 1986
• 8. the size of the German army and navy were limited
  • a. army - 100,000 volunteers no draft allowed
  • b. subs, airplanes, tanks, and war industries outlawed
• 9. Germany protested and refused to sign, but when the US took no action, they had no choice
• 10. Treaty signed under the same circumstances as with the Franco-Prussian War - 6/28/19
  • and created in Germany the same desire for revenge that France had once felt
• 11. Led directly to the rise of Adolph Hitler when it was not enforced

D. US Reaction to the Treaty of Versailles

• 1. Most Americans including Wilson were disillusioned and expected it to led to another war
• 2. 1918 - Republicans regained control of the Senate - were upset at not being included at Paris
• 3. Article X - heart of League - mutual security alliance
• 4. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge was the leading reservationist
  • a. Felt that Article 10 would get US into another European war
  • b. Felt that England would control the votes
  • c. Delayed hearings and allowed public support to die - a way to get even with Wilson
  • d. Willing to accept League if reservation (amendment) added requiring Congressional
  • approval to use US troops
  • e. 14 irreconcilables - opposed to the League in any form
• 5. Wilson speaking tour took the issue to the people and was making headway, but was ended by stroke
• 6. Wilson's refusal to compromise led to a defeat for the treaty - 11/19/19
  • and again in 1920 - 49/35 in favor with reservations - 7 short
• 7. US signed separate peace and refused to join the League
• 8. 1920 Election became a referendum on the League of Nations
  • a. James Cox (D) - favored the League
  • b. Warren G. Harding (R) - favored a Return to Normalcy
    • 1. opposed the League
    • 2. favored a return to isolation from Europe

Should the US have entered World War I? Has your answer changed after considering the treaty?

Consider the results summarized below and explain whether it was a good decision. Why or why not?

A. Social

• 1. 10 million soldiers killed and 20 million soldiers wounded
  • a. Germany - 1.8 million
  • a. Russia - 1.7 million
  • b. France - 1.4 million
  • c. England - 900,000
  • d. US - 112,432 only 49,000 in combat
• 2. casualties affected marriage and birth rates
• 3. millions of civilians wounded and killed
• 4. world hatred increased
• 5. extreme nationalism created
• 6. in the US women were rewarded with the right to vote

B. Economic

• 1. total cost over $350 billion ($33billion - US)
• 2. resulted in higher taxes and lower standards of living
• 3. trade suffered - tariffs were raised
• 4. Communist economic system in USSR took them out of world trade
• 5. depression
• 6. US became a creditor nation - and an exporter

C. Political

• 1. Discontent led to the rise of dictators in Russia, Italy, and Germany
• 2. began Europe's decline as world leader
  • Hohenzollern, Hapsburg, and Romanov Dynasties gone
  • new nations created in Europe
• 3. Communist Russia
• 4. Anti-colonialism in the 3rd world
• 5. US became the most powerful country in the world
  • turned tide in the war
  • then refused to take responsibility - created a power vacuum
• 6. broke America's traditional policy of isolation - Monroe Doctrine
• 7. League of Nations created, but without it's only real supporter - the US

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