Global Involvements and World War I

1
Chapter 22

• Global Involvements and World War I
• 1902-1920

2
Introduction

• We will focus on U.S. foreign policy from 1902 to
  1920
• Concentrating on U.S. involvement in WWI
• 1.) What objectives underlay U.S. foreign policy
  in Asia and Latin America?
• 2.) Why did the United States enter WWI in 1917?

3
Introduction (cont.)

• 3.) How did U.S. participation in WWI affect
  Americans at home?
• 4.) During the war, how did the role of govt.in
  the U.S. economy and in peoples lives generally
  change?
• 5.) What part did President Wilson play in
  creating the League of Nations, and why did the
  U.S. Senate reject U.S. membership in the
  organization?

4
Defining Americas World Role, 1902-1914

• The Open Door Competing for the China Market
• American businessmen who dreamed of penetrating
  the Chinese market became alarmed at developments
  there
• European powers were forcing the weak Chinese
  govt. to lease that countrys ports to them
• Then they closed those ports to trade and
  investment by business of any country but their
  own

5
The Open Door Competing for the China Market
(cont.)

• U.S. Sec. of State John Hay attempted to aid
  American business by sending his 1899 Open Door
  notes to the European powers involved

6
The Open Door Competing for the China Market
(cont.)

• Hay asked them to keep their leased Chinese ports
  open to trade and investment from all countries
  on equal terms
• He received noncommittal replies
• Soon afterwards, the United States joined the
  European countries involved in China in putting
  down a Chinese uprising against foreign
  imperialists
• the Boxer Rebellion
• 1899-1901

7
The Open Door Competing for the China Market
(cont.)

• Some of the countries wanted to use the rebellion
  as an excuse for carving China into colonies for
  themselves
• Hay announced U.S. opposition to this plan in his
  1900 Open Door notes
• He asked all countries to respect the territorial
  integrity of China
• Repeated the demand for equal trading and
  investment opportunities there

8
The Open Door Competing for the China Market
(cont.)

• The Open Door notes became a cornerstone of U.S.
  policy in Asia
• Helped shape the U.S.s response to the Japanese
  drive to conquer China in the 1930s

9
The Panama Canal Hardball U.S. Diplomacy

• For commercial and strategic reasons, the U.S.
  wanted to build a canal across the Isthmus of
  Panama

10
The Panama Canal (cont.)

• In 1902, the U.S. negotiated a treaty leasing a
  canal zone from Colombia
• Colombia owned the isthmus at the time
• The Colombian senate rejected the treaty
• Hoped for more

11
The Panama Canal (cont.)

• Pres. Roosevelt then conspired with the directors
  of a bankrupt French company that had been trying
  earlier to build a canal
• The company hoped to profit from the U.S.s
  taking over its land lease
• Philippe Bunau-Varilla, an official of the
  company, fomented revolution in Panama
• Roosevelt sent a U.S. warship in 1903 to see to
  it that the uprising succeeded

12
The Panama Canal (cont.)

• The U.S. then recognized Panamas independence
  and negotiated a treaty leasing the land
• The U.S. Army was in charge of engineering the
  canal
• It opened in 1914
• Historical pictures
• The imperialist methods Roosevelt used to seize
  the area created lasting ill toward the U.S. in
  Latin America

13
Canal Today
14
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in Latin
America and Asia

• Roosevelt and Taft believed that the U.S. had to
  play an active role in world affairs
• Also they believed that they had to protect
  American interests in Latin America and Asia
• Dollar Diplomacy
• Taft concentrated particularly on promoting U.S.
  commercial interests abroad

15
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in Latin
America and Asia (cont.)

• Roosevelt Corollary
• An addition to the Monroe Doctrine
• Was given in response to a threat that European
  nations might invade Dominican Republic to
  collect debts
• 1904
• The Corollary warned European nations not to
  intervene in the Western Hemisphere
• The U.S. would act as policeman in Latin America
• Keeping order there and seeing that finances were
  handled properly and debts repaid

16
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in Latin
America and Asia (cont.)

• Citing his corollary, Roosevelt had U.S.
  officials take over the Dominican Republics
  customs service and manage its foreign debt
• Taft, also using the corollary, sent marines into
  Nicaragua to protect U.S. investors there
• He also keep in power a govt. friendly to U.S.
  business interests
• The marines occupied Nicaragua from 1912-1933

17
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in Latin
America and Asia (cont.)

• As part of his Asian policy, Roosevelt mediated
  an end to the Russo-Japanese War
• Roosevelt used his influence to obtain a peace
  settlement that maintained the balance of power
  in Asia
• Afterwards, he tried to improve U.S. relations
  with Japan by negotiating a gentlemens agreement
• He hoped Japan would limit emigration of its
  people to the U.S.

18
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in Latin
America and Asia (cont.)

• Roosevelt hoped this would cool American
  prejudice
• Discrimination against Japanese immigrants in the
  western states continued anyway

19
Wilson and Latin America

• Wilson criticized Republican expansionism
• But he proved just as interventionist in Latin
  America as Roosevelt and Taft
• Wilson ordered marines to occupy the Dominican
  Republic and Haiti
• To keep order and create a favorable climate for
  American investors
• They stayed in D.R. until 1924
• And in Haiti until 1934

20
Wilson and Latin America (cont.)

• Wilson repeatedly intervened in Mexico during its
  revolution
• He tried to bring to power leaders who were
  liberal, democratic, and friendly to capitalistic
  enterprise

21
Part II Conclusion

• U.S. foreign policy in Asia and Latin America
  from 1900 to 1914 showed that the U.S. was
  willing to become involved in foreign affairs to
  
• keep order
• Encourage the kinds of govts. the U.S. approved
• Protect U.S. economic interests
• These same tendencies would later pull the
  country into WWI

22
War in Europe, 1914-1917

• The Coming of War
• Causes of WWI in Europe
• System of rival military alliances
• Imperialist expansion
• Aggressive nationalism
• June 1914
• Bosnian Serb nationalist assassinated Austrian
  Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Austria declared war on Serbia
• Russia bound by a secret agreement to protect
  Serbia mobilized for war

23
The Coming of War (cont.)

• By the fall of 1914, the web of alliances had
  pulled all of the major European powers, except
  Italy, into The Great War
• Abandoning an earlier pact with Germany and
  Austria, Italy entered the war on the side of the
  Allies in 1915

24
The Perils of Neutrality

• Pres. Wilson proclaimed U.S. neutrality as soon
  as the war began
• He asked the American people to be neutral in
  thought as well as in action
• Most Americans agreed with Wilson that the U.S.
  should not fight
• But few had neutral feelings
• Wilson and the majority of Americans had
  emotional bonds with England

25
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• In 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on
  Germany
• Reasons for this change
• 1.) Wilson became convinced that for the U.S. to
  shape the postwar settlement, it must participate
  in the fighting
• 2.) Wilsons handling of the issue of neutral
  rights on the high seas pulled the country into a
  war with Germany

26
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• The British violated our rights to trade by
  mining the North Sea and stopping ships and goods
  bound for Germany
• Wilsons protests were not vigorous enough to
  prevent the British from ending almost all
  German-American trade
• Germany retaliated with unrestricted submarine
  warfare
• This led to injuries and the deaths of civilians,
  including Americans, in the sinking of Allied
  ships (Lusitania and Sussex)

27
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• This led to injuries and the deaths of civilians,
  including Americans, in the sinking of Allied
  ships (Lusitania and Sussex)
• History Channel video

28
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• In ever more threatening notes, Wilson warned
  Germany to stop unrestricted submarine warfare or
  the U.S. would break off diplomatic relations
• Some believed Wilsons policies would needlessly
  pull the U.S.A. into the War

29
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• 3.) American citizens between 1914 and 1917
  developed a large economic stake in an Allied
  victory
• Made neutrality much more difficult
• U.S. trade with the Allies increased greatly
• American investors lent them 2.3 billion to
  finance the items that the U.S. continued to
  depend on for prosperity

30
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• Between 1914 and 1917, the war on the Western
  Front in Europe degenerated into a bloody
  stalemate
• British propaganda in the U.S. charged that the
  Germans were committing atrocities

31
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• The war was a major issue in the 1916 election
• American public still had desires of peace
• Wilson ran on reelection reminding voters he
  hadnt gone to war
• Republican candidate, Charles Evans Hughes,
  sometimes called for a tougher stand against
  Germany
• Other times he criticized Wilson for having been
  too threatening

32
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)

• Wilsons close victory seemed to indicate that
  the majority of Americans still hoped to avoid
  participation in the conflict

33
The United States Enters the War

• Jan. 1917, Germany fully unleashed its U-boats
• Germany decided that full use of its submarines
  would contribute more to its victory than keeping
  the U.S. out of the war
• Wilson responded by breaking off diplomatic
  relations

34
The United States Enters the War (cont.)

• During Feb. and March, Germany U-boats attacked 5
  American ships
• And the U.S. learned of the Zimmermann Note
• On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to
  declare war on Germany
• It did so after a short, bitter debate

35
The United States Enters the War (cont.)

• 3 important factors produced the declaration of
  war
• German attacks on American shipping
• U.S. economic investment in the Allied cause
• American cultural links to the Allies

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Mobilizing at Home, Fighting in France, 1917-1918

• Raising, Training, and Testing an Army
• After declaring war on Germany, Congress passed
  the Selective Service Act
• About 3 million men were drafted
• Both volunteers and draftees were sent to
  home-front training camps
• War Dept. monitored their behavior
• Warning them of the dangers of sex and alcohol

40
Raising, Training, and Testing an Army (cont.)

• Psychologists administered their newly developed
  IQ tests
• Measured educational attainment and not
  intelligence
• 12,000 Native Americans served in the army
• Integrated with white troops
• 260,000 African Americans in the army
• Assigned to all black units

41
Raising, Training, and Testing an Army (cont.)

• The navy used blacks only in menial positions
• The marines excluded blacks entirely
• Racist civilians provoked clashes with
  African-American soldiers stationed in Houston

42
Organizing the Economy for War

• To mobilize the economy behind the war effort,
  the federal govt. imposed an unprecedented amount
  of regulation on American business
• It did this by creating thousands of special
  wartime agencies
• War Industries Board, Food Administration, U.S.
  Railroad Administration, etc.

43
Organizing the Economy for War (cont.)

• War Industries Board
• Allocated scarce materials
• Established production priorities
• Introduced more efficient production practices
• Food Administration
• Encouraged farmers to increase output
• Exhorting civilians to conserve food and fiber
• U.S. Railroad Administration
• Consolidated all the privately owned rail lines
  into one
• Govt. ran them for the rest of the War

44
Organizing the Economy for War (cont.)

• These govt. regulations were mostly dismantled
  after the armistice
• The govt. regulations also did not prevent
  soaring wartime profits or corporate mergers

45
With the American Expeditionary Force in France

• The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) sent some
  2 million soldiers to France in 1917 and 1918
• Led by General John Pershing
• They arrived at a critical time for the Allies

46
With the American Expeditionary Force in France
(cont.)

• Russia dropped out of the War
• After the Bolsheviks came in power in 1917
• This freed the German armies on the Eastern Front
  to fight in the west
• With these reinforcements, Germany launched an
  offensive in the spring of 1918 that brought its
  troops within 50 miles of Paris

47
With the American Expeditionary Force in France
(cont.)

• American soldiers were rushed to the front
• They helped to stop the German advance
• About 16,500 women also served with the AEF
• Noncombat positions
• Nurses, telephone operators, clerical workers

48
Turning the Tide

• By July 1918, U.S. troops were participating in
  the Allied counteroffensive that drove the
  Germans out of much of France
• Among the troops were several African-American
  regiments that served with distinction
• One received the French Croix de Guerre
• to recognize acts of bravery in the face of the
  enemy

49
Croix de Guerre
50
Turning the Tide (cont.)

• In the often brutal fighting, soldiers lost their
  illusions about war being a great adventure
• An influenza epidemic that swept Europe and the
  U.S.A. in 1918 added to the suffering and death
• PBS WWI maps

51
Promoting the War and Suppressing Dissent

• Advertising the War
• Wilson believed that the federal govt. must
  promote unanimous support for the war
• Sec. of the Treasury William G. McAdoo pioneered
  in using advertising techniques and propaganda to
  sell war bonds
• Posters
• Parades
• Movie stars
• War bonds covered about 2/3s of the wars costs
• The rest came from increased federal income tax
  and other taxes

52
Advertising the War (cont.)

• Committee on Public Information
• George Creel
• Main job was to popularize the war
• Posters
• Advertisements
• News releases
• Films
• 75,000 speakers around the nation

53
Advertising the War (cont.)
54
Advertising the War (cont.)
55
Advertising the War (cont.)

• Many Progressive reformers, muckrakers, teachers,
  and religious leaders supported the war
• The U.S. was in a struggle to spread liberalism,
  democracy, and other American values

56
Wartime Intolerance and Dissent

• Fear and intolerance mounted
• Anti-German hysteria
• German-Americans were victimized
• Hatred of anyone who questioned Americas
  participation in the war
• Antiwar radicals were verbally and physically
  attacked

57
Opponents of the War

• Despite all the patriotic pressure, some
  Americans continued to oppose the war
• Some German-Americans
• Religious pacifists
• A minority of womens rights and progressive
  leaders pointed out that the war was killing
  reform and unleashing reaction and intolerance
• Jane Addams
• Randolph Bourne

58
Opponents of the War (cont.)

• Many socialists branded the war a crusade to
  protect capitalists profits
• They also saw no reason for workers to die to
  enrich their bosses
• There was also considerable resistance to the
  draft in the rural South

59
Suppressing Dissent by Law

• Espionage and Sedition Acts
• Govt. attempt to silence these dissenters
• Made it a crime to criticize the war, govt.,
  Constitution, or armed forces
• About 1,500 people were convicted and jailed
• Eugene Debs was the most famous
• The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of
  the laws with the clear and present danger
  doctrine

60
Economic and Social Trends in Wartime America

• Boom Times in Industry and Agriculture
• Stimulated by war, the American economy boomed
• The real income of farmers and unskilled workers
  rose significantly
• Thousands of workers streamed into industrial
  centers to take jobs in war plants
• The influx created terrible housing, school, and
  other shortages in the cities

61
African-Americans Migrate Northward

• Reduced immigration and soaring war production
  created labor shortages in northern industries
• Southern African-Americans learned of these new
  job opportunities
• Labor recruiters
• African-American-owned newspapers
• Letters
• Word of mouth

62
African-Americans Migrate Northward (cont.)

• About 500,000 African-Americans migrated to the
  North
• Hoped to escape southern racism and find good
  jobs
• In northern cities whites resented the
  African-American newcomers
• Competed for jobs
• Competed for housing
• Race riots broke out
• East St. Louis, IL
• July 2, 1917

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East St. Louis race riots

• Iba B. Wells account of East St. Louis riots

64
Women in Wartime

• Many womens rights activists hoped that the war
  would lead to equality for women
• During the war, thousands of women served in the
  military and in volunteer organizations
• About 1 million took jobs in industry

65
Women in Wartime (cont.)

• 19th Amendment
• Passed in 1920
• Womens suffrage
• Those holding well-paying jobs in industry
  generally were replaced by men returning form
  wartime service

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Public Health Crisis The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

• Towards the end of the war, a worldwide outbreak
  of influenza occurred
• Killed about 30 million people
• 6 times as many Americans died of the flu as were
  slaughtered in battle in France
• 555,000
• Army camps and cities were hit the hardest

67
The War and Progressivism

• The war strengthened the prohibition movement
• Antiliquor forces argued that the unpatriotic
  German-American brewers should be put out of
  business
• The grain used to manufacture whiskey and gin
  would be better used to feed the armed forces

68
The War and Progressivism (cont.)

• 18th Amendment
• 1919
• Banning the manufacture, transportation, or sale
  of alcoholic beverages
• The war also boosted the Progressive Era
  antiprostitution campaign
• Produced a brief flurry of protective labor laws
• But in most areas the intolerant, repressive war
  atmosphere stifled progressivism

69
Joyous Armistice, Bitter Aftermath, 1918-1920

• Wilsons Fourteen Points the Armistice
• Wilson presented his fourteen-point peace plan in
  a speech to Congress in Jan. 1918
• It included self-determination, impartial
  adjustment of colonial claims, freedom of the
  seas, reduced armaments, a world association of
  nations
• Wilson's Fourteen Points speech

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Wilsons Fourteen Points the Armistice (cont.)

• Whether Wilson could get those ideas incorporated
  in the treaties signed at the end of the war
  remained to be seen
• Oct. 1918, revolutionaries in Germany overthrew
  the Kaiser and proclaimed a republic
• Nov. 11, 1918, the armistice was signed
• History Channel video

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The Versailles Peace Conference, 1919
72
Palace of Versailles
73
The Versailles Peace Conference, 1919 (cont.)

• Wilson personally headed the American delegation
  to Versailles
• He appointed no prominent Republicans to the
  delegation
• This was a political mistake since a
  Republican-controlled Senate would have to ratify
  any treaty signed
• David Lloyd George
• Georges Clemenceau
• Vittorio Orlando

74
The Versailles Peace Conference, 1919 (cont.)

• The other members of the Big 4 had no faith in
  the Fourteen Points
• They all wanted to punish Germany
• The Treaty of Versailles that was produced
  contained some of Wilsons points
• Independence for Poland and the Baltic states
• Overall the Treaty was harsh and punitive

75
The Versailles Peace Conference, 1919 (cont.)

• The Treaty aroused resentment and desire for
  revenge in Germany
• History Channel video
• Wilson and the Allied leaders also attempted to
  overthrow the Bolsheviks in Russia
• They wanted to isolate and weaken the
  Communist-controlled Russia

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The Fight over the League of Nations

• Dismayed at the treatys punitive features,
  Wilson concentrated his hopes on the League of
  Nations part of it
• In July 1919, Wilson submitted the Treaty of
  Versailles to the Senate for ratification
• The Senate twice failed to ratify by Treaty and
  the League of Nations by the necessary 2/3s
  support
• Nov. 1919
• March. 1920

78
The Fight over the League of Nations (cont.)

• Republican isolationists would not ratify the
  Treaty
• They believed the U.S. should stay out of
  European affairs
• Republican reservationists demanded changes in
  the treaty
• Led by Henry Cabot Lodge
• Wilson refused to accept any changes to the
  Treaty

79
Racism and Red Scare, 1919-1920

• The war-generated intolerance and antiradical
  hysteria reached a peak in 1919-1920
• Lynch mobs killed 76 blacks
• Race riots broke out in more than 25 cities
• The bloodies occurred in Chicago
• A rash of postwar strikes and a series of bombing
  incidents convinced many Americans that the
  country was on the verge of a communist uprising

80
Racism and Red Scare, 1919-1920 (cont.)

• To protect against this supposed danger, the
  Justice Department raided the homes and meeting
  places of suspected radicals and arrested more
  than 4,000
• Led by A. Mitchell Palmer
• Most times, there was no evidence that they had
  committed any crime
• Aliens suspected of radicalism were deported

81
The Election of 1920

• Democrats nominated James Cox
• Republicans nominated Warren G. Harding
• Appealed to the public with his promise of a
  return to normalcy
• Harding easily won
• Hardings victory ended any chance for U.S.
  membership and participation in the League

82
Conclusion

• WWI brought death to 10 million people worldwide
• 112,000 Americans
• The War transformed American society
• Helped to pass the 18th and 19th Amendments
• Gave the country its first taste of active govt.
  regulation of the economy

83
Conclusion (cont.)

• Although Washington retreated from activism in
  the 1920s and Progressive reform seemed dead,
  during the Great Depression of the 1930s some of
  these WWI regulatory agencies and social programs
  would serve as models for the New Deal
• In the short run, the intolerance and repression
  that grew during the war arrested further
  Progressive reform