American Entrance into World War I:

1
American Entrance into World War I

• 1914 Wilson neutral in fact and name.
• Proclamation of Neutrality

2
The British Blockade

• Weapons, other military goods, food
• Extended to neutral ports mined North Sea
• Results
• 1) US ships bound for Germany refused to
  challenge the blockade seldom reached their
  destination
• 2) Difficult for Germany to import foodstuffs
  chemical fertilizers
• W/out fertilizers ? famine by 1917
• 750,000 died as a result of the blockade

3
The British Blockade Extent of minefields
deployed by the Allies in the North Sea, 1918.
4
Mine Warfare
5
German U-Boat Response

• Germany responded to the British blockade with a
  counter-blockade by U-boats
• Less successful than the British blockade
• /- 75,000 died to U-boat blockade
• U-boat deaths more visible spectacular, easily
  exploited by British propaganda
• Worst example ? May 7, 1915
• U-20 sinks the Lusitania 1,198 killed (128 US)

6

• Shaded area shows "War Zone" announced by Germany
  on 4 February 1915

7
Submarine Warfare
8
A German painting showed the Lusitania being
torpedoed
9

• A warning issued by the Imperial German Embassy
  in Washington about travelling on Britain's RMS
  Lusitania.

10
The track of Lusitania. View of casualties and
survivors in the water and in lifeboats.
11
U-boat sinking a troopship, painting by Willy
Stöwer
12
The US Remains Neutral

• Wilson rules out a military response
• July 1915 the Arabic was sunk (2 US)
• March 1916 the Sussex was attacked (80
  passengers some US killed/injured)
• Germany agrees to the Sussex pledge
• Wont sink vessels w/out warning if US will
  pressure Britain to limit its blockade

13
The 1916 Election

• Democrats Woodrow Wilson
• Thomas Marshall (VP)
• He Kept Us Out of the War
• Republicans Charles Evans Hughes
• Charles Fairbanks (VP)
• Wanted to uphold US freedom of the seas but also
  promised not to be too harsh on Germany
• Narrow victory for Wilson

14
(No Transcript)
15
The 1916 Election
16
Neutrality Collapses

• Germany reinstates unrestricted submarine warfare
• Hindenburg Ludendorff decide the U-boat
  Germanys last hope for victory
• Gamble Britain will starve before USA aid is
  significant
• These actions will lead to a ? US declaration of
  war on April 6th 1917

17
Timeline of Events

• January 31st 1917 Kaiser renews unrestricted
  submarine warfare
• March 1917 Zimmermann telegram
• March 1917 March Revolution in Russia Czar
  removed now a war against autocracy
• March 1917 3 US ships torpedoed
• 6 April 1917 US Declaration of War

18
President Woodrow Wilson asking Congress to
declare war on Germany, 2 April 1917
19
American Entrance into World War I Reasons

• 1) German Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
• U-Boat debate the Lusitania
• 2) Allied Propaganda US receptive
• Kinship w/ Britain Friends w/ France
• 3) Hostility Toward Germany
• a) invasion of neutral Belgium
• b) waged unrestricted submarine warfare
• c) 1917 Zimmermann Note

20

• Shaded area shows "War Zone" announced by Germany
  on February 4, 1915
• The shaded areas show the unrestricted submarine
  warfare zone announced by Germany on 1 February
  1917

21

• The Zimmermann Telegram as it was sent from
  Washington to Mexico
• Decrypted and translated

22

• Map showing Mexican territory in 1917 (dark
  green), territory promised to Mexico in the
  Zimmermann telegram (light green), and original
  Mexican territory (red line).

23
American Entrance into World War I Reasons

• 4) American Economic Interests
• UK blockade US ? Allies extensive loans want
  to get paid back
• 5) American Idealism
• A better world would emerge desire to end
  autocracy
• World safe for democracy.
• 6) American Security
• A German victory - dominant in Europe viewed as a
  threat to the US

24
Special Note on Wilson

• USA enters the war as an associated power not
  an ally of Britain France
• Wilson determined to distance US from Old World
  ambitions
• Crusade for democracy freedom, not a struggle
  for land colonies

25
American Military Mobilization

• April 1917 US had limited military power
• 200,000 men few officers w/ combat experience
• US air corps had 55 planes 130 pilots
• May 1917 Selective Service Act passed
• 10,000,000 men registered w/out riots
• 2,000,000 reached Europe before the armistice
  (3/4 saw combat)

26
American Success in Combat

• 1) US had relied mostly on foreign ships
• Begins to expand its merchant fleet
• 2) Rear Adm. William S. Sims ? best way to defeat
  the U-boat threat was with the convoy system
• Merchant vessels would travel in a large group
  with a guard of circling DD CA
• By midsummer 1917 shipping losses cut in half
• US Navy mined patrolled the North Sea

27
(No Transcript)
28
American Success in Combat

• Fighting in Europe
• General John J. Pershing (AEF)
• US initially served mostly as replacements
• Pershing insisted the US should fight as a
  separate army
• Believed in aggressive combat felt the Allies
  had become too defensive
• Wanted the US to have a strong voice _at_ the peace
  table most likely to happen if the AEF remained
  distinctive separate
• After April 1918 US soldiers fought
  independently under Marshall Foch

29

• General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing

30
American Success in Combat

• German Success
• March 3, 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• March 21, 1918 Operation Michael begins
• Tide Turns Due to US Participation
• Battle of Cantigny - US helps stop the new German
  offensive
• Chateau-Thierry Belleau Wood played a major
  role in throwing back German attacks
• US helps win the Second Battle of the Marne
• Sept. 1918 US mounted offensives at
  Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne area

31
(No Transcript)
32
This map of the Western Front shows the three
main offensives of the American Expeditionary
Force. The areas in color were areas newly
conquered by the Germans from March, 1918 to
July, 1918.
33
Significance to US Entrance

• (1) turned the tide of battle in favor of Allies
• (2) broke sharply w/ Americas traditional
  isolationism foreign entanglements
• (3) marks Americas emergence as a world power
  and eventual world leader

34
Allied Central Powers (WWI)