world war i general background & u.s. involvement

World War I

General Background &

U.S. Involvement

Causes

M.A.I.N. + “Spark” Militarism

Build-up of military; no “wait” time

Alliances Triple Alliance > Central

Powers Triple Entente > Allied

Powers Creates global war

Imperialism Competition, rivalry &

distrust over expansion Nationalism

Devotion to country New independence

movements Spark

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

War Begins

Complex alliance breakdown Serbian assassinates

Austro-Hungarian Russia (Serbian ally) &

German (A-H’s ally) join Germany invades

Belgium to get to France (draws in Britain because neutral & France because threatened)

WWI Alliances Map

World War I

Trench warfare New kind of warfare Stalemate

New weapons Poisonous gas Tank airplanes

U.S. Response

Initial Response Isolation… but leaned towards Allies

2 events that draw the U.S. in Unrestricted submarine warfare Zimmerman Telegram

Unrestricted sub-warfare

Unrestricted submarine warfare German u-boats violated neutrality American ships at risk (especially because aiding

British) Sinking of the Lusitania (1915)

British passenger ship 128 Americans aboard died

Sussex pledge (1916) German promise not to sink merchant ships without

warning

Zimmerman Note

Zimmerman Note Note from Germany to Mexico proposing an

alliance Mexico to “keep U.S. occupied” then Germany will

help return former Mexican land Note intercepted by the British > published in U.S.

newspapers > U.S. declares war in 1917

Americans in Europe

Selective Service Act (May 1917) Congress passed > required men between 21-30

to register to be drafted into military U.S. soldiers

Segregated troops by race African Americans & Latinos often experienced

discrimination Some women served

Mostly nurses & switchboard operators (“Hello Girls”)

War Ends

Armistice signed 11/11/1918 Fourteen Points

President Wilson’s peace plan Self-determination: right of people to decide their own

political status League of Nations: peace organization to settle disputes

Paris Peace Conference

Big 4 David Lloyd George (Britain) Georges Clemenceau (France) Woodrow Wilson (U.S.) Vittorio Orlando (Italy) **Who’s missing? Why? Conflicting desires/wants at conference

Treaty of Versailles

Military changes

-German army limited to 100,000 (no tanks/artillery)

-German navy limited to 15,000

-No German Air force

Territory changes

-Germany gave up land to France, Denmark, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium

-Germany surrendered all colonies to League of Nations

-Germany & Austria prohibited from uniting

War-guilt provisions

-Germany solely responsible for losses & damage

-Germany owed $269 billion (later $132)

League of Nations

-Germany initially not permitted to join

Fight over the treaty

Wilson presents Treaty to Congress (July 1919) for ratification Democrats

Supported immediate ratification Irreconcilables

Urged outright rejection of U.S. participation in League of Nations Reservationists

Ratify only with changes Result

Wilson went to American public > health concerns Treaty failed to pass U.S. signed separate peace treaties U.S. failed to join League of Nations