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Allies
one of the two major defense alliances in Europe
- Triple Entente: France, Britain, Russia
- The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy -
Central Powers
one of the major defense alliances in Europe
- Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the Ottoman Empire—an empire of
mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks
- The alliances provided a measure of international security
because nations were reluctant to disturb the balance of power -
1914 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
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 the conflict. On August 1, Germany, obligated by treaty to support Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia. On
August 3, Germany declared war on Russia’s ally France. After
Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany
and Austria-Hungary. The Great War had begun. -
Schlieffen Plan
Germany invaded Belgium with Schlieffen Plan. It called
for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick
drive through Belgium to Paris; after France had fallen, the
two German armies would defeat Russia. -
Sinking of British liner Lusitania
Of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans
- Germans defended their action
- Americans became outraged with Germany because of the loss of life
- American public opinion turned against Germany and the Central Powers -
Sinking of British liner Arabic
drowned two Americans
- Again the United States protested, and this time Germany agreed not to sink any more passenger ships -
Trench Warfare
This bloody trench warfare, in which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued for over three years. -
Sinking of French passenger liner Sussex
about 80 passengers, including Americans, were killed or injured - - Once again the United States warned that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics
- Again Germany agreed, but there was a condition: if the United States could not persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers, Germany would consider renewing unrestricted submarine warfare -
Battle of Somme
It lasted until mid-November—the British suffered 60,000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million, yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands. -
Wilson's "Peace without victory speech"
tried to mediate between two warring alliances
- “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 -
Germany Blockades the North Sea
American ships carrying goods for Germany refused to challenge the blockade and seldom reached their destination. 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. -
Convoy System
American Vice Admiral William S. Sims convinced the British to try the convoy system
- a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups
- By fall of 1917, shipping losses had been cut in half -
American Expeditionary Force and General John J. Pershing
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.” -
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 businessman. The board encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products—for instance, by making only 5 colors of typewriter ribbons instead of 150. The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials. -
Anti-German sentiment in America
Many Americans with German names lost their jobs. Orchestras refused to 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 -
Zimmerman note
a telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents
- proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany and promised that if war with the United States broke out, Germany would support Mexico in recovering “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.” -
Selective Service Act of 1917
Congress passed to meet the government’s need for more
fighting power
- The act required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service -
Espionage and Sedition Acts
In June 1917 Congress passed the Espionage Act, and in May 1918 it passed the Sedition Act
- a person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort -
Second Battle of the Marne
American troops helped win the Second Battle of the Marne.
- The tide had turned against the Central Powers -
Wilson's Fourteen Points
divided into three groups
- The first five points were issues that Wilson believed had to be
addressed to prevent another war
- The next eight points dealt with boundary changes
- groups that claimed distinct ethnic identities were to form their own nation-states or decide for themselves to what nations they would belong -
National War Labor Board
To deal with disputes between management and labor, President Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918. Workers who refused to obey board decisions could lose their draft exemptions. “Work or fight,” the board told them. However, the board also worked to improve factory conditions. It pushed for an eight-hour workday, promoted safety inspections, and enforced
the child labor ban -
Food Administration
To help produce and conserve food, Wilson set up the Food Administration under Herbert Hoover. Instead of rationing food, he
called on people to follow the “gospel of the clean plate.” He declared one day a week “meatless,” another “sweetless,” two days “wheatless,” and two other days “porkless.” Restaurants removed sugar bowls from the table and served bread only after the first course. -
Raising money for the War
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 -
Emma Goldman
The anarchist Emma Goldman received a two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine for organizing the No Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to Russia. -
Big Bill Haywood and the IWW
“Big Bill” Haywood and other leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were accused of sabotaging the war effort because they urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher pay. Haywood was sentenced to a long prison term. (He later skipped bail and fled to Russia.) Under such federal pressure, the IWW faded away. -
Victor Berger
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. -
369th Infantry Regiment
The all-black 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front lines than any other American regiment
- Two soldiers of the 369th, Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, were the first Americans to receive France’s highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre—the “cross of war.” -
Shell shock, trench foot, and trench mouth
shell shock: a term coined during World War I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered
- trench foot, caused by standing in cold wet trenches for long periods of time without changing into dry socks or boots. First the toes would turn red or blue, then they would become numb, and finally they would start to rot. The only solution was to amputate the toes, and in some cases the entire foot
- trench mouth: A painful infection of the gums and throat -
Conscientious objector
A redheaded mountaineer and blacksmith from Tennessee, York sought exemption as a conscientious objector, a person who opposes warfare on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” -
Eugene V. Debs arrest
Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten-year prison sentence for speaking out against the war and the draft -
Austria-Hungary surrenders 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 revolutionary councils. -
Establishment of the German Republic
On November 9, socialist leaders in the capital, Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne. -
Cease-fire and armistice
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. -
Reparations and the War Guild Clause
War Guild Clause - forced Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting World War I
- required Germany to return the region of Alsace-Lorraine to France and to pay reparations, or war damages, amounting to $33 billion to the Allies. -
Committee on Public Information and the "four minute men"
To popularize the war, the government set up the nation’s first propaganda agency, the Committee on Public Information (CPI). Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to influence people’s thoughts and actions
- 75,000 men to serve as “Four-Minute Men,” who spoke about 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.” -
Agreements made in the Treaty of Versailles
established nine new nations—including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia—and shifted 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
- barred Germany from maintaining an army
- required Germany to return the region of Alsace-Lorraine to France and to pay reparations, or war damages, amounting to $33 billion to the Allies -
Bolshevik Revolution
the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky, overthrew the provisional government
- They set up a Communist state and sought peace with the Central Powers
