Americans At War

1. Americans At War

2. Americans Change the War • No one in Europe was sure how the United States would impact the war • Germany was so afraid of the power shift they started full unrestricted submarine warfare to try and lessen their impact

3. Allied Convoys • The Allies immediately were impacted by submarine warfare • Sinking ships faster than they could be replaced • Allies lost critical supplies each time a merchant ship was sunk • Allies solved this problem with Convoys • Groups of merchant ships sailing together protected by warships • Provide mutual safety at sea • Helped drop the effects of submarine warfare • Stopped the Germans from getting an edge

5. The Trouble on Land • The Central Powers had the advantage on Land • Allies were getting tired of fighting • Russia is having to pull back as the country is tearing itself apart with civil wars • Czar Nicholas II overthrown, and in 1917 communists lead by Vladimir Lenin staged a revolution and gained Russia • Russia ended their war with Germany and fighting ceased on the eastern front.

6. America Helps out • In 1918 Germany sent all its troops to the western Front • First Americans arrived in 1917 lead by John Pershing, but waves came in 1918 • Americans brought energized troops to the front and they were able to hold off the German Offensive • Americans took more of the Burden in the later part of the war • Germany tried again an offensive but the front held strong

7. The Doughboys • American troops had great effect on the battlefield • Fought in defense in the 2nd battle of the Marne and offensive on the Battle of Cantigny • Americans learned quickly and fought bravely • War heroes emerged such as Alvin York • Trapped behind enemy lines took out a number of machine gunners and took over the area • Earned congressional medal of Honor

8. Americans see more success • Fought bravely, followed orders, and made sacrifices • 369th Regiment, an entirely African American unit received the Croix de Guerre, a French award for bravery • By wars end 1.3 million American soldiers will serve on the front, more than 50,000 will lose their lived and over 230,000 will be wounded

9. The War Ends • The Americans supported the French, British, and Italian soldiers and gave them a military advantage • By the fall of 1918 the central powers were on their heels • The Germans and Austrio-Hungarians had had enough • Men were deserting or refusing to fight • On November 11,1918 Germany surrendered to the Allies in a railroad car in Compiegne France

10. IT OVER! • Almost 5 million Allies and 8 million Central soldiers died • 6.5 million civilians dead • Now it was up to the Peace makers to get the world back to Normal. • http://www.military-research.co.uk/casualties/

11. Wilson Promotes Peace • Vladimir Lenin Undermined peace • Gave letters to the public that showed that all the allies wanted was land • President Wilson takes a stand • The war was not about imperialism but about Peace and Freedom • In 1917 (before the war ended) Wilson introduced the “Peace without Victory” idea in an address to congress.

12. Peace without Victory

13. Wilsons 14 points • Wilson also outlined Americas war aims in the 14 points address. • At the heart of the 14 points was the Peace without victory idea • Noble ideals should be at the center of the conflict and not greed or vengeance • Promoted openness and encouraged independence • Freedom on the seas and free trade • Argued for a world wide decrease in military • Argued National Self-Determination • People choose their own form of Government • Argued for creation of new nations • Asked for a League of Nations to secure mutual guarantees of independence and territorial integrity to great and small countries.

14. Peace Conference • In 1919 the Allies held a peace conference in Versailles, the former palace of Louis XIV • Wilson believed it was too important to be left to a diplomat so he attended personally • No president had done so before • Wilson didn’t take the republican foreign policy expert, Henry Cabot Lodge, because he didn’t like him • Wilson was a hero when he arrived in France

15. Didn’t go as Planned • Wilsons peace didn’t fly with the Allied leaders • Blamed Germany for starting the war • US didn’t suffer as they did so he didn’t have as much of a voice • Insisted Germany pay reparations, • Payment for war damages • Set out to weaken Germany so that it would never threaten Europe again.

16. Wilsons Ideas Rejected • British and French Leaders knew the citizens expected Peace and Victory • Wanted to punish Germany • France wanted them to pay dearly • Demanded the return of Alsace-Loraine and more • Didn't see Wilsons grand vision

17. The League of Nations • The Allied leaders started tearing apart Wilsons 14 points • Threw out free trade • Free seas • The decrease in military • Wilson fought hard to maintain the points • Hung on to the League of Nations • Wanted a organization where countries could gather and peaceably resolve their issues. • The League of Nations was one of the only things that was added to the treaty from Wilson

18. Problems with Peace • The Various peace treaties created more problems than they solved • A new map was created and people couldn’t decide how they would be governed • Germans found themselves attached to non German nations • Same for Austrians • The Ottoman Empire was also divided, and ethnic groups were randomly grouped into new nations • Formed Iraq out of 3 random provinces that were barely related • No sense of nationalism

19. America dislike the Treaty • Wilson believed that even though treaty was weak, it could work and peace would emerge • Wilson didn’t anticipate the trouble he would see when he got home • German Americans thought it was too Harsh • Irish Americans angry that Ireland wasn’t independent • Republicans angry that they didn’t get to help write treaty and Democrats didn’t like the treaty either • Many Senators thought that the US should not get involved in world affairs and that joining a league of Nations would hurt the US • Didn’t like the league rules • Respecting independence of existing members • Known as Irreconcilables

20. Americans dislike the Treaty • Another group of Senators, lead by Lodge, and known as “reservationists” didn’t like the way it was written and demanded changes • Feared that league could drag us into war if we didn’t want to go • Felt treaty was vague and needed fixing • Wilson was angry that Washington wanted more, Wilson pleaded with the people to support the league of Nations • Gave 32 addresses in 33 days • Suffered a stroke and was lying almost dead in bed when it ratification of the treaty went up for vote

21. Senate Rejects the Treaty • In November 1919 a treaty was drafted by senators in DC • Wilson didn’t like it and told his supporters to vote against it, they did • Senate voted the original treaty and it didn’t pass either • Another changed treaty was voted upon and it failed to pass the vote as well • Nobody was willing to compromise on the changes and the US legally couldn’t join the League of Nations • Which contributed to the collapse of the League of Nations.