American Public Sentiment During World War I: Support for Foreign Involvement

1. WORLD WAR I Unit VE AP United States History

2. Fundamental Question • To what extent was the American public supportive of increased foreign involvement?

3. Great War in Europe (1914-1919) • Archduke and wife of Austria-Hungary assassinated by Serbian nationalist on June 28, 1914 • Alliances and ultimatums dragged Europe into a destructive conflict

4. American Neutrality and Opinion • Neutrality • Wilson proclaims neutrality on August 4, 1914 • Preserve economic prosperity • American loans to Allies • Opinion • American Press favored Allies and criticized Central Powers • Ethnic opinions based on national allegiance • Isolationists • Populists, Progressives, William Jennings Bryan, Socialists, Midwest, West, women, Jane Addams

5. The Path to War • German U-Boats • Lusitania sunk on May 7, 1915 killing 128 Americans • Sussex Pledge • Sussex in March 1916 • Wilson threatened sanctions and Germany promised to abide by freedom of the seas • National Security League • Encouraged preparedness and heightened Americanization • German unrestricted submarine warfare • Russian Revolution (1917) • Zimmermann Telegram (1917) • German request for Mexico alliance in return for lost land by U.S. • Wilson requested declaration of war by Congress against Germany • April 6, 1917 by near unanimous vote

6. American Domestic War Effort • War Agencies • War Industries Board • Mass production, standardization, price and supply controls • National War Labor Board • Representatives from labor and business arbitrated labor disputes to prevent disruptions • Food Administration • Committee on Public Information • War propaganda agency • Liberty Bonds • Financial support for American war effort • Portrayed as an act of patriotic duty

7. American Propaganda

8. American Domestic Insecurity • Espionage Act of 1917 • Prohibition of: • Interfere in military operations • Interfere in military recruitment • Support of U.S. enemies • Promote insubordination • Schenk v. United States (1919) • “Clear and present danger” • Sedition Act of 1918 • In times of war: • Prohibit disloyal, profane, scurrilous, abusive language against U.S. government, military, and flag • American Protective League • Private organization assisted government with surveillance and raids on suspected radicals and enemy sympathizers

9. American War Front • Selective Service Act of 1917 • Conscription of 21-31; 18-45 by 1918 • American Expeditionary Force (AEF) • Inspired to preserve democracy and defend American honor • General John J. Pershing • Convoy system • War Events • Spring Offensive (1918) • German offensive in Western theater • Battle of the Marne (July-August) • Hundred Days Offensive (1918) • Allied counteroffensive; leads to end of the fighting • Battle of the Somme (August) • Battle of Argonne Forest (Sept-Nov) • Armistice (11/11/1918) • German capitulation • Casualties • 117,000 Americans • 1 million British, • 1.6 million French, • 3.3. million Russian, • 2.4 million German, • 2.9 million Ottoman, • 1.5 million Austrian-Hungarian

10. Spanish Flu • Influenza Pandemic (1918-1920) • Infected and Deaths • 500 million infected • 20-50 million deaths • Impact and Spread • Targeted healthy young adults • World War I conditions • Mass transportation

11. Minorities in World War I • Women • Factory jobs • Military opportunities • Rescinded after war except nurses • Blacks • Great Migration to North • Factory jobs • 400,000 served in AEF in segregated units • Mexicans • Agricultural and mining opportunities in Southwest and Midwest • Germans • Targeted as “Huns” • Registration and internment

12. Wilson and Peace • Fourteen Points • “peace without victory” • Self-determination • League of Nations • Treaty of Versailles • German guilt, reparations • League of Nations • Wilson and Senate Treaty Ratification • Senate Opposition • Irreconcilables • Strongly opposed the Treaty of Versailles • Reservationists • Henry Cabot Lodge • Amendments to Treaty to limit American involvement • Wilson’s Public Campaign • Wilson debilitated by a stroke from exhaustion • Senate rejects Treaty and League of Nations

13. Postwar AmericaEconomic Impact • Demobilization • Difficult transition from war economy to peace economy • Recession of 1918-1919 • Depression of 1920-1921 • Overproduction • Increased labor force • Fed raised interest rates • Government decreased spending

14. Postwar AmericaLabor Unions and Strikes • Union Membership • Expanded with government support during WWI • AFL reached 4 million by 1920 • Strikes of 1919 • Seattle General Strike • Boston Police Strike • Steel Strike • Coal Strike • Anti-union sentiment increases • Association with radicals

15. Postwar AmericaRace Riots • Red Summer of 1919 • Three dozen cities experienced race riots • Economic competition and First Red Scare • Chicago (July-August) • Blacks react to stoning of young man • Omaha (September) • Brutal lynching of William Brown

16. Postwar AmericaFirst Red Scare • Causes • War Propaganda • Russian Revolution • Strikes and Riots • Targets • Anarchists, Bolsheviks, Socialists, Communists, Wobblies • 1919 Bombings • Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer • Palmer Raids • Deportations • Public Opinion • Initially, Americans and press vigorously supported raids • Later, the public denounced violations of civil liberties