Bellringer 11/14/14• Define:

• Nationalism• Militarism

Which countries made up the Triple Alliance (Central Powers)?

Which countries made up the Triple Entente(Allied Powers)?

What was the most common type of warfare?

WORLD WAR I:EVENTS PRIOR TO US ENTRY

US History Honors

Events Prior to United States Entry

• United States Position: Neutrality• President Wilson encouraged neutrality in “thought and action”

• Neutrality Problems for the United States• US traded with both sides, but ties with Great Britain were strongest

• Common language, customs, and government• By 1917, US loans to the Allies reached $2.3 billion

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Great Britain spread anti-German propaganda to the US

• Great Britain blockaded Europe, stopping our trade with Germany (famine)

Anti German Propaganda

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Germany began submarine warfare (violated “freedom of seas”)• Attacked ships in Allied ports

• Declared a “war zone” around the British Isles

German U-Boat (Submarine)

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Sinking of the Lusitania (May 7, 1915)• US and German relations worsen

• Germany questioned US neutrality and ship’s cargo

• Ship was loaded with contraband purchased from the US

• President Wilson demanded in a letter of protest that Germany end submarine warfare, and apologize and pay reparations to the families

The Lusitania

Events Prior to United States Entry

• March 1916: The French ship Sussex was sunk with Americans on board. Germany agreed to the “Sussex Pledge” a promise to warn ships before sinking them.

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Election of 1916• (D) Woodrow Wilson: Dove and (R) Charles Hughes: Hawk

• Both campaigned for peace and neutrality

• TR may have hurt (R) chances for victory with pro-war speeches

• Cliff hanger: Wilson won by 20 electoral votes • Message: Did the citizens of the US want to go to war despite Wilson???

Events to United States Entry

• By 1916, the War in Europe became stalemated on both fronts

• Western Front = 500 miles of trenches extending from the English Channel to the Adriatic Sea (defended by France and Great Britain)

• Eastern Front = line defended by Russia

• Little progress & high casualties led to frustration on both sides

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare to break the deadlock• stopped issuing warnings; 3 US ships were sunk in one day

• Kaiser felt confident the US would not enter the war

• US responded by ending diplomatic relations with Germany

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Zimmermann Note (last straw) published on March 1, 1917• Letter from Germany to Mexico asking for an alliance against the US

• Intercepted and decoded by Great Britain

• Pro-war fever intensified in the US; TR demanded we enter in the name of self-defense. Soon after, 4 more unarmed US ships were sunk

• March 1917, Russia surrendered to Germany

Events Prior to United States Entry

• Wilson asked Congress for a Declaration of War on April 2, 1917• Enemy: German Government, not the German people

• Wilson: “America must go to war to make the world safe for Democracy”

• Congress declared war on April 6, 1917

Events Prior to United States Entry• The Allies were weakened in 1917

• March 1917: a Russian peoples’ revolt overthrew Czar Nicholas II and a provisional government was set up

• November 1917: weak Russian provisional government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks led by Nikolai Lenin, eventually resulting in a communist government

• December 1917: Russia agreed to an armistice on the Eastern Front and withdrew, leaving Germany to fight a ONE front war (all Germany’s forces could now be sent to the Western Front)

Nikolai Lenin

United States Enters World War I

• June 1917: first US troops arrive in Europe

• AEF = American Expeditionary Forces were led by General John Pershing

• By 1918, 2 million US “Doughboys” were in France

• Wilson began plans for permanent peace based on his 14 Points

General John Pershing

CHECKPOINT• What was the final straw that made America declare war

against Germany? What did this document say?

• At the beginning of WWI, President Wilson followed traditional US foreign policy and wanted the US to _____________.

Bellringer 11/18• What was the main purpose of the Committee on Public

Information during WWI?

• What was the Selective Service Act?

• What was the “Great Migration”?