Chapter 11 – Section 1

The United States Enters World War I

Woodrow Wilson and Foreign Policy

• Wilson hated imperialism

• But, he also believed in promoting democracy– Preferred to do so

peacefully, but was willing to use force if necessary

– Mexico– The Caribbean– Eventually, Europe

U.S. Relations with Mexico• How is Mexico

related to World War I?

– Preview of Wilson’s diplomacy

– Shows tensions between U.S. and Mexico that will lead to American involvement in World War I

The Mexican Revolution• 1884 – 1911– Mexican dictator

Porfirio Diaz in power

• 1911– Revolution: Diaz is

exiled to France and Mexicans elect revolutionary leader Francisco Madero

• 1913– Madero is overthrown

(likely assassinated) by General Victoriano Huerta

Wilson’s Reaction to Huerta

• Wilson believes the Huerta government is illegitimate and undemocratic

– Refuses to recognize Huerta’s government

– Allows Americans to arm other factions

– Marines take Veracruz by force

• After international arbitration, American-supported Venustiano Carranza becomes President of Mexico

Pancho Villa Expedition• Pancho Villa was a

Mexican general

– Had been an ally of Carranza, but they had split

– U.S. gave weapons to Villa when he was a Carranza ally

– U.S. stopped providing weapons to Villa after Carranza took power

Pancho Villa Expedition

• Villa then attacks Americans and burns the town of Columbus, New Mexico to the ground

– It is unclear if he did so for revenge, or to capture supplies for his army

• Wilson orders General John J. Pershing to enter Mexico to capture Villa

– Pershing looks for Villa from 1916 until 1917

– The expedition is a failure

How Is This Related to World War I?• Shows Wilson’s

willingness to use force and interfere in other nations to support democracy

• Worsens America’s reputation internationally, especially in Mexico and the rest of Latin America

– Keep this in mind for the Zimmerman Telegram

Causes of World War I• Balance of Powers

– Try to keep military strength of nations similar

– Idea is that no one will start a war because, all militaries being about equal, no one can really win

• Rise of Germany as a nation has unbalanced the system, making other nations nervous

Causes of World War I• Balance of Powers

– Alliance system springs up in response to a powerful new German nation

• Triple Entente– France– Russia– Great Britain

• Triple Alliance– Germany– Austria-Hungary– Italy

Causes of World War I• Nationalism

– people start to feel attached to their country as a whole

– Focus on having the same language, culture

• Peoples with a distinct culture/language, but without their own state, begin to demand independence

Causes of World War I• The Balkans

– Slavic peoples begin demanding independence from Austria-Hungary

– Russia, which is also a Slavic nation, has close ties with Slavs in the Balkans, including the new nation of…

– Serbia: first independent Slavic nation in the Balkans

Causes of World War I• The Balkans

– Serbs wanted to claim more Slavic territory in the Balkans

– Became furious when Austria-Hungary took Bosnia, a Slavic area, from the Ottoman Empire

– June, 1914: Serbian assassin, Gavrilo Princip, kills Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary

The War Begins• Austria-Hungary declares war

on Serbia

• Russia mobilizes to protect Serbia

• Germany and Austria-Hungary then declare war on Russia

• France declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary

• Italy refuses to ally with Germany and Austria-Hungary

• Ottoman Empire allies with Germany

This is a joke headline, but it looks real.

Celebration?

• News of war is greeted with celebrations in every capital in Europe

• Every nation is sure that it will be victorious, and the war will be short

Celebration?

Schlieffen Plan• Germans can’t fight

France and Russia at the same time

• Schlieffen Plan

– Germans know it will take Russia approximately 6 weeks to mobilize, so…

– knock France out of the war in 5 weeks

– Unfortunately, they do this by moving their army through a neutral country, Belgium

Britain Enters the War

• Great Britain has a 70 year old treaty with Belgium to protect its neutrality, but Germans never believed Britain would actually enter the war

• Then, Great Britain enters the war

• Allied Powers– Great Britain– France– Russia

• Central Powers– Germany– Austria-Hungary– Ottoman Empire

A Long War Begins• Schlieffen Plan fails

– Although it very nearly succeeds

• Eventually, Germans, French, and British reach a stalemate, and so both sides begin digging trenches

• This becomes the Western Front, a line of trenches that stretches from the North Sea to Switzerland

American Neutrality• President Wilson

doesn’t want to get involved

– No need for America to get involved in a foreign war

– Remember, we have millions of immigrants from every part of Europe, so choosing a side poses a real risk of splitting the country apart

Americans Choose Sides Anyway

• Majority of Americans side with Britain and France

• A substantial number side with Germany

– German-Americans

– Irish-Americans (due to anti-British feeling based on British policy toward Ireland)

Pro-British Sentiment• Wilson and almost his

entire cabinet favor Great Britain

• American business also favors Great Britain

• Many American banks loan money to the Allies (Britain, France, Russia), giving America even more of a financial stake in the war

Blockades• British blockade food and supplies from reaching

Germany

• Germans invent U-Boats (submarines) to block food and supplies from reaching the Allies

• Germans do warn passengers not to travel on certain ships

Anger Toward Germany Grows

• In spite of warnings, Americans are killed in May of 1915 when the Germans sink the British passenger ship Lusitania, killing 128 U.S. citizens

• The ship was actually carrying loads of war material to Great Britain

Anger Toward Germany Grows• Responding to

diplomatic pressure from the United States, Germany promised not to sink any more civilian ships without warning in the Sussex Pledge

• America stays out of war, and Wilson is reelected in 1916

The United States Enters the War• In February of 1917, Germany

goes back to unrestricted submarine warfare

• Zimmerman Telegram

– German government makes an offer to Mexico: side with us if the U.S. enters the war, and we will restore territory the U.S. took from you (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico)

– British intelligence intercepts it, American State Department releases it the public

– Americans are furious

• United States declares war on Germany in April of 1917