Freedom Project

World War I WorkshopUniversity of Delaware

February 24-25, 2012

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand (June 28, 1914)

Young Serbian – Gavrio Prinzip - assassinates the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

Austria invades Serbia (July 29, 1914)

Allies choose sides & a small conflict spreads.

Germany Invades Neutral Belgium (August 4, 1914)

British reactions US reactions

Wilson declares neutrality (August 19, 1914)

“The United States must remain neutral in fact as well as in name…”

Britain Blockades Germany (January 31, 1915)

British mine the North Sea and authorize the use of neutral flags on British merchant ships.

Germany Establishes War Zone Around Britain (February 4, 1915)

Try to stop Americans from trading with Allies (Britain, France etc.).

“Thrasher Incident” (March 1, 1915)

German sub torpedoes British passenger ship. First passenger

ship sunk during WWI. Leon Thrasher, a passenger on the

Falaba, became the 1st US citizen killed.

Lusitania Sunk (May 7, 1915)

German sub torpedoes British passenger ship Lusitania killing 128 Americans

Great Migration Begins (1915-1950)

Artist Jacob Lawrence illustrates the movement of millions of African-Americans from south to Northern cities. Labor shortages opened

factory jobs in the North.

Sussex Pledge (May 14, 1916)

After U-boats torpedo the ferry boat “Sussex,” Germany promises to not sink passenger ships. Merchant ships would not be sunk unless contraband found and provisions made for safety

of passengers and crew.

Germany Suspends Submarine Assaults (August 31, 1916)

Election of 1916(November 7, 1916)

Wilson wins re-election: “He Kept Us Out of War”

Electoral Results

Red - Democratic (Wilson) Blue = Republican (Charles Hughes)

Jeanette Rankin Elected to Congress (November 7, 1916)

Rankin becomes the 1st woman elected to Congress. Voted against American entrance into WWI and WWII.

Germany Resumes Unrestricted Submarine Warfare (Jan 31, 1917)

Germany breaks its Sussex Pledge not to attack passenger or merchant ships. Germans hoped to win the war with one last

offensive.

US Breaks Off Relations with Germany (February 3, 1917)

“…the Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever

diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether.”

Zimmermann telegram released (March 1, 1917)

German diplomat secretly offers Mexico guns, money, and its “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona” if Mexico attacks the United States when Germany goes to war with the United States.

1st Russian “February” Revolution Begins (February 22, 1917)

Leads to the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II’s autocratic government. A second “October”

revolution leads to communist take-over of Russia.

Russian Revolution Begins (March 8, 1917)

Vladimir Lenin led the successful “Bolshevik” or communist revolution.

Propaganda Used to Rally Support for the Allies

US military enters Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa (March 1916)

Villa’s forces attacked US citizens and soil after the US lends support to his rival in the struggle for control of

Mexican government.

Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany (April 2, 1917)

“The world must be made safe for democracy.”

A World War

Committee on Public Information Created (April 13, 1917)

George Creel hired to influence

public opinion about the war.

Army Intelligence Testing Begins (May 1917)

Robert Yerkes leads committee that develops Army’s Alpha and Beta Tests which were administered to 1.7 million US Army

recruits during WWI. IQ testing becomes popular and factors into 1920 debates on immigration quotas and school

placements.

Selective Service Act (May 18, 1917)

2.8 million Americans between ages of 18-45 drafted.

First US Troops Arrive in France (June 26, 1917)

French children watch the arrival of US “doughboys.”

“Lafayette, we are here!”

War Revenue Act (October 13, 1917)

Lowest Tax Rate Highest Tax Rate

6% 77%

Graduated income tax funds 1/3rd of US war costs.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3, 1918)

Leon Trotsky

Russians sign separate peace with Germany & withdraw from the war.

Influenza Pandemic Begins (March 11, 1918)

Albert Mitchell was the first reported case at Fort Riley, Kansas. Lasted 16 months.

Total dead worldwide = 25 million; US = 600,000.

Daylight Savings Time Introduced (March 31, 1918)

Designed to conserve energy and increase

productivity. Repealed after 7 months in 1919.

Armistice Signed (Nov 11, 1918)

WWI ends

18th Amendment Ratified (January 16, 1919)

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or consumption of alcoholic beverages. Era of Prohibition begins.

Schenck v US (March 13, 1919)

“The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and

are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger…When a nation is at war many things that might be said in time of peace…will

not be endured…” Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

Treaty of Versailles Signed (June 28, 1919)

The “Big 4” met in Paris to negotiate terms of a peace agreement.

Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.

Wilson Submits Treaty of Versailles to US Senate (July 10, 1919)

“The United States is the world's best hope, but if you fetter her in

the interests and quarrels of other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues of Europe, you will destroy her powerful good, and endanger her very existence.”

“Dare we reject it and break the heart of the

world?”

President Wilson Senator Henry Cabot Lodge

The debate erupts

Wilson Cancels Speaking Tour(September 25, 1919)

Route of Wilson’s 8,000 mile speaking tour on which he tried to rally support for the Treaty of Versailles. President collapses in

Pueblo, Colorado.

Wilson Suffers a Stroke (October 2, 1919)

“Petticoat presidency” begins?

Red Scare(January 1, 1920)

US Attorney General leads raids on alleged radical centers and arrests more than 6,000 suspected communists and

radicals.

A. Mitchell Palmer

Final Defeat of Treaty of Versailles in Senate (March 19, 1920)

US eventually signed a separate peace agreements with Germany, Austria, Hungary after Warren Harding takes office.

19th Amendment Ratified (August 26, 1920)

Women receive the right to vote.

Europe’s New Boundaries

1914

Before WWI

1922

After WWI