PSI: America & the Great War

Please pick up a copy of the PSI packet and WWI notes from the cart.

We will:

*analyze why America abandoned neutrality and entered World War I

*evaluate how the war shaped American society and the role of government

PSI Objective Questions

• Why did America abandon its neutrality and enter World War I by April 1917?

• How did the war transform American society and the role of government in 1917-1918?

• You will be asked to answer these questions in the last section before turning in the PSI for grading on Tuesday, March 18. The PSI is a quiz grade (10% of your quarter grade).

Part I: Causes of World War IWith your partner, take five minutes to recall long-term and short-term causes of the war and the major countries on each side

Long-Term Causes:MilitarismAlliance SystemNationalismImperialism

Short-Term Causes:Assassination

MANIA!!!

Summer 1914: The War BeginsSarajevo (June 28): Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated by a Serbian nationalist Austria-Hungary gives ultimatum to Serbia because this Balkan country secretly provided support to the Black Hand Russia mobilizes support for Serbia

Germany supports Austria-Hungary Germany invades Belgium and France as part of the Schlieffen Plan (to avoid a two-front war) Britain goes to war with Germany because Belgium’s neutrality is violated

Allied Powers vs. Central Powers

American NeutralityPresident Wilson’s Message to Congress (August 19, 1914): “The effect of the war upon the United States will depend upon what American citizens say and do.  Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness to all concerned. The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly from the nations now at war.  It is natural and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Such divisions amongst us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend.”

The Lusitania IncidentOn May 7, 1915, as the war raged on in Europe, a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland.  The ship was making its way from New York to Liverpool with nearly 2,000 passengers on board, including 123 Americans.  Most of the passengers lost their lives as the ship rapidly sank into the North Atlantic Ocean.  

Public outrage in the United States nearly resulted in U.S. entry into the war, but the German government responded positively to President Wilson’s demand that Germany stop its unrestricted submarine warfare.   

Were the Germans justified in sinking the Lusitania? Was America still strictly neutral at that time?

Source: Report from the American Customs Inspector in New York (1915) Q: Did the Lusitania have on board said trip 5400 cases of ammunition?  If so, to whom were they consigned? A: The Lusitania had on board, on said trip, 5468 cases of ammunition.  The Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Co. shipped 4200 cases of metallic cartridges, consigned to the Remington Arms Co., London, of which the ultimate consignee (purchaser) was the British Government.    G.W. Sheldon & Co. shipped three lots of fuses of 6 cases each, and 1250 cases of shrapnel, consigned to the Deputy Director of Ammunition Stores, Woolwich, England.

The Zimmermann NoteBy early 1917, the German government made the fateful decision to resume unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to end the military stalemate by starving Britain and France into submission.  

In January 1917, the British intercepted a coded message from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico.  

The British government presented the decoded message (reproduced on the next slide) to President Wilson on February 26, 1917.  

By early April, President Wilson asked for a declaration of war against Germany. 

America Enters the Warhttp://10.120.2.41/SAFARI/montage/play.php?keyindex=118636&location=005849&filetypeid=7

Excerpts from President Wilson’s war message to Congress (April 2, 1917):

“Our object … is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up among the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth ensure the observance of those principles. Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people…

The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek … no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”

Poster #1

Americans Join the Fight

Selective Service Act of 1917:Led to the conscription of over 2.8 million Americans by war’s end

American Expeditionary Force (AEF) fought in France alongside the British and French

Poster #2

America’s Women Step Up

First time women serve in the military in non-combatant roles, as nurses and clerks

Women served in industry and on farms to fill in for men who went into military service

Poster #3

Industry Mobilizes for War

War Industries Board (WIB) set production guidelines

American laborers gained higher wages and government mediation of disputes

Poster #4

Americans Conserve Resources

Food Administration (led by Herbert Hoover) encouraged Americans to conserve food

Fuel Administration regulated use of gasoline and heating fuel

Poster #5

Government Raises Money for War

The United States government financed $24 billion for the war effort through income taxes, loans, and war bonds (known as “Liberty” Bonds)

Poster #6

Government Uses Propaganda and Limits Free Speech

The Committee for Public Information issued government propaganda (led by George Creel)

Congress passed the Sedition and Espionage Acts of 1917 to crack down on criticism of the war effortand potential spies at home

Before we leave…

• Complete Part VI: Making Connections at home and turn in by Tuesday, March 18.

• By turning the PSI in on time, you will have the benefit of revising it and resubmitting it for a higher grade by March 26.

• Remember to study for the unit test on Thursday, March 20 – have your binder materials ready at the start of class!