The Coming War Web of alliances

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy France, Great Britain, Russia

Imperial ambitions Nationalism

Balkans Militarism

Perils of Neutrality Wilson urges Americans to be neutral “in

thought as well as action” Whose side are we on?

Support for GB: ancestry, language, schoolbooks Support for Germany: ancestry, Irish hope

But Wilson’s hope for an international system required a weakened Germany

Neutrality was impossible because of both sides British blockade Germany’s unrestricted sub warfare

National Security League Bankers and industrialists promotes arms

buildup and military training; holds parades

Woman’s Peace Party Jane Addams and Carrie Chapman Catt The war took away from progressive

reforms Sec. of War William J. Bryan resigns

after the Lusitania and Wilson’s demanding an end to unrestricted sub warfare

$ undermines neutrality Treasury Sec. William McAdoo warned

Wilson that sales to GB were essential to our economic well-being

the neutrality principle must not “stand in the way of our national interests” – Sec. of State Lansing

Morgan’s bank lent $500 million to the British and French

By 1917 U.S. banks had lent $2.3 billion to the Allies; $27 million to Germany

The U.S. is kept out of the war until 1917

The issue dominated the election of 1916, but Wilson had “kept us out of war”

“We didn’t go to war.” was the campaign theme

The U.S. enters the war Facing a stalemate on the ground,

Germany steps up U-boat attacks U.S. cuts off diplomatic relations in Feb. Zimmerman telegram emerges Russian revolution in March, with

Kerensky establishing a liberal provisional govt. (we can support that)

April 2, 1917: U.S. declares war to “keep the world safe for democracy”

Why? German attacks on American

shipping: violation of neutrality and freedom of the seas

U.S. economic investment in the Allied cause

American cultural links to the Allies, especially England are stronger and more entrenched

Mobilizing for the War U.S. will ultimately benefit from

the following: We were in the war for only 19

months Europe had four years

Our casualty rate was 8% Our allies was 70%

No fighting occurred here France, Belgium and Russia brutally

scarred

Raising, Training, and Testing an Army America’s military is weak at the

beginning 120,000 soldiers; 80,000 National Guard

Selective Service Act of 1917 All men 21-30 (later 18-45) to report to

local draft boards By 1918 24 million had registered and

nearly 3 million were drafted Once in the military the army sought

to education the whole soldier

The Commission on Training Camp Activities

Military test of recruits IQ test endorsed by the APA High percent of “morons” Tests revealed recruits lacked

formal training and reinforced stereotypes

WWI training camps reinforced moral-control reforms

Native Americans served in the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in integrated units

More than 260,000 African Americans volunteered, with 50,000 serving in France Racism was pervasive in the U.S.

military U.S. soldiers encouraged French

soldiers to mistreat black soldiers

Organizing the Economy for War War leads to unprecedented

government involvement in the economy

The Council for National Defense sets up the War Industries Board (headed by Bernard Baruch) Coordinates military purchasing Ensures production efficiency Provides weapons, equipment, and

supplies

Food Administration (headed by Herbert Hoover), Fuel Administration, Railroad Administration were prime examples

Regulatory agencies relied on voluntary cooperation reinforced by official pressure and propaganda

Woman’s Land Army recruited women to replace male farm workers

To help corporate America’s perception, corporate execs ran the agencies, factory owners distributed wartime propaganda, and trade associations coordinated war production

U.S. Military U.S. efforts were headed by John

J. Pershing Eventually 2 million American’s

serve in France The U.S. insisted that our

soldiers serve in separate units This was for military and political

reasons We wanted to be at the peace

table when it was all said and done

Advertising the War Five government bond drives

(Liberty Loans) raised 2/3 of the $35.5 billion the war cost

Taxes: 16th Amendment helped; wartime taxes reached 70%

George Creel headed the Committee on Public Information Foreign language pamphlets, Four-

Minute Men

Wartime Intolerance and Dissent

65,000 register as conscientious objectors 21,000 were drafted Eugene Debs and others claim the war is a

capitalist plot 2.4-3.6 million men fail to register 12% of those who register did not appear

when drafted or desert from training camp Draft resistance was highest in the South

Suppressing Dissent by Law Espionage Act: set stiff fines and prison

sentences for a variety of loosely defined war activities

Sedition Amendment: heavy penalties for using “disloyal, profane . . “

1,500 pacifists, socialists, IWW leaders arrested

American Protective League and local “Councils of Defense” enforce conformity

Schenck v. United States: “clear and present danger” and yelling fire in a crowded theater

Boom Times in Industry and Ag.

Factory output grows by more than 1/3 Civilian workforce expands by 1.3

million Wage increases up to 20% Samuel Gompers calls for workers not

to strike (most abide) Farmers profit due to relief efforts and

European devastation

Black Migrate Northward 500,000 African Americans move north

during the war years African-American newspapers like the

Chicago Defender spreads the word about jobs, opportunities

They bring with them cultural elements- especially jazz and the church

Lays the groundwork for the Harlem Renaissance

White workers resent the competition

Women in Wartime “Out of repression into opportunity is the

meaning of the war to thousands of women”

House and Senate, then the states ratify the Nineteenth Amendment

War Dept. refused to grant military rank or benefits to women who joined

However, by 1920 the % of women in the workforce was lower than in 1910

1918 Influenza Epidemic Killed as many as 30 million

worldwide Total U.S. death toll was around

550,000 (6X the total of AEF battle deaths)

War and Progressivism War did strengthen the moral-

control aspect of progressivism (prohibition and prostitution) Anti-alcohol was seen as anti-

German and a patriotic move towards conservation of resources

Military closed brothels near bases and est. an advertising campaign

Commission on Training Camp Activities hired 60 women to lecture women to uphold standards

WLB encouraged businesses to introduce the 8-hr. workday, end child labor, provide worker-compensation benefits, and to open their plants to safety and sanitation inspectors

The war’s long-term effect was to weaken the progressive social-justice impulse