Warm Up Question

Why was the Battle of the Somme significant?

America in WWI

America’s decision to enter the war

Sinking of the LusitaniaBritish passenger linerSunk by German sub1,200 died, including 128 Americans

America’s decision to enter the war

Unrestricted German submarine attacksGermany refused to give warning in sub attacks

America’s decision to enter the war

Zimmerman noteGerman plot to provoke

Mexico to war against US

Significance – changed public opinion in U.S.

Different Perspectives

We will read two different perspectives on why America entered WWI and try to determine which is more accurate

Intro- what are the 3 main reasons that the article gives for the U.S. entering the war?

Perspective- President Wilson

Use the 1917 speech to “imagine the setting.” (a) What does Wilson accuse Germany of doing? (b) Do you think this is a good reason to go to war? (c) What additional information would you need to have before making a decision?

Re-read the last two paragraphs of the 1917 speech. Why do you think Wilson added these paragraphs? How do you think these words made Americans feel?

Perspective- Howard Zinn

Who is Howard Zinn? What do you think his perspective will be?

What does Zinn suggest are the real reasons the United States entered the war

What evidence does Zinn provide to support his claims that the United States was motivated by other reasons (besides German attacks on U.S. ships)?

Pre-War America

Wilson declared war on April 6, 1917When America entered the war in 1917, we had

just over 100,000 troopsSmaller than 16 other countriesCongress had to institute the draft

As America enters, Russia exits

Russian RevolutionBolsheviks, led by Lenin,

took overSigned a peace treaty with

GermanySignificance: Let Germany

fight a one-front war

The state of the war

Germany was slaughtering British and French troops

By May of 1918 they were just 50 miles from Paris

America to the rescue

American troops jumped in and saved ParisTurned the tide of war250,000 American troops arriving in France

each month

IMPORTANCE OF WWI

DeathsKilled 9 million combatants and 5 million civilians

PoliticallyDownfall of 4 empires, led to Bolshevik rise to power

in Russia, triumph of fascism in ItalyAmerican interests

Led America to become the world’s leading creditor and industrial power

Other consequencesMass murder of Armenians in TurkeyInfluenza epidemic that killed 25 million people