Rev. 12/11

CHAPTER 6-WORLD WAR I—1912-1920

THE ELECTION OF 1912—what is the proper role of government in an industrial age?[see map on p. 532]

A major challenge to the two-party system as two other well-known candidates ran

Woodrow Wilson (42%)—the first PhD to be elected president, a segregationist Democrat who later endorsed The Birth of A Nation, based on a novel written by Thomas Dixon, Jr., who was Wilson’s college friend at JHU in 1883, when it was released in 1915—promoted states rights and promised to protect small businessmen and farmers from the big corporations—government was “the steward of the people” to regulate the giant corporations—his “New Freedom” promoted antimonopoly policies to restore competition and small business—supported by WEB DuBois, he received more black votes than any previous Democratic candidate but defended segregation in federal employment—

Teddy Roosevelt (27%)—TR wanted the republican nomination but Taft controlled the party machinery so Taft got the nomination even though TR had a huge majority in the delegate elections—“Taft’s belief that power was properly enshrined in the judiciary was a betrayal of everything Roosevelt had tried to do as president; Woodrow Wilson was slow to arm the country.” (Geoffrey C. Ward. NY Times, 11/28/10)--TR bolted the party to create the Progressive Party—his nomination, with Hiram Johnson as VP, was seconded by Jane Addams—came to the convention and proclaimed he felt “as strong as a bull moose”--the Progressive Party became known as “the Bull Moose Party”—refused to seat blacks at the convention because TR thought he could carry some of the southern states—“Hamiltonian means to achieve Jeffersonian goals”—proclaimed “the New Nationalism,” with a belief in federal planning and regulation, including

  • Labor’s right to organize
  • A promise to curtail campaign spending
  • Promote conservation
  • Provide federal insurance for the elderly, sick and unemployed

TR campaign speech “The Farmer and the Businessman” (4:17)

William Howard Taft (23%)

Eugene Debs (6%) —33 cities had socialist mayors, who advocated “sewer socialism,” or public ownership of utilities—his votes were largest for a socialist party nationally—in 1910, Victor Berger of Wisconsin was one of two socialists elected to Congress—he was re-elected but could not take his seat in 1918 because he had been arrested for violation of the Espionage Act of 1917—

Alice Paul and the Suffragettes—began demonstrations as soon as Wilson was elected and planned a counter-parade at his inaugural—[see documents on pp. 554-555 on the achievement of suffrage]

Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson (Bill Jamison show--10 minutes)

Women Vote - "Night of Terror" (Women`s Suffrage/Woman`s Rights—3:38)

THE WILSON PRESIDENCY

Mostly remembered for WWI, Wilson was a “progressive,” only the second Democratic President since Reconstruction, who

  • Appointed Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court, who once stated: “We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
  • Advocated for lower tariffs, with the Underwood tariff—compensated by a modest federal income tax—
  • Federal Reserve Act of 1913—estavblished a national banking system and government control over moguls like J.P. Morgan, whose company had 341 directorships, with assets of $ 22 billion—became a shaper of fiscal policy and released the money supply from the gold supply, leading indirectly to the debt crisis of 2011—became one agency that tried to “control” the economy to avoid depressions
  • Clayton Anti-Trust Act (January, 1914)—controlled price discrimination—established the Federal Trade Commission, which could prosecute corporations for “unfair trade practices”—Wilson wanted to regulate but not to break up the major corporations—most importantly, it specifically stipulated that unions and farmers’ organizations would not be considered “conspiracies in restraint of trade,” an advance since the Sherman Anti-Trust act was used against unions, notably in the Pullman strike
  • Supported rural credits
  • Workers compensation
  • Keating-Owens child labor law (1916), which indicated the first moves of the federal government o regulate the workplace
  • William Jennings Bryan became secretary of state

Segregation was a continuing issue--at a meeting about integration in the Federal Mail service—segregation had never been the custom in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. However, faced with strong pressure from his fellow Southerners, Wilson allowed segregation in the capital--Here is an excerpt of an article about the meeting with Monroe Trotter about segregation in federal employment-- were also hundreds of lynchings

LABOR ISSUES

Commission on Industrial Relations (1915)—held a series of hearings to publicize “industrial feudalism”—the concentration of wealth provoked labor violence—

Seaman’s Act (1915)—eliminated “oppressive financial arrangements and semi-military discipline inflicted on merchant sailors” (WBA, p. 246)

Adamson Act (1916)—railroad workers got the 8-hour day, the first time private workers conditions came under federal legislation

The Lawrence textile strike, or “the bread and roses strike” (January, 1912)—after a state-mandated reduction in wages, workers found their pay cut and within a week, more than 20,000 workers were out—IWW took over the strike and printed leaflets in 19 different languages--

The Patterson silk strike (February 1-July 28, 1913)—another IWW strike for the 8-hour day and higher wages—the Madison Square Garden pageant was a famous part of the strike, produced by John Reed

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

Threat from Mexican Revolution—began in 1910

1914—The European Crisis: The Triple Alliance (German, Italy, Austria-Hungary) v. The Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, Russia)

April 21, 1914—US invaded Vera Cruz to prevent Germans from getting oil—Wilson also did not support Huerta, who controlled the port and who had been promised weapons by the Germans in exchange for oil—supported by Secretary of State Bryan (a pacifist) and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels—after a brief skirmish, the US withdrew even as Carranza threatened to invade the US as a response

WORLD WAR I

History of World War I (Parts 1 and 2—18 minutes total)

June 28, 1914—assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo by a Bosnia Serb—on July 18, Austria declared war on Serbia, then Germany attacked Russia and France and Great Britain declared war on Germany—[see map of alliances in June, 1914 on p. 544]

Wilson wanted neutrality and to keep trading with all countries—
unusual support came from Eugene Debs--usually a radical, and an opponent of the US nationalistic ideology, Debs was in 1914 constrained to seriously compromise his principles and vote to support the wartime budget when the Great War began. He was the leader of a mass party, the country's main opposition, with a substantial representation in Congress and realistic aspirations to eventually win power. As such, Debs - whatever his private reservations - could not ignore the widespread support for war among the party's electorate. This was especially due to the fact that many of the working-class Socialist strongholds were close to either a Confederate border or a Canadian one, making the party's supporters apprehensive of an enemy invasion and tending to support an aggressive US war to pre-empt such threats. Debs' conduct in 1914 was similar to that of Socialist leaders in other countries such as Britain, France and Germany - all of whom shifted from an earlier anti-war position to supporting the war when it became inevitable—but Debs eventually became, once again, an outspoken opponent of the war, as demonstrated in the Canton speech

Even old socialists like Clarence Darrow, Jack London and Upton Sinclair eventually supported the US war effort

January 10, 1915—Women’s Peace Party—“the pathetic belief in the regenerative results of war”—DuBois stated that the war was fought over imperialist control of Africa, which he called “the Land of the Twentieth Century,” due to wealth of cocoa, diamonds, rubber, ivory and palm oil--

1914-1917—blockades while US trade with Germany disappeared—[see map on p. 545]--trade with Great Britain increased 400%--by 1916, US was providing 40% of England’s war materiel—the war increased the US gross national product by 20% from 1914-1917, pulling the country out of the 1913 recession and giving the US major overseas markets—US foreign investment increased from $700 million (1897) to $31/2 billion (1914)--J.P. Morgan & Co. alone placed more than $ 3 billion of war orders for England and France—the Allies borrowed more than $2 billion from US banks so the USD became, for the first time, a “net lender” and a world power—as the European countries were at war, the US also expanded exports to Latin American countries

In 1907, Wilson stated in a lecture at Columbia University:”Concession obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outrages in the process. . . the doors of nations which are closed must be battered open” (Zinn, p. 353)

An estimated 10 million people died on the battlefields and another 20 million died of hunger and disease related to the war (Zinn., p. 350)—[see casualties graphic on p. 550]

U-Boat blockades to stop the transport of US-produced war materials—May 7, 1915—torpedoes Luisitania-1,198 passengers died—May 10, 1917—Wilson still held neutrality—“too proud to fight”—

1914—First Battle of the Marne—aircraft used for reconnaissance—the French blocked the German advance on Paris and each side had 500,000 casualties—“All Quiet on the Western Front”--

May, 1915—sinking of the British liner Lusitania—1.198 people died, including 124 Americans—while the US government claimed the liner was an innocent passenger ship, in fact the Lusitania carried shells, boxes of cartridges and 2,000 cases of small arms ammunition, not listed in the cargo manifest—[see map on p. 545]

July,1915—first German “synchronized” plane, the Fokker was operational so pilots could use machine guns in the front of the plane

April 24, 1916—Easter Rising in Dublin—Irish patriots tried to take advantage of British involvement in Europe—Roger Casement had been arrested on April 16 on the coast after leaving a German submarine—he had tried for several years to negotiate the sale of arms to the Republicans—Casement never really trusted the Germans and the Rising failed but opened a “second front” for the British—The Irish are eccentric: they don’t wish to be English” –Winston Churchill

March 14, 1916—February 7, 1917—General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing led an “expeditionary force” of 4,600 men into Mexico to hunt for Pancho Villa, who had attacked the town of Columbus, NMEX during the Mexican Revolution—[see map on p. 544]--he never caught Villa and by April, 1917, was sent to Europe to head the US forces after the declaration of war-- General Pershing was permitted to bring into New Mexico 527 Chinese refugees who had assisted him during the expedition, despite the ban on Chinese immigration at that time due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese refugees, known as "Pershing's Chinese," were allowed to remain in the U.S. on the condition that they work under the supervision of the military as cooks and servants on bases. In 1921, Congress passed Public Resolution 29, which allowed them to remain in the country permanently under the conditions of the 1892 Geary Act. Most of them settled in San Antonio.

July 22, 1916—the Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco—a parade of more than 50,000 people to promote the imminent entry of the US into WWI—radicals in the Bay area opposed the war and the parade—a suitcase bomb exploded, killing 10 and wounding 40—Alexander Berkman, who had been released from prison in 1906 and relocated to the Bay area in late 1915 to publish an anarchist magazine, was the first suspect but Warren Billings, a watchmaker, a Tom Mooney, a molder and socialist agitator, were arrested for the crime—both were convicted and later pardoned—questions of perjured testimony and anti-radical hysteria

1916 election—

“He kept us out of war”—Wilson was opposed by Charles Evans Hughes—at one point, TR wanted to run again on the Progressive Party ticket but withdrew because he was concerned that his candidacy would guarantee the re-election of Wilson, whom he disliked and thought was allowing Europe to “bully” the US—some newspapers claimed that Hughes was secretly planning to get the US involved in the war—Wilson got 49.2% of the votes--a popular legend from the 1916 campaign states that Hughes went to bed on Election Night thinking that he was the newly-elected president. When a reporter tried to telephone him the next morning to get his reaction to Wilson's comeback, someone (stories vary as to whether this person was his son or a butler or valet) answered the phone and told the reporter that "the President is asleep." The reporter retorted, "When he wakes up, tell him he isn't the President."

Allen Louis Benson (Socialist), author of the 1904 pamphlet Socialism Made Plain: Why the few are rich and the many poor got 3.2% of the votes for President after Debs withdrew—Debs was temporarily discredited because of his 1914 support for the defense budget but regained his stature in 1918 with the Canton, OH speech

July 1—November 16, 1916—Battle of the Somme on both banks of this river—in one 3-day battle at the beginning of the siege, French/British had 600,000 dead/wounded and the Germans 500,000—wiped out the Newfoundland brigade—first use of a tank in war

January 1917—Germany expanded blockade

February 15, 1917—the Zimmerman Telegram—a coded telegram German proposal to Mexico urging the country to declare war on the US and reclaim territory lost during the Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase (the states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona)—the telegram was intercepted and decoded and published in the US on March 1, and became a factor in the US declaration of war on April 6—President Carranza, in any case, was not ready to take Mexico into a war with the US, partly because Mexico’s internal situation was still so unsettled—

March, 1917—German sink five US ships off coast of England--

March, 1917—Russain tsar overthrown and Kerensky government takes power—referred to with approval in Wilson’s declaration of war as a kind of worldwide change--

April 2, 1917—US declares war—note that Wilson recognizes that he does not have the authority to act with Congress (Document )—Congress also declared a draft after only 73,000 volunteered in six weeks when 1 million soldiers were needed—[see enlistment poster on p. 546]—4 million men were in the military—the US was involved in a military capacity until 11 November, 1918, about 1 ½ years [see photo on p. 548]—major social changes--labor shortages helped the growth of unionism

The secrets of World War I (History Channel—10 minutes)

O.A. Hilton. “Public Opinion and Civil Liberties in Wartime, 1917-1919.” Southwest Social Science Quarterly, 1947.—“the use of pressure tactics to coerce the minority into line had reached a high state of refinement”—“the influence of public opinion in extending or restricting civil liberties”—the protections that were thought to be “automatic” under the Bill of Rights were curtailed—a public opinion that was “nearly hysterical at times”—created state councils of defense, usually appointed by the governor—in SDAK, the council described anyone who did not buy Liberty Bonds as a “slacker”—the county councils were even empowered to subpoena “delinquents” to “interrogate them about their ability to buy bonds”—some state councils sent letters to individuals who opposed the war to inform them “emphatically that such conduct will not be tolerated”—Liberty Loan committees checked up on individual donations--

Profiteering was now permitted—in the Food Administration, penalties for violation of the law were stricken and a company who was caught simply had to express remorse or make a charitable contribution—a real apparatus of social “terror,” with inquests at a city level—

The Nonpartisan League was an organization of farmers in the northwest, opposed to millers and other middlemen—advocated a form of agrarian socialism and insisted that it was a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,” as the Socialist Party stated—questioned both the motives for the war and the methods for paying for it—the CPI routed speakers specifically through the area—the Public Safety Commission indirectly approved the use of forced against the League to break up meetings—in Montana, the state council ordered the public schools to stop using a textbook ion ancient history because it gave “too favorable a treatment of the Teutonic tribes prior to the year 812 A.D.”—many states agitated against the use of German language and in SDAK, the only place German could be used was at a funeral—some council who were to “pass upon the loyalty of suspected persons” complained that the laws were not strong enough—eventually used the Espionage Act—states councils “frequently represented the most intolerant points of view”—tarring and feathering of pro-Germans in Montana—saw most of the violence in the Middle West and the Rocky Mountains—includes the Bisbee deportation—also the hanging of Frank Little on August 1, 1917—

American Protective League—enrolled 250,000 citizens at the height of “spy mania” over possible German infiltration to spy on neighbors for evidence of “sedition and treason”—as George Creel stated, “Never has a country been so thoroughly counter-espionaged”—looked for anyone who was not “a 100 percenter”—the laws looked at intent and the courts generally found, despite the objections of Justice Learned Hand, that anything “which tended to dampen the war enthusiasm was a violation”—anti-war platforms and Socialist pamphlets were regularly introduced as “evidence”—membership in the IWW of Socialist Party was almost clearly evidence of guilt—actually prohibited to blame the war on “profiteers,” even though historians have recognized the “economic entanglements” as factor in US involvement—