Chapter 30: “The War to End War”
Topic: The Home-front
Essential Question 1: Evaluate the impact of government policies(i.e., the Espionage and Sedition Act) designed to promote patriotism
and to protect national security during times of war on individual rights.
I. January 1917, Wilson made an address that declared that only “peace without victory” would be lasting.
i. What does this mean?
ii. Germany reinstates unrestricted submarine warfare February 1917
a. What does this violate? Why are the German’s violating their agreement?
II. Then, the Zimmerman note was intercepted and published on March 1, 1917.
i. Written by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman, it secretly proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico, and if the Central Powers won, Mexico could recover Texas, New Mexico, and California from the U.S.
ii. Coded message intercepted by British officials
III. The Germans also began to make good on their threats, sinking numerous ships
IV. On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked for Congress to declare war, which it did four days later.
II. America’s reaction to declaration of war
I. Many people still didn’t want to enter into war
i. Distant war, not our war to fight
ii. Wanted to remain isolationists
II. Six senators and 50 representatives, including the first Congresswoman, Jeanette Ranking, voted against war.
III. To gain enthusiasm for the war, Wilson came up with the idea of America entering the war to “make the world safe for democracy.
III. The propaganda machine
I. The Committee on Public Information, headed by George Creel, was created to “sell” the war to those people who were against it.
i. The Creel organization sent out an army of 75,000 men to deliver speeches in favor of the war – 4 minute men
ii. posters and billboards that had emotional appeals to get Americans to sign up for the military, conserve goods, and/or buy bonds to contribute money to the war effort
iii. Showed anti-German movies like The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin.
IV. Restricting Freedom in times of war
I. Germans in America were surprisingly loyal to the U.S., but nevertheless, many Germans were blamed for espionage activities, and a few were tarred, feathered, and beaten.
II. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 showed American fears/paranoia about Germans and other perceived threats. MOST TARGETED AND ARRESTED WERE ACTUALLY SOCIALISTS, NOT NECESSARILY GERMANS.
i. Espionage Act - passed by Congress in 1917 after the United States entered World War I.
a. $10,000 fine and 20 years' imprisonment for interfering with the recruiting of troops or the disclosure of information dealing with national defense.
b. Additional penalties were included for the refusal to perform military duty.
c. Over the next few months around 900 went to prison under the Espionage Act.
ii. Sedition Act – amendment to espionage
a. Forbade Americans to use "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, flag, or armed forces during war. The act also allowed the Postmaster General to deny mail delivery to dissenters of government policy during wartime.
b. The Sedition Act was an attempt by the United States government to limit “freedom of speech,”
c. The Espionage Act made it a crime to help wartime enemies of the United States, but the Sedition Act made it a crime to utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the United States' form of government.
d. Socialist Eugene V. Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison under this law.
e. Anti-war protestors were arrested by the hundreds
f. Fortunately, after the war, there were presidential pardons (from Warren G. Harding), but a few people still sat in jail into the 1930s.
Wilson’s 14 points: Perfect example of his Missionary Diplomacy
III. On January 8, 1918, Wilson delivered his Fourteen Points Address to Congress.
IV. The Fourteen Points were a set of idealistic goals for peace
V. Inspired Americans to get behind the war effort and make the world safe for democracy!
i. No more secret treaties, all treaties should be made entirely public ( brought Europe into war)
ii. Freedom of the seas was to be maintained. ( Meant to address problems faced by US when we tried to ship goods and remain neutral)
iii. A removal of economic barriers among nations. ( free trade , no huge reparations after the war)
iv. Other points included: “self-determination,” and a League of Nations, an international organization that would keep the peace and settle world disputes.
v. Wilson wanted this to have a huge influence on Treaty of Versailles Negotiation.
Americas industry and workers gear up for war
VI. America was unprepared for war, only moderate build-up of military prior to declaration
i. America’s army was only the 15th largest in the world.
ii. no one knew how much America could produce
iii. had to convince private company’s to conserve materials for the war
VII. Congress imposed a rule that made any unemployed man available to go into the war
A War Economy
VIII. Mobilization relied more on passion and emotion then laws.
IX. Herbert Hoover was chosen to head the Food Administration,
i. he had organized a hugely successful voluntary food drive for the people of Belgium when they were invaded by Germany.
ii. He was against ration cards and in favor of using posters, billboards, and other media to whip up a patriotic spirit which encouraged people to voluntarily sacrifice some of their own goods for the war.
iii. After all, America had to feed itself and its European allies.
X. Hoover’s voluntary approach worked beautifully, as citizens grew gardens on street corners to help the farmers, people observed “heatless Mondays,” “lightless nights,” and “gasless Sundays” in accordance with the Fuel Administration, and the farmers increased food production by one-fourth.
XI. The wave of self-sacrifice also sped up the drive against alcohol, culminating with the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the sale, distribution, or consumption of alcohol.
XII. Money was raised through the sale of war bonds called Liberty Loans and increased taxes.
i. Private citizens loaned the government money by purchasing these bonds. If they could not afford the cost of a bond, they could instead purchase war stamps and savings certificates for smaller amounts of money. At a later date, once the war was over, the government would pay back the loans with interest.
Getting the troops ready
· America would have to raise and train an army to send over to Europe, or the Allies would collapse.
ii. Selective Service Act
a. The draft bill ran into heated opposition in Congress but was grudgingly passed.
b. Passed 6 weeks after we declared war
c. Luckily, patriotic men lined up on draft day, disproving ominous predictions of bloodshed by the opposers of the draft.
d. All men 18-45 had to register,
a. couldn’t purchase a substitute or buy your way out of war
iii. Within a few months, the army had grown to 4 million men and women.
iv. African-Americans were allowed in the army, but they were usually assigned to non-combat duty
v. Training was so rushed that many troops didn’t know how to even use rifles, much less bayonets, but were sent to Europe anyway!
a. Supposed to receive 6 months training at home and 2 more months abroad, they got a few weeks if they were lucky!
Problems and changes on the home front
· National War Labor Board,
o headed by former president William H. Taft
§ heard thousands of cases dealing with labor disputes during the war and helped to avert strikes
· Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor (AF of L), which represented skilled laborers, loyally supported the war, and by war’s end, its membership more than doubled to over 3 million.
· Yet, there were still labor problems
o price inflation threatened to outweigh salary increases, strikes broke out during the war
o the greatest occurring in 1919, when 250,000 steelworkers walked off the job.
§ But the steel owners brought in 30,000 African-Americans to break the strike, and in the end, the strike collapsed, hurting the labor cause for more than a decade.
· During the war, African Americans migrated to the North to find more jobs, and did, but the appearance of African Americans in formerly all-White towns did spark violence, such as in Chicago and St. Louis.
o Called the Great Migration
· Women also found more opportunities in the workplace, since the men were gone to war.
vi. This gained support for women’s suffrage, which was finally achieved with the 19th Amendment, passed in 1920.
vii. Although a Women’s Bureau did appear after the war to protect female workers,
a. most women were fired or gave up their jobs at war’s end,
b. and Congress even affirmed its support of women in their traditional roles in the home with the Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921, which federally financed instruction in maternal and infant health care.
V. Russia bows out
I. A Costly War for Russia
i. Over the first two and a half years of the war, Russia had experienced heavy defeats against Germany but at the same time had significant successes against Austria-Hungary.
ii. The war had become hugely unpopular at home.
· Russian death toll was enormous
o 1.7 million military deaths
o 3 million civilian deaths
· Russia was continuously losing territory, and the war had sparked food shortages throughout the country.
2. The February Revolution
· In early March 1917 (late February by the Julian calendar in use in Russia at the time), the tsar’s entire regime unexpectedly collapsed after a series of large demonstrations in the Russian capital of Petrograd (St. Petersburg).
o Moved in exile to Siberia by Bolsheviks (communists)
· As the struggle for control of the country began, parts of the military continued to fight on the war front, others quit fighting altogether, and others even fought each other.
· Germany quickly recognized an opportunity and made arrangements to help Russian revolutionaries in Europe, including Vladimir Lenin, to get back to Russia in order to fuel the ensuing chaos there. Lenin arrived in Petrograd on April 16 on a train provided by Germany.
4. The Bolshevik Revolution
· Russia’s position in the war remained in question throughout the summer and fall of 1917
· The debate continued throughout the summer and fall until November 6, 1917 (October 24 by the Russian calendar). On that day, the Bolsheviks seized total control of the country with the help of the military.
o The next day, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin issued his first decree, declaring Russia to be at peace.
o Negotiations with the Germans begin in December 1917 and Russia is officially out of the war March 1918: Brest –Litovsk Treaty
o July 1918 the Bolsheviks murder Nicolas and his family
VI. American troops join the war
I. After the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia, they withdrew the nation from the war, freeing up thousands of German troops to fight on the Western Front.
II. American doughboys slowly poured into France, Belgium and even Italy
VII. Americans to the rescue! ( France)
I. Allies terrified of the Germans unite under 1 Supreme Commander – Foch ( French)
i. Cantigny: May 1918 The first offensive that the US was involved in; gained only 1 mile of territory seen as more of a moral victory than significant military victory
ii. Chateau –Thierry : July 1918 first significant engagement of American troops in a European battle, pushed Germans away from Paris and across the Marne
iii. Marne – July 1918 last German attempt at an offensive, Germans never recovered from the failed attempt, secretly most German commanders began to have doubts about a German victory
iv. Meuse-Argonne
a. Sept – Nov 1918
a. 1.2 million Americans fought in this prolonged battle -10% casualty rate
b. Cut off German supplies and relentlessly barraged them with artillery.
c. Allies win this crucial battle and the war is virtually over
d. It was a good thing, too, because American victories were using up resources too fast.
e. Also, pamphlets containing seductive Wilsonian promises rained down on Germany, in part persuading them to give up.
v. Austria Hungary gives up in October 1918 and officially splits into 4 separate countries amid a virtual revolution in the country
a. Yugoslavia (Slavs & Serbians), Austria (Germanic), Hungary (Magyars), Czechoslovakia ( Czechs and Slovaks) – based on the main ethnic groups
vi. German surrender is soon to follow
a. Losing battles, surrender of A/H, and demand of the people cause surrender, hoping for peace based on 14 points, and fear of endless American troops
b. Kaiser Wilhelm is forced to step down
a. we will only negotiate with reps of the German people
b. he flees to avoid prosecution by Allies
c. Germany becomes a republic
i. Chancellor and Parliament
VIII. Germany surrenders
I. At 11:00 am of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (Nov) of 1918, Germany surrenders
IX. Wilson goes to France
I. Wilson went to Paris as the only leader of the Allies not commanding a majority at home.
i. As of election of 1918 Republicans controlled Congress
II. Wilson goes to Versailles to negotiate treaty
i. he didn’t include a single Republican,
a. not even Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
a. highest ranking republican in Senate
b. also head of foreign relations committee
c. Republicans MAD!!!!!
III. The Big Four—Italy; led by Vittorio Orlando, France; led by Georges Clemenceau, Britain; led by David Lloyd George, and the U.S.; led by Wilson—basically dictated the terms of the treaty.
i. Early in negotiations Wilson managed to get his League of Nations accepted by the other nations
ii. Henry Cabot Lodge, William Borah, and Hiram Johnson bitterly opposed to the League and let everyone know!!!!!!(Republicans in Senate)