World War IThe Great War

Causes of WWI

• A. Militarism

• B. Nationalism

• C. Alliance System

• D. Imperialism

Causes of American Involvement• A. Lusitania

• 1. unrestricted submarine warfare

• 2. British ocean liner sank by Germans

• a. 128 American passengers killed

• 1. followed by sinking the French Ocean Liner the - Sussex

• B. Zimmerman Note

• 1. Arthur Zimmerman is the German ambassador to Mexico2. Germany promises the Mexican Cession back to Mexico if they agree to “occupy” the U.S. and keep them out of the war in Europe.

Home front

• A. Espionage Act & Sedition Act• Illegal to speak out against the war and or discourage citizens from the draft

Red Scare• 1. Labor Unions tagged as Socialist

• 2. Eugene V. Debs

• a. lobar union leader who runs for president as a Socialist

• 3. Formation of the Soviet Union (USSR)

• a. Labor Party (Bolsheviks)

• 1. lead a revolt against the Czar of Russia and take control of the nation.

• 2. Vladimir Lenin forms the Soviet Union

• b. American’s fear that the same may or could happen to the U.S.

• c. starts to distrust labor unions etc.

• 4. Schneck vs. U.S.

• a. attempting to convince draftees not to report for duty

• b. “clear and present danger”

Liberty Bonds

• 1. fundraising to pay for the war effort

• 2. “bonds” or savings to citizens in exchange for funding now for war needs / items.

Draft

• 1. Conscientious Objector• a. refuse to enter or can apply to not enter the

armed forces due to religious objections

• 2. Selective Service Act: requires all males over 18 to register for the draft

American Forces (US involvement in the war)• A. American Expeditionary Force

• 1. operate only by US commanders and independently from other nations

• B. Convoys

• 1. destroyers guarded unarmed troop transport ships across the Atlantic Ocean.

• C. Stalemate

• 1. Trench Warfare

• 2. No man’s Land – area between trenches that “no man” survives or controls.

• D. Armistice

• 1. Cease fire

• 2. 11/11/18 – 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Wilson’s 14 points

• A. Peace without victory

• 1. You do not need to defeat other nations of the battlefield to “win”

• 2. Attempt to not use war as a means to settling conflict

League of Nations

• 1. Part of Wilson’s speech on 14 points

• 2. Member nations to use peace as solutions to conflict

• 3. Somewhat like “collective bargaining” for countries

Treaty of Versailles

• 1. Form a League of Nations• 2. War Guilt Clause• a. force Germany to sign• b. Germany to take responsibility for the war• c. pay reparations• 3. War Reparations• a. Germany must pay for the Reconstruction of

Europe• b. plunges Germany and Europe into an

economic depression• c. leads the rise of the German National Socialist Party

(NAZI)