Exam 1: 1900 to WWII Flashcards
1
Q
19th century coastal defense
A
- heavy focus on protecting coastal areas around the continental U.S., with very little involvement outside these boundaries
- post-Civil War coastal defenses shifted from defense artillery and fortifications to increased dependence and reliance on forces over water (Navy) and tasks beyond the continental United States (Army)
2
Q
20th century imperial defense
A
- primary focus: ready reserve force that could be deployed beyond the nation’s borders
- significant increase in involvement and reliance on Navy and air forces
- foreign policy was a combination of humanitarianism and cultural arrogance: guiding China and the Philippines down an “American path”
3
Q
“open-door” policy w/ China
A
- allowing for open trade routes between U.S. and China created and preserved diplomatic relationships between the two without interference from European forces
- Japan would eventually threaten this connection
4
Q
Great White Fleet
A
- a global trip that epitomized American arrogance that flaunted the American Navy’s impressive battleship fleet that could only compete with the Royal Navy and the German High Seas Fleet
5
Q
HMS Dreadnought
A
- a British-launched battleship that became the standard for battleships of the time, demonstrating dramatic improvements in speed, firepower, and armoring, accelerating the Naval race
- significance is seen in Naval analysts division of the world’s battlefleets into pre- and post-Dreadnought categories (the Jesus of battleships)
6
Q
Elihu Root
A
- Secretary of War (1899-1904) and U.S. Army reform leader
- “the real object of having an army is to provide for war”
- assisted in advancing the General Staff Act of 1903
- created the Army War College in 1900 as well as increased and improved overall officer education
7
Q
General Staff Act of 1903
A
- created Root’s idea of a General Staff for military management, modeled after German’s critically successful Great General Staff, which created the basis for the “brains of the U.S. military”
8
Q
Dick Act of 1903
A
- dual federal-state control of National Guard for federal funding and U.S. Army training in response to a manpower shortage
9
Q
U.S. imperial defense
A
- constant overseas interventions prevented U.S. military modernization
10
Q
Monroe Doctrine
A
- issued by President James Monroe in 1823 in response to European colonization, this document was used as the justification for American intervention in worldly affairs under the justification of world peace
11
Q
“bamboo army”
A
- a combination of U.S. Army, Philippine scout, Constabulary companies that fought against the Muslim Filipino Moros from 1902 to 1913
12
Q
Panama Canal
A
13
Q
Pancho Villa
A
- led a faction of the Mexican civil war that spilled onto American soil when his band raided Columbus, NM in 1916, killing 15 American civilians and soldiers
14
Q
John Pershing
A
- led the Punitive Expedition of 10,000 men to destroy Villa’s army that had raided Columbus, NM
- reinforced with 112,000 National Guard, but eventually backed away from all out war
- eventually helped train, supply, and organize the AEF on WWI
15
Q
RMS Lusitania
A
- a British passenger liner sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, killing 100 Americans on board and sparking outrage among American citizens and igniting the commitment to creating a “Navy second to none”
16
Q
German U-boats in WWI
A
- part of the German Naval fleet that would aggressively target neutral or non-enemy boats, including the RMS Lusitania in 1915 that killed 100 American citizens
17
Q
Naval Act of 1916
A
- construction of 10 battleships, 16 cruisers, 50 destroyers, 72 submarines, and 14 auxiliary ships
18
Q
Leonard Wood
A
- created summer military training camps to have time to train citizen-volunteers in future wars
- these summer camps would be the birth of the ROTC program
19
Q
National Defense Act of 1916
A
- elevated National Guard to first-line reserve force, but made no provisions for a rapid training program
- any reform hinting at intervention in the European War was still too politically controversial
20
Q
Woodrow Wilson
A
- 28th president of the United States (1913-1921) that had a heavy hand in military affairs due to WWI occurring during his terms
- put a heavy focus on replacing old battleships, steadying the fleets numbers but making them more capable
21
Q
Wilsonian Balance of Power
A
- Wilson’s attempt at promoting world peace through the League of Nations and promoted self-determination of people and freedom of the seas
- geopolitical notion that the well-being of the United States depended on the balance of power in Europe and its critical stake in Allied victory
22
Q
Erich Ludendorff
A
- architect of German war plans after 1916, he was part of the German General Staff that analyzed American preparedness, calculating that U.S. influence on the European ground war would be delayed by two years
- “What can she do? She cannot come over here!…I do not give a damn about America.”
- by late summer 1917, British and French offensives had exhausted into defensive-only postures, as predicted
23
Q
Selective Service Act of May 18, 1917
A
- World War I draft that, unlike that of the Civil War, was executed by civilians instead of militia, and was promoted as patriotic volunteering
- of the ten million (10,000,000) men registered, only half a million (500,00) were called to serve
24
Q
“splinter feet”
A
- the wonder of the wartime Navy, these 400 wooden subchasers were modeled after New England fishing vessels and manned by wartime sailors without maritime experience
- these subchasers probed waters with acoustic sounding gear looking for German U-boats
25
Q
Espionage Act of 1917
A
- promotion of censorship laws to prevent German intelligence gathering and propaganda
- similarly, the Sedition Act of 1918 gave the Justice Department a wide range from which to prosecute “unpatriotic activities”
26
Q
American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
A
- the U.S. mobilization into European territory during World War I
- German offensive ended American manpower procrastination in March 1918
- woman authorized to work in war industries to offset skilled labor shortage
27
Q
trench wardare
A
- the primary setting for battles on the European front, these trances would be miles long and house the Allied soldiers as they attempted to hold on to Europe
- these trenches were of some of the worst living conditions ever recorded, with them being described as disgusting, unsanitary, and uninhabitable
28
Q
Belleau Woods
A
- this WWI battle fought by U.S. soldiers prevented the Germans from pushing further into France
29
Q
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
A
- most ambitious American military effort in history as 600,000 American troops and 4,000 artillery pieces advances against the new German front
- this offensive “turned the tides of the war”, lasting from late-Sept to mid-Nov 1918
30
Q
Treaty of Versailles
A
- treaty to end “the war to end all wars”, which would have Germany pay for the damages of the war
31
Q
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
A
- a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I
- the main goals the came from this statement included:
a) defense of continental U.S. and overseas possessions
b) deter European intervention in the Western Hemisphere (backing of Monroe Doctrine)
c) preserve China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity
32
Q
Washington Naval Conference
A
- limited the amount of Naval firepower a country could create and wield based on colonial land holdings in order to prevent another “Naval arms race” like that between the United Kingdom and Germany
- the U.S. and U.K. would each be able to have five (5) battleships for every three (3) that Japan had
