US 12: Impact of WW1 Flashcards
What was the result of the US joining the war at the start?
1) It was time-consuming to train soldiers at first so no big impact
2) From 1918 Jan onwards, US troops arrived at rate of 250,000 a month
3) Wilson’s intervention in 14 Points settled principles for post-war peace
4) Failure of the offensive meant the end of the Ottoman Empire, disintegration of Austria-Hungary and separation of Bulgaria
5) Then the German Kaiser abdicated in 1918 Nov
What were different aspects of the war economy?
- Paying for the war
- War industries board
- Railroads
- Agriculture
Explain how the US managed to pay for their intervention in WW1.
War cost $33.5 million in addition to $7 billion lent to allies
2/3 of the cost was lifted by Liberty and Victory Loans
5 war bond issues between 1917-1919
Stars like Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr deployed to encourage people to buy bonds + Army Signal Corps organised aerial displays
3rd loan issue April 1918, 9 million posters + 5 million window stickers issued
Why was the War Industries Board created?
Created war industries board july 1917 to coordinate tasks of finance and supplies = power to direct scarce resources, standardise production, fix prices but allowed firms to make profits
US Steel made half a billion dollars = accusations of war profiteering
How were the railroads affected during the war economy?
Run as a single centralised system to coordinate and simplify vital transport system
William G. McAdoo (Director-General of Railroads) pooled railway equipment, standardised accounting practices and raised
What was the impact on agriculture during WW1?
Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover as Food Admin after entry into war
1917 Lever Food and Fuel Control Act gave him power to
Set wheat prices at $2.20 per bushel to encourage production
Establish gov. corporation to buy US and Cuban sugar to maintain supplies
Organise voluntary campaign to eat sensibly to avoid rationing - ‘Wheatless Mondays, Meatless Thursdays’
e.g. Chicago so successful at using leftovers that
What is the order of America’s war efforts?
1917 April - American entry into the war May - Selective Service Act June - First Liberty Loan July - War Industries Board set up Aug - Food and Fuel Control Act Sept - War Revenue Act Dec - Nationalisation of railroads 1918 Jan - Start of large-scale forces arriving in France (US) Nov - German acceptance of an armistice 1919 Jan - Start of Paris Peace Conference
Conclusions about the US economy during the war?
The US economy was booming before they joined the war and then struggled (confusion and inefficiency)
1917 = US became a creditor nation, making loans worth billions, before it used to depend on Europe for growth.
1914-17 = US neutrality benefitted the economy -> dislocation of European markets meant agriculture boomed, farmers got higher prices for all produce
Britain and France were heavily dependent on them for military arms and loans
Began to struggle when entering the war =
massive infrastructure needed for bases for army
fed gov. needed to establish new organisations to regulate war (Liberty Loans to raise funds; War Industries Board; Food and Fuel Act; War Revenue Act; nationalisation of railroads to control transport)
Slow process allowed formidable war machine to stimulate economic growth
Result =
Exports rose
Steel industry boomed
Full employment
Brief economic recession that persisted until 1921
WW1 destroyed Russian, German + Ottoman Empire
How did the USA’s handling of post-war peace shape their lead?
The war meant the prestige of American republican democracy was enhanced, symbolised by ideals of Woodrow Wilson - dominant personality of the Peace Conference
Development of Wilsonian Idealism - a better world ‘war to end all wars’
New economic and military potential put US among the great powers
Anti-colonial history → ‘clean hands’ → moral superiority
Why was it difficult for Wilson to enact his ideals based on the ‘Fourteen Points’
Peace Conference in 1919 based on Fourteen Points = difficult because clashing personalities of Lloyd George (Britain), Clemenceau (France), Orlando (Italy)
E.g. Wilson promised full independence for Armenians and Kurdish but these weren’t fulfilled because of opposition from others
5 treaties were signed with Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, new countries formed and League of Nations was established
Why was there widespread disillusionment and what issues did Wilson face at home?
American deaths = 50,000 soldiers in action and ‘Spanish flu’ (pandemic) ⇒ swayed opinion against ‘Europe’s war’
Struggled to sell the ‘League of Nations’ treaty to the people
What were the social and ethnic divisions created as a result of WW1?
1) Outwardly, US came together in patriotic unity (News, Pop Music, public meetings fighting for ‘our boys’) = brought people together and increased national self-confidence
2) New hostility to ‘unreliable foreign elements’ emerged → fear of socialism
3) Culture war between ‘wets and drys’
4) Improved position of African Americans but revealed the extent of their discrimination
Immigration slowed in 1914, meaning social consolidation occurred → questions of loyalties = Nativism returned and so did KKK in 1915
6) Surge of patriotism to weed out ‘Aliens’ and guard from ‘spies’
7) Wilson passed the ‘Espionage Act’ in June 1917, extended by Sedition Act in May 1918 → 1500 prosecutions carried out, 2/3 convicted
8) Eugene Debs was jailed along with radical feminist, anarchist and pacifist Emma Goldman was one of 249 Russian ‘subversives’ deported to Russia on the ‘Red Ark’ (USS Buford)
9) Many protested against erosion of civil liberties but many in favour of patriotic nationalism
10) Oct 1918 Immigration Act strengthened controls, especially against those suspected of anarchism
Why did the end of Tsarist Russia lead to the ‘Red Scare’ in the USA?
Red Scare: storm of public and political opinion demanding that communists and ‘subversives’ were rooted out (red from symbol of Communism):
- American entry in the war coincided with the Russian Revolution which led to democratic provisional government in Russia = alliance
- 1917 takeover of the Bolsheviks started Communist world revolution led to fear of immigrants
- Other fears of revolution led to anarchist terrorism, pacifists opposing war, people who joined the American Communist Party and militant trade unions and IWW (International Workers of the World)
What was the result of WW1 in terms of industrial relations?
WW1 led to industrial unrest and social upheaval e.g.
1) high inflation
2) demobilisation of armed forces = problems in job market and rise in TU militancy (1919, strikes with more than 4 million workers)
60,000 workers in IWW strike feb 1919
Boston police strike Sept 1919 with more than 75% officers (wanted right to join TU - AFL)
Great Steel Strike 1919 lasted 3 months in Pittsburgh and Chicago - countered by US Steel nearly destroyed the AFL → 6 strikers killed in a massacre at Centralia in WS, industrial unrest was intensified by racial tensions → 20 race riots in 1919
Public opinion favoured authorities → Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge was popular for breaking Boston police strike = helped him become Rep. vice presidential candidate
