World War 1 Flashcards
Central powers V. Allied powers
Germany and Austria-Hungary vs. Britain, France, Imperial Russia
-war breaks out based on European nationalism/colonies
-webs of secret treaties and alliances
Wilson sets forward policy regarding war
-America’s stance is strict neutrality, strict in both thought and deed
US policy
enters war on side of allies
conspiracy (?)
-special interests (corporations) put pressure on Wilson administration, drag US into the war
-banks had enormous financial investments to allies, and had a lot to lose if the allies lost
-JP Morgan main focus
-armaments manufactures had a lot to gain if US entered the war
-DuPont corporation main focus
Stated US was not neutral, policy was neutral but deed was not
Factors of war - ties to allies
both sides thought it would be a short war
stalemate develops quickly
bloodbath
-unseen of and unheard of carnage
Weapons of Mass Destruction
-gas attacks kill thousands at a time
-trenches, barbed wire
-tens of thousands die in single battles
Airplanes introduced - Knights of the Sky
Americans considered it the European war
Blockade
Greta Britain plays its ace in the hole
- deploys the royal navy
- very powerful, rules the ocean
- used to cut countries off at choke points
- start at Baltic Sea, go counter clockwise
- cuts central powers off from trade with Americans
- Central trade plummets, trade with allies sky rockets
- US economy becomes tied to Allies
Submarines
Undersea boats/U-boats
Germany’s ace in the hole sent to attack the blockade
Germany announces policy regarding blockade
-Sink all enemy ships, every ship flying the enemy flag
-luxury liners, merchant ships, battle liners
Ties to allies
Neutral countries have the right to trade freely with both sides in a war
-excluding contraband
Blockade stops trade, neutral rights are violated
-Wilson does not respond to the blockade
-lack of response links US to allies economically
US tied culturally to England
-the mother country
-Wilson is Anglophile, attracted to those that look like him
Lusitania - 1915
British luxury liner attacked
-torpedoed
128 Americans on board and go down
1200 all together go down on the ship
Exploded and sank immediately
Germany advertised in US papers that ships are being targeted
US outraged
-has the right to be on a ship
-pointed finger at Germany, blurred the rules of war
-Germany responded, pointing a finger at the US
Ship exploded and sank quickly because it was carrying munitions
Even though outraged, US did not enter the war for two more years
US entry 1917
Germany changes U-boat policy
-can now attack ships trading with the enemy
US did not apply peace and neutrality equally
-led to policy change
Germany attacks 4 merchant ships (US)
-Wilson goes to congress and gets declaration of war
Home front
mobilizing opinion
-there were no attacks on US soil or US navy
-only a few attacks on merchant ships trading with the allies
-Americans did not want to get involved, it was known as the European war
A lot of families trace their roots to Germany, Austria and Ireland (Germany, Austria central powers)
-Irish Americans were anti-British
Anti-war sentiment in the country, others believed US entered the war on the wrong side
C.P.I.
Committee on public administration
government agency set up to persuade public opinion regarding the war
-propaganda
set up by Wilson agency to sell the war to the American people
Country saturated by 1917 in pro-war propaganda
-posters, banners, speeches, teachers, films
-Uncle Sam introduced
Pro-war posters against barbarians and the Hun
Pro-war Americans were trying to show they are 100% American
-immigrants trying to prove themselves
Ending Dissent
crusade to make the world safe for democracy
book burnings
-removing German books from the library
-remove German name, replace with liberty
Espionage Act 1917
prohibited acts causing insubordination or disloyalty
- targeted anti-war propaganda and literature
- stopped it from being mailed
Sedition Act 1918
provided severe penalties to people found guilty of making false statements, hurting the war cause, or negative statements US or US symbolic goods
-flags, government, constitution, war goods
-extended the espionage act
People were jailed for violating act
-laws enacted to end dissent, link Americans, lead to 100% Americanism, and change public opinion to pro-war
-Eugene Debs jailed for speaking out against war
-entered jail a democrat, released a socialist
Both laws upheld as constitutional by US Supreme Court
-the rights are not unlimited
-when there is a clear and present danger, the government has an interest in narrowing the scope of freedom of speech
US Role
fresh American forces enter the war
-not ground down by years of warfare
Same year US enters the war and attacks the western front, the eastern front crumbles
-Russian revolution, rise of the communist party
-peasants, war ravaged were promised peace, food and land
-world’s first communist state, ultimately becomes Soviet Union, led by Lenin and the Bolshevik party
Russia states it is not their war, and leave the war
-Germany demands a high price
-Russia gives large amounts of land to Germany
Germany focuses on western front, when fresh American troops appear
Germany surrenders, but not invaded during the war
-told they caused the war
