World+War+I

WWI by James Hickey ="American" Neutrality= trying not to become entangled in the European war, President Wilson tried to remain neutral. this was impossible due to the economic ties to Britain and the overwhelming unimportant trade with Germany. this difference in treatment led the country to become the "arsenal for the allies." Wilson's attempt to remain out of the fighting though would be in vain because the Germans began attacking American supply ships to hurt the allied war effort. America was never truly neutral because it openly supported the allies with aid but it had not committed military assistance to the allies, allowing them to claim neutrality. the sinking of the Lusitania, a British passenger liner caring 128 Americans, along with numerous other American ships and the intercepted Zimmerman Telegram both convinced congress to finally declare war on the axis powers and enter the Great War. =The War to End All Wars= WWI Photo Gallery America entered the war so late in the conflict that both side's armies had been largely decimated. this gave the allies a large advantage even though the Russian had left the war due to the Bolshevik Revolution and changing views on the war. through the selective service act (also known as the draft) and volunteers the American Expeditionary Force involved some five million Americans that would be sent to Europe to fight in the conflict. the advances in military technology, primarily the machine gun, slowed the advance of both armies and led to trench warfare. the trenches were infested, disease ridden and all around not comfortable for the men the protected. the addition of American forces to the allied lines allowed them to quickly put an end to German advances and begin pushing the Germans back to the Rhine river. not wanting an invasion of their country the Germans finally surrendered on November 11 1918. the war pushed many new technologies such as flight, armored vehicles, automatic weapons, chemical weapons and long range artillery that all led to the sky rocketing casualties of the war. roughly one to two million men were killed from each country involved European conflict except for the US which only suffered 112,000 casualties. during WWI the government began managing the economy to try to stop inflation, something it had done before. although the attempts were often ineffective it did teach the country the benefits of a managed economy. =Fourteen Points and the Paris Peace Conference= falling into three vague groups these principles outlined adjusting post-war boundaries and establishing new countries out of the Austro-Hungarian an Ottoman empires, a new outlook on the way to govern international conduct (freedom of the seas, open covenants instead of secret treaties, arms reductions, free trade, impartial management of colonies) and most importantly the League of Nations. The peace conference included the "Big Four" that represented Great Britain, France, Italy and the US. The Russians did not attend because they left the war and relations with the US was quickly deteriorating. in the conference many of Wilson's idealistic proposals were quickly shot down by the other countries. one of his losses was with reparations, or payment for war expenses and damage to be paid to the winning countries. Wilson correctly predicted that the Germany economy and government would never be able to repay the debt and that it could lead to more conflict in Europe. he did however get his league of nations passed in the conference even though i did not explain how any decision by the league would be enforced. all of his victories at the conference would be in vain, because the congress (though the president's stubbornness and general dislike of non-isolationist ideas) would never be passed by congress. =Related Key Terms:= · Competing alliances (614) pitted the “Triple Entente” against the “Triple Alliance.” Entente was made up of Great Britain, France and Russia. Alliance was made up of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. · Economic ties to Britain (614) trade with Britain was too great to ignore and trade with Germany was significantly less. America quickly became the allies’ personal armory · Lusitania (615) sunk by a u-boat the ship caused the death 1198 people including Americans because it was caring munitions. Was called an act of piracy and increased tension between American and Germany · 1916 election (615) Wilson won reelection in a close election because pro-war sentiments were beginning to rise in the country · Zimmerman telegram (616) along with increasing attacks on trade the telegram proposed a war between Mexico and Germany with America to reclaim “lost territories” increased tensions between America and Germany and made American intervention in the war inevitable · Stalemate (616) by the time of American involvement the two armies had achieved nothing but killing each other in the same spot. · Russian revolution (617) the Bolshevik revolution allowed Lenin to leave the war and allow the Germans to focus on France and Britain · Selective service act (617) the draft was enacted because the necessary amount of troops could not be met without it. 3 million drafted 2 million volunteered · Chateau-Thierry (619) Americans aid French to stop German advance towards Paris · Meuse-Argonne offensive (619) pushed Germans back towards their border and cut many major supply lines · Ludlow massacre (623) thirty nine people were killed including children in a raid on a strike’s tent camp · Great migration (623) large numbers of African Americans moved from the rural south to the industrialized north to escape racism and poverty · Race riots (623) increasing numbers of southern blacks led to riots in which whites attacked blacks · CPI (625) agency created to try to create pro-war support and often encouraged “self censorship” · Espionage act (625) allowed stiff penalties for people accused of being against the war · Sedition act (625) allowed more penalties for anyone who went against the war or the government · 100 percent Americanism (628) nativism caused by efforts to repress dissent · The big four (629) Lloyd George (Great Britain) Clemenceau (France) Vittorio Orlando (Italy) President Wilson · League of Nations (630) assembled to try to resolve conflicts and maintain the peace · New social environment (632) the new liberal America progressives had envisioned did not happen and there was a post war depression · Boston police strike (633) violence and looting erupted during the strike and the national guard had to be used to restore order the police force was fired and entirely new one hired