George’s AP US Survival Blog

• Wilson was determined to keep America out of war but Germany had begun unrestricted submarine warfare. The war was at a stalemate and the Germans could not afford to take time to decide whether a ship was ok to sink or not ok.
• The Germans wanted to bring the British to her knees before the Americans entered the war.
• Wilson planned to break diplomatic relations with Germany.

War by Act of Germany

• Wilson asked Congress for a provision that would allow for the armament of merchant ships. The Senators tried a filibuster on this measure. Wilson denounced these men but it was quite obvious that there was still a strong voice of isolationism.
• Then there was a Zimmerman Note that was intercepted on March 1st, 1917. Basically it was a note from the Germans to by Arthur Zimmerman that discussed the possibility of a German-Mexican Alliance. The Mexicans would then get back the territories they lost to America (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona).
• Russia was going through a revolution with a toppled the tsarist regimes.
• Of course there was the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
• On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked for a declaration of war from Congress.
• What the British did to commerce was annoying but not necessarily destructive. The Germans were killing innocent people.

Wilson Idealism Enthroned

• Wilson commented that it was fearful to send America into a war that she originally had nothing to do with.
• No fewer than six senators and 50 representatives voted against war but it was hard to create any “war fervor”, especially in the Midwest that had no reason to fear submarines.
  • No there had to be something that would stir up some enthusiasm.
  • So he declared that the objective of the goal was to make the world safe for Democracy.
  • It was this that aroused the public opinion. America wasn’t selfish, America cared about the world and wanted to make it a safe place. The war was not a war to gain honor or prestige like the other countries.
• This worked…and it worked probably too well for now most of America was for the war and shouted for force. The public wanted to win the war, going against the “peace without victory” clause.

Wilson’s Fourteen Potent Points

• Wilson delivered the Fourteen Points Address on Jan. 8, 1918. He wanted to keep Russia in the war as well but it gave the Allied forces some new hope and morale.
• First five points (summarized):
  1. Abolition of secret treaties
  2. Freedom of the seas
  3. Removal of economic barriers
  4. Reduction of armament burden
  5. Adjustment on colonial claims
• The proposal delegitimized the old regimes and opened the road to independence for many.
• Other points gave the hope of independence to minorities.
• Wilson hoped that this would establish territorial sovereignty to all nations, not just the big ones.
• Of course, not everyone received the 14 points well, especially Republicans but you cannot please everybody.

Creel Manipulates Minds

• Committee on Public Information created in order to change public opinion about war.
• George Creel was the head of this Committee.
• This organization went out and spread words that would promote patriotism.
• The propaganda was spread through billboards, leaflets, and booklets.
• There were multiple “hang the Kaiser” movies too.
• But the plan wasn’t perfect and Wilson wasn’t perfect and things wouldn’t be so perfect, even with the propaganda.

Enforcing Loyalty and Stifling Dissent

• There were about 8 million Germans.
  • Most of the Germans were not belligerent to the US, they were loyal. But they still were mistreated by some Americans.
  • There was upmost hatred against German-Americans.
• Two acts were passed that reflected the German-phobia that spread. There was the Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918.
  • Antiwar socialists and Industrial Workers of the World were jailed for their anti-war attitudes due to the Espionage Act.
  • Schenck v. United States ruled the act Constitutional because the freedom of speech could be revoked when such speech is a danger to the nation.

The Nation’s Factories Go to War

• America was not exactly in any shape to go into a global war.
• Wilson created the Council of National Defense in order to study the issues with mobilization of the economy.
• He launched a shipbuilding program and modestly beefed up the army.
• First of all though, America did not know how much steel and explosive powder she could produce singlehandedly.
• Second of all, there was a fear of big government controlling economy, even during wartime. Businessmen and democrats feared it.
• March 1918 – Wilson appointed Bernard Bauch to the War Industries Board as the head. Even so, this was a bit “eh” because the board did not have many controls that were prominent.

Workers in Wartime

• The government threatened unemployed men with the draft, an incentive to keep working and not go on strike.
• The National War Labor Board was given a role to settle any labor disputes that would be costly to the war effort.
  • It promised higher wages and an 8-hour work day. It did not guarantee the right to organize unions.
  • The AF of L, led by Samuel Gompers supported the war while other radical unions did not and were beaten and arrested if they protested.
  • For most, the labor situation was better. The AF of L grew in membership and real wages rose 20 percent.
• Even so, there was wartime inflation and some bloody strikes, especially in the steel industries.The steel Industry mercilessly refused to negotiate.
• Then the strike collapsed, setting back the union movement.
• Racial tension was present as the blacks came North to look for jobs and opportunity.

Suffering Until Suffrage

• Female workers also flooded into factories because the men were at war, leaving empty spots.
• However, the women in the progressive feminist movement were pacifists.
• The National Women’s party was formed by Alice Paul who used hunger strikes and marches to protest.
• The larger feminist movement by the National American Woman Suffrage Association supported the war. They justified the fighting by arguing that women should take part in the war effort in order to earn roles in shaping peace.
• Impressed by the support from women, Wilson endorsed woman suffrage as necessary for war.
• In 1920, The 19th Amendment would be passed to give all women the right to vote. \
  • A permanent Women’s Bureau emerged after the war to protect women in the workplace.
  • Congress passed the Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921 which provided instruction (financed by government) in maternal and infant care.

Forging a War Economy

• Mobilization seemed to ride emotions rather than legislation. This was partially due to the fact that America was across the ocean, quite safe from all the fighting abroad.
• America had to feed herself and her allies. Herbert C. Hoover was appointed to be the head of the Food Administration since Hoover was a hero for his charitable drive to feed the starving people in Belgium.
• Hoover wanted to rely on voluntary compliance rather than a strict enforcement of a ration. He used propaganda asking for wheatless Wednesdays and meatless Mondays.
• Then there were the “victory gardens” where patriots planted vegetables in their backyards and vacant lots.
• Congress restricted the use of food to make alcoholic drinks.
  • Not only did this further the drive for prohibition but so did the fact that most of the breweries were run by people of German descent. Then in 1919 came the 18th Amendment that prohibited all alcoholic drinks.
• Hoover was highly successful in his voluntary approach. Farm production increased 25 percent, food exports tripled in volume. Then other agencies followed suit.
  • For example, The Fuel Administration, asked people to participate in “heatless Mondays” “lightless nights” and “gasless Sundays”.
  • The Treasury Department sponsored big parades in order to promote their Liberty Loan drives as a way to  raise money to fund the cost of the war.
  • Investment in war bonds was encouraged.
• However, there was still some government intervention such as when the railroads were nationalized due to traffic issues. Washington also wanted to get their hands on ships by seizing enemy merchant ships and constructed more ships. However, not as many ships were produced as was anticipated.

Making Plowboys into Doughboys

• America originally thought she would only have to send the navy over to back up the Allies but soon realized that the Allies were in deeper trouble. As a result, a draft was initiated.
  • It met strong opposition in Congress but narrowly passed.
  • Draft required all men 18-45 to be registered and they could not pay their way out. Men in critical industries were exempt though.
  • The army size increased to 4 million members and 11000 in the navy.
  • Women were admitted into the army for the first time and so were African Americans.
  • However, African Americans were in segregated units controlled by white men.
• Recruits needed training for 6 months in the US and 2 months overseas but there was no time and they were quickly sent in.

Fighting in France—Belatedly

• So the Germans were dead on at predicting when the US would enter the war. They were also dead on about the US having trouble moving troops when they landed.
• Americans did send troops to France but also deployed some into the Russian territory near Archangel.
• Russia underwent a revolution and was now under control by the Bolsheviks who did not want to deal with a “capitalist war”.
• Troops were sent into Russia to prevent Germany from getting extra arms and the Japanese from taking Siberia.

America Helps Hammer the “Hun”

• So the Germans were pushing at the western front and slowly inching their way to felling France.
• American troops came to reinforce at first. The German drive was losing steam by July 1918. The Americans were under French commander Foch.
• The Second Battle of the Marne marked the point where Germans began a withdrawal that would not be reversed.
• Of course, the Americans wanted their own role, not just a backup subordinate role so General John J. Pershing took a front northwestward from Switzerland.
  • This led to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which led to 120000 casualties out of 1.2 million men.
• Germany was now in bad shape

Fourteen Points to Disarm Germany

• Germany was ready to surrender and they hoped to have some sympathy from Wilson with his 14 points.
• They stopped fighting at 11 AM on 11/11/1918.
• The US turned out to receive more aid from the Alllies with regards to supplies than the actual aid that the US gave.

Wilson Steps down from Olympus

• So after the war, Wilson was on a pedestal because he won the war. Internationally, he was well respected now. But now was his time to start tripping up a little.
• Wilson tried to use his success to promote a democratic Congress. Instead the people narrowly voted in the republican Congress.
  • Wilson lost some prestige after this for everybody else at Paris had a legislative majority except Wilson.
• Republicans were not happy with Wilson’s decision to go out to Europe to negotiate a peace. No other president had visited Europe before. Things got worse when he refused to put a single republican senator into his official peace delegation.

An Idealist Battles the Imperialistic in Parts

• Wilson was respected as an idealist but the leaders at Paris also wished to keep him under control for they feared that he might arouse the people into revolution.
• The Big Four at Paris
  • US – Woodrow Wilson
  • Italy – Vittorio Orlando
  • Britain – David Lloyd George
  • France – Georges Clemenceau
• Wilson’s primary goal was to get this “League of Nations” formed which would be sort of like a “world parliament”
  • First he had to make sure the other nations weren’t carving up land of the defeated just for land or vengeance.
  • He compromised with his Allies by suggesting that land would be given when the countries became trustees of the League of Nations.
  • Wilson managed to get the Allies to agree to drafting the League Covenant which would integrate into the treaty.

Hammering Out the Treaty

• Well, there was trouble in America, the Senate was quite rowdy under Senator Lodge and Senators Borah and Hiram Johnson.
• The Republican senators declared that they would not accept the League of Nations in its current form.
• This was a blow to Wilson for now he would have to beg the other members of the Big 4 for revisions, giving the others the Upper hand.
  • For example, France pursued the German Rhineland. Wilson had to compromise and let the Rhineland become under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years and then the countries would decide what to do. There was also a Security Treaty that was supposed to give France protection from Germany given by the US and British.
    • The US Senate then rejected the Security treaty, making France feel betrayed.
  • Japan disputed the Chinese territory of Shandong with Germans. They wanted control. Japan was already given Pacific Islands but Wilson opposed their control of Shandong.
    • Wilson was unable to move Japan. Japan threatened a walkout and the final compromise came down to Japan being allowed to keep her economic holdings in Shandong and would give it back to China at a later date.

The Peace Treaty That Bred a New War

• The treaty was finally completed in June 1919, leaving Germany feeling betrayed for the 14 points that were promised seemed to be thrown out with only 4 points left in.
• The Allies could not agree without compromise and there were some secret treaties thrown around so it was not totally Wilson’s fault.
• It was this strict treaty that would lead to Adolf Hitler’s speeches about betrayal and ultimately leading to his ascension and WWII.

The Domestic Parade of Prejudice

• And then the US public was also in an outrage. There were hun-haters that thought it wasn’t harsh enough and then some liberals that thought it was way too harsh. The Irish disliked the League of Nations because they had some bones to pick with the British.

Wilson’s Tour and Collapse

• Wilson had a little ray of hope left from people that still supported the League but yet the Senate tied it up.
• He went on to campaign for his league but the only part of the country that still respected him was the West where they elected Wilson.
• Then Wilson had a collapse due to stroke which left his left side paralyzed.

The rest of the chapter is better summed up in the Historical Viewpoints book. I have uploaded the summary here.