Chapter 22 Flashcards
(30 cards)
Jeannette Rankin
Many Americans, especially in the Midwest and West, were adamantly opposed to preparedness, fearing that it would soon lead to U.S. involvement in the war. The antiwar activists included Populists, Progressives, and Socialists. Leaders among the peace-minded Progressives were William Jennings Bryan,
Jane Addams, and Jeannette Rankin—the latter the first woman to be elected to Congress. Woman suffragists actively campaigned against any military buildup (although later, after the U.S. declaration of war in 1917, they would loyally support the war effort).
John J. Pershing
The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was commanded by General John J. Pershing. The first U.S. troops to see action were used to plug weaknesses in the French and British lines, but by the summer of 1918, as American
forces arrived by the hundreds of thousands, the AEF assumed independent
responsibility for one segment of the Western Front.
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge, a Republican senator from Massachusetts, was responsible for another action that alienated both Latin America and Japan. A group
of Japanese investors wanted to buy a large part of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, extending south of California. Fearing that Japan’s government might be secretly scheming to acquire the land, Lodge introduced and the Senate in 1912 passed a resolution known as the Lodge Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The resolution stated that non-European powers (such as Japan) would be excluded from owning territory in the Western Hemisphere. President Taft opposed the corollary, which also offended Japan and angered Latin American countries.
Allied Powers
—to protect U.S. trading rights and maintain a policy that favored
neither the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, and Russia) nor the Central
Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire/Turkey). During
a relatively short period (1914–1919), the United States and its people rapidly
moved through a wide range of roles: first as a contented neutral country, next
as a country waging a war for peace, then as a victorious world power, and
finally, as an alienated, isolationist nation.
Central Powers
to protect U.S. trading rights and maintain a policy that favored neither the Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, and Russia) nor the Central
Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire/Turkey). During
a relatively short period (1914–1919), the United States and its people rapidly moved through a wide range of roles: first as a contented neutral country, next as a country waging a war for peace, then as a victorious world power, and finally, as an alienated, isolationist nation.
Submarine warfare
Germany’s one hope for challenging British power at sea lay with a new naval weapon, the submarine. In February 1915, Germany answered the British
blockade by announcing a blockade of its own and warned that ships attempting
to enter the “war zone” (waters near the British Isles) risked being sunk on sight by German submarines.
Lusitania
The first major crisis challenging U.S. neutrality and
peace was the torpedoing and sinking of a British passenger liner, the Lusitania, on May 7, 1915. Most of the passengers drowned, including 128 Americans. Wilson responded by sending Germany a strongly worded diplomatic message warning that Germany would be held to “strict accountability” if it continued its policy of sinking unarmed ships. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan
objected to this message as too warlike and resigned from the president’s cabinet.
Propaganda
Not only did Britain command the seas but it also commanded the war news that was cabled daily to U.S. newspapers and magazines. Fully recognizing the importance of influencing U.S. public opinion, the British government made sure the American press was well supplied with stories of German soldiers committing atrocities in Belgium and the German occupied part of eastern France
Zimmermann Telegram
On March 1, U.S. newspapers carried the shocking news of a secret offer made by Germany to Mexico. Intercepted by
British intelligence, a telegram to Mexico from the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, proposed that Mexico ally itself with Germany in return for Germany’s pledge to help Mexico recover lost territories: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Zimmermann Telegram aroused the nationalist anger of the American people and convinced Wilson that Germany fully expected a
war with the United States.
Russian Revolution
Applying the principle of moral diplomacy, Wilson wanted the war to be fought for a worthy purpose: the triumph of democracy. It bothered him that one of the Allies was Russia, a nation governed by an autocratic czar. This barrier to U.S. participation was suddenly removed on March 15, when Russian revolutionaries overthrew the czar’s government and proclaimed a republic. (Only later in November would the revolutionary government be taken over by Communists.)
Food Administration
Herbert Hoover, a distinguished engineer, took charge of the Food Administration, which encouraged American households to eat less meat and bread so that more food could be shipped abroad for the French and British troops.
The conservation drive paid off; in two years, U.S. overseas shipment of food tripled
National War Labor Board
Former president William Howard Taft helped arbitrate disputes between
workers and employers as head of the National War Labor Board. Labor won
concessions during the war that had earlier been denied. Wages rose, the eight hour day became more common, and union membership increased.
Selective Service Act
The system of “selective service” was devised by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker as a democratic method for ensuring that all groups in the population would be called into service. Under the Selective Service Act, passed by Congress in June 1917, about 2.8 million men were eventually called by lottery. The draftees provided over half the total of 4.7 million Americans who were issued a uniform during the war. Of these, more than 2 million were transported overseas to join the British and the French
in the trenches on the Western Front.
Committee on Public information
Progressive
journalist George Creel took charge of a propaganda agency called the Committee on Public Information, which enlisted the voluntary services of artists, writers, vaudeville performers, and movie stars to depict the heroism of the
“boys” (U.S. soldiers) and the villainy of the kaiser. The vast amount of war propaganda created under Creel’s direction consisted of films, posters,
pamphlets, and volunteer speakers—all urging Americans to watch out for
German spies and to “do your bit” for the war.
Espionage Act
A number of socialists and pacifists took
the risk of criticizing the government’s war policy. After the passage of the
Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Act in 1918, the penalty for speaking
out in this way was often a stiff prison sentence. The Espionage Act provided
for imprisonment of up to 20 years for persons who either tried to incite
rebellion in the armed forces or obstruct the operation of the draft. The Sedition
Act went much further by prohibiting anyone from making “disloyal” or “abusive” remarks about the U.S. government. About 2,000 people were prosecuted
under these laws, half of whom were convicted and jailed. Among them was
the Socialist leader, Eugene Debs, who was sentenced to ten years in federal
prison for speaking against the war.
Schenk v. United States
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Espionage Act in a case involving a man who had been imprisoned for distributing pamphlets against the draft. In 1919, Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes concluded that the right to free speech could be limited when it represented a “clear and present danger” to the public safety.
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was commanded by General
John J. Pershing. The first U.S. troops to see action were used to plug weaknesses
in the French and British lines, but by the summer of 1918, as American
forces arrived by the hundreds of thousands, the AEF assumed independent
responsibility for one segment of the Western Front.
Western Front
U.S. mobilization for war in 1917 was a race against time. It was understood
that Germany was preparing to deliver a knockout blow to end the war on
German terms. On land, Germany planned a major offensive against Allied
lines on the Western Front; at sea, the unleashed power of German submarines
could now do serious damage to British sources of supply. Could the United
States mobilize its vast economic resources fast enough to make a difference?
That was the question Wilson and his advisers confronted in the critical early
months of U.S. involvement in war.
“Peace without Victory”
Wilson made repeated efforts to fulfill his party’s campaign promise to
keep out of the war. Before the election, in 1915, he had sent his chief foreign
policy adviser, Colonel Edward House of Texas, to London, Paris, and Berlin
to negotiate a peace settlement. This mission, however, had been unsuccessful.
Other efforts at mediation also were turned aside by both the Allies and the
Central Powers. Finally, in January 1917, Wilson made a speech to the Senate
declaring U.S. commitment to the idea of “peace without victory.”
Wilson’s 14 Points
the war aims outlined by President Wilson in 1918, which he believed would promote lasting peace; called for self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, end to secret agreements, reduction of arms and a league of nations
Treaty of Versailles
The peace conference following the armistice took place in the Palace of
Versailles outside Paris, beginning in January 1919. Every nation that had
fought on the Allied side in the war was represented. Before this, no U.S.
president had ever traveled abroad to attend a diplomatic conference, but to
defend his Fourteen Points, President Wilson decided that his personal participation at Versailles was vital. Republicans criticized him for being accompanied
to Paris by several Democrats, but only one Republican, whose advice was
never sought.
League of Nations
Other heads of state at Versailles made it clear that their
nations wanted both revenge against Germany and compensation in the form
of indemnities and territory. They did not share Wilson’s idea of a peace without
victory. David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France,
and Vittorio Orlando of Italy met with Wilson almost daily as the Big Four.
After months of argument, the president reluctantly agreed to compromise on
most of his Fourteen Points. He insisted, however, that the other delegations
accept his plan for a League of Nations.
Election of 1918
This Congressional Election was significant in that the days before the election, Wilson pleaded his support of his peace plans by voting for Democratic representation in Congress, but then Republicans gained control of both houses, which hurt the broad support of Wilson’s plans.
Reservationists
Senators opposed to the Treaty of Versailles were divided into two groups. The irreconcilable faction, consisting of about a dozen Republican senators, could not accept U.S. membership in the League, no matter how the covenant was worded. The
reservationist faction, a larger group led by Senator Lodge, said they could accept the League if certain reservations were added to the covenant. Wilson had the option of either accepting Lodge’s reservations or fighting for the treaty as it stood. He chose to fight.
