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A survey of 36,000 Americans in 1999 ranked the beginning of World War I as the fifteenth most significant event of the twentieth century. The panel of journalists that helped to create the list on which the survey was based put it only a bit higher on the list, ranking it at number eight (Newton 1999). A good case can be made that the war should be much closer to the top of the list, however. World War I was the catalyst for much of what happened in the remainder of the century. The rise of Communism in Russia, the Great Depression, World War II, the development of atomic weapons, and the cold war are just a few of the events that are, at least in part, attributable to events during and immediately following World War I.

  1. From Neutrality to War
  2. Over There
  3. Red Scare and Xenophobia
  4. Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the League of Nations Debate

I. From Neutrality to War

In the summer of 1914, the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Bosnian nationalist was the spark that ignited the already tense relations among several European nations. The young assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was part of a group that wanted Bosnia to be under Serbian control, not part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Alliances between the powers resulted in the development of two opposing coalitions. The Allied Powers, led by France, Great Britain, and Russia, supported Serbia, whereas the Central Powers, led by Germany, supported Austria-Hungary.

Germany was the first to declare war, against Russia, in 1914, and soon the alliances pulled other major powers into a war that enveloped most of Europe. By the time it was over, more than 10 million people had died in combat (with twice that number dead from starvation or disease), and four European empires had crumbled (Zinn 2003, 359). Although American casualties paled in comparison to those of Europeans, the nearly 117,000 U.S. lives lost in the war would far exceed the total lost in all previous foreign wars combined (Westwell 2000, 189).

Flash program with voice-over and archival film about the sinking of the Lusitania.

As the war began, the United States maintained a policy of neutrality. Wilson strongly opposed U.S. involvement, and this position was generally supported by the public, despite efforts by both the Allied and Central Powers to sway opinion in the United States. In 1914, Britain and Germany both began to interfere with U.S. commerce, attempting to block goods from reaching enemy ports. Germany was using a new weapon—the submarine or “U-boat“—to destroy nearly 100 ships in the Atlantic. The Germans sank the British ocean liner, Lusitania, in May of 1915, causing the deaths of 1,198 passengers, including 124 U.S. citizens (Zinn 2003, 362). (Click on the thumbnail NEWSREELS: The Lusitania | Multimedia transcript.)

The attack on the Lusitania increased U.S. support for entering the war, but Wilson continued to pursue diplomatic efforts. Despite opposition from Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, Wilson demanded that Germany cease submarine attacks. When Germany refused, Wilson responded with a thinly veiled threat, and Secretary of State Bryan, who strongly opposed U.S. involvement in the war, resigned in protest. Germany then agreed to cease firing on passenger ships, but the promise was short-lived. Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany in January of 1917, but did not call for a declaration of war, believing that there had been no direct threat to the United States (Lens and Zinn 2003, 261).

The revelation of the Zimmerman Telegram between German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Arthur Zimmerman and Mexican President Venustiano Carranza later that year would be the final straw. Although the communication noted the hope that the United States would remain neutral, it suggested an alliance with Mexico in the event that the United States entered the war, promising the Mexican government the return of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona for its assistance against the United States. On April 2, 1917, the United States entered World War I. Wilson’s argument that the world must be made safe for democracy was persuasive, and only 6 senators and 50 representatives voted against the declaration of war (Kennedy 2004, 23).

II. Over There

When the United States declared war, the Central Powers were not particularly concerned. The U.S. military was small, with only a little over one hundred thousand troops. Those troops, however, would increase to five million within the year, most of them draftees. This rapid buildup was due in part to the National Defense Act, which Wilson had convinced Congress to pass in 1916. American ground troops began to arrive in Europe in the spring of 1918. Over 2.8 million men would serve during the war (Venzon 1995, 541).

Flash program with voiceover and archival film about the design and assembly-line manufacture of anti-submarine boats, tanks, and planes for use in World War I.

The length and brutality of the war were heavily influenced by innovations in the machinery of war. In addition to the U-boat, the Germans used poison gas on the battlefield and bombed London using zeppelins. This was the first war to extensively employ tanks, hand grenades, machine guns, and airplanes. Fighter pilots on both sides became famous (or infamous, in the case of the Red Baron) when featured in the newsreels.

The war was, however, generally fought in the trenches, which stretched for hundreds of miles. Soldiers suffered from diseases, including massive outbreaks of influenza and tuberculosis, and often resorted to bayonet warfare when ammunition was scarce (Marshall Cavendish Corporation 2002, 747–50). (Click on the thumbnail NEWSREELS: Machines of War.)

Flash program with voiceover and archival film about various aspects of World War I, including troop trains, fighting the U-boats, using depth charges, the Argonne Forest, and victory parades.

Nearly a million U.S. soldiers were on European soil by the summer of 1918 (Westwell 2000, 131). The entry of the United States broke the stalemate that had existed for the better part of a year between the two opposing sides. Germany requested an armistice, but President Wilson refused to negotiate unless the Kaiser stepped down in favor of a civilian, democratically elected government. (Click on the thumbnail NEWSREELS: Over There.)

III. Red Scare and Xenophobia

As discussed in module 2, nativism played a significant role in the politics of the Progressive Era, and it was common to scapegoat recent immigrants for society’s ills. Once the United States entered World War I, anti-German sentiment grew rapidly. Bands refused to play music by German composers. Children who were learning German in school discovered the language was no longer part of the curriculum, and those unlucky souls who developed the German measles were now said to have the “liberty measles.” Even German food was suspect, as pretzels were banned from lunch counters, and sauerkraut was dubbed “liberty cabbage.” A young man of German ancestry was lynched in Illinois for supposedly making disloyal statements. At the trial, the jury came back within minutes with a not-guilty verdict for those accused of the lynching (Ford 2002, 184–5).

Flash program with voice-over and archival film about the mood of the people as the United States entered World War I. It shows film clips of patriotic parades and cartoons, posters, and photos.

It was nothing new for audiences to react unfavorably to anything that could be seen as unpatriotic. A decade earlier, George M. Cohan reacted to the negative press concerning his song “You’re a Grand Old Rag”—which was, despite the name, very patriotic—by changing the title to the more acceptable “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” What was new, however, was the official scrutiny of the Committee on Public Information (CPI), an organization created by Wilson in 1917, which—in addition to distributing a wide array of war propaganda—encouraged the media and entertainers to self-censor. In cases where journalists or entertainers failed to do so, the courts were ready to step in to remove offending material and levy fines. Movie producer Robert Goldstein, who had worked with D. W. Griffith on The Birth of a Nation, launched his film The Spirit of ’76, a patriotic film that dealt with the American Revolution, in 1917. He was fined $5,000 for portraying the British, who were now our allies, in an unfavorable light, thus potentially causing insubordination and disloyalty among the troops (Fleming 2004, 190). (Click on the thumbnail NEWSREELS: The Home Front | Multimedia transcript.)

Wilson’s rhetoric increased this climate of suspicion. In his speech to Congress requesting a declaration of war, he said there were “millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy” in the United States and cautioned that any indication of disloyalty would be “dealt with a firm hand of repression” (Kennedy 2004, 14). At Wilson’s request, Congress also passed the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which were instrumental in squelching dissent and creating an environment of suspicion.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was, however, the biggest concern. Leftist groups in the United States were inspired by what they saw as the promise of this bold new political experiment in Europe. Communist parties began to form in the United States and, as the war in Europe moved to its conclusion, the focus of the CPI shifted from those who might undermine the war effort to those who might seek to undermine our government or economic stability. Several widely publicized acts of violence, including a flurry of letter bombs that were intended for prominent judges and businessmen, were the work of anarchists, not Communists, but there was an increasing tendency to paint all dissent with a “red” brush. In late December of 1919, a group of federal agents (led by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and a young J. Edgar Hoover) deported nearly 250 individuals who were suspected of illegal, seditious, or antiwar activity. These individuals, including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, were sent to Soviet Russia without a trial to determine their guilt or innocence (Zinn 2003, 375).

During 1919 and 1920, Palmer used the Espionage and Sedition Acts to justify rounding up over nine thousand people connected to labor movements and leftist organizations in what the public began to call “Palmer Raids” (Kennedy 2004, 291–292). They were held in prisons throughout the country to await deportation and were not allowed legal counsel or the right to contact their families. Family members risked detention and deportation if they tried to visit, because the assumption was that only a Communist would be visiting a Communist in jail. By late 1920, however, the public had become increasingly wary of Palmer’s claims that a Bolshevik revolution was imminent, and the deportation orders that were pending for many of detainees were quietly cancelled. Nearly six hundred people had been deported, but the many thousands being held were gradually allowed to return to their lives (ibid).

IV. Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the League of Nations Debate

One of the underlying reasons for Wilson’s belief that the United States should enter World War I was his desire to be part of a “peace without victory” that would reduce the risk of future wars of this magnitude. He began to develop a peace plan long before the war was over. In a January 1918 speech to Congress, he laid out the “Fourteen Points” he considered vital to achieving America’s goals in the war. Several of the points dealt with the reassignment of borders and other issues specifically pertaining to the war in Europe, but others mapped out a new world order, in which open covenants would replace secret treaties, freedom of the seas and democratic governments would prevail, and nations would reduce their levels of arms. The final point of the fourteen called for the creation of a collective security body, the League of Nations, which would oversee international relations and assist in resolving disputes between member states (Fleming 2004, 178–79).

The speech was warmly received by the American public, and even Wilson’s political rival Theodore Roosevelt applauded the goals. European leaders were, however, less enthusiastic. When Wilson traveled to Europe to head up the negotiations at Versailles, he discovered that British leaders were not in favor of the proposals concerning freedom of the seas, because their ability to conduct naval blockades was one of their military strengths. French leader Clemenceau noted that “God was satisfied with ten commandments, but Wilson wanted fourteen” (Fleming 2004, 180). The one element that Wilson stood firm on was the League of Nations, and the provision for the new organization was eventually included as part of the Treaty of Versailles.

Back home in the United States, however, it would be the League of Nations that created the most resistance. The treaty had to be ratified by the Senate, and isolationist members of Congress feared that the league would pull the United States into every petty dispute between European nations. Given the losses suffered so recently in the war, the public was sympathetic to the idea of fewer, not more, ties to Europe and the league sounded like it would connect us much too firmly. Wilson toured the nation trying to drum up support for the league, but suffered a stroke before returning to Washington. His weakened physical state was an additional liability, and he was unable to convince the Senate to approve even a modified version of the treaty (Fleming 2004, 480).

Flash program with voice-over and archival film showing various aspects of the election of 1920.

Wilson believed that the election of 1920 was a referendum on the League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles. If that were the case, he lost the referendum decisively. Wilson did not run for another term, in part because of his ill health, but also because the Democratic nominee, James Cox, was a strong supporter of the league. Cox lost overwhelmingly to the Republican candidate, Warren G. Harding, who was a bit ambiguous on the issue of the league during the campaign. Harding did, however, push the idea of a “return to normalcy,” which suggested we would return to the foreign policies of previous eras, rather than embrace this new and untested idea. (Click on the thumbnail NEWSREELS: 1920 Election | Multimedia transcript.)

Rather than joining its European allies in signing the Treaty of Versailles, the United States would eventually sign a separate peace treaty with Germany, which did not commit the country to participation in the league (Fleming 2004, 480). Without U.S. support, the League of Nations was virtually doomed from its inception.

References

Fleming, Thomas J. 2004. The illusion of victory: American in World War I. New York: Basic Books.

Ford, Nancy Gentile. 2002. Issues of war and peace. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Kennedy, David, M. 2004. Over here: The First World War and American society. New York: Oxford University Press.

Lens, Sidney, and Howard Zinn. 2003. The forging of the American empire: From the Revolution to Vietnam, a history of U.S. imperialism. London: Pluto Press.

Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 2002. History of World War I. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.

Newton, Eric. 1999. What’s the top story of the century? Newseum. http://www.newseum.org/century/about.htm (accessed March 5, 2009).

Venzon, Anne C. 1995. The United States in the First World War. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Westwell, Ian. World War I: Day by day. Osceola, WI: Zenith Press. 2000.

Zinn, Howard. 2003. A people’s history of the United States. New York: Harper Collins.

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