WWI

• Europe thinks war is inevitable because of the amount of countries on one continent
• MANIA

  M - Militarism

  A - Alliance

  N - Nationalism

  I - Imperialism

  A - Assassination
• Militarism - the over-glorification of Military

  • Germany - stay ready so you don't have to get ready
  • Countries see Germany build up their military and follow suit
• Alliance

  • Triple Entente - France, UK, Russia
  • Triple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy


  Alliances help keep the peace but they can drag you into other country's conflicts

  • Also makes leaders more entitled
• Nationalism - intense pride or attachment to your country

  • American nationalism is tied to nationality
  • European nationalism is tied to your ethnic group
• Imperialism

  • Everyone wants land which leads to competition and rivalries
  • Ottoman Empire is collapsing
• Assassination - killing a public figure because of their policies



  Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary

  • Ferdinand wants to do parade to meet the people before he becomes King
  • Smaller ethnic groups were upset because they felt unrepresented
  • The Black Hand - Serbian nationalist group
  • The Black Hand sees a parade and shoots and kills Ferdinand and his wife Sophia.
• • Austria-Hungary is mad about assassination but Serbia refuses to take the blame
  • Germany to Austria-Hungary, "me personally..."
  • Russia to Serbia, "calm down..."
  • Serbia refuses to take the blame (again)
  • Germany instigates again
• • 1914, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
  • Russia joins Serbia
  • Germany declares war on Russia
  • France joins (AH), Britain doesn't want to join
  • Germany declares war on Belgium (who is neutral)
  • Britain joins war (AH)
• • US is selling guns to Russia and France (and Germany)
  • Dealing with the Poncho Villa incident
  • If the US joins the war, they'll join Britain and single out everyone who ethnically relates to Germany and their allies


  US decides they won't join unless they are targeted directly
• Germany creates and modifies submarines. If they see any ship of people they are fighting they blow it up

  • Germany shoots British passenger ship, "Lusitania"
  • Britain gets mad and tells US that they should join, US asks Germany why they did it and Germany said that they thought there were weapons on there (there were)
  • Germany says they won't do it again
  • But they do it again, Germany blows up French ship, "Sussex"

  Sussex Pledge - Agreement that Germany won't blow up any civilian ships
• Zimmerman Telegram - Allegedly, Britain tells US about telegram from Germany to Mexico in which Germany tells Mexico to invade the US

  • Germany says when they win Mexico can gain back the land they lost in the Mexican Cession
• Germany publicly says that they will disregard the Sussex Pledge


  1917, US declares war on Germany
• When US joins the war Russia leaves the war due to Russian Revolution
• whoever controls the Western Front controls the war


  Western Front - 400 miles of trench
• Trench - 6-10 feet deep, lined with sandbags to keep dirt from caving in 


  No Man's Land - area between both sides
• New Military tech:

  • Airplanes
  • U-Boats (submarines)
  • Tanks
  • Chemical Gases


  Reason:

  • Recon and drop bombs
  • Go deeper and are armed
  • Not very efficient, not necessary
  • Germany made a lot of chemicals, silent
• Trench Problems:

  • Diseases spread quickly
  • Wounds easily become infected and deadly
  • Trench floods
  • Trench Foot - stand in boots in water for days on end so your feet start to decompose, can sometimes be fought with antibiotics
• Injuries are less deadly but treatments leave long-lasting effects


  Harold Gillies - British doctor concerned with quality of life, introduces plastic surgery
• A successful war needs home support

  • Propaganda posters
  • Celebrity endorsements


  Committee on Public Information (CPI) - keep information about war (civilian casualties) confidential, make the war and the US look good
• Types of Propaganda:

  • Bandwagon - Follow the crowd or you're a traitor
  • Testimonial - Celebrity endorsements
  • Transfer - Symbolism, associate symbols to the war effort
  • Glittering Generalities - Pretty and vague
  • Fear - Scare people into staying silent
  • Name Calling - Name Connotations
  • Plain Folks - Everyone can do something for the war (Rations)
• Women's Peace Party - founded by Jane Addams (who also founded Hull House); meets with President Wilson to try to find a peaceful way out of the war (and wins Nobel Peace Prize)
• Jeanette Rankin was a pacifist who refused to fight in WWI, the only person in Congress who voted no
• Eugene V. Debs was jailed for the Pullman strike; once he was released from prison he formed the American Socialist Party
• Sedition & Espionage Acts:

  • Sedition Act - If you speak out against the War/Draft then you can be arrested
  • Espionage Act - (still exists) If you write/publish anything about the War that the government doesn't want the public to know then you can be arrested


  Schenk v. US - Supreme Court case that challenges these acts; Court sides with Acts and says that your civil liberties can be suspended in a wartime
• Conscientious Objectors - People who refuse to fight in war because of their religious beliefs

  • Sometimes the government wouldn't believe them and put them on the front lines anyway
  • Still had to join the military but were put into non-combat positions
• A lot of migrants are moving to the West Coast for wartime-related jobs
• The Great Migration - mass Exodus of Black people from the South to other parts of the US

  • Push - racism and Jim Crow laws
  • Pull - less racism and more job opportunities


  As Black people moved to other places racism increased in the places they moved to

  • KKK was resurrected in WWI - Chicago has largest sect of the KKK because of the number of immigrants and Black migrants
• Some (NWP, NAACP) thought US was hypocritical for promising democracy to other nations
• W.E.B. Du Bois supports the war effort and pushes (Black) people to enlist


  But the government doesn't trust Du Bois or Wells and spies on them throughout the entire war
• World War I

  1914 - 1919
• Red Summer - 1919, 4-day race riot in DC
• Porvenir Massacre - in Texas (on US-Mexico border), accused 15 Mexican men of being allies of Poncho Villa, killed all of them without evidence
• 90% of WWI soldiers are sent to France (Western Front)
• Doughboys - name for American soldiers because they were well-fed while the French and English were malnourished


  US rations food and helps feed French and British soldiers
• Last war with segregated soldiers is WWII
• Harlem Hell Fighters - All-Black unit that was on the Western Front for six months (long time) and won every battle they fought


  Needham Roberts and Henry Johnson - France, May 1918, in a unit of 5, one night when they were on patrol they heard a sound. The sound was German soldiers with wire cutters. Sent up a flare to alert their unit and were immediately attacked by 24 German soldiers. Roberts get shot and helps Johnson throw grenades. Once they run out of grenades Johnson starts shooting but after 3 shots his gun jams so he starts using it as a bat. They win.
• US lends 371st and 372nd (Black) units to France
• US is providing resources so the war is winding down
• Italy switched sides (joined the US) so they didn't get much from treaty