WWI

• Isolationism: Policy of refraining from involvement in global affairs

  Expansionism: Policy of growing a nation's physical territory or political influence

  Imperialism: Policy of creating colonies in weaker nations in order to generate materials and have access to markets
• Monroe Doctrine: Issued by President Monroe, stating that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits to further European intervention
• Turner's Thesis: An idea advanced by Frederick Jackson Turner, arguing that Americans should seek a new frontier in foreign lands to maintain their inventive spirits
• The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: Alfred T. Mahan's book, arguing that a strong navy was vital to success, and that this could be achieved by the placement of ports on distant shores
• President Theodore Roosevelt's "Big Stick Policy" was his policy of maintaining civil relations with other nations while threatening them with military muscle.
• Roosevelt Corollary: Policy put forth by Roosevelt stating that the US would intervene in Latin America on behalf of Europe, if said countries failed to repay debts
• President Theodore Roosevelt supported Imperialist philosophies, such as Alfred T. Mahan's book and Turner's Thesis.
• William Howard Taft: Succeeded president Roosevelt, developing dollar diplomacy, which used US economic power to try to shape foreign affairs
• Economic pressure contributing to imperialism include a need for natural resources and new markets for goods.
• US imperialism in the Pacific Islands in Midway, Samoa, and Guam was due to a need for ports.
• US imperialism in Hawaii was due to sugar exports; it was eventually annexed due to tariffs.
• US imperialism in the Virgin Islands was due to its role as an important stop on the Triangular Trade routes.
• The Open Door Policy allowed nations to trade freely in China. Europe was hesitant to accept it, but did so after the Boxer Rebellion, fearing a violent rebellion on their own soil.
• Japan agreed to a treaty of friendship with the US after centuries of isolationism.
• Venezuela and Great Britain contested the ownership of the border between Venezuela and British Guiana, especially after a 509-ounce gold nugget was found in the disputed territory.
• By 1898, the Spanish government had only offered Cuba partial self-government. The US decided to intervene.
• Jose Marti was a Cuban revolutionary and a martyr of the Cuban fight for independence.
• Yellow Press: Movement of sensationalist journalism, publishing exaggerated and sensationalized accounts of Cuban suffering to try to incite a war between the US and Spain
• The explosion of the USS Maine in a Spanish port in 1898 was the event that finally pushed the United States to war with Spain.
• Teller Amendment: Amendment stating that Cuban people would take control of the island and the government at the end of the war to achieve Cuban independence; passed in 1898 to authorize the use of force against Spain
• The Spanish-American war took place mostly in the Philippines and in Cuba. Filipino rebels took the capital early. The troops were much less prepared for the war in the climate of Cuba.
• Cuban immigrants were particularly prevalent in Ybor City, whose making of cigars was a major industry.
• Treaty of Paris: 1898, officially ended the Spanish-American War; gave control of Guam and Puerto Rico the US, relinquished Spanish claim to Cuba, and gave the US control of the Philippines
• The Spanish-America war ended Spain's long run of being a world power, while the US emerged as a world power in its stead.
• The US built the Panama Canal mainly to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, for military and shipping purposes.
• Engineers and laborers were unprepared for the jungle-filled and mountainous region's high temperatures, unstable soil, and frequent rainfall. They also faced tropical diseases such as yellow fever and malaria. More than 5,000 workers died during the construction.
• MAIN reasons for the outbreak of WWI in Europe:

  • Militarism: Races for military supremacy and the philosophy of Social Darwinism
  • Alliances: Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy); Triple Entente (France, Britain, Russia); which allowed conflict to spread quickly
  • Imperialism: Competition in the formation of colonies, particularly Germany's lack of them
  • Nationalism: Devotion to one's own nation; caused the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914
• Lusitania incident: In 1915, the British liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine; among the passengers, some were Americans; American outrage meant that President Wilson's declared neutrality was threatened
• Sussex Pledge: In 1916, a German U-boat torpedoed a French passenger vessel, the Sussex; President Wilson issued his ultimatum, to which Germany responded with its Sussex Pledge, declaring that it would stop and inspect ships rather than attacking them
• Zimmermann telegram: An intercepted telegram from Germany, offering Mexico financial support for an invasion of the US; turned US opinion strictly in favor of the Allies
• Events leading up to the war:

  • 1914: Assassination of Archduke, leading to a domino effect over the systems of alliances and the outbreak of war
  • 1915: Sinking of the Lusitania
  • 1916: Sinking of the Sussex and the Sussex Pledge; Wilson is reelected and initiates a campaign to build up the army
  • 1917: Wilson breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany; the Zimmermann Note is intercepted; the US declares war
• War Industries Board: Agency established to boost industrial production and to reduce waste
• National War Labor Board: Created to ensure maximum industrial productivity and to arbitrate disputes between workers and business owners
• War bonds: Sold by the government to private citizens to raise money for the war effort, on the promise that they could redeem them later for more money
• Selective Service Act: 1917, required young men to register for random selection to military service
• Committee of Public Information (CPI): American propaganda agency designed to boost public support for WWI
• Espionage Act: 1917, made it a crime to help the enemy or to relay false information that interfered with the military mission

  Sedition Act: 1918, made it a crime to make any communication that interfered with the war effort or to say anything disloyal to the US government
• Schenck decision: Supreme Court upheld the decision that Charles Schenck, a Socialist leader, was guilty for passing out leaflets comparing the draft to slavery
• Trench warfare: Style of warfare that relied on a series of opposing dug-in defensive trenches
• After WWI, the common stratagem of poison gas was banned by international agreement.