Chapter 9World War I & Its Aftermath

9.1 The U.S. Enters WWI

WORLD WAR I TIMELINE 1914JUNE 28 ARCHDUKE FERDINAND ASSASSINATED

JULY 28 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARED WAR ON SERBIA

AUGUST 1 GERMANY DECLARED WAR ON RUSSIA

AUGUST 3 GERMANY DECLARED WAR ON FRANCE

AUGUST 4 GERMANY INVADED NEUTRAL BELGIUM WHICH PROMPTED BRITAIN TO DECLARE WAR THE SAME DAY

AUGUST 4 PRESIDENT WILSON DECLARED POLICY OF NEUTRALITY FOR THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 6 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARED WAR ON RUSSIA

AUGUST 23 JAPAN DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY

OCTOBER 29 OTTOMAN EMPIRE JOINED THE WAR ON THE SIDE OF THE CENTRAL POWERS

I. WWI Begins…

I. America Declares WarA. President Wilson claimed the U.S.

was neutral in the conflict, but public opinion favored the Allies

1. Government officials backed Britain

a. British officials used skillful propaganda to win American support

b. Most war news favored Britain

2. Businesses & banks supported the Allies

Wilson appealed for neutrality “in thought as well as in action.”

II. America Declares War…

B. Germany began using their U-boats to sink ships around Britain without warning

NOTICE! Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a

state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and

her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the

British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying

the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in

those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great

Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.

IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 22, 1915.

AD PLACED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT, 1915

II. America Declares War…

C. German U-boat sunk the British passenger ship Lusitania (May 1915) killing 128 Americans

Audrey Lawson-Johnston was the last living survivor of the Lusitania. She was born in 1915 and was three months old when it happened. She died at the age of 95 in January 2011.

Nicknamed the “floating palace”, the Lusitania first set sail in 1907. After being torpedoed in 1915 by a German U-boat, it sank in 18 minutes, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard.

II. America Declares War…

D. Sussex Pledge - Germany agreed to stop sinking merchant ships without warning; if not, they’d risk war with the U.S. (March 1916)

AFTER THE GERMANS SANK THE UNARMED FRENCH SUSSEX IN MARCH 1916 (THE AMERICANS ON BOARD WERE INJURED BUT NONE WERE KILLED), PRESIDENT WILSON DEMANDED THAT THE GERMANS STOP SINKING MERCHANT SHIPS WITHOUT WARNING OR THE U.S. WOULD SEVER DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH GERMANY.

THE ELECTION OF 1916

WILSON RAN ON THE SLOGAN “HE KEPT US OUT

OF WAR!” HOWEVER HE KNEW THAT THE U.S. WAS

GETTING CLOSER TO ENTERING THE WAR

DEMOCRAT PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON

REPUBLICAN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CHARLES

EVANS HUGHES

HUGHES CHALLENGED WILSON’S

UNWILLINGNESS TO STAND UP TO THE

GERMANS

II. America Declares War…

E. Following Wilson’s reelection, events quickly brought the U.S. to war

1. Britain intercepted the Zimmermann Telegram (Jan. 1917)

Arthur Zimmermann, German Official

ZIMMERMANN TELGRAM (1917)

We intend to begin on the first of February submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to

keep neutral the United States of America. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal

of alliance on the following: make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is

understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The details are left to you for

settlement. . . . You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the

above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative,

should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between

Germany and Japan. Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to

compel England to make peace in a few months.

Alfred Zimmermann, German Foreign Minister

POLITICAL CARTOON ON

THE ZIMMERMANN

TELEGRAM

II. America Declares War…

2. Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare (Feb. 1917) and sank 6 American ships

3. U.S. declared war on Germany (April 6, 1917)

“Whereas the Imperial German Government has committed

repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of the

United States of America; Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and the

House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress

Assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government which

has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally

declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and

directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the

Government to carry on war against the Imperial German Government;

and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the

resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the

United States.”

EXCERPT FROM THE WAR DECLARATION

PRESIDENT WILSON’S WAR MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

APRIL 2, 1917

Wilson’s War Message

Opposition to Wilson’s Message

RIVALRIES OVER COLONIES LED TO BITTERNESS IN EUROPE

ALLIED POWERS & CENTRAL POWERS

HMS Dreadnought, 1906

Europe 1914

MilitaryAlliances

Militarism

Imperialism

Nationalism

Major Causes of

WWI

World War I lasted from…

1 2 3 4

0% 0%0%0%

1. 1900-1910

2. 1914-1918

3. 1920-1924

4. 1939-1945

World War I started in…

1 2 3 4

0% 0%0%0%

1. Europe

2. United States

3. Asia

4. Africa

The United States fought against…

1 2 3 4

0% 0%0%0%

1. Great Britain

2. France

3. Japan

4. Germany

Most of the soldiers fought from…

1 2 3 4

0% 0%0%0%

1. Airplanes

2. Battleships

3. Trenches

4. Mountains