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By 1907 there were two major defense alliances in Europe. The Triple Entente, later known as the Allies, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia
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—an empire of mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks—were later known as the Central Powers.
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In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to
the Austrian throne, visited the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. As
the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nationalist
Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the
Archduke and his wife Sophie. Princip was a member of the
Black Hand, an organization promoting Serbian nationalism.
The assassinations touched off a diplomatic crisis. On
July 28, Austria-Hungary declared what was expected to be a
short war against Serbia. -
Germany invaded Belgium, following a strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan. This plan called for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick
drive through Belgium to Paris; after France had fallen, the two German armies would defeat Russia. As German troops swept across Belgium, thousands of civilians fled in terror. In Brussels, the Belgian capital, an American war correspondent described the first major refugee crisis of the 20th century. -
Germany responded to the British blockade with a counter blockade by U-boats . Any British or Allied ship found in the waters around Britain would be sunk—and it would not always be possible to warn crews and passengers of an attack. One of the worst disasters occurred on May 7, 1915, when a U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans.
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in August 1915, a German's U-boat sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans.
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which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued for over
three years. Elsewhere, the fighting was just as devastating and inconclusive. -
Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, about 80 passengers, including Americans, were killed or injured. Once again the United States warned that it would break off diplomatic relations unless Germany changed its tactics. Again Germany agreed, but there was a condition: if the United States could not persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers, Germany would consider renewing unrestricted submarine warfare.
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the British suffered 60,000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million, yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands
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The main targets of these attacks were Americans who had emigrated from other nations. The most bitter attacks were directed against the nearly 2 million Americans who had been born in Germany. Many Americans with German names lost their jobs.Some towns with German names changed them. Schools stopped teaching the German language, and librarians removed books by German authors from the shelves. People even resorted to violence against German Americans.
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In June 1917 Congress passed the Espionage Act, and in May 1918 it passed the Sedition Act. Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts a person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort. The Espionage and Sedition Acts targeted socialists and labor leaders.
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. First, American ships carrying goods for Germany refused to challenge the blockade and seldom reached their destination. Second, Germany found it increasingly difficult to import foodstuffs
and fertilizers for crops. -
In which neither side would impose harsh terms on the other. Wilson hoped that all nations would join in a “league for peace” that would work to extend democracy, maintain freedom of the seas, and reduce armaments.
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The act required men to register with the government
in order to be randomly selected for military service. By the end
of 1918, 24 million men had registered under the act. Of this
number, almost 3 million were called up. About 2 million troops
reached Europe before the truce was signed, and three-fourths of
them saw actual combat. Most of the inductees had not attended
high school, and about one in five was foreign-born. -
German U-boat attacks on merchant ships in the Atlantic were a serious threat to the Allied war effort. American Vice Admiral William S. Sims convinced the British to try the convoy system, in which a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. By fall of 1917, shipping losses had been cut in half.
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When Russia pulled out of the war in 1917, the Germans shifted their armies from the eastern front to the western front in France. By May they were within 50 miles of Paris. The Americans arrived just in time to help stop the German advance at Cantigny in France. Several weeks later, U.S. troops played a major role in throwing back German attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood. In July and
August, they helped win the Second Battle of the Marne. -
Once the government had extended its control over the economy, it was faced with two major tasks: raising money and convincing the public to support the war. The United States spent about $35.5 billion on the war effort. The government raised about one-third of this amount through taxes. It raised the rest through public borrowing by selling “Liberty Loan” and “Victory Loan” bonds. The government sold bonds through tens of thousands of volunteers.
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The anarchist Emma Goldman received a two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine for organizing the No Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to Russia.
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To popularize the war, the government set up the nation’s first propaganda agency, the Committee on Public Information.
The head of the CPI was a former muckraking journalist named George Creel. He recruited some 75,000 men to serve as “Four-Minute Men,” who spoke about everything relating to the war: the draft, rationing, bond drives, victory gardens, and topics such as “Why We Are Fighting” and “The Meaning of America.” -
The American Expeditionary Force (AEF), led by General John J. Pershing, included men from widely separated parts of the country. American infantrymen were nicknamed doughboys, possibly because of the white belts they wore, which they cleaned with pipe clay, or “dough.” The sophisticated sights and sounds of Paris made a vivid impression. However, doughboys were also shocked by the unexpected horrors of the battlefield and astonished by the new weapons and tactics of modern warfare.
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The main regulatory body was the War Industries Board (WIB). It was established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch , a prosperous businessman.
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To help produce and conserve food, Wilson set up the Food Administration under Herbert Hoover. Instead of rationing food, he called on people to follow the “gospel of the clean plate.” He declared one day a week “meatless,” another “sweetless,” two days “wheatless,” and two other days “porkless.” Restaurants removed sugar bowls from the table and served bread only after the first course.
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a telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents. The telegram proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany and promised that if war with the United States broke out, Germany would support Mexico in recovering “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.” Next came the sinking of four unarmed American merchant ships, with a loss of 36 lives.
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Russian troops advanced quickly into German territory but were turned back at the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. Throughout 1915, the Russians endured defeats and continued to retreat. The war also caused massive bread shortages in Russia. Revolutionaries ousted the czar in March 1917 and established a provisional government. In November, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky, overthrew the provisional government. They set up a Communist state and sought peace with the Central Powers.
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Although there were no Allied soldiers on German territory and no truly decisive battle had been fought, the Germans were too exhausted to continue fighting. So at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month of 1918, Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed the armistice, or truce, that ended the war.
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“Big Bill” Haywood and other leaders of the Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW) were accused of sabotaging the war effort because they urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher pay. Haywood was sentenced to a long prison term. (He later skipped bail and fled to Russia.) Under such federal pressure, the IWW faded away. -
The all-black 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front lines than any other American regiment. Two soldiers of the 369th, Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, were the first Americans to receive France’s highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre—the “cross of war.” The eight-month training period took place partly in the United States and partly in Europe.
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The new weapons and tactics of World War I led to horrific injuries and hazards. Constant bombardments and other experiences often led to battle fatigue and “shell shock,” a term coined during World War I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered. Trench foot caused by standing in cold wet trenches for long periods of time without changing into dry socks or boots. A painful infection of the gums and throat, called trench mouth, was also common among the soldiers.
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Even before the war was over, Wilson presented his plan for world peace. On January 18, 1918, he delivered his now famous Fourteen Points speech before Congress. The first five points were issues that Wilson believed had to be addressed to prevent another war: The next eight points dealt with boundary changes. The fourteenth point called for the creation of an international organization to address diplomatic crises like those that had sparked the war.
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As a result of the uneven pay between labor and management, increasing work hours, child labor, and dangerously “sped-up” conditions, unions boomed. Union membership climbed from about 2.5 million in 1916 to more than 4 million in 1919. More than 6,000 strikes broke out during the war months. To deal with disputes between management and labor, President Wilson established
the National War Labor Board in 1918. -
Alvin York sought exemption as a conscientious objector, a person who opposes warfare on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.” York eventually decided that it was morally acceptable to fight if the cause was just. On October 8, 1918, armed only with a rifle and a revolver, York killed 25 Germans and—with six other doughboys—captured 132 prisoners.
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On November 3, 1918, Austria-Hungary surrendered to the Allies.
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German sailors mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly. Everywhere in Germany, groups of soldiers and workers organized revolutionary councils. On November 9, socialist leaders in the capital, Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne.
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The House of Representatives refused to seat Victor Berger, a socialist congressman from Wisconsin, because of his antiwar views.
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The Espionage and Sedition Acts targeted socialists and labor leaders. Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten-year prison sentence for speaking out against the war and the draft.
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On June 28, 1919, the Big Four and the leaders of the defeated nations gathered in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles to sign the peace treaty. After four years of devastating warfare, everyone hoped that the treaty would create stability for a rebuilt Europe. Instead, anger held sway.
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A war-guilt clause forcing Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting World War I. There was no way Germany could pay the huge financial reparations. Germany was stripped of its colonial possessions in the Pacific, which might have helped it pay its reparations bill. Because Russia was excluded from the peace conference, it lost more territory than Germany did.
