THE NATION AT WAR

Chapter 24

Roosevelt Foreign Policy• American foreign policy

aggressive, nationalistic since late 19th century

• “Roosevelt Corollary”: U.S. would ensure stability of Latin American finance (Dominican Republic)– Extension of Monroe Doctrine

• Colonialism drew U.S. into international affairs– Roosevelt abetted revolution to

separate Panama from Colombia (Panama Canal)

• Japan grows in power– Russo-Japanese War (1905)– Japan claims authority in China

Taft and Wilson Foreign Policy

Taft and Dollar Diplomacy• Taft substituted economic

force for military• American bankers replaced

Europeans in Caribbean• Taft's support for U.S.

economic influence in Manchuria alienated China, Japan, Russia

Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy• Wilson inexperienced in

diplomacy• Tried to base foreign policy

on moral force• Wilson negotiated “cooling-

off” treaties to try and settle disputes without war in Latin America– Didn’t work intervened there

more than Roosevelt or Taft

Activities of the United States in the Caribbean, 1898–1930

The Neutrality Policy

• Wilson sympathized with England, sought U.S. neutrality

• Progressives saw war as wasteful, irrational• Suspicion that business sought war for profit • Americans saw little national stake in war

The U-Boat Threat• U.S. trade with Allies boomed, but was increasingly

financed by loans from American banks– Allies owed U.S. banks $2 billion by 1917

• German submarines violated international law by shooting without warning at all ships

• 1915: Lusitania sunk by U-Boat– Wilson demanded Germans protect passenger ships and

pay for losses• May, 1916: Sussex Pledge—Germany pledges to

honor U.S. neutrality but balks at pledge• January, 1917: Zimmerman Note• April 6, 1917: War declared on Germany

U.S. Losses to the German Submarine Campaign, 1916–1918

The Great War 1914-1918

Mobilization

• No U.S. contingency plans for war

• 200,000 troops at war’s beginning

• Selective Service Act created draft– Conscripted 2.8 million

by war’s end• U.S. enters trench

warfare (Western Front)

Propaganda The CPI (Committee of Public

Information) becomes main form of encouragement to help support

the war!

World War One Images and Music

• Over There, George M. Cohansung by The American Quartet, 1917

• Sheet Music ArtNorman Rockwell

I Want You for the U.S. ArmyI Want You for the U.S. ArmyJames Montgomery FlaggJames Montgomery Flagg19171917

True Sons of FreedomTrue Sons of FreedomCharles Gustrine, 1918Charles Gustrine, 1918

Destroy This Mad BruteDestroy This Mad BruteH.R. Hopps, 1917H.R. Hopps, 1917

Over The Top For YouOver The Top For YouSidney H. Riesenberg,Sidney H. Riesenberg,19181918

Rivets Are Bayonets Drive Them Home!Rivets Are Bayonets Drive Them Home!J.E. Sheridan, 1918J.E. Sheridan, 1918

Fight or Buy BondsFight or Buy BondsHoward Chandler ChristyHoward Chandler Christy19171917

History Rhymes

• Anger toward Germans during WWI

• Sauerkraut became “Liberty Cabbage”

• Hamburgers became “Liberty Burger”

• Anger toward the French during the start of the war in Iraq

• French Fries became “Freedom Fries”

• French Bread became “Freedom Bread”

Over Here

• Victory on front depends on mobilization at home• Wilson consolidates federal authority to organize

war production and distribution• Wartime laws to repress dissent

– Espionage Act– Trading with the Enemy Act– Sedition Act– 1500 dissenters imprisoned, including Eugene Debs

• 1918–1919: “Red Scare” resulted in domestic suppression of “radicals” (Bolshevik Revolution)

A Bureaucratic War

• Cooperation between government and business the norm– War Industries Board and other agencies

supervised production, distribution to maximize war effort

– Government seized some businesses to keep them running

• Business profits from wartime industry

Labor in the War• Union membership swells• Labor shortage prompts

– Wage increase– Entry of Mexican

Americans, women, African Americans to war-related industrial work force

• Great Migration to northern factories– Blacks must adjust

industrial work pace– Encounter Northern racism

Europe after The Treaty Versailles, 1919

The Treaty of Versailles

• Wilson’s Fourteen Points call for non-punitive settlement

• England and France balk at Fourteen Points– Want Germany disarmed and crippled– Want Germany’s colonies– Skeptical of principle of self-determination

• Wilson failed to deflect Allied punishment of Germany in treaty

• Treaty created Wilson’s League of Nations

Rejection in the Senate

• Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (R-MA) led “strong reservationists” that demanded major changes, including League of Nation (Article X)– William Borah (R-ID) led “irreconcibles” who opposed the

treaty on any grounds– No compromise by Wilson – Treaty fails, separate treaty made with Germany

• To the next generation the war seemed futile, wasteful

• Americans welcome Warren G. Harding’s “return to normalcy”