Jan. 22, 1917 - Wilson calls for a "Peace without victory"
Jan. 31 ,1917 - Germany announced it would wage unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic
March 1, 1917 - Zimmerman Note revealed a proposed secret agreement (military alliance) between Germany and Mexico
- 4 unarmed American merchant ships were sunk by the Germans
April 6, 1917 - The U.S. declared war on Germany
Wilson's war aims included: "A war to end war" and a crusade to "Make the world safe for democracy"
Jan. 18, 1918 - Wilson delivered his famed Fourteen Points Address to Congress (listed on pp. 675-676)
U.S. Mobilization for war included:
George Creel's Committee on Public Information - Propaganda
Herbert Hoover's Food Administration - Victory Gardens
Bernard Baruch's War Industries Board - "Labor will win the war"
Note: Most wartime mobilization agencies relied on voluntary compliance except when the government took over and operated the railroads
Two Amendments were passed as a result of wartime influences
18th Amendment - Prohibition
19th Amendment - Woman's Suffrage
2/3rds of the money raised to finance World War I came from loans- Victory and Liberty
The most significant contributions the U.S. made to the Allied war effort were: food, money, and men (not shipping)
When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, most Americans did not believe that we would have to send a large American Army to Europe - but the Allies could not win without our troops
Conscription (the Draft) eventually raised an army of over 4 million but no effective American fighting force reached France until the Spring of 1918 - the fight significant American engagement was at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry and our troops eventually turned the tide of battle.
Germany surrendered on November 11, 1918 (Armistice Day)
A peace conference was held in the Palace of Versailles outside the city of Paris from January to June, 1919
Wilson's primary goal was to create a peace treaty based on collective security - The League of Nations - but this was controversial in the U.S - especially Article X of the league's covenant because it morally bound the U.S. to aid any member victimized by external aggression (robbed congress of it's war - declaring power)
Henry Cabot Lodge and the Senate Republicans proposed 14 Reservations to the treaty which were rejected by Wilson with the strong support of the Democrats
Because Wilson was unwilling to compromise with league opponents in the Senate. The treaty was rejected twice
" He Kept Us Out Of Peace "
1920 Election: Harding ( R) v. Cox (D)
Harding promised a "Return To Normalcy" and his victory doomed the treaty and U.S. membership in the league