CHAPTER 23
	WAR AND SOCIETY, 1914-1918 (WWI)
	The appearance of the machine-gun posed a technological dilemma to which generals on the Western Front never found a solution. Frustration was commonplace in headquarters throughout France. The machine-gun's indiscriminate way of killing showed that the industrial age had reached warfare. It respected neither class, birthright, or rank. The machine-gun empowered the defense, making massed frontal assaults suicidal. The top gun is a Maxim, originally designed by an American, Hiram Maxim, but used by the German army. The gun on bottom right is a British made Vickers. SOURCE: John Ellis, Social History of the Machine Gun.
	STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
	23.a.01 Causes of WWI 23.b.02 Ethno-Americans and US Intervention 23.b.03 American Entry into WW I 23.c.02 Naval Contributions 23.c.03 Army Contributions 23.c.05 Muese-Argonne Offensive 23.d.02 Total War 23.d.11 Conscripts 23.e.01 Wilson's World Order 23.e.04 Senate groups opposed to the League of Nations Related WWW Links
	[a.1]		EUROPEAN CAUSES OF WWI
			The list below starts with the most recent event and moves backward in time.
	The War had deep origins in the European states system.		Assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, 28 June 1914, by Serbian nationalist. Austria annexes Bosnia, 1908. Who will speak for the Balkan slavs, Russia or Austria? (the "Eastern Question"). Nationalism was becoming a vexing question as Balkan (south) European nations emerged. Diplomatic revolution of 1902-1907: GB signs alliance with Japan and makes informal commitment (entente) to France and Russia. Anglo-Germany Naval Arms race, beginning 1898. Germany challenges British naval supremacy with a rapid ship building program. Imperial Rivalry. Nations felt the crunching need for access to raw materials and markets. Observers of events such a Vladmir Lennin wrote that such rivalries would undoubtedly trigger war between the capitalist nations. Diplomatic Revolution of 1894: Franco-Russian Alliance. Entangling alliances were a problem because the terms and conditions of the alliances were not generally known. By 1882 the Central Powers were formed (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy), and by 1904 the Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia) was formed. Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71. France wants revenge for loss of Alsace-Lorrain. failed liberal revolutions of 1848. Constitutional government squashed by the forces of reaction. Congress of Vienna, 1815. The principle of self-determination is denied in favor of dynastic interests. the violent nature of man and the Decline of Western Civilization.
	[b.2]		ETHNO-AMERICANS AND US INTERVENTION
	Not all Americans supported a war against Germany		Blood, language, and culture bound many Americans to the Allied cause during the war. But some ethnic groups did not see the war the same way that many of the economically well-off saw it. Below is a list of ethnic groups that actually opposed US entry into the war on the British and French side:
	Opposition ethnic groups		Italian Americans. Italy was on Germany's side until 1915. Irish-Americans. London treated Ireland like a colony. During the war Irish revolutionaries revolted against British rule. German-Americans. Many German-Americans still had ties to the old country. They saw British arrogance as the cause of the war.
	[b.3]		AMERICAN ENTRY INTO WWI
	The US ultimately goes to war over freedom of the seas issues		Reasons for American entry on the Allied side in WWI (1917): Cultural affinity between America and England. Sympathy for French and remembrance of their aid to US in 1777. British control of propaganda. Bank loans to Triple Entente, especially Britain and France. Pro-British advisors to Wilson. Unrestricted German submarine warfare. Allied losses to U-boat attacks reached 600,000 tons per month by April 1917. The greatest loss of American life occurred when Lusitania was sunk in 1915.
	[c.2]		NAVAL CONTRIBUTIONS
	Mahan's battleships played limited role		Only 4 American dreadnoughts served with the British fleet in the North Sea. A.T. Mahan would have been shocked to learn that the USN's biggest contribution to the war effort would be wooden sub chasers, minelayers, and convoying techniques. During the war the U.S. Navy:
			Helped the Royal Navy lay 180,000 mines in the North Sea to stop German U-Boat penetration. Built 400 sub chasers. These coastal vessels were designed to keep U-Boats submerged. Since they were made of wood there were referred to as the "Splinter Fleet." American ship builders built about 10% of the ships carrying war materials to Britain. The rest were British registered.
	Sim's emphasizes the convoy		Captain William S. Sims, the American naval liaison with the British, was instrumental in starting the convoy system of shipping. Losses to U-Boat attack dropped after June 1917, when this system was adopted.
	[c.3]		ARMY CONTRIBUTIONS
	American contribution helps gives victory to the Allies		Edward M. Coffman, one of America's foremost historians of WWI, contends in The War to End All Wars (1968) that American troops enabled the Allies to win. Martin Gilbert's new book The First World War (1994) argues much the same, although he emphasizes other factors as well such as the success of the British offensives of 1918, the British blockade,the power of socialism on the German home front, and the failure of the German high command.
	German perspective		On 24 October 1918, just 2 weeks before the war ended, the German newspaper Arbeither Zeitung featured the following statement about the arrival of the Americans:
			"Americans are reaching Europe at the rate of 300,000 a month. Do the people wish to continue the war under such circumstances, to sacrifice the lives of so many hundred thousand men, thereby destroying the remainder of the nation's manhood and imperiling their future?"
	What the Americans did		Three months earlier such talk was treasonous. In October 1918 it made perfect sense. Even if American military operations did not directly cause the collapse of Germany, the contributions of the AEF to victory were notable:
			The AEF occupied 1/5 of the total front area (85 miles). The AEF included 29 combat divisions, 1.3 million men. The American Air Service massed the most aircraft together for any operation of the war during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. American troops helped stem the German advance at Chateau-Thierry and Catigny, and took the offensive at St. Mihiel and in the Argonne forest. All these operations occurred between Spring-Fall 1918.
	[c.5]		MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE (26 September - 11 November 1918)
	Some facts		The biggest US military operation ever undertaken, the Muese-Argonne battle lasted 47 days. The battle involved 1.2 million US soldiers, and the AEF fired more artillery shells than North and South fired during the entire Civil War. General Billy Mitchell, the Air Service Commander, controlled 800 American and French planes.
	strategy		Pershing wanted generals Ligget (1st US Army) and Bullard (2nd US Army) to rupture the Hindenburg line around Sedan. The Fall of Sedan would sever the German rail line to Metz. Such a stroke would unhinge the entire left side of the German line and force a retreat. At the same time, the British would drive from another direction. Once static trench warfare was eliminated, it was hoped the allied armies could once again engage in mobile warfare and drive the German army from France and end the war. On paper the strategy was good.
	American Weaknesses		The tactics of the AEF were not developed enough, however, to achieve Pershing's high expectations. Inexperienced staff planners, poorly trained officers and men, and German skill exacted a high price. Pershing's men attacked in large division-sized formations, hoping to crush German resistance by sheer weight of numbers. These were the tactics of 1916, not 1918, and were destined to be costly. The Germans, tired of 4 years of war, gradually retreated but mowed the Americans down with machine-gun fire. American deaths reached 26,000.
	The results		The US 1st Army reached the heights of Sedan but allowed the French the honor of taking the city. American intervention in WWI saved the Allied armies at a crucial time. Ironically, however, Germany sued for peace after military defeat and food shortages at home caused German workers, sailors, and soldiers to revolt. The German Kaiser abdicated, and that was that. The Muese-Argonne offensive also confirmed a trend in US military thinking: like the Civil War, WWI was won by attrition, not any particular military brilliance. Post-war military planners expected the same for the future.
	[d.2]		TOTAL WAR
	Definition		Total war is reached when all human, material, and ideological energies are dedicated to the war effort. The government assumes control of the economy and manpower to ensure that priorities are met. Examples of how Federal power extended its control are listed below:
			military conscription establishment of the WIB gov't takeover of rail roads, late 1917 Sedition Act Espionage Act propaganda (see George Creel's Committee of Public Information) increased taxes agreements with labor women enter the workforce to replace men in the armed forces Food and Fuel were rationed under the Lever Act, 1917.
	Toward Total War		The US did not completely submerge its economy and manpower into total war conditions, but the country did take on many aspects of a nation climbing the ladder of escalation.
	[d.11]		CONSCRIPTS DURING WWI
	Draft selective		The Selective Service Act (1917) "selected" certain types of men for the armed forces:
			Unmarried: 90%. farmhands and day laborers: 70%. Statistics from Millet and Maslowski, For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America, (1984): 332.
			Are unmarried laborers the most patriotic people of America? the most expendable? the biggest suckers? What?
	[e.1]		WILSON'S WORLD ORDER
	Wilson's Objective		Woodrow Wilson wanted to create a new world order. Countries should liberalize their economies and participate in the progress that would surely come with global capitalism. His blueprint, the Fourteen Points, based this new world order on the following principles:
			global capitalism was essential. The League of Nations would prevent war Disarmament freedom of the seas. free trade. international gold standard. national self-determination.
	The New World Order based on 14 Points		Wilson's plan was outlined in the famous "Fourteen Points."
	Walking a tightrope between imperialism and revolution		Crucial to Wilson's order was to contain the destabilizing forces of revolution on the left (Russia) and the attempts to reimpose imperialism on the right (Britain, France, and Japan). His vision called for the establishment of a liberal capitalist order in which all nations would become dependent on each other through free trade. America would play a key role in maintaining the new world order.
	Would Britain and France accept Wilson's Vision?		Wilson's plans contained controversy. Germany, for example, would have to be reintegrated into the European economic order. The harsh peace of Versailles, had no place in Wilson's vision of a liberal peace. For England, France, and many Americans, "kindness" toward Germany was unacceptable.
Intervention in Russian Revolution		Wilson believed certain people like the Russians had real grievances against their government, but he did not believe that social revolution was the answer. This is why Wilson sent US troops to Siberia. He wanted to help the "White" Russians in their civil war against the "Reds."
Progressivism goes abroad		The new world order would end the international competition and exclusive trading privileges inherent in imperialism on the one hand while avoiding revolution against such a system on the other. Under the Fourteen points, the whole world would be reformed under enlightened principles of free trade, disarmament, and self-determination. In a sense, Wilson had fought WWI not to make the world safe for democracy, but to make it safe for capitalism.
[e.4]		SENATE GROUPS OPPOSED TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
		Wilson faced stiff opposition from 2 senatorial factions:
1. Absolutists (or "Irreconcilables")		This group composed of senators like Hiram Johnson, Henry Borah, and Robert Norris. They opposed any US involvement in a League for reasons different from the Reservationists. To them the League would uphold old-fashioned British and French imperialism. In other words, US power would be commandeered to support the British and French in their wicked old balance-of-power ways. The Absolutists refused to play this game.
2. Reservationists		Henry C. Lodge led this group. They opposed Wilson because they felt US involvement in the League surrendered too much foreign policy decision making to an international organization. They would accept involvement in the League, but article 10 would have to be revised so that the US would retain its freedom of action.
		RELATED WWW SITES
		World War I Document Archive-BYU World War I Trenches on the Web Casualties--American Wars Warfare and Financial History Battleship Comparison Page Battlers Connection (radio controlled ships) The Great War: Maps and Locations (PBS) Gallipoli
		Back to 1302