History 111: US History after 1865
Professor Catapano

America and the Great War
Thesis:  The United States reluctantly entered the Great War with the idealistic aim to "make the world safe for democracy."  While the war itself helped to establish the US as a major military power, the peace the came afterward was a great disappointment.  American became disillusioned with international affairs and retreated into a decade of isolationism.




I. The Road to War (628-31)
  • Great War begins in Europe (August 1914)
  • Allies (Britain, France, Italy, and Russia) v. Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey)
  • "One-Sided" Neutrality - U.S. leans toward Allies (map)
  • U-boat warfare
  • The Sinking of the Lusitania (1915)
  •  The Zimmermann Telegram
James Montgomery Flagg


II. Crusade for Democracy: US Enters the War (1917) (631- 643)
  • President Wilson's War Aims - Progressivism Abroad
    •  "American Principles"
  • Mobilizing for Total War -Army & Economy
    • "Liberty Bonds"
    • War Industries Board
    • Advertising the War - Propaganda & James Montgomery Flagg
  • The Search of Unity
    • Committee on Public Information
    • Espionage and Sedition Acts
    • Suppressing of Dissent



III. The Search for a New World Order (631-632; 655-59) (map)
  • Wilson’s Fourteen Points (4 principles)
    • 1. national self determination
    • 2. freedom of seas
    • 3. enforcement of peace through League of Nations
    • 4. open, not secret, diplomacy
  • The Paris Peace Conference 
  • The Fight for the Versailles Treaty
Treaty of Versailles



IV. "1919": A Society in Turmoil (649-655)
  • Labor Strife
    • Seattle Shipyard Workers
    • Great Steel Strike
  • Red Scare (Baruch site)
    • Communist Revolution in Russia
    • Palmer Raids
  • Race Riots and the "Red Summer" 
  • Disillusionment and the End of Progressivism