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United States Entry into World War I: A Documentary Chronology of World War I
Introduction
In this lesson of the curriculum unit, students reconsider the events leading to U.S. entry into World War I through the lens of archival documents.
Guiding Questions:
What important events led to U.S. involvement in World War I?
What is the most compelling evidence explaining why the U.S. entered World War I?
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
- List important events leading to U.S. involvement in World War I.
- Take a stand on a hypothesis for U.S. entry into World War I, supported by specific evidence.
Review the dates in the following chronology, based on the World War I Chronology on The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website History Matters. Unless otherwise indicated, all documents are available on the EDSITEment resource Great War Primary Documents Archive or on links from this resource. Some noteworthy excerpts are included below as a preview to certain documents.
Assign students to groups. Using the resources below, as well as any other appropriate sources available, student groups will create a documentary slideshow of the U.S. entry into World War I. Part of the challenge is to limit the show to the essentials. To be interesting, a slideshow needs engaging, concise text for a voiceover; informative graphics and captions; noteworthy images; and a cohesive “storyline” that builds on previous information. The links on the chronology below provide good source material for such a slideshow, though students are encouraged, when practical, to uncover any other relevant material through their own research and/or to create their own charts and talking points.
Using the “Storyboard for World War I Slideshow” on page
3 of the PDF file (see Preparing
to Teach This Unit, in the curriculum
unit overview, for download instructions), each group should plan a show
of 10 to 15 slides. (NOTE: The teacher should feel free to change the number
of slides allowed. In addition, feel free to change the mode of assignment by
assigning groups specific years or topics, such as neutrality.) Given the potential
amount of material, groups will have to be scrupulous in their choices. Audiences
are engaged by story, so remind students to build a coherent beginning, middle,
and end. Keep the hypotheses—or one particular hypothesis—about U.S. entry into
the war in mind. Avoid duplication between the graphic, caption, and script.
If practical, allow groups to complete the slideshow using available software. Otherwise, students could download and print the necessary documents to create a “hardcopy” slideshow.
1914
- June 28, 1914: Telegram
about Assassination of the Archduke August 1, 1914: Outbreak
of World War I; German declaration of war on Russia
- Background: Map
of the World Showing Nations at War: December 31, 1914 on Roots
Web
- August 4, 1914: Great
Britain Declares War on Germany, as reported in the Daily Mirror
- US Policy on
Loans to the Belligerents (1914-1915)
Morgan Company of New York have asked whether there would be any
objection to their making a loan to the French Government and also the Rothschilds
-- I suppose that is intended for the French Government.
—Secretary of State Bryan to President Wilson, August 10, 1914
There is no reason why loans should not be made to the governments of neutral
nations, but in the judgment of this Government, loans by American bankers
to any foreign nation which is at war are inconsistent with the true spirit
of neutrality.
—Secretary of State Bryan to J. P. Morgan and Company, August 15, 1914
- August 19, 1914: President
Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality
The United States must be neutral in fact, as well as in name,
during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial in thought,
as well as action, must put a curb upon our sentiments, as well as upon
every transaction that might be construed as a preference of one party to
the struggle before another.
—President
Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality
- September 19, 1914: The
Status of Armed Merchant Vessels (“A merchant vessel of belligerent
nationality may carry an armament and ammunition for the sole purpose of defense
without acquiring the character of a ship of war.”)
- US Policy on
Loans to the Belligerents (1914-1915)
Since the beginning of the war this bank alone has received cabled
instructions for the payment of in excess of $50,000,000 for American goods
and the volume of this business is increasing. Owing to war conditions,
this buying is necessarily for cash and it is of such magnitude that the
cash credits of the European governments are being fast depleted. Lately
we have been urged by manufacturers who are customers of the bank and, in
some cases, by representatives of the foreign governments, to provide temporary
credits for these purchases.
—Vice President of the National City Bank to the Acting Secretary of
State, October 23, 1914
- December 26, 1914: U.S.
Protests Against Maritime Warfare
The present condition of American foreign trade resulting from
the frequent seizures and detentions of American cargoes destined to neutral
European ports has become so serious as to require a candid statement of
the views of this Government in order that the British Government may be
fully informed as to the attitude of the United States toward the policy
which has been pursued by the British authorities during the present war.
—Secretary of State Bryan to Walter Hines Page, U.S. Ambassador in
Great Britain
- Value of U.S. Exports for 1914:
1914 - $ 824.8 million to Allies
1914 - $ 169.3 million to Central Powers
—University
of Albany History 101 Syllabus (Spring 1997), a link from the EDSITEment
resource History Matters
1915
- By 1915, U.S. industry, which had been mildly depressed, was prospering
again with munitions orders from the Western Allies. On the USGS,
a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet
Public Library:
- February 4, 1915: German
Admiralty Declaration Regarding Unrestricted U-Boat Warfare
- February 10, 1915: President
Wilson's First Warning to the Germans
If such a deplorable situation should arise, the Imperial German
Government can readily appreciate that the Government of the United States
would be constrained to hold the Imperial Government of Germany to a strict
accountability for such acts of their naval authorities, and to take any
steps it might be necessary to take to safeguard American lives and property
and to secure to American citizens the full enjoyment of their acknowledged
rights on the high seas.
…It is stated for the information of the Imperial Government that representations
have been made to his Britannic Majesty's Government in respect to the unwarranted
use of the American flag for the protection of British ships.
—President Wilson's
First Warning to the Germans
- March 1, 1915: American citizen dies in sinking of first passenger ship,
the British liner Falaba (Narrow
Miss by a German Torpedo—photograph)
- August 26, 1915: Wilson's
Change of Attitude on War Loans
My opinion in this matter, compendiously stated, is that we should
say that "Parties would take no action either for or against such a transaction,"
but that this should be orally conveyed, so far as we are concerned, and
not put in writing.
—President Woodrow Wilson to the Secretary of State, Mr. Robert Lansing
- May 7, 1915: Lusitania sunk by German U-Boat
(photograph) off Irish coast
- May 12, 1915: The
Bryce Report in its entirety. Use if desired. Otherwise consult Commentary
on The Bryce Report:
The Bryce Report was used for propaganda purposes. Sir Gilbert
Parker, who was the member of Wellington House (the British propaganda bureau
at that time) charged with information and propaganda aimed at the United
States, rushed the Bryce Report into print, so it was available five days
after the news of the sinking of the Lusitania. It is obvious that
part of the aim was to contribute to the effort to bring the United States
into the war.
—Commentary
on The Bryce Report
- June 9, 1915: Bryan
Resignation Letter (Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns
over handling of the Lusitania incident.)
…we unsparingly denounce the retaliatory methods employed by her
(Germany), without condemning the announced purpose of the Allies to starve
the non-combatants of Germany and without complaining of the conduct of
Great Britain in relying on passengers including men, women and children
of the United States to give immunity to vessels carrying munitions of war
without even suggesting that she should convoy passenger ships as carefully
as she does ships carrying horses and gasoline.
—Bryan
Resignation Letter
- US Policy on
Loans to the Belligerents (1914-1915)
Now, on the other hand, we are face to face with what appears
to be a critical economic situation, which can only be relieved apparently
by the investment of American capital in foreign loans to be used in liquidating
the enormous balance of trade in favor of the United States.
Can we afford to let a declaration as to our conception of "the true spirit
of neutrality" made in the first days of the war stand in the way of our
national interests which seem to be seriously threatened?
If we cannot afford to do this, how are we to explain away the declaration
and maintain a semblance of consistency?
—Secretary of State Lansing to President Wilson, September 6, 1915
- October 15, 1915: German
Ambassador's Assurances About American Ships (“recurrence of incidents
similar to the Arabic case is considered out of the question”)
- November 20, 1915: Wilson researching a program of national defense (dubbed
"Preparedness")
- Excerpt
from “Preparedness: The Road to Universal Slaughter” on the
Emma Goldman Papers website,
a link from the EDSITEment resource History
Matters:
That which has driven the masses of Europe into the trenches and
to the battlefields is not their inner longing for war; it must be traced
to the cutthroat competition for military equipment, for more efficient
armies, for larger warships, for more powerful cannon. You cannot build
up a standing army and then throw it back into a box like tin soldiers.
—Emma Goldman on From "Preparedness: The Road to Universal Slaughter"
1916
- January 27, 1916: Wilson launches nationwide whistle-stop campaign to generate
support for Preparedness with three speeches in New York.
- February 3, 1916: Wilson delivers final speech of Preparedness campaign
in St. Louis.
April 19, 1916: Wilson
on the Sussex Case
…the Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion
that there is but one course it can pursue; and that unless the Imperial German
Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its
present methods of warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels
this Government can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with
the Government of the German Empire altogether.
—President Wilson's remarks before Congress concerning the German attack
on the unarmed Channel steamer Sussex on March 24, 1916
- April 27, 1916: Marshal Lord
Kitchener (photograph), British Secretary of State for War, asks for American
military participation in Europe.
- May 4, 1916: Germany's
Second Promise renounces submarine policy “Sussex Pledge.”
- June 3, 1916: National Defense Act authorizes five-year expansion of U.S.
Army, but at the same time drastically limits size and authority of U.S. War
Department General Staff.
It… contained a severe restriction inserted by opponents of a strong
General Staff, sharply limiting the number of officers who could be detailed
to serve on the staff at the same time in or near Washington. The bill represented
nevertheless the most comprehensive military legislation yet enacted by the
U.S. Congress.
The National Defense Act of 1916 authorized an increase in the peacetime strength
of the Regular Army over a period of five years to 175,000 men and a wartime
strength of close to 300,000. Bolstered by federal funds and federal-stipulated
organization and standards of training, the National Guard was to be increased
more than fourfold to a strength of over 400,000 and obligated to respond
to the call of the President. The act also established both an Officers' and
an Enlisted Reserve Corps and a Volunteer Army to be raised only in time of
war.
… A few months later the Congress demonstrated even greater interest in the
industrial aspects of defense by creating a civilian Council of National Defense
made up of leaders of industry and labor, supported by an advisory commission.
—World War
I : The First Three Years
- July 30, 1916: Jersey City, N.J., munitions plant destroyed; German sabotage
suspected.
- October 15, 1916: Germany resumes U-boat attacks under "search and destroy"
rules.
- November 9, 1916: Woodrow
Wilson (photograph) wins reelection under the slogan "He kept us out of
war."
In retrospect, it is apparent that the vote for Wilson cloaked
profound cleavages in public opinion. At the time of his inauguration, immigrants
constituted one third of the population. Allied and German propaganda revived
old-world loyalties among "hyphenated" European- Americans, and opinions
about US intervention were sharply polarized. More than 8 million German-Americans
lived in this country, and many were sympathetic to the cause of their homeland.
Meanwhile, anti-German feeling was strong among the upper classes on the
Atlantic coast, and was particularly intense among those with social and
business connections to Britain or France.
—Domestic
Propaganda During The First World War, from First
World War.com, a link from Great
War Primary Documents Archive (from Section 1: The Drift Towards War)
- December 12, 1916: Germans issue peace note suggesting compromise peace.
- Value of U.S. Exports for 1916:
1916 - $ 3,200.0 million to Allies 1916 - $ 1.2 million to Central
Powers
—University
of Albany History 101 Syllabus (Spring 1997), a link from the EDSITEment
resource History Matters
1917
- Value of U.S. Loans by 1917:
$ 2,500 million to Allies $ 27 million to Central Powers
—University
of Albany History 101 Syllabus (Spring 1997), a link from the EDSITEment
resource History Matters
- January 22, 1917: Wilson addresses the Senate about Peace
Without Victory (on the PBS website Woodrow
Wilson, a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory).
Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor's terms
imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under
duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment,
a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but
only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last, only a peace
the very principle of which is equality and a common participation in a
common benefit. —Peace
Without Victory
Like an undertow, America's drift toward war was subtle and forceful. According
to the outspoken pacifist Randolph Bourne, war sentiment spread gradually
among various intellectual groups. "With the aid of Roosevelt," wrote Bourne,
"the murmurs became a monotonous chant, and finally a chorus so mighty that
to be out of it was at first to be disreputable, and finally almost obscene."
Once the war was underway, dissent was practically impossible. "If you believed
our going into this war was a mistake," wrote The Nation in a post-war editorial,
"if you held, as President Wilson did early in 1917, that the ideal outcome
would be 'peace without victory,' you were a traitor."
—Domestic
Propaganda During The First World War From Section 1: The Drift Towards
War
- January 31, 1917: Germany
officially breaks her promise and announces resumption of unrestricted
U-boat warfare.
The military situation as a whole permits us to accept all the
consequences which unrestricted U-boat war may bring, and as this U-boat
war is the means of injuring our enemies the most greviously, it must be
begun…
—Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, January 31, 1917, New York Times
- February 3, 1917: U.S. severs relations with Germany.
- February 24, 1917: Great Britain releases Zimmermann Note to U.S.
- The Zimmerman
Letter (text)
- Photostat
of the Zimmerman Telegram, as received by the German Ambassador to Mexico,
on the EDSITEment-reviewed website Digital
Classroom.
- Image of telegram to Wilson with translation of Zimmerman Telegram, on
Digital Classroom
(Page 1,
Page 2,
Page 3,
Page 4).
…we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico:
That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give
general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to re-conquer
the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.
—From the German Secretary of State (Zimmerman) to the German Minister
to Mexic
- February 26, 1917: Wilson requests authority from Congress to arm U.S. merchant
ships.
- March 4, 1917: Second
Inaugural Address of President Woodrow Wilson on First
World War.com (see especially paragraphs 1-3 and 8-9).
- March 12, 1917: Wilson announces arming of merchant ships by executive order.
- March 21, 1917: Cartoon:
President Calls Congress April 2 to act on Grave National Policy (on Digital
Classroom).
- March 29, 1917: Wilson publicly calls for a national army to be “raised
and maintained exclusively by selective draft.”
- April 2, 1917: Wilson
War Message to Congress (8:32 p.m.)
- April 6, 1917: U.S. declares war on Germany
- Presidential
Proclamation 1364 of April 6, 1917, by President Woodrow Wilson, declaring
war against Germany (photocopy of first page) on Digital Classroom
- Wages before and after the war for certain occupations:
Table 1
("Union scales of wages and hours of specified occupations, Chicago,
1913-25")
(From the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data's article Compensation
from before World War I to 1935)
|
1913
Hours Per Week |
1913
Earnings Per Hour |
1920
Hours Per Week |
1920
Earnings Per Hour |
1925
Hours Per Week |
1925
Earnings Per Hour |
Occupation |
Bricklayer |
44 |
$0.750 |
44 |
$1.250 |
44 |
$1.500 |
Painter |
44 |
$0.650 |
44 |
$1.250 |
44 |
$1.500 |
Plumber |
44 |
$0.750 |
44 |
$1.250 |
44 |
$1.205 |
Stonecutter |
44 |
$0.625 |
44 |
$1.250 |
44 |
$1.375 |
Typesetter
(1) |
48 |
$0.500 |
48 |
$0.988 |
44 |
$1.191 |
Footnotes:
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(1) In the newspaper industry.
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American participation in the war against Germany would constitute the most
tremendous and profitable coup in the history of American finance… The war
created 21,000 new American millionaires and during the war period, 69,000
men made more than three billion dollars over and above their normal income…
—John Kenneth Turner, Shall It Be Again? 1922
Assessment
Give student groups the opportunity to share their slideshows with the class.
Discuss the point of view each represents. As a class, revisit the handout “Why
Did the United States Enter World War I?” on pages 1-2
of the PDF file (see Preparing
to Teach This Unit, in the curriculum
unit overview, for download instructions). Ask each student to write a paragraph
taking a stand on a hypothesis explaining why the U.S. entered World War I.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
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