WWI (14.06.1914 – 11.11.1918; also the Great War) – Start: the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne was shot in Serbia; A-H (supported by Germany) declared war, since RUS & Fr supported Serbia, both began to prepare their armies; Germany attacked Fr through neutral Belgium. It was a trench warfare, which was slow and time consuming. Also it was a total war that involved the entire country. After a long war, Germany surrendered unconditionally on the 11th of November 1918.
Allies – Br, Fr, RUS, It. Central Powers - Germany, A-H
Proclamation of neutrality – issued by W. Wilson (elected in 1912), U.S. neutral (1914-17) – believed war was the result of entangling alliances which U.S. tried to avoid, would not get involved, although sympathy was held for the Allies. U.S. continues to trade with both sides.
U.S. enters war – by 1917 Americans were ready to fight on the Allies’ side because the unrestricted warfare on all ships bound for Allied ports of the Germans angered them (G had sank the Br liner Lusitania in May 1915 killing 128 Am passengers); because of the Allied propaganda and also because they found out that when Am & G went to war, G promised to give Mexico back the lands taken from them by the U.S. in 1848. In april 1917 Wilson asked for a declaration of war from Congress. A war to end all wars – the world must be made safe for democracy (moral goals). President’s powers were temporarily expanded, economy turned to producing as many items for war as possible (meatless, wheatless days per week to send food where ppl were fighting). The Selective Service Act was passed by Congress and young men were drafted. When they entered the war, Allies were in a stalemate on land, German ships were winning battles on the ocean, so Allies started moving in convoys to protect themselves. The U.S. Navy helped the convoys, blockade German ports, destroy submarines. Eventually Germany surrendered.
Treaty of Versailles – In 1919 Allied nations tried to negotiate a peace treaty based on Wilsons 14 points for peace: 1) no secret treaties, 2) freedom of the seas, 3) freedom of international trade, 4) reduction of armaments, 5) settlement of all colonial claims fairly for everyone involved, 6-13) self-determination (ppl can decide what kind of gov they want), 14) establishing the League of Nations. The Allies still imposed crushing reparations on G, divided its colonies.
League of Nations – all countries would join; agree to settle disagreements through negotiations. The Senate thought that the U.S. should not be greatly involved, didn’t ratify the T of V and didn’t join. Though the LN failed because only few countries were committed, it determined the structure of the United Nations established after WW II
18th amendment – prohibition law, the Anti-Saloon League, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Many speakeasies, gangsters appeared. 1933, the 21st amendment was ratified, returning the control of alcohol usage to the individual states
19th amendment – ratified in 1920 (1st was Wyoming already in 1869) giving women the right to vote; leading suffragette was Susan B. Anthony who with other suffragettes lectured, organized and educated ppl about the vote for women and also of prohibition
Also going on: the Ku Klux Klan revived in 1915, millions of followers who terrorized blacks, Catholics, Jews, immigrants; Harlem Renaissance or flowering of the black literature took place; jazz caught on (G. Gershwin); 1st Roman Catholic run for President was A. E. Smith in 1928; in 1927 the first nonstop air flight from NYC to Paris by C. Lindbergh; monkey trial in which a teacher was prosecuted for teaching Darwin’s theory at school; Washington conference in 1921 which was a plan for naval disarmament, respected the independence of China
Interwar period – between WW I and WW II, also called the Age of Normalcy (by President W.G. Harding); USA wanted to return to isolationism (immigration restrictions); during most of the time, the Americans enjoyed prosperity (jazz clubs, movie houses, new fashions for women, economic boom)
Red Scare – after a series of terrorist bombings in 1919, under the authority of Attorney General A. M. Palmer, raids of political meetings were conducted, arrests were made, a lot of foreign-born radicals deported, though most were innocent (the Sacco-Vanzetti case in 1921)
The Depression (1929-39) – production had risen, ppl were improving their lives, high tariffs meant that foreign countries were not buying the American goods, also the Americans were not buying them as well because of low wages; with the new machinery many jobs were lost; speculation in the stock market led to the downfall & crashed on the 29th of October 1929 (Black Tuesday). By 1932 about 12 mln Americans were unemployed; businesses failed, factories were shut down, wages decreased, 5000 banks failed
Franklin D. Roosevelt – elected in 1932, he was enthusiastically optimistic & won by a landslide; went to work right away (“Hundred Days”) with his New Deal: 3 R’s – relief (stop suffering by providing direct money payments/jobs to the unemployed & providing mortgage loans to help farmers/homeowners in danger of losing their property), recovery (providing aid to farmers, business owners, workers to help get ppl back to work) and reform (to make sure there will never be another Depression). These measures regulated businesses & banks, protected ppl/consumers. Most of them were controversial but in time restored the economy (5 mln ppl were employed again). In Europe it ended differently – in Germany the Nazis (Hitler) came to power in 1933, also similar in Italy (Mussolini).
WW II – began on September 1, 1939 when Adolf Hitler ordered the German army to invade Poland. The U.S. tried to keep its neutrality (acts in 1935, 1936, 1937 no sale of war goods, no loans & no Americans sailing on ships of those fighting in the war; when Japan invaded China, USA didn’t see it as war & continued to supply weapons to China; act in 1939 allowed countries fighting in the war to buy war goods from USA if paid in cash & picked up goods itself). By June 1940, Fr defeated by G, UK alone on the Axis, USA began to favor an intervention. The Selective Service Act in 1940, substantial help to UK began in 1941 (lend-lease – Br had run out of money, so USA decided to lend or lease items)
Axis – Germany, It, Japan
Allied countries – Fr, UK, USSR, the U.S. and other smaller countries
Pearl Harbor – the Japanese surprise attack in Hawaii on the 7th of December 1941 (a day which will live in infamy). The next day war was declared on Japan; G and Japan declared war on USA four days later.
Fighting the war against G – Allies decided they would first defeat G and then Japan. Attacked G through G-held northern Africa and up through Italy. Br was bombing military & industrial targets in G. Soviet Union pushed back the G troops. By September 1943, Italy had surrendered unconditionally.
D-Day – on June 6, 1944 the Allies launched the invasion at Normandy, Fr. Allied troops were led to victory by General D.D. Eisenhower. This helped to defeat Hitler. Paris liberated on August 24. G surrendered unconditionally on May 5, 1945.
Fighting the war against Japan – started less successfully. Japan had the Philippines, Malay States, Dutch East Indies, mowed toward Australia. In May & June, 1942, in the Battles of the Coral Sea & Midway, the Allied forces inflicted major damage/defeated the Japanese. Since the Japanese refused to surrender, H.S. Truman decided to use atomic bombs (developed in the Manhattan Project) to convince the Japanese. The 1st bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (06.08.1945), Japan did not surrender despite the vast casualties; the 2nd bomb was dropped on Nagasaki (09.08.1945). Japan surrendered on the 14th of August 1945. WW II was over.
Effects of the war – even more of a total war than WW I; the economies of all countries involved in producing goods for the war; consumer goods (butter, gasoline) were rationed; wages were high; USA borrowed billions; everyone went to work to increase production (women working outside the home); defense industries could not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin (see civil rights); UK & Fr were no longer leading world powers, now it was USA vs. USSR
Yalta Conference of February 1945 – Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin promised free elections for all the liberated nations of Europe.
United Nations – set up by the Allied forces; works today as a place where countries can meet & discuss problems, preserve peace; tariff agreements (international trade was kept free)
Cold War – Europe split into two groups (USA & Western Europe, USSR & Eastern). In 1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded to declare alliance between the U.S. & W Europe to contain USSR in the areas it already influenced (containment - not to let it expand, defend each other if attacked). In 1955, the Warsaw Pact begun between USSR & Eastern Europe (promote peaceful coexistence, defend each other when attacked. The competition in the Cold War was economic.Truman Doctrine by President Truman (U.S. to support “free peoples” against (in)direct Soviet influence); has been followed since; Marshall Plan in 1947 by Secretary of State provided money to help rebuild Europe after WW II; the Western airlift of food & fuel lifted the Berlin blockade in May 1949; USA also helped fund the International Monetary Fund & the World Bank; J. McCarthy started a hunt for Communists but in 1954 he was exposed as a fraud; Sputnik sent up by USSR in 1957; Yuri Gagarin 1st man on orbit by USSR in 1961; 1st Am John Glenn in 1962; 1st man on Moon July 1969 N. Armstrong
Trouble with Cuba – in April 1961 CIA agents sent to overthrow Fidel Castro were captured; in October 1962 nuclear missiles were discovered on Cuba, blockade, USSR promised to remove the missiles if Am didn’t invade Cuba
Korean War (1950-53) – Korea was occupied by USSR (North Korea, a Communist government) and USA (South, independent anti-Communist gov), tried to reunite the country but in June 1950, N attacked S without warning. The UN voted to send in troops (mostly U.S. & S Korean), they were pushed back at first but were able to fight back & expel the N Koreans & Chinese. Korea remains divided but is not at war.
Civil rights movement – blacks suffered from discrimination (especially in the S), their right to vote was restricted, schools were segregated, job discrimination. The Fair Employment Practices Committee was established by President Roosevelt to prevent discrimination by the defense industries; Truman started the Committee on Civil Rights (discrimination prevents achievement of the Am ideal of democracy). In 1954 blacks found support from the Supreme Court (Brown vs the Board of Education of Topeka case) – segregated public schools were ruled to be unconstitutional, this was followed by a decision to desegregate public schools in 1955. Some were against (racist whites), President Eisenhower send army troops to make sure children got to school safely. Blacks wanted to end discrimination peacefully (in Montgomery, Alabama blacks boycotted the segregated bus system by not using the bus in 1955 supported by M.L. King)
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr – believed blacks could change society & its laws through non-violent means. Led the famous March to Washington in 1963 (whites & blacks to get civil rights legislation passed); his efforts helped to pass the Civil Rights Acts in 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968; the Voting Rights act in 1965/1970?. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A holiday in his honor is held on the 3rd Monday in January. He was shot & killed in 1968. Many followed his work, J.F. Kennedy (elected in 1960, assassinated in 1963) supported a similar legislation – New Frontier programs (the Peace Corps to provide developmental assistance for other countries using the help of volunteers). The next President, L. Johnson continued with his “war on poverty” and increased expenses on social programs to form the Great Society (Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Fair Labor Standards Act), established the Medicare (aid for elderly) and the Medicaid (aid for poor)
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