1. Wilson as a President -- Intellectual and historian -- history teacher

• Program called the "New Freedom"
• True southerner -- sympathized with the plight of the Confederacy -- his progressivism will not be friendly to blacks
• Attempts to control businesses even more then TR or Taft
• Brought real government control over the business sector through a series of important pieces of legislature
• Federal Reserve Act of 1913 -- organized the nation's money system into 12 federal regional banks -- reestablishment of a national bank under Hamilton's old model, which Wilson had studied as a historian -- discuss Fed Reserve in class
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 -- gave labor and unions a legal status and legalized strikes and peaceful picketing
• Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 -- made low interest loans to farmers -- old Populist idea

1. Wilson tried to pull Bull Moose voters (progressive Republicans from 1912) into his fold for 1916 -- he had won as a minority candidate in 1912
2. He also ran in 1916 as a candidate of peace
3. WWI -- breaks out in Europe in August 1914 -- quickly engulfs the world
4. America declared to be neutral
5. Wilson backed away from the Roosevelt idea of controlling the Americas -- it didn't seem right -- WWI was a war over colonies and expansion -- something we had done as well
6. Problem for Wilson -- when war broke out in Europe, the new immigrants were often from the belligerents and had strong feelings on both sides

• Germans -- for Germany
• Irish -- Against Britain, especially after 1916 and the Irish Rebellion
• Italian -- entered the war on the Allied side in 1915 in an attempt to gain land on the Dalmatian Coast (today's Croatia)

1. Most Americans were anti-German, but Wilson declared the US to be neutral in 1914
2. Central Powers -- run by despotic emperors with little democratic freedoms for people
3. The British declared a naval blockade of Germany in 1914
4. Germany retaliated by declaring unrestricted submarine warfare in a area around the British Isles
5. German officials warned Wilson that American ships COULD be sunk if we continued to trade with Britain (our biggest trading partner)
6. Problem --- Wilson was secretly shipping supplies to Britain
7. 07 May 1915 -- Lusitania sunk off the coast of Ireland -- it's a passenger liner (secretly carrying 4200 cases of small-arms ammunition)
8. many Americans called for war -- Wilson talked big but behind the scenes knew that he had to keep the US out of the fray for now.
9. March 1916 -- German government agrees to stop unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to keep the US out of the war.

1. Democrats -- Wilson -- ran on the slogan "He Kept US out of War"
2. Republicans -- Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes -- great law scholar -- attempt to reunite the Republican Party
3. Results

• Wilson -- 9.1 million -- 277 electoral
• Hughes -- 8.5 million -- 254 electoral

1. Republicans probably would have won if they had run TR, but the "Old Guard" was mad at the 1912 split.
2. Wilson ran as the candidate of peace, something that wouldn't last long.

Excerpts from my World History Unit 11 Notes

Nationalism in Europe, the Alliance Systems, and World War I, 1848 to 1918

• Nationalism
• Idea of unifying a people based on a common culture, language, ethnic background or some other common characteristics.
• Often mixed with myth and symbolism
• Child of liberalism
• Cousin to socialism, but disagrees with idea of worker solidarity
• All members of one nation, regardless of class, are still part of the nation

• Greatest Instance of nationalism occurred in the Germanic states of Central Europe
• 1848 -- Frankfurt Assembly tries to make Germany but fails
• Conservatives will control the process of Unification
• Strong military legacy
• Strong sense of Nationalism -- many myths and symbols -- Germanic Legends tell of great warrior bands -- resisted the Roman Empire -- plays right into Prussian ideas of unification
• Franco-Prussian War
• Bismarck used France as a common enemy to unite southern and northern Germany
• Bismarck needed public support for a war, which would only come if France declared war first
• A question over the Spanish throne led Napoleon to declare war on the North German Confederation in July 1870
• Bismarck told the southern German states to come on now or he couldn't protect them
• The war didn't last long -- French troops were no match for the Prussian military
• Jan 1871 -- French surrender at Versailles -- Must give up Alsace and Lorraine to Germany in exchange for peace and pay damages for the war (France will want revenge for 1871 for the next 40 years)
• 18 Jan 1871 -- William I crowned Kaiser of German Reich at Versailles -- ironic that the GERMAN Kaiser was crowned at the French seat of government
• Germany -- conservative -- strong military -- quickly industrializing -- immediate world power -- hungry for more power -- immediately strong enough to fight anyone
• Germany immediately wants a "Place in the sun" (a place among the great powers), and is strong enough to get it.

• When Germany united, the other major European powers were concerned. Germany under Bismarck and William I constituted a major European threat, and she wanted power.
• France wanted REVENGE for 1871, but knew that it was too weak to take on Germany alone
• Bismarck needed to isolate France, while at the same time, he wanted to maintain the status quo on the continent. Bismarck didn't want war, just too armed camps. The threat of war would stop men from fighting.
• Bismarck developed a series of shifting alliances
• Dual Alliance
• Signed in 1879 between Germany and Austria-Hungary
• Each side will defend that other in case of a war
• Natural alliance with the two great Germanic Empires
• Three Emperor's League
• Signed in 1881 between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia
• Treaty of non-interference in each others affairs and a pledge not to attack each other in case of a war with a fourth party (France)
• Problem -- Austria and Russia hate each other -- they both see themselves as protectors in the Balkans (home of the South Slavs -- Serbia, Croatia, etc…)
• Triple Alliance
• Signed in 1882 between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
• Problem -- Italy and Austria-Hungary are enemies
• Britain remained in "splendid Isolationism" -- she didn't want to get involved in European affairs -- she had a great navy and a large empire -- as long as no one power got too strong on the continent, English governmental leaders were happy
• Germany was fine as long as William I was Kaiser and Bismarck ran the show. Bismarck's personality and great stature forged the alliance system.
• 1890 -- Kaiser William I died -- he's replaced by William II -- Bismarck fired
• William II was an idiot -- he wants to play with Europe like a child playing with toy soldiers
• He had none of Bismarck's skill in managing the alliance system, and thus the system almost immediately began to break down
• William II refused to renew the Three Emperor's League. The new Kaiser wanted to have closer relations with Austria, Russia's ling standing enemy.
• France sensed an opportunity -- she needed an ally to fight Germany --Russia presented a perfect partner. If Germany went to war with both France and Russia, then the German army would be forced to fight a two front war
• 1894 -- Franco-Russian Alliance signed -- France's isolation was over
• After 1894, the only major European power left without a part in one of the major alliances was Great Britain. As long as the British controlled the seas with their navy, they didn't want any part of what was happening on the continent.
• Steps to British involvement in the alliance system
• 1899 -- Boer War breaks out in South Africa -- British Army wins, but suffers heavy loses -- if the British army has to face a real power, things don't look so good
• throughout the 1890s, Germany under William II undertook a massive military buildup, both of its army and its navy. The German army's buildup scared France. The German Navy's buildup scared Britain.
• 1904 -- looking to bring Britain into an agreement and keep her away from Germany, France offers to settle Franco-English colonial disputes. Negotiations follow, and eventually an entente (agreement) is signed. England is no longer on the outside looking in, but is still not a full partner in the alliance system
• 1905 -- Russia gets its clock cleaned by the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War -- Russia is seen now as weaker than everyone expected. France begins to really believe that she needs both Russia and Britain to fight German aggression. Russia alone is not enough. The problem is that Russia and Britain hate each other and have many problems in Asia over colonies.
• 1907 -- Britain and Russia sign an entente -- Triple Entente is formed
• With the two sides facing each other by 1908, the only thing needed for war was an excuse. The alliance system would drag each country into war.

Crisis in the Balkans

• The Balkans -- area of Southeastern Europe that today includes Serbia, Croatia and other Slavic nations.
• The area in 1914 stood between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Crumbling Ottoman Empire
• The Ottoman Empire had been around for a long time (since the 1400s) and was the last great Islamic Empire in Europe -- think back to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 -- it was the Ottoman Turks that captured Constantinople -- By 1914, the old multi-national empire is falling apart and is commonly referred to as "the Sick Man of Europe". The other European powers are like vultures around a dying animal, ready to swoop in and pick up any pieces.
• Russia saw herself as the "Defender of the Slavic People".
• South Slavs populated the Balkans (the area will become Yugoslavia after WWI. Yugoslavia literally means "home of the South Slavs")
• Russia then sees itself as having a vested interest in the Balkans
• Austria-Hungary also saw itself as holding rights to the region
• 1908 -- Austria annexes the Ottoman province of Bosnia (the ottomans are took weak to prevent the move)
• Serbia, the strongest state in the region and an ally of Russia's protested, but to no avail. The Austrians were a great power and Europe didn't want war yet.
• Russia agreed to back her little Slavic brother in case of a war with Austria.
• 28 Jun 1914 -- a Serbian nationalist shoots Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austria throne, in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
• Austria was engaged and threatened war with Serbia
• Austria looked to Germany for support
• Late July 1914 -- Germany gives Austria the "Blank Check" -- a go-ahead in its war plans against Serbia
• Austria presented Serbia with a series of demands that essentially would have stripped Serbia of its independence. The Serbians refused
• 28 July 1914 -- Austria declared war on Serbia
• 30 July 1914 -- Russia orders full mobilization of its army against Germany and Austria
• 01 Aug 1914 -- Germany declares war on Russia and France
• German war plan -- defeat France in less than 6 weeks -- this was the time it would take the Russian Army to fully mobilize for war.
• 04 Aug 1914 -- German troops invade Belgium on their way to Paris -- Britain uses the invasion of Belgium to justify joining the war
• As a result of the Alliance System, all the major powers of Europe are now at war, with the exception of Italy, which backed out of the Triple Alliance as the war was starting and decided to be neutral for now.

• War fought on two fronts in Europe
• Old generals with Napoleonic tactics. -- Over the top and full frontal assaults
• New Weaponry, especially machine guns and gas
• Horrific Casualty rates
• Western Front (France)
• After initial push in 1914, settles down into trench warfare from the English Channel to the Swiss Border
• Trench system reached back to supply lines -- illustrate on the board
• Battles take place around little French villages and rivers made famous by the War -- all along the trench system -- both sides looking for a "breakout"
• Verdun -- 1916 -- German offensive vs. French Army -- French hold -- over 1 million casualties
• Somme -- British offensive vs. German Army -- 1916 -- 1 1/2 million dead in 6 months
• Ypres -- 3 separate battles for the town -- Germans vs. British -- almost 1 million dead
• In the end, very little movement takes place between 1914 and 1918, but both sides will suffer unbelievable losses
• Eastern Front (Eastern Europe)
• Traditional warfare with large areas of ground taken along a huge front
• Russian Army woefully inadequate against the German Army (fares ok when facing Austrian Army)
• Russian Army forced to give ground throughout 1915 and 1916
• By end of 1916 -- Russia on the brink of revolution an unrest at home -- she is losing the war badly
• March 1917 -- Russian Revolution begins with a socialist takeover in St. Petersburg (Mensheviks) -- Czar Nicholas II steps down -- new liberal government determined to continue the war
• Germany figured out a way to get Russia out of the war
• Russian dissident Vladimir Lenin was in Switzerland
• The Germans put him on a sealed train and then dropped him off at the front
• Lenin made his way to Petrograd (new name of St. Petersburg) and started a Bolshevik revolution in October 1917 -- Marxist Communism
• Lenin promised the Russian people that he would end the war -- he does
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk -- March 1918
• Between Russian and Germany
• Russia loses a lot of land in Eastern Europe and has to pay reparations (payments) to Germany
• Other Fronts (Southeastern and Southern Europe)
• Southern Europe
• Italy enters the war on the Allied Side in 1915
• War in southern Europe will be fought along the Italian / Austrian Border
• Mountain fighting
• Heavy losses on both sides
• Southeastern Europe
• Austria vs. Serbia
• Austria, who started this war vs. Serbia, can not defeat the little Slavic nation
• Ottoman Turks enter the war in 1915 on the Central Powers side
• Viscous fighting between Turkey and the Allied Powers (mostly British) throughout the war

• France 6.2 million
• Great Britain 3.2 million
• Italy 2.2 million
• Russia 9.9 million
• Serbia 300,000
• United States 325,000

• Austria-Hungary 7 million
• Germany 7.1 million
• Ottoman Empire 1 million

America stayed out of the war until the Spring of 1917 -- we felt that it was Europe's business. When we do get into the war, however, we made the difference to the Allied side. Fresh American troops saw heavy fighting on the Western Front and turned the tide against Germany

By the Summer of 1918, German generals had just about convinced the Kaiser that all hope for victory was lost. American troops combined with other Allied troops began to push German troops back to Germany

Early Nov 1918 -- Kaiser William steps down

Nov 11, 1918 -- Germany authorities sign an armistice (cease-fire) and the fighting ends

• Extremely harsh treaty between Germany and Allied Powers (US, Britain, France, Italy)
• Idea of a "League of Nations" to administer the peace
• France -- Bleed Germany white so that she can never do this again -- remember two attacks by Germany on France in 40 years
• United States -- treat Germany with respect and she'll not want another war
• Britain -- sides mostly, but not completely, with France
• Italy -- someone owes me so stuff (explain in Class)
• German representatives told to sign the treaty -- they had no say in the points
• Germany to give up land on both sides
• Austria reduced to German part, but not allowed to join with Germany
• Eastern Europe divided into nation states (somewhat)
• Italy gets very little
• Germany military cut to almost nothing -- German navy and air force eliminated
• Reparations bill -- Germany to pay the Allies for the war
• Article 231 -- German War Guilt Clause -- Germany forced to admit that she was completely responsible of the war

1. 31 Jan 1917 -- in an attempt to cripple the British before America could enter the war, Germany opens up unrestricted sub warfare again. The thought by the German High command was that they could starve the British into submission before American troops could get to Europe in any great numbers, even if America chose to enter the war.
2. Wilson broke off Diplomatic ties, but refused to move towards war unless the Germans committed an "overt act"
3. 01 Mar 1917 -- Zimmerman Telegram intercepted -- Zimmerman, the German foreign secretary proposed a secret German-Mexican Alliance against the USA, whereby Germany would help Mexico to regain the areas taken by the US after the Mexican War in 1848.
4. Still Wilson delayed -- hoping to gather enough evidence to persuade the vast majority of Americans to support war.
5. During March 1917 -- two events happen that drove us to finally declare war

• German U-boats sunk two American merchant ships in the North Atlantic
• First phase (Menshevik) of the Russian Revolution topples Czar Nicholas II's regime in the Russian Empire -- America could now say that it was fighting on the Allied side for "Democracy" against "Tyranny"

1. 02 April 1917 -- Wilson addresses Congress and asks for a declaration of war
2. 06 April 1917 -- US declares war on the Central Powers -- reminder of the two sides in class
3. Wilson immediately went on the offensive in a propaganda campaign -- called the war a "war to end war" and a crusade to "make the world safe for democracy"
4. American troops would not reach the Allied lines in Western Europe for some time, but with America's entry into the war, the Allies could be openly supplied by America's untouched factories
5. Back home -- American society went decidedly anti-German

• Schools stopped teaching German language
• Hamburger - now known as "liberty steak"
• Images of "Huns" everywhere (Germans are not linked to Attila in reality)

1. American government really cracked down on Socialists -- they were against the war -- reminder in class as to why socialists were against the war
2. Leading socialists and radical labor leaders were arrested for espionage and sentenced to prison -- in direct violation of their civil rights
3. Women entered the workforce to replace men going off to fight in the war -- reenergize the woman's rights movement -- first time in US history where women work outside the homes in everyday society -- some will continue to work outside the home after the war, but it will be WWII before women in the workforce approach the numbers of men
4. The US army, with only 200,000 men in April 1917, grew to over 4 million by Christmas 1917
5. Review German War in the East, Lenin's revolution in Nov 1917 and the Treaty of Brest Litovsk in March 1918 -- German troops rush east to fight a one front war before the Americans can arrive -- it’s too late
6. We were to be cannon fodder so that the British and French could win the war
7. Late May 1918 - -German troops within 40 miles of Paris - farthest advance since Sep 1914
8. Once the German advance was stopped, the Kaiser's army began to fall back quickly
9. By September -- Germans basically on the run -- still in France
10. 11 Nov 1918 -- "All Quiet on the Western Front" -- we had saved the world -- or at least we thought so
11. The Fourteen Points -- given in a speech to Congress on 08 Jan 1918

• Wilson's plan for peace
• All secret treaties must be abolished (Alliance system)
• Freedom of the Seas
• Reduction in Arms for all countries
• Adjustment in colonial claims -- designed to help bring independence to colonies
• "self determination" for Poland and other eastern European nations -- designed to grant independence to nations of the Austo-Hungarian, German and Ottoman Empires (all despotic Central Powers)
• League of Nations -- cornerstone of the plan -- international organization designed to make peace work and where countries could settle their disputes peacefully -- forerunner to today's United Nations

1. Germany appealed to Wilson for peace in Nov 1918, and hoped to sign a peace treaty based on the 14 Points
2. Wilson headed to Paris in Jan 1919 to represent the US in the peace negotiations

• France -- Clemenceau -- "Bleed Germany White" -- return of Alsace and Lorraine -- Germany crippled so she can never attack France again
• Britain -- Lloyd George -- goes along with France, but not quite as strong
• Italy -- Orlando -- Italy entered the war in 1915 under promises from Britain and France regarding land, especially the Dalmatian Coast -- Orlando will go home very unhappy -- his failure to get Italy's "stuff" directly leads to the rise of a militaristic regime in Italy under a former soldier, Benito Mussolini.
• United States -- Wilson -- wants a peace based on his 14 points, but willing to compromise on everything but the League of Nations -- this fact will be used by Clemenceau as leverage to impose a harsh peace on Germany

1. German representatives to the peace treaty were "held" as guests while the treaty was hammered out -- all the while German troops are still in France -- the Allies will present the Germans with the peace treaty and force them to sign it -- this will lead to the rise of Hitler's regime in Germany
2. Final treaty had aver 400 articles
3. Major points

• Alsace -- Lorraine back to France
• Germany essentially stripped of its military
• Germany forced to accept complete and total responsibility for the war -- this was Article 231 -- "the War Guilt clause"
• Germany forced to pay reparations bill to the Allies for the damage caused in the war -- designed to cripple the German economy for many years -- bill would have been paid off in 1999.
• New Independent states set up in Eastern Europe -- but not necessarily along all nationalistic lines -- Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia
• Austria and Germany not allowed to join -- they wanted to create a "German state"
• League of Nations created -- US will never join -- Soviet Union not invited

1. Wilson gave up a lot -- Germany was crippled to the point that it eventually caused Germans to turn to Hitler for salvation -- he sacrificed everything for the League, something we would never join
2. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge -- leading Republican -- worked to defeat the treaty in the US Senate -- remember that the Senate must approve all treaties that the president signs -- Lodge hates Wilson personally and hates the League of Nations, something he sees as robbing the United States of its independence
3. Wilson took his case to the American people starting in July 1919 -- he went on a whirlwind tour trying to force the Senate to approve the treaty in the face of overwhelming public opinion
4. Problem -- part of the League's provisions said that the United States was "morally bound" to aid any other member "victimized by external aggression" -- Under the Constitution, only Congress can send the US to war -- under the League's charter, Congress would theoretically be REQUIRED to go to war.
5. Wilson exhausted himself and his frail body began to break down.
6. 25 September 1919 -- Wilson collapses from physical and nervous exhaustion
7. Several days later, the president had a stroke.
8. For over 7 months, he was basically an invalid and did not function as president -- he will survive until 1924, and is known today as a tragic figure whose great vision of the League was years ahead of his time
9. Ironically, the same year (1919) saw the death of the "Bull Moose" Teddy Roosevelt
10. By late 1919 -- America was going back into an isolationist mindset -- we will never join the League
11. Perhaps if the US would have joined, the League would have been able to stop Hitler from rearming Germany in the 1930s, something prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles.