Discussion Question

Chapter 20 Notes

In Chapter 20, we deal with the causes of the First World War, American entry into the war, and the

political, social, and economic impact of the war on the United States and its people. The nation’s entry

into the war is discussed in “Precarious Neutrality” and “The Decision for War.” Although President

Wilson proclaimed the United States to be a neutral nation in the European conflict, three realities made

neutrality practically impossible. Those realities confirm the interrelation of domestic and foreign policy.

Furthermore, the discussion of the tenets of Wilsonianism and Wilson’s strict interpretation of

international law reinforces the concept that a nation’s foreign policy is based on its perception of the

world community of nations and of its relationship to those nations.

Besides the underlying reasons for American entry into the war, there were obvious and immediate

reasons for that decision: the naval warfare between Great Britain and Germany, the use of the submarine

by the Germans, and Wilson’s interpretation of international law as he attempted to protect the rights of

the United States as a neutral nation. The authors’ inference that Americans got caught in the crossfire

between the Allies and the Central Powers is supported through the tracing of United States policy from

the sinking of the Lusitania to the adoption of unrestricted submarine warfare by the Germans. Therefore,

the Zimmermann telegram, perceived as a direct threat to American security by American officials; the

arming of American commercial ships; and additional sinkings of American ships by German submarines

brought a declaration of war by Congress. Finally, America went to war because of a special sense of

mission. The country went to war to reform world politics, war being the only means that guaranteed

Wilson a seat and an insider’s voice at the peace table.

In spite of antiwar sentiment in the United States, the country began to prepare for war before the actual

declaration, as can be seen in the passage of the National Defense Act, the Navy Act, and the Revenue

Act. Once war was declared, the country turned to the draft (the Selective Service Act) to raise the

necessary army. Even though American military and political leaders believed that American virtue could

reshape the world, they feared that the world would reshape the virtue of American soldiers. Despite

attempts to protect that virtue, venereal disease became a serious problem within the army. Furthermore,

American soldiers could not be shielded from the graver threat of influenza and pneumonia, and more

soldiers died from disease than on the battlefield. Another serious problem in the American army—one

that government and army officials did little to combat—was racism. Not only were African Americans

segregated within the army, but they were also subjected to various forms of racial discrimination.

Mobilization of the nation for the war effort altered American life. Government power increased,

especially in the economic sphere. Government-business cooperation became part of official government

policy. Centralized governmental control and planning of the nation’s economy were largely successful,

but there were mistakes and problems. Government policy caused inflation; government tax policies

meant that only one-third of the war was financed through taxes; and, although organized labor made

some gains, it usually took a back seat to the needs of corporations.

The war intensified the divisions within the pluralistic American society. Entry of more women into

previously “male” jobs brought negative reactions by male workers. Increased northward migration of

African Americans intensified racist fears and animosities in factories and neighborhoods. The

government’s fear of dissent and of foreigners led to the trampling of civil liberties at the national, state,

and local levels. In the immediate aftermath of the war, events both within and outside the country

heightened these fears, culminating in the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids. The American effort to “make

the world safe for democracy” brought actions on the home front that seemed to indicate a basic distrust

of democracy.

Divisions also intensified on the political front, as the debate over the Treaty of Versailles indicates. In

“The Defeat of Peace,” Wilson’s Fourteen Points are contrasted with the actual terms of the treaty. The

divergence was an issue used in the arguments of those opposed to the treaty and to American entry into

the League of Nations. But the core of the problem lay in Article 10 of the League covenant. Critics

charged that the collective-security provisions of this article would allow League members to call out the

United States Army without congressional approval. The belief of many that this was true was at the heart

of the debate against the League. Fear that the United States would be forced to forgo its traditional

unilateralism in foreign affairs led the Senate to reject the treaty and American entry into the League of

Nations.

The American experience in the First World War influenced every aspect of American life, producing

consequences for the future. The war changed America’s place in world affairs to one of world

prominence, and it continued to shape America’s institutions and decisions both at home and abroad long

after 1920.