HIST 2620 1nd Edition Lecture 14 Outline of Last Lecture I Thomas Woodrow Wilson II Important Domestic Legislation III WWI Roots IV War begins V American Neutrality VI Submarine Warfare Outline of Current Lecture I Submarine Warfare II Wilson s Vision Peace without Victory III German Escalation IV American Intervention V Woodrow Wilson s Fourteen Points VI Treaty of Versailles 1919 VII Results of WWI VIII League of Nations Current Lecture These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best Used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute I Submarine Warfare They unterseeboat U boat they use these to put a cordon around them to make these British ships sink if they try to blockade The Americans not that concerned until some things happen January 28 1915 the Germans sink an American merchant ship That doesn t set Wilson off they are concerned but it s not until May 7 1915 The sinking of a British Passenger line The Lusitania killed 1198 people 128 were Americans Germans make it known that they had warned these ships that they had in place a submarine court and were at their own risk Wilson not willing to listen and Germans said that the Lusitania has arms aboard so thought it was okay to destroy Who does Wilson believe The British Within the last few years we have found there WERE armaments on the Lusitania so the Germans were actually correct but don t matter Their word against the British word and we believed the British Bryan resigns and in his place Wilson names Robert Lansing He was one of the principal pro British advisors of Wilson s which says a lot about American policy after this The Germans pull back from their U boat war and say they will NOT sink passenger ships 1916 Cordon reinstituted around Britain and they sink a French passenger Ship Sussex The Americans are so angry and to prevent instant war the Germans say they will not attack passenger liners but might resume if the Americans try to get merchant ships through the blockade In the meantime Wilson is taking steps to prepare the U S for entering into this war Critics said war with Germany was inevitable between January and September Wilson pushed though congress an increase in the Army and the Navy The U S will pass the Naval act of 1916 and 1917 Also Wilson will seek from congress federalization of the National Guard Also spends money to build a U S Merchant Fleet II Wilson s Vision Peace without Victory He has the platform that he has kept America out of war but at the same time he is preparing for another war Critics of Wilson will see this as two faced After his reelection in 1916 Wilson turns another direction Really began to see change for example he talks to senate on 22 January 1917 and puts before the idea of a third party international organization that would uphold world peace Wilson said there were 4 crucial elements for lasting peace o True freedom of the seas nobody should bother each other This is an American idea true freedom of the seas to trade with everyone without interference o Disarmament these armament races that were going on not only stop the races but also destroy a large percentage of these weapons o Spread democratic self government like America Britain France All have a certain element of democratic self government o Security against aggression This third party could work to make sure all nations are secure against aggression Various Avenues for securing against aggression What Wilson was arguing for was a complete revolution in world order He says this is how it SHOULD work If you follow these ideas and work toward them you can have lasting world peace III German Escalation German s decide they need to work to try to defeat the other side BEFORE the Americans can get into the war German s know that Russia early 1917 had problems fighting against the Germans but also their social governmental structure is falling apart When the Bolsheviks come to power they destroy the Russian Czar and the country is on the verge of falling apart This allows Germany to focus on Britain and France and knock them out of the war It is at this time that Germans put into effect truly unrestricted U boat war Previously there were limits but new generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff were new commanders moved to Berlin to take over the war Ludendorff decides Germany should declare TRULY unrestricted warfare Before making this decision the Germans know that when they institute this the Americans will come into the war so they decide to get ready for this by making a proposition to an American Enemy On the Jan 16 1917 the Germans send a coded message from their foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman to ultimately the German consult in Mexico This is a coded message that is intercepted by the British It says we intend to begin unrestricted submarine warfare 1st of Feb we shall try to keep U S neutral if not Mexico should reconcur lost territory in the U S and will be compensated heavily as allies The British know when they show this telegraph he ll be mad so they hold off till the right moment Americans Feb 5 1917 2 days after they declare unrestricted submarine warfare they break off relations with Germany The British present the telegram to Wilson and it is posted in American papers April 6 1917 Wilson requests war against Germany War to make the world safe for Democracy News arrived in the United States that the Czar had fallen The fall of the Czar and the need of Russian democratic government run by Alexander Kerensky for support He wants to support this government but it doesn t last very long IV American Intervention The Americans get involved at a low level first with Naval forces to get into antaesubmarine campaign He ordered an increase in size of the navy in 1917 WWI when the U S sends over representatives he realizes that the British are very close to falling to the Germans The rep sends back the info that the British need anti submarine warfare ships which they do build to help U S sends over 1 million men to France The Kerensky government falls and a further revolution occurs in Russia headed by the Bolshevik Party Vladimir Lenin didn t use their real names This was the Red revolution in Russia The Bolsheviks are hardcore Marxist communists One of the first things that happen is get Russia out of the war Lenin has to transform Russian economy and society so quickly withdraws Russia from the war The treaty of Brest Litovsk 1918 withdraws