America Becomes a World Power: World War I

Foreign Affairs under President Wilson

President Wilson’s innate idealism was most pronounced in his conduct of foreign relations. He approached other nations with a missionary spirit that often came across as condescending if not outright arrogant. (During the Versailles negotiations that concluded World War I, French Premier Clemenceau exclaimed about Wilson’s program, “God has ten commandments. Wilson need fourteen points!) While his intentions were no doubt good, his methods were often heavy handed.

Wilson and Latin America. Ever since President Theodore Roosevelt had proclaimed what became known as the “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States had been more than prepared to intervene in Latin America at signs of trouble. When war broke out in Central America involving Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, U.S. Marines were dispatched to the region. Secretary of State Elihu Root subsequently arranged a peace conference in Washington to settle differences among the Central American nations. Marines again landed in Nicaragua in 1912 to protect American interests, where they remained until 1933.

pancho villaAmerica's nearest southern neighbor, Mexico, had existed under a dictatorship since 1877 led by President Porfirio Diaz, who had encouraged foreign development in his nation. In 1913 United States had over $1 billion in investments in Mexico. When a revolution led by Francisco Madero broke out in 1910, many Americans were forced to leave the country and some were killed. Madero was soon assassinated by agents of General Victoriano Huerta, who quickly seized power. President Taft would not recognize his government.

When President Wilson came to office he also demonstrated disapproval of the Huerta regime even as another revolution headed by Venustiano Carranza broke out. Wilson announced that he would refuse to recognize any government not established by the will of the people. (He once said, “I am going to teach these people to elect good men.”) As Huerta struggled to defend his regime, U.S. naval units were stationed off Veracruz to prevent European shipments of arms to the Huerta government. When a party from one of the vessels went ashore to secure supplies, they were arrested by Mexican troops. Following American protests, the sailors were released with apologies. Admiral Henry Mayo, in command of the squadron, demanded that the American flag be raised to the accompaniment of a 21 gun salute.

President Wilson received permission from Congress to use force to protect American rights, and American troops landed at Veracruz. President Huerta broke off diplomatic relations with the United States and the two countries drifted close to war. Not wishing to see war break out, the ABC powers (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) offered mediation. A conference was called at Niagara Falls, Ontario, attended by representatives of the three nations, the United States and Mexico. Huerta was forced to resign and Carranza was recognized as President.

Following a brief intervention by U.S. Marines in Haiti, more trouble broke out on the Mexican-American border when revolutionary leader Pancho Villa became responsible for the deaths of Americans on both sides of the border in 1916. A raid by Villa into Texas and New Mexico left 17 Americans dead in Columbus, New Mexico. American mine operators had been murdered in Mexico at about the same time. Under pressure from business interests, Wilson sent General John J. Pershing with 15,000 men to pursue Pancho Villa into Mexico, but they were unsuccessful in capturing the rebel. The American foray into Mexico angered the Carranza regime and intensified anti-American feeling. But President Wilson, concerned about the possibility of war with Germany, withdrew General Pershing.

America's entry into the First World War would be precipitated in part by a clumsy German attempt to get Mexico into the war on the German side. In exchange, Germany offered assistance to Mexico in dealing with the United States. The Mexican government ignored the offer. (More below.)

By the time war broke out in Europe in 1914, the United States had progressed a long way from its isolationist attitudes in the era before and after the Civil War. The Texas movement for independence, along with American notions of manifest destiny, had led to the Mexican-American War. The United States also became embroiled with Great Britain over border issues with Canada, such as the Oregon boundary dispute. Aside from events within the Western Hemisphere, however, America paid little attention to the affairs of other nations. Yet the Industrial Revolution, which vastly accelerated transportation and communication between United States and the continents of Europe and Asia, also turned America’s attention away from her own shores. Although it would have been inconceivable 50 years earlier, by 1914, when one of the greatest conflicts in history erupted, the United States was eventually, some might say inevitably, drawn in.

General Background to World War I—European History, 1871 to 1914

The period from 1815-1914 is often referred to as the “Hundred Years’ Peace,” or “Pax Britannica.” From the end of the Napoleonic Wars at Waterloo in 1815 until the outbreak of war in 1914, Europe found itself relatively at peace. Compared with the long series of wars that had preceded 1815 and the carnage of the 20th century, it is not an unfair assessment. Beginning around 1870, however, events began to evolve in ways bismarckthat threatened the long-standing peace. A long slide toward eventual conflict began, though it was far from apparent at the time. Indeed, following the wars of German unification of the 1860s and the Prussian defeat of France in 1870-71, the rise of the remarkable statesman, Prince Otto von Bismarck of Prussia, seemed to promise a prolonged period of peace. Through wily manipulation of power (what he called Realpolitik) and skillful diplomacy, Bismarck created an alliance system that, although built on the basis of international tension, nevertheless was very stable.

Through a series of treaties, conferences and diplomatic exchanges, most of which were conducted in varying degrees of secrecy, Bismarck carefully built his structure. He knew all the while that it was fragile and indeed might well be upset someday. (He predicted that if and when it fell apart it would be due to “some damned foolishness in the Balkans,” and in fact he was right, though it happened some 20 years after his death.)
Part of the problems for Bismarck and the statesmen who followed him was that industry had begun to revolutionize the world by 1871. Following the American Civil war, with new weapons and techniques, it was clear that railroads, steamships, and other industrial advances were going to reshape defense policies as well as war itself. International economics—manufacturing, agriculture and trade—were becoming more complicated, and more centralized. Nations brought a new and sharper edge to international competitiveness than had been true in more relaxed times. Competition also existed among rival political philosophies, from communism and socialism on one end of the spectrum to classical capitalism supported by more or less democratic regimes on the other. These competing ideas often co-existed within nations, not always peacefully. The world, in short, grew far more complicated as well as more dangerous between 1871 and 1914. Unparalleled industrial, economic and population growth and shifting demographics transformed international relationships. Science was opening new doors, urbanization was changing national landscapes, and huge migrations of peoples were altering the character of nations like the U.S.

Students of American history should recognize that the United States did not exist in a vacuum. Although most Americans were blissfully unaware of the complex events transpiring elsewhere in the world, it would not be long before those events would begin to make their impact felt America. Just as President Theodore Roosevelt had extended American influence into the affairs of Europe and Asia, Europe and Asia would eventually drag the United States into their affairs, including the two great world wars of the 20th century. And although the United States retreated into a position of isolationism between those two wars, in the end there would be no going back. The 20th century would eventually become what some have called “the time of the Americans.” From the 19th century when American policy was often isolationist, the nation came to dominate the “American century.”

Summary of Events:

1870-71. The Franco-Prussian War. Germany is victorious. Under Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck, Germany dominates central European affairs until 1914.

1873. Bismarck creates the Three Emperors' League—Germany, Austria, Russia.

1876. Serbia declares war on Turkey, Montenegro joins. Serbia's poor performance and requests for help lead to the Russo-Turkish War.

1877. Russo-Turkish War. Russia gets to gates of Constantinople, but British threaten intervention if Russia occupies city, etc. Passage of French law laying plans for war causes “Is War in Sight?” article in Berlin, which in turn stirs up panic in Paris.

1878. The Congress of Berlin. Bismarck plays the “Honest Broker,” trying to offer each nation what it needs to feel secure. The Treaty of San Stefano fixes the Balkan picture for a time. The nation of Bulgaria is created. Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro are independent. The “Concert of Europe,” an informal organization created to discuss European affairs, is the accepted condition.

1879. Alliance established between Germany and Austria, the foundation of Bismarck's alliance system. It reflects Bismarck’s fear of an anti-German coalition involving Russia. Germany is interested in getting Great Britain into an agreement, but the offer is mishandled. Great Britain remains in “splendid isolation,” aloof from the Continent.

1881. Tsar Alexander III comes to power in Russia. The Alliance of Three Emperors is formed on a three-year term, renewed in 1884.

1882. Italy joins the German alliance with Austria, forming Triple Alliance. The pact lasts 5 years and is renewed at 5-year intervals through 1915. Rumania joins in 1884. Great Britain remains aloof, France is isolated.

1885. War between Serbia and Bulgaria leads to friction between Austria and Russia.

1887. Strong nationalist feelings of revenge for the Franco-Prussian War grow in France. First and second Mediterranean agreements among Great Britain, Italy, and Austria establish status-quo in the Near East. Signing of secret Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty to replace Three Emperors' Alliance, which Russia refuses to renew.

1888. Death of Prussian Emperor William I and of Frederick III. Kaiser Wilhelm II, age 29, succeeds to the Hohenzollern throne as Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm does not care for Bismarck nor his policies. Bismarck sees the new Emperor as a young whippersnapper. Wilhelm is the first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the grandson of Queen Victoria, and nephew of England’s Prince of Wales, soon to become King Edward VII.

1890. Kaiser Wilhelm dismisses Bismarck. The Reassurance Treaty with Russia is not renewed—the first chink in Bismarck's alliance system. Wilhelm begins a policy of naval expansion, Weltpolitik (making Germany the dominant European power.)

1894. Conclusion of negotiations between Russia and France. They form a military alliance to remain in effect as long as the Triple Alliance is in effect. Aimed at Germany, it provides for mobilization in case of war threats.

1895. Japan has imperial aims in China. Sino-Japanese War ends with the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

1897. War between Greece and Turkey.

1898. Spanish-American War gets U.S. into the imperial game. The U.S. annexes Hawaii, gets Guam and the Philippine Islands. These acquisitions put the U.S. on an eventual collision course with Japan.

1899. First Hague Peace Conference is inconclusive. Outbreak of Boer War in South Africa involves Great Britain.

1900. Boxer Rebellion in China. Besieged foreign legations are relieved by international expeditionary force. Russians use the opportunity to move 100,000 troops into Manchuria.

1901. Death of Queen Victoria. King Edward VII has a favorable disposition toward France, which irritates his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm.

1902. Anglo-Japanese Alliance ends Britain’s “splendid isolation.” It guarantees independent China, etc.

1904. Outbreak of Russo-Japanese War. Japan startles the Western powers with a smashing naval victory at Tsushima Straits. Theodore Roosevelt arranges the Portsmouth Peace Conference, wins Nobel Peace Prize. Russia turns toward the Balkans. Anglo-French Entente Cordiale concluded. Germany becomes suspicious. Moroccan troubles begin when German Minister von Buelow asserts German claims; Morocco will ultimately be French. France becomes convinced of Germany's bad intentions.

1905. First Moroccan crisis occurs when Kaiser Wilhelm II visits Tangier and makes an inflammatory speech. Revolt in Russia leads to Bloody Sunday; the event foretells the revolution of 1917. Kaiser Wilhelm meets with Tsar Nicholas II (they are cousins) to ease tensions, but it comes to nothing.

1907. The Franco-Russian Entente becomes the Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, Russia. Great Britain makes agreements with Russia on Asia, etc. By trying to break this alliance, Germany only strengthens it. Kaiser Wilhelm is furious with Edward VII.

1908. Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina, angering Serbia, which hoped to form a Slavic Union in the Balkans. Serbia becomes the focus for independence movements by Croatian and Slovenian nationalists. Russia protests, but is too weak to act. A series of Balkan wars follows in which Russia becomes a partner of Serbia.

1910. Death of Edward VII. The German Kaiser comes to gloat at the death of “The Great Satan.” He saw Edward as the architect of all Germany's woes because of Edward's friendship with France, and thus also with Russia. (See a wonderful description of Edward's funeral in the opening pages of Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August.)

1911. Second Moroccan crisis when the German ship Panther visits Agadir. Inflammatory speeches in London. French send forces to Morocco to maintain order. Outbreak of Tripolitan War between Turkey and Italy.

1912. Outbreak of First Balkan War: Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece vs. Turkey. Ends with Treaty of London.

1913. Serbia attacks Albania. Russia warns Serbia to wait, not take on Austria.

1914. General Situation:

When the crisis finally broke into war, chaos ensued. President Woodrow Wilson called it “militarism gone mad.” British military historian Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart, himself a vetern of the conflict, later wrote: “Once the wheels of mobilization began to turn, no brake could retard them, no wheel could steer them.”

wilhelm IIIt should be noted that many of the diplomatic agreements described briefly above were executed in secret, without the knowledge of the populations of the nations concerned. Presiding over the Second German Empire, which he proclaimed in 1871, Kaiser Wilhelm II blustered about the European stage like a peacock. The Germans had deposed Emperor Napoleon III, and France had gone through a tumultuous period trying to establish a republic; they were ready for revenge. The Tsarist regime in Russia, nervous because of revolutionary activities that had led to violence in 1905, was hoping to find a cause to rally the Russian people behind the throne. Great Britain, traditionally aloof, was now aligned with France and Russia and committed to Belgian neutrality. Germany was then left with her Austrian and Italian allies and was concerned about fighting a two-front war.

With tensions on the rise, those responsible for military preparedness faced a daunting task. Industrialization had produced revolutionary advances in weapons and other military apparatus, adding to the complexity of mobilization. Railroad trains and vehicles had to be readied and properly positioned; fuel had to be available accessible for the movement of vast armies; ammunition in unprecedented quantities had to be stored near embarkation stations. Mobilization became in itself a virtual act of war. The balloon was about to go up.

The world was wound very tight in the summer of 1914. Ever since the demise of Bismarck, Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II had grown more reckless, and European relations had become increasingly tense. When King Edward VII of England, Kaiser Wilhelm's uncle, died in 1910, Wilhelm celebrated, riding in the funeral parade in the uniform of a British regiment, of which he was honorary colonel. Furious upon learning that Great Britain had aligned herself with France and Russia, Wilhelm felt that Great Britain had stood “between Germany and the sun.” The German emperor was spoiling for a fight. France was anxious to reclaim territory lost in the Franco-Prussian War, and Great Britain had guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium. The seeds of the conflict were already being sown.

When Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo in June of 1914, the system of alliances and conflicting interests was stretched to the breaking point. After more than a month of futile negotiations, the “damned foolishness in the Balkans” which Bismarck had predicted finally blew up. Austria issued an ultimatum to Serbia; Serbia was supported by Russia, and Germany had offered a “blank check” to its ally, Austria. When the declarations of war began, the fragile peace unraveled quickly.

1914: Events of that Fateful Year

Complete list of War Declarations.

Summary of the Conflict prior to American Entry

World War I was by many measures the worst war in the history of the world. It certainly was the worst for the fighting men, who for four long years existed in unthinkable conditions of deprivation, fear, discomfort and death. Millions of men lived in trenches and holes in the ground. They had few opportunities to spend the night in untroubled sleep, in a clean bed, with normal sanitary facilities and decent food. The fighting itself, rather than being long periods of boredom interspersed with short bursts of terror, was more like long periods of intermittent fear interwoven with sustained periods of unspeakable violence. Millions of men died horrible deaths, and many millions of others were wounded physically, mentally and spiritually to depths from which it was almost impossible to recover. Casualties in a single day of fighting often rose to the tens of thousands.

great warThe French, on whose soil the worst of the war was fought, can be said never to have fully recovered from the conflict. They lost half a generation of young men, and memories of that conflict, along with its successor, World War II, are still rooted deeply in the French psyche. The Germans, Austrians, British, Russians and Italians also suffered grave damage and irreplaceable loss. Comparing relative suffering through comparative statistics is an empty exercise; every nation involved suffered immensely. There were no real victors.

For America the war was relatively brief, and the casualties, while large, could not be compared with those of the other major nations. For America, however, the Great War was a turning point: for the first time American soldiers in significant numbers crossed the Atlantic to fight in a foreign war; for the first time America became deeply embroiled in European affairs; for the first time an American president helped shape the fate of a postwar world. For the first time America was part of the Western family of nations in the fullest sense, and the impact of the two million soldiers who fought in France remained for decades. President Wilson and the diplomats who negotiated the peace treaty in Versailles in 1919 changed the course of American diplomacy forever.

Few observers expected the war to last more than a year or so. The German General staff had devised a plan which might, in fact, have brought a swift conclusion to the war. Count Alfred von Schlieffen of the General Staff had devised a plan early in the 20th century. Addressing the possibility of fighting against both France and Russia at the same time, the Schlieffen Plan called for the German army to block the Russians in the East with a modest force while throwing most of its weight into a sweeping movement through northwestern France to capture Paris. To weaken French resistance against the main thrust, German defenses along the upper Rhine in southern Germany were to be light in order to draw the French army in at that point, thus enabling German forces to advance more rapidly towards Paris. Over the years, however, the plan was modified, and in the event, the German General staff overestimated the Russian force in the East and strengthened that front at the expense of the West. Some historians believe that had the Germans carried out their original plan, the war might have been over within the first few months. Instead, within months of the outbreak of fighting between Germany, France and Great Britain, the western front settled into a stalemate fought across trenches that stretched from the Swiss border to Belgium.

As mentioned above, the technology of the weapons of World War I far outstripped traditional military tactics and made old practices irrelevant and deadly. The armies were huge: the Germans mobilized 5 million men, and 4 million Frenchmen were available for the conflict. Russia had even more, but was slow to mobilize. The principle of mass was still seen as the key to victory, but the new weapons—machine guns, barbed wire, artillery, hand grenades, poison gas—made mass attacks a little more than suicide charges. In between the fruitless attacks, the soldiers had to endure the horrors of the trenches: the heat of summer and the wet and cold of winter. Millions of soldiers lived in little more than holes in the ground, where, in addition to the terror of enemy artillery, they had to endure mud, disease, rats, the stench of human waste, gas, constant fear, and shell shock. A British staff officer from London visiting the front broke down in tears and said, "My God, have we sent men to fight in this!”

Throughout 1914, 1915 and 1916 the fighting raged on both Eastern and Western fronts. In September 1914 the first Battle of the Marne was fought with 1,000,000 men participating on each side of the line. Within a matter of days the Allies lost 250,000 men, and the Germans lost even more. This was the most decisive battle since Waterloo. Afterwards the trenches extended from Switzerland to the North Sea/English Channel, and for the next four years neither side was able to break the other.

The Naval War in 1914. Sea power, unappreciated by the French, soon began to make itself felt. The British and German navies fought it out on just about every ocean of the world; colonies would become bargaining chips later. By the end of 1914 Great Britain was in command of the seas, and a naval blockade soon began to pinch the Central Powers; the German submarine, “U-Boat,” was the only effective weapon left to the Germans.

The Russians advanced rapidly westward to assist their French allies in 1914 but were decisively defeated by the Austrians at Lemberg and the Germans at Tannenberg. The Germans defeated the Russian army decisively, taking 90,000 prisoners; the results could have been worse for the Russians, who were poorly led and equipped. German General Ludendorff took command, with Field Marshall Hindenburg as the nominal head, and cut off the Russian “steamroller.” The Russians had terrible counterintelligence; they sent teletype messages in the clear, allowing them to be easily intercepted, and were otherwise careless of military security. Nevertheless, the German General Staff had greatly overestimated the military power of the Russians, whose vast numbers proved ineffective in modern war.

By end of 1914 it was apparent that huge economic resources had been expended, and much more would be required. It had become a war of money and supplies, which affected, among other things, the position of America. The United States was a huge, wealthy industrial giant that had the means to supply the warring parties with much of what they needed to prosecute the war. The Morgan bank, which had historic ties (and offices) in England, loaned large sums of money to the Allied side. According to British historian Liddell Hart, prewar economists were “dumbfounded” by the economic demands of the conflict.

1915. The German strategy for 1915 was to hold the French and the British in the West and achieve a decisive victory in East, knocking Russia out of the war. Renewed offensives in the West, however, included the battles of Ypres and Artois. Poison gas was used for the first time by both sides, but it was hard to use effectively because of wind shifts, etc. Still, it was a horrifying weapon, and thousands of soldiers coughed out their lives. The French mounted major offensives in the summer and fall. There were huge costs, but no results, except recriminations among the British and French generals who blamed each other for the failures.

soldiersThe invasion of Gallipoli in the Dardanelles, the Strait between Greece and Turkey, was Winston Churchill's brainchild. His idea was to assist Russia, open a second front, and use the “indirect approach” to get at the “soft underbelly” of Europe. There was much resistance to the plan, but it was overcome. A huge expeditionary force landed in the Dardanelles, but it got stranded and eventually had to withdraw. Critics thought Churchill’s reputation had suffered irreparable damage.

In 1915 Italy turned sides and declared war on Austria. Italy wanted territory, and to regain her “historic traditions.” The Italian commander lost over 250,000 men by December to the Austrians waiting in the mountains with their machine guns. By August 1917 the Italians had fought 11 “Battles of the Isonzo River”—and were still on the Isonzo.

In the East the Russians tried to defend against a German offensive. The Germans, however, won a major battle at Masurian Lakes, taking another 90,000 Russian prisoners. Although the Russians were able to advance against the Austrians, by September, 1915, the Germans broke through, and the whole Russian front was soon in a state of collapse. Russia lost 2 million men, half of them captured. Facing critical shortages of supply, the Russian army was no longer a serious threat. At the same time, the coming Communist revolution was undermining Russian unity and demoralizing the Russian army.

Fighting also occurred in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia. The British needed to protect their source of oil supplies in the Persian Gulf region. In 1916 Colonel Thomas E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) emerged as a spectacular war hero; he led Arab forces in their revolt against the Ottoman Turks. Using guerrilla tactics, Lawrence and his Arab soldiers destroyed rairoads and other installations. In a daring aid across an “impassable” desert, he captured the city of Aqaba. Serbia was also conquered by Germany and Austria in 1915-16. (See the film Lawrence of Arabia with Peter O'Toole. Lawrence published an autobiographical account of his exploits in the war, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, in 1920.)

Net result of 1915 fighting: 600,000 German casualties, 1,300,000 French, 279,000 British with “no appreciable shift in the lines.”

1916. It was now thought that the Western front was crucial and that the allied effort should be focused there. The Germans reversed their 1915 strategy and tried to crack the Western front, thinking that the French had suffered huge losses and might crack under a strong blow. The year marked the first appearance of tanks, created as mobile pillboxes to serve as a countermeasure against machine guns and barbed wire, which had chewed up men by the thousands. Major battles included Verdun and the Somme. At the Somme a seven-day artillery bombardment was followed by an attack on a 14-mile front. The deadly machine gun led to 60,000 British casualties (19,000 killed) in one day. Total losses in the campaign reached about 600,000 on each side. A French counterattack to retake ground lost in Verdun offensive cost about 500,000 losses on each side.

The Battle of Jutland in 1916 was the high point of the war at sea. The British fleet numbered 151 vessels, the German fleet 99. The fighting went on for two days and a night, and the British lost 14 ships, the Germans 11, but the results were negligible in terms of overall war gains. The decisive battles were fought on land.

Germany issued the Sussex pledge, promising to end unrestricted submarine warfare.

In 1917 the United States entered the war as the situation of the Allies was growing increasingly worse. American troops, however, did not begin to arrive in Europe until late 1917 and early 1918. The Battles of Passchendaele and Cambrai saved the French army from total defeat but otherwise produced no positive results. Also in 1917 the Germans provided safe passage for Bolshevik leader Lenin from Switzerland to Russia in the hope that a communist revolution would permanently remove Russia for the war. The Germans got their wish, and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3, 1918, ending fighting on the Eastern front.

America in World War I -->