Apush study guide for ch. 31

1. George Creel: The Committee on Public Information was created to rally public support of war. It was headed by George Creel. His job was to sell America on the war and sell the world on Wilsonian war aims. The Creel organization employed thousands of workers around the world to spread war propaganda. The entire nation was as a result swept into war fever. 2. Eugene V. Debs: The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 reflected fears about Germans and antiwar Americans. Kingpin Socialist Eugene V. Debs was convicted under the Espionage Act and sentenced to jail for ten years. 3. Bernard Baruch: In 1918, Wilson appointed Bernard Baruch to head the War Industries Board in order to impose some order on the economic confusion. The Board never really had much control and was disbanded after the end of the war. Showed American preference for laissez-faire and a weak central government. 4. Herbert Hoover: Herbert C. Hoover led the Food Administration. Hoover rejected issuing ration cards and, to save food for export, he proclaimed wheatless Wednesdays and meatless Tuesdays, all on a voluntary basis. The money-saving tactics of Hoover and other agencies such as the Fuel Administration and Treasury Department yielded about $21 billion towards the war fund. 5. John J. Pershing: The Americans, dissatisfied with simply bolstering the French and British, demanded a separate army; General John J. Pershing was assigned a front of 85 miles. Pershing’s army undertook the Meuse-Argonne offensive from September 26 to November 11, 1918. One objective was to cut the German railroad lines feeding the western front. Inadequate training left 10% of the Americans involved in the battle injured or killed. As German supplies ran low and as their allies began to desert them, defeat was in sight for Germany. 6. Alice Paul: The National Woman’s party, led by Alice Paul, protested the war. Many progressive-era feminists were pacifists and opposed participation of women in war effort. National Woman’s party lead by Quaker activist Alice Paul were pacifists. The larger part of the suffrage movement, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, supported Wilson’s war–leaders echoed Wilson’s justification for fighting by arguing that women must take part in the war effort to earn a role in shaping the peace (democracy). 7. Meuse-Argonne: The United States’s main contributions to the victory had been foodstuffs, munitions, credits, oil, and manpower. The Americans only fought 2 major battles, at St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. Pershing’s army undertook the Meuse-Argonne offensive from September 26 to November 11, 1918. One objective was to cut the German railroad lines feeding the western front. 8. Kaiser Wilhelm II: In stern responses, Wilson made it clear that the Kaiser must be thrown overboard before armistice could be negotiated and the Germans forced the Kaiser to flee to Holland and was not honored. He was the German leader. 9. 14 Points: The message, though intensely idealistic in tone and primarily a peace program, had certain very practical uses as an instrument for propaganda. It was intended to reach the people and the liberal leaders of the Central Powers as a seductive appeal for peace, in which purpose it was successful. It was hoped that the points would provide a framework for peace discussions. The message immediately gave Wilson the position of moral leadership of the Allies and furnished him with a tremendous diplomatic weapon as long as the war persisted. Although one of his primary purposes was to keep reeling Russia in the war, Wilson’s vision inspired all the dropping Allies to make mightier efforts and demoralized the enemy governments by holding out alluring promises to their minorities. The first 5 points and their effects were: 1. A proposal to abolish secret treaties pleased liberals of all countries. 2. Freedom of the seas appealed to the Germans, as well as to Americans who distrusted British sea power. 3. A removal of economic barriers among nations was comforting to Germany, which feared postwar vengeance. 4. Reduction of armament burdens was gratifying to taxpayers. 5. An adjustment of colonial claims in the interests of both native people and the colonizers was reassuring to the anti-imperialists. The largest achievement, #14, foreshadowed the League of Nations – an international organization that Wilson dreamed would provide a system of collective security. 10. Article X: Senator Lodge and other critics were especially alarmed by Article X of the League of Nations because it morally bound the US to aid any member victimized by external aggression. A jealous Congress wanted to reserve for itself the constitutional war- declaring power. 11. Henry Cabot Lodge: Senator Lodge, a critic to the president, came up with fourteen reservations to the Treaty of Versailles. These safeguards reserved the rights of the U. S. under the Monroe Doctrine and the Constitution and otherwise sought to protect American sovereignty. After the Senate rejected the Treaty twice, the Treaty of Versailles was defeated. The Lodge-Wilson personal feud, traditionalism, isolationism, disillusionment, and partisanship all contributed to the defeat of the treaty. 12. George Clemenceau: The Paris Conference fell into the hands of an inner clique, known as the Big Four. One of which was Premier Georges Clemenceau of France. France settled for a compromise in which the Saar Valley would remain under the League of Nations for 15 years, and then a popular vote would determine its fate. In exchange for dropping its demands for the Rhineland, France got the Security Treaty, in which both Britain and America pledged to come to its aid in the event of another German invasion. 13. William Borah: William Borah of Idaho was one of the hard core leaders of the distrust against the League of Nations. They viewed the League as being a useless sewing circle or an overpotent super state. Irreconcilables or the Battalion of Death. 14. David Lloyd George: The Paris Conference fell into the hands of an inner clique, known as the Big Four. Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain was part of the Big Four. 15. Warren G. Harding: The Republicans chose Senator Warren G. Harding as their presidential nominee for the election of 1920. The Republican platform appealed to both pro-League and anti-League sentiment in the party. Warren Harding won the election of 1920. Harding’s victory lead to the death of the League of Nations.