- •Early america
- •Native Americans
- •E uropeans Explore the New World
- •Causes of Exploration
- •Motives for Exploration
- •Spaniards in the New World
- •The English in the New World
- •The Old and New Worlds Meet
- •The colonial period
- •The Chesapeake Settlements
- •Cultural Focus: Setting up Slavery
- •The New England Colonies
- •The Mayflower Compact
- •Cultural Focus: Thanksgiving Day
- •The Southern Colonies
- •Colonial Life and Institutions
- •New England
- •The Middle Colonies
- •Southern Colonies
- •Colonial Culture
- •Fighting for independence Colonies on the Eve of the Revolution
- •The French and Indian War
- •Taxation without Representation
- •American Revolution
- •War Begins
- •Declaration of Independence
- •Fighting for Independence
- •Forming a republic
- •The us Constitution
- •Focus on Government
- •Westward expansion
- •Acquiring Western Lands
- •The War of 1812 and its Effect
- •Cultural Focus: Uncle Sam
- •Settling the Frontier
- •Life on the Frontier
- •Indian Resistance and Removal
- •The civil war and the reconstruction
- •New States: Free or Slave?
- •The South and the North
- •The Conflict Begins
- •Fighting for the Union
- •The After-War Period
- •The Reconstruction Period
- •2) Recruit, recruitment
- •Growth and transformation
- •The Last Frontier
- •Industrial Growth
- •Immigration in the Age of Industrial Growth
- •Labor Unions
- •The Progressive Era
- •Cultural Focus: National Parks in America
- •2) Annihilate, annihilation
- •3) Exterminate, extermination, exterminator
- •4) Magnify, magnification
- •Modern history the united states before, during and after world war I
- •Becoming an Empire
- •The usa before World War I
- •Entering the War
- •Cultural Focus: Veterans' Day
- •Post-War Years
- •The Booming Twenties
- •The Great Depression
- •Isthmus, annexation, collide, ultimatum, crucial, negotiate, armistice, consumerism, disparity, subsidy
- •World war II and its aftermath
- •Beginning of World War II
- •The usa in World War II
- •The usa after World War II
- •The Post-War Foreign Affairs
- •The Cold War at Home and Abroad
- •The post-war era
- •Changing Economic Patterns
- •New Patterns of Living
- •Cultural Focus: Levittown
- •The Culture of the Fifties
- •The Other America
- •1) Suburb, suburban, suburbanite, suburbia
- •2) Fertile, fertility, fertilize, fertilizer
- •3) Metropolis, metropolitan
- •Time of change
- •Cold War – 2
- •The War in Vietnam and Watergate
- •The Civil Rights Movement
- •Ethnicity and Activism
- •The Rise of Feminism
- •The Revolt Generation
- •Approaching the new era
- •From Recession to Economic Growth
- •The End of the Cold War
- •Information Age and the Global Economy
- •Terrorism
- •Bibliography
The usa before World War I
World War I that started in August 1914 grew from the imperialist competition of the greatest world powers over trade, colonies, and armaments. This competition generated two alliance systems that embraced bigger part of Europe – the Central Powers joined together Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the Triple Entente combined Britain, France, and Russia. The struggle between two alliances rooted in Germany's aim to rival Britain for world leadership.
On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia; on August 4, Russia declared war on Germany. Britain, as an ally of Russia and France declared the war on Germany. As these powers possessed large territories (like Russia) or colonies overseas (like Britain, Germany, and France), the whole world was aflame.
For the USA at first the encounter of the war seemed remote, and President Wilson tried to distance America from fighting by issuing a proclamation of neutrality. President also asked Americans, a third of whom were foreign-born or had one or two foreign-born parents to refrain from taking sides, to exhibit "fine poise" and "the dignity of self-control".
But very soon American neutrality collided with three realities: first, ethnic groups in the USA naturally took sides supporting their native countries, second, America was linked economically to England, France and Germany, and, thirdly, many American officials were sure that a German victory would change a course of American civilization and make the USA a military nation.
The USA remained neutral for almost three months trying to mediate the crisis. In May 1915, a German submarine sank the British liner Lusi-tania. The liner was carrying passengers and arms from the USA to Great Britain, so nearly 1,200 people were killed, among them 128 Americans. The accident caused fierce protest in the USA; President Wilson issued an ultimatum asking Germany to abandon sinking passenger ships. The Germans soon violated the rules of neutrality and in 1917 German submarines sank some American ships. President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war on the Central Powers for the reasons of principle, morality, honor, commerce and security.
Most Congressmen voted for the war.
Entering the War
After the USA declared war on Central Powers, Congress passed the Selective Service Act requiring the registration of all males between the ages of 18 and 45. By November 1917, almost three million Americans registered for army, nearly two million soldiers were sent to Europe, mainly to France. At home about a quarter of all American production was diverted to war needs, farming and manufacturing industries boomed.
As many men were fighting in Europe 16 % of the male work force were filled by women, blacks, and Mexican-Americans.
Women replaced men in formerly male domains – 20 % of all workers in wartime manufacture of electrical machinery, airplanes, and food were females.
Americans contributed to the end of World War I by manufacturing products, loans and armed forces. Besides, Wilson defined the war aims of the Allies, submitting a peace plan called the Fourteen Points. The document laid the foundation for a just peace, called for abandonment of secret international agreements, a guarantee of freedom of the seas, the removal of tariff barriers between nations and reduction in national armaments.
In summer 1918, Germany's army was beaten back, and the German government appealed to Wilson to negotiate peace of the basis of the Fourteen Points. Negotiators helped to conclude an armistice on November 11, 1918, by which Germany had to pay for the damages of the war giving up 13 % of its territory, 10 % of its population, all its colonies and a huge portion of national wealth.
The allies, in their turn, agreed to accept Wilson's plan for the League of Nations – an international organization aimed to settle disputes between the countries without war.
Ironically, Wilson's plan was not accepted in his home country – when the League of Nations was created, the Senate rejected the US membership in it. As a result, the League of Nations, without the USA or Russia, remained a weak organization, and when war broke out again in Europe in 1939, the League of Nations appeared unable to stop it.