World War I began in 1914 and the United States entered in 1917 in response to German submarine warfare and an intercepted telegram proposing a German-Mexican alliance against America. The war was fought largely in trenches and led to massive casualties before ending in 1918. The Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh terms on Germany, sowing discontent. In the 1920s, the U.S. experienced economic boom but the stock market crash of 1929 plunged the country into the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt responded with his New Deal programs to provide relief, recovery, and reform through new agencies and public works.

1. 1914-1918*
*US Enters 1917
WORLD WAR I

2. World War I (1914-1918)
• Causes of World War I
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Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
Immediate cause assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (AustriaHungary) by a Serbian nationalist
• Two Sides:
• Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey
• Allied Powers: Britain, Russia, Serbia, France, U.S. (1917)
• Lusitania (1915)- British passenger liner, German u-boats sank it, 128
Americans killed. Americans angered, but not ready to go to war.

3. World War I (cont.)
• Reasons U.S. enters 1917:
• Zimmerman Telegram: Germany tried to get Mexico to invade
U.S.
• Unrestricted submarine warfare by German U-Boats
• American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
• Led by General John J. Pershing
• Organized inexperienced troops into an effective military
• Participated in the last major offensive of the war
• Battle of Argonne Forest- many Americans died, but led to the
surrender of Germany
• Armistice, ending the war, signed on Nov. 1918

4. World War I (cont.)
• Trench warfare was fought along Western Frontier
• Stalemate – neither side advancing in a war
• New technology in WWI led to a stalemate and a war of
attrition (lots of casualties)
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Machine Guns
Tanks
Airplanes
Poison gas

5. World War I (con’t)
• Home front:
• US enlarged the military through a draft - Selective Service Act
• Propaganda used to obtain support for the war (i.e. Huns/Germans are
BAD, going to destroy the world, etc.)
• U.S. citizens encouraged to buy liberty bonds
• Asked to ration food and supplies
• Women took men’s place in factories
• Espionage and Sedition Acts
• Made it illegal to obstruct the draft or speak out against the government
• People thought it violated the 1st amendment

7. Effects of World War I
• Fourteen Points
• Written by President Woodrow Wilson
• Goal  prevent future wars
• Proposed the creation of the League of Nations
• League of Nations = international organization to maintain world peace
• Treaty of Versailles
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ended WWI
Germany had to pay war reparations and accept sole responsibility for war.
Led to the rise of Hitler and WWII.
Created the League of Nations
U.S. does NOT sign the Treaty
• U.S. didn’t accept League of Nations, opposition led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
• International organization could limit US ability and choice to act
• Domestic Response
• “Return to Normalcy” in U.S. after World War I Isolationism & Neutrality
• Stayed out of most international issues, including the League of Nations

8. ROARING 20’S

9. Social Issues of the 1920s
• Nativist, Anti-immigrant sentiments in America
• The Red Scare
• Fear of communists and anarchists, mostly immigrants
• Palmer Raids – round up of over 4,000 suspected anarchists after bombings
• National Origins Act 1924 - U.S. limits immigrants, sets a quota (allowance) for each
country, especially against “new immigrants”
• Resurgence of the KKK
• Sacco and Vanzetti – anarchists and Italian immigrants sentenced to death for
murder, were not given a fair trial.
• Prohibition - 18th amendment
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alcohol production, consumption, and sales were prohibited
Bootlegger, Volstead Act – terms associated with smuggling liquor.
organized crime increased (mafia)
Speakeasies - illegal bars
21st amendment overturned Prohibition

10. Social Issues of the 1920s (cont.)
• Conflict between old (traditional) and new (modern) values
• Scopes Trial - evolution case, “monkey trial”
• William Jennings Bryan - expert witness for prosecution
• Clarence Darrow - defense attorney for Mr. Scopes
• Role of women
• Flappers– change attitudes for women, clothing, hairstyles
• New Ideas
• Social Darwinism – human races compete for survival just like animals, the
fittest will survive
• Eugenics – belief that humans could be strategically bred to improve the
race, superior parents= even better children, link to Social Darwinism

11. Key People of the 1920’s
• Charles Lindbergh – 1st to fly solo over Atlantic Ocean from NY to Paris in
“Spirit of St. Louis” (plane), American hero.
• Henry Ford – introduced assembly line production to automobiles (Model
T cars)
• Assembly line- each person has a specific task in the production of a good
• Caused mass (and fast) production of goods, lower costs, and increased
sales
• Glenn Curtiss – the Father of Naval Aviation; the U.S. Navy’s Curtiss NC-4
Flying Boat became the first aircraft to successfully cross the Atlantic
Ocean, designed a boat to take off and land on water
• Marcus Garvey – established the Universal Negro Improvement
Association, wanted to foster worldwide unity among all Africans, also
promoted the “Back-to-Africa Movement” which encouraged African
Americans to return to Africa

12. Culture of the Roaring 20’s (1920s)
• Talkies – movies
• Tin Pan Alley – in New York City, area where song-writers
developed American pop music in a variety of stylesblues, jazz, ragtime
• Harlem Renaissance - African Americans enter into
mainstream arts (literature, jazz, etc.)
• Langston Hughes- poet

13. Great Migration 1910-1930
• Movement of 1.3 million African Americans out of the South
to Northern, Mid-Western and Western states.
• Reasons:
• Racial violence and discrimination
• Mechanization of cotton production
• Demand for labor in cities, especially during war time

14. Economics of the 1920s
• Republican Presidents during 1920s
• Warren Harding 1920
• “return to normalcy”- turning away from international efforts and away from
the programs of the Progressive Era (cost too much money).
• Teapot dome scandal – cabinet member leased oil from government land to
friends in exchange for bribes, one of many scandals that tainted Harding’s
reputation
• Calvin Coolidge 1924
• Herbert Hoover 1928
• Presidents supported lower taxes, high import tariffs, and more laissez
faire attitude toward businesses
• Installment buying (credit) by American consumers increased because of
advertising, this contributed to the Great Depression.
• Era of mass consumption

15. GREAT DEPRESSION & NEW DEAL

16. Great Depression (1929-1941)
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Stock market crashes (October 29, 1929)
Stock bought on credit hoping to sell it for a profit later (speculation)
High tariffs on imported goods hurt trade with other countries
Over production of consumer goods
Monetary policy of the Federal Reserve System
• Dustbowl - drought in Great Plains caused dust storms and farmers to migrate to California in the
1930s (The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck).
• Effects:
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Hoovervilles (makeshift shelters, slums)
High unemployment
Bank failures
Deportation of European and Mexican immigrants
• Presidents:
• Herbert Hoover (1928-1933) - did not think that it was the role of the federal government to help
• Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945)

17. The New Deal
• New Deal – Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to help Americans during the Great Depression.
• Fireside chats - FDR spoke to nation on radio about the Depression and WWII, calmed
their fears
• Programs:
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) – protects people’s money in banks STILL
EXISTS TODAY
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – regulates the stock market STILL EXISTS
TODAY
• Social Security Administration – insurance/retirement for elderly, government
responsible for people’s economic welfare, STILL EXISTS TODAY
• Federal Housing Administration (FHA) – helps people obtain mortgage loans from banks
STILL EXISTS TODAY
• Work Programs (i.e. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Works Progress Administration
(WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC))
• Created job opportunities for people
• Improved infrastructure across America– dams created, electricity for rural areas

18. The New Deal (cont.)
• Eleanor Roosevelt – first lady, encouraged women to pull their families through the
great depression
• Court Packing Plan- FDR tries to enlarge the Supreme Court to protect the New Deal
• violated constitutional principle of separation of powers
• Action blocked by Congress
• Impact of New Deal and Great Depression
• Americans look to federal government for solutions to economic problems.
• Federal government becomes more involved than EVER in everyday lives of Americans.
• FDR’s presidency led to the 22nd Amendment – established term limits for presidents
(2)
• Depression ends during WWII because military production during the war created jobs
which increased the economic growth in the U.S.