Theodore Roosevelt pursued an assertive foreign policy dubbed the "Big Stick" during his presidency from 1901-1909. This included interventions in Latin America and Asia to promote political stability and open markets. Woodrow Wilson maintained neutrality early in World War I but American entry became inevitable as Germany increased submarine attacks on commercial ships. The United States mobilized over 4 million troops and played a pivotal role in Allied victories in 1918. However, Wilson's goal of establishing a postwar League of Nations was rejected by the US Senate.

1. ©McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
21: America and the Great War
Alan Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation, 8th Edition

2. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The “Big Stick”: America and the
World, 1901–1917
• Roosevelt and “Civilization”
– Justifying intervention
– “Speak softly, and carry a big stick”

3. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
“The New Diplomacy”
This 1904 drawing by the famous Puck cartoonist Louis Dalrymple conveys the new image of
America as a great power that Theodore Roosevelt hoped to convey. Roosevelt polices the
world by dealing with “less civilized” people on the left using the “big stick” and with “civilized”
nations on the right by using diplomacy.
© Granger, NYC—All Rights Reserved.

4. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The “Big Stick”: America and the
World, 1901–1917 (Continued)
• Protecting the “Open Door” in Asia
– “Great White Fleet”
• The Iron-Fisted Neighbor
– “Roosevelt Corollary”

5. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The “Big Stick”: America and the
World, 1901–1917 (Continued, 2)
• The Panama Canal
– Panamanian revolt
– Roosevelt recognizes Panama
• Taft and “Dollar Diplomacy”
– Nicaragua occupied

6. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The United States and Latin America, 1895–1941
Except for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Canal Zone, the United States had no formal
possessions in Latin America and the Caribbean in this period; but the United States exercised
considerable influence—both political and economic, augmented at times by military
intervention—in these regions.

7. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The “Big Stick”: America and the
World, 1901–1917 (Continued, 3)
• Diplomacy and Morality
– Interventions in the Caribbean
– Regime changes in Mexico
– Veracruz incident
– Pancho Villa
– Pershing expedition

8. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The Road to War
• The Collapse of the European Peace
– Complex alliances drag Europe to war
– Allies and Central Powers

9. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The Road to War (Continued)
• Wilson’s Neutrality
– Continued trade with Britain
– Sinking of Lusitania
• Preparedness versus Pacifism
– Pacifists and
interventionists

10. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The Election of 1916
Woodrow Wilson had good reason to be concerned about his reelection prospects in 1916. He had won
only about 42 percent of the vote in 1912, and the Republican Party—which had been divided four years
earlier—was now reunited around the popular Charles Evans Hughes. In the end, Wilson won a narrow
victory over Hughes with just under 50 percent of the vote and an even narrower margin in the electoral
college. Note the striking regional character of his victory.

11. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The Road to War (Continued, 2)
• Intervention
– Zimmerman telegram
– Wilson’s war message

12. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
“Over There”
• Mobilizing the Military
– Bolshevik Revolution
– Selective Service Act
– The doughboy
– Basic training
• The Yanks Are Coming
– The Meuse-Argonne offensive
– Armistice

13. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
America In World War I: The Western Front, 1918
These maps show the principal battles in which the United States participated in the last year
of World War I. The map on the upper right helps locate the area of conflict. The larger map at
left shows the long, snaking red line of the western front in France.

14. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
“Over There” (Continued)
• The New Technology of Warfare
– Trench warfare
– Tanks, flamethrowers, and poison gas
– Appalling casualties

15. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
“Over There” (Continued, 2)
• Organizing the Economy for War
– “Liberty Bonds”
– Levies and taxes
– War Industries Board
– National War Labor Board

16. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
“Over There” (Continued, 3)
• The Search for Social Unity
– Wartime propaganda
– Committee on Public Information
– Espionage and Sedition Acts
– Suppressing dissent
– Anti-German sentiment

17. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The Search for a New World Order
• The Fourteen Points
– Wilson’s international vision
– Allied resistance
• The Paris Peace Conference
– Negotiating the peace
– The League of Nations

18. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
The Search for a New World Order
(Continued)
• The Ratification Battle
– Henry Cabot Lodge
– Wilson’s failed public appeal
– League membership rejected

19. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
A Society in Turmoil
• The Unstable Economy
– Postwar recession
– Inflation wipes out modest wage gains
– Labor unrest

20. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
A Society in Turmoil (Continued)
• The Demands of African Americans
– Great Migration
– Chicago race riot
– Marcus Garvey and black nationalism

21. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
African American Migration, 1910–1950
Two great waves of migration produced a dramatic redistribution of the
African American population in the first half of the twentieth century—one
around the time of World War I, the other during and after World War II.

22. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
A Society in Turmoil (Continued, 2)
• The Red Scare
– Popular fear of radicalism
– Palmer raids
– Sacco and Vanzetti

23. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
A Society in Turmoil (Continued, 3)
• Refuting the Red Scare
– Powerful backlash
– ACLU formed
• The Retreat from Idealism
– The Nineteenth Amendment
– Disillusionment and reaction
– Warren G. Harding’s vague promise of “normalcy”

24. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
Consider the Source
• Race, Gender, and World War I Posters

25. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
Consider the Source (Continued)
The Library of Congress

26. ©McGraw-Hill Education.
Patterns of Popular Culture
• George M. Cohan, “Over There,” 1917

27. ©McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
The Unfinished Nation, 8th Edition
Next: Chapter 22
The New Era