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TRIPLE WALL OF PRIVILEGE
- 1. Banks
- 2. Trusts
- 3. Tariff
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UNDERWOOD TARIFF
- 1913
- Unlike other tariffs, it was an immediate tariff reduction
- · Before, Cleveland could not reduce the tariff so readily because he never served in the Civil War
- o Afraid of protesting war veterans who wanted pensions
- · Most of the GAR were dead
- · There was also a democratic majority in Congress this time
- Ø Wilson broke tradition to get the bill passed; he went to Congress to deliver a speech
- · No president between John Adams and Woodrow Wilson personally went to Congress to persuade it to get a bill passed
- · Congress was not so happy à “Prez, get offa my turf!”
- Ø To make up for the large reduction by the tariff, Wilson instituted a graduated income tax for lost revenue
- · But how?
- o Before, income tax was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
- o However, 16th amendment was passed in 1913, which allowed income taxes
- · Graduated income tax applied to those who earned over $3,000 per year
- o Fortunately for most Americans, they only made $3,000 in 5 years, so the income tax did not affect them
- § They were still affected by the tariff though
- o Big business was affected by both the income tax and tariff
- Ø Average people were the most affected by the tariff
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FEDERAL RESERVE ACT
- 1913
- Government could not rely on people like JP Morgan to bail them out—needed a more secure system
- Ø Created a set of federal reserve banks led by a federal reserve board
- Ø Federal Reserve Board
- · Controls money by manipulating interest rates and getting people to pay more
- · Can provide an influx of cash quickly
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISION ACT
- 1914
- Goes after companies with bribery, false advertising, false labeling, etc.
- Ø Trade Commission can heavily fine companies for bribery and mislabeling
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CLAYTON ANTI-TRUST ACT
- 1915
- Exempted labor unions from anti-trust legislation
- · Stopped price discrimination
- · Outlawed interlocking directorates (group of people running many companies)
- o JP Morgan lost importance
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Ø Not in US interest to have a strong, well-organized Mexico
- Ø 1914: Mexico government was set up
- · Different groups led by Huerta, Lafianza, and Pancho Villa wanted to overthrow the government
- · US wanted to help
- · General Huerta staged a coup, helped by Carranza and Pancho Villa
- · When Huerta revolted, the US supported him. When he took over Mexico, US did not
- Ø As a result of US-Mexico border raids, US warships are sent to Vera Cruz
- · Drunken sailors get arrested; Admiral demands release and a 21-gun salute
- · Mexico releases them but do not salute
- · Wilson went to Congress to ask to use force against Mexico
- Ø 1914-15: Americans were killed on their homeland by Mexicans
- · All of these killings were blamed on Pancho Villa, but he only led a few of them
- Ø General John J. Pershing: sent with troops by Wilson to Mexico to hunt down Pancho Villa
- · Terrain is difficult, Villa has popular support
- · Though many of his top men were captured, Pancho was never caught himself
- Ø Carranza went to power; US cut him off as well
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FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 1870-71
- Ø Backdrop (Austro-Prussian War 1866)
- · Two parts of Germany (Austria and Prussia) did not like each other
- o Austria wanted to unify German states sans Prussia and make the capital Vienna
- o Prussia wanted to unify German states sans Austria and make the capital Berlin
- o 1866: Austro-Prussian War resulted in Prussian dominance over German states
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CAUSES OF WWI
- 1. Imperialism
- 2. Nationalism
- 3. Militarism
- Ø Arms race
- Ø Large trained armies
- Ø A million more troops in reserve
- 4. Alliances
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SARAJEVO ASSASSINATION
1914
- Ø Europe at this time was peaceful
- Ø Britain, Russia, Germany were on good terms since royal families intermarried
- Ø Tension among the working class
- Ø Franz Ferdinand: Archduke of Austria-Hungary, reformer
- o Franz Josef: emperor of Austria Hungary who ruled for 13 years
- o Czechs, Poles, Slovaks were minorities who wanted their own countries
- Ø Ferdinand went to unstable region Sarajevo of Serbia on a very bad day
- · Sarajevo had been conquered by the Turks 500 years prior
- Ø Black Hand – secret pro-Serbian independence
- · Assassinated Ferdinand in Sarajevo
- o Done on a day of national mourning against imperialism
- o Bombed the car, did not kill him
- o Garillo Princip: shot Ferdinand
- Ø Austrian generals were happy – time to teach Serbia a lesson
- · Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia in hopes of not agreeing
- o Secret police occupied Serbia
- · Serbia agreed, but under the excuse of taking too long, Austrian troops were sent anyway
- Ø Russia got involved
- · Serbia and Russia were both Slavic countries
- · Defended their own people
- · Russia mobilized to help Serbia
- Ø All generals from all the countries wanted war
- Ø Bismarck did all he could to prevent another war
- · But Russia and France ganged up on Germany
- · Bismarck was also dismissed
- Ø Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary
- Ø Triple Entente: France, Russia, England
- · British joined because of the Dreadnought situation
- · Germany hoped that in case of war, England would not join or side with its longtime enemies to fight GermanyUS and Italy later joined Triple Entente
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BATTLE OF THE MARNE
- Ø French and British stopped German advance
- · Spotted by plane: pure luck
- Ø Battle took place 300 miles of trenches across France, Belgium, Germany, etc.
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SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
- Ø Ran by Helmut van Molke
- Ø Plan
- · Knew that France would attack through Alsace-Lorraine – left troops there as a distraction
- · Russia would attack through north – they would be slow
- · Germany would be ready – surround the French army, and they will surrender
- o Kesselschlacht – had been done before
- o Predicted that France would be beaten in 6 weeks
- o Germans went back to fight Russia
- · BUT, Molke messed up the plan by moving troops everywhere; spotted by plane
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FRENCH PLAN
- Ø Calvary charge through Germany
- · Carried by spirit and élan
- o Lances, plumes, helmets, etc.
- · Turned out to be a mass slaughter
- · WIN only because dashing good looks and Frenchness
- Ø Plan 17: just involved more people
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LUSITANIA
1915
- Ø Fastest and most luxurious boat of that time
- Ø The boat continued to sail even during WWI
- · Americans still visited England for business, vacation, etc.
- o They believed that they would be protected and would not be affected by warfare because the US was neutral in the war
- · Germans warned Americans by putting ads in newspapers, stating that Americans will be put at risk if they enter the war zone
- Ø The boat was hit by a torpedo from a German boat and sunk in 20 minutes
- · Lifeboats were rendered useless due to the angle of the boat as water kept entering the hole created by the torpedo
- · 128 Americans died
- Ø Germans celebrated this event and even gave medals to the crew of the U-boat that shot the torpedo
- · The wrong date, a day earlier than the actual assault, was accidentally printed on the medals
- o British used this as propaganda to point out the Germans had planned such a horrendous attack
- Ø Wilson wanted to send a telegram warning Germany that the US would start war with them if Germans continued to kill Americans on ships
- · However, Britain was doing the same thing to Americans around the same time, but Wilson never considered going to war with them
- · Secretary of State Bryans detested this biased behavior towards the Allies instead of being neutral
- o Bryan quit his position since Wilson sent the biased telegram to Germany
- Ø Germans claimed they fired at Lusitania because it carried contraband onboard to deliver to Britain, which is a violation of international law
- · However, in defense, the Germans could not have known that contraband was on the ship before torpedoing it
- Ø As a result, Wilson proclaimed that there would be no more unrestricted submarine warfare
- · Germany laughs
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Gallipoli
1915
- Ø Plan was to seize Constantinople, a key access from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea
- · Britain could then knock out Germany’s ally the Ottoman Empire out of the war and attack Germany from the east
- · ANZACs (British troops from Australia/New Zealand) were used for the plan
- Ø Allies believed the Turkish troops protecting their capital would be weak
- · WRONG: the Turkish troops had modern weapons just like in the Western Front
- · British were forced to leave after 4-5 months
- o While the plan was a failure, the evacuation was well executed; no British soldiers died while retreating
- Ø Winston Churchill advocated this plan and tried it in WWII as well, but it was a failure in both
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BATTLE OF VERDUN
- Ø (Germany offensive)
- · Moltke leaves and is replaced by Falkenheyn as the commander of all German armies
- · “Bleed France White”
- o Plan was to solely kill the French army
- o Verdun: Falkenheyn found a location where he predicted all of the French troops would go to in order to carelessly defend it if it were attacked
- § Germany had stormed it in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War as well and wiped out many French soldiers
- o French General Pétain, however, claimed that the Germans “shall not pass”
- § The French counterattack
- § Falkenheyn kept trying to send more troops to storm Verdun, but the French continued to defend it
- § Both sides suffered heavy losses
- o Germany was forced to stop the storm when the British attacked somewhere north
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BATTLE OF THE SOMME
- (Anglo-French Plan)
- · Sir Haig was the commander of the British
- · General Joffre was the commander of the French
- · Many more men were determined to volunteer in the army
- o All the volunteers became known as Kitchener’s Army
- · Plan was to have an unprecedented artillery barrage
- o The cannons could be heard even in London
- o British tried to get a German hold by wiping out German troops with the bombardment
- o To their horror, Germans came out of their trenches after the barrage and fired at the oncoming British who were advancing to seize the hold
- § 5,000 British were killed in the first 20 minutes
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BATTLE OF JUTLAND
1916
- Ø The prophesized Mahan battle
- Ø If Germany won this battle, they would have won the war
- Ø British Navy (World’s Number 1 Navy)
- · More battleships
- · Faster ships with bigger guns à Key to winning naval battles
- Ø German Navy (World’s Number 2)
- · More armor
- · Had more water-type compartments below deck, which meant the ship took in less water if hit à less water means lighter weight and more mobility
- · Better-trained crews
- Ø A Look into the Arms Race of Cruisers
- · Cruiser – attacked enemy commerce ships
- · Armored (heavy) cruisers – attacked cruisers
- · Battle cruisers – attacked heavy cruisers
- o Had large guns
- o Played a large part in the Battle of Jutland even though they were not designed for actual naval battles
- § Destroyers were also used to screen the battlefield for enemies, torpedoes, etc.
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ELECTION OF 1916
- Ø Republican: Charles Evans Hughes
- · Republican committee did not want TR to run and split the party again
- · TR decided to campaign for Hughes instead of running, knowing that Wilson was the enemy to fight against
- Ø Democrat: Woodrow Wilson
- · His campaign was “He kept us out of the war”
- · Won only by a little
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HOMEFRONT ESPIONAGE ACT
1917
- Ø Prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, support of America's enemies during wartime, promotion of insubordination in the military, and interference with military recruitment
- Ø 1919: Schenck v. United States
- · Supreme Court declared that he act did not violate the freedom of speech of those convicted under its provisions
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SEDITION ACT
1918
- Ø Was actually an amendment to the Espionage Act
- Ø Forbade the use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, its flag, or its armed forces or that caused others to view the American government or its institutions with contempt
- · You could criticize the war but could not criticize the US government
- Ø Also allowed the Postmaster General to refuse to deliver mail that met those same standards for punishable speech or opinion
- Ø Applied only to times when the United States is in war
- Ø Repealed on December 13, 1920
- Ø Eugene Debs was jailed for criticizing the government
- · Later pardoned by Harding
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NATIONAL WAR LABOR BOARD
- April 1918
- Ø Led by William Taft *mirthquakes, haha*
- Ø Taft convinced Gompers and other unions to not go on strike during the war
- · Taft made amends with big companies so they would support the war effort
- Ø 1919: After the war and the board’s disbandment, an abundance of record major strikes occurred
- · Record strike in history in America until after WWII
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18th Amendment
1919
- Ø Prohibition Amendment
- Ø Backed by Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
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1920
- Ø Women’s suffrage
- Ø President Wilson did not support women’s suffrage, but he began to support it when he needed women as a war measure
- · Forced to give women suffrage when they claimed that Wilson wanted a world of democracy when they did not even have it in America
- Ø Backed by National American Women Suffrage Association
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