Chapter XXXI: The War to End War

REVISED

  1. Why did the United States finally declare war on Germany in 1917? Why didn't we declare war on Britain?
  2. What were Wilson's twin goals for the War? Was he sincere, or was he just propagandizing?
  3. What were the most important of the "14 Points?" Which points had the greatest/least chance of success in your mind?
  4. What kinds of preparations had the United States made before it entered the war? How did we mobilize once we were in?
  5. How did the Espionage and Sedition Acts violate the Constitution?...Notice the pattern here?
  6. How was the war financed? How did these efforts contrast with previous efforts to finance war?
  7. Describe trench warfare in detail. Why did it happen? What were its results?
  8. What effect did the submarine have on the course of the war? The airplane? The dirigible?
  9. How did the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk affect the course of the war?
  10. Explain the American military contribution to the war. Why was the spring of 1918 such a ritical time for both the Allies and the Central Powers?
  11. What was the ultimate reason for the failure of the Second Reich in World War I?
  12. Why did Wilson have such a hard time negotiating the Versailles Treaty in Versailles?
  13. Why did Wilson have such a hard time securing the ratification of the treaty at home? To what ends?
  14. What were the final terms of the Treaty of Versailles? Why were they disappointing to Wilson and other international pacifists? Why wasn't Clemenceau satisfied either? How come Adolf Hitler was so mad about it?
  15. A British historian, A.J.P. Taylor, has written that World War I and World War II were really just phases of the same conflict? Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
  16. Who was more responsible for the defeat of the treaty in the United States? Lodge or Wilson?
  17. How did a "smoke-filled room" help seal the fate of the "solemn referendum" and the Versailles Treaty?
  18. Identify:
    • James Cox
    • the "Lodge reservations"
    • Saar
    • Rhineland
    • mandate system
    • "Battalion of Death"
    • Meuse-Argonne Offensive
    • Sergeant York
    • John J. Pershing
    • Belleau Wood
    • Selective Service Act
    • "Over There"
    • Herbert Hoover
    • Wobblies
    • George Creel
    • Eddie Rickenbacker
    • Manfred von Richthoffen
    • Paul von Hindenburg
    • Vladimir Ulyanov
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