chapter20

= The Great War: A Conflict Forever =

By the early 1900s nationalism, territorial rivalries, and militarism had turned Europe into a powder keg of hatred and petty jealousies. An assassination in a small Balkan state provided the spark that ignited this explosive mix. Within weeks, war gripped the whole continent. Everyone expected the conflict to end quickly, but it settled into a deadly stalemate. The U.S. declared neutrality, but the personal feelings of many Americans and the actions of warring nations tested the country’s stand. Germany’s continued violations of American neutrality drew the U.S. into World War I on the Allied side in 1917. The American’s entry came none too soon for the Allies, who faced a desperate military situation. As U.S. forces poured into Europe the tide turned. The Germans slowly fell back, and in November 1918 the warring parties signed an armistice. The four-year nightmare had finally ended. media type="custom" key="6638477" || Once the U.S. entered the war, President Wilson quickly moved to mobilize the nation. The government set up programs to finance the war, to conserve scare resources, and to redirect industry and labor toward wartime production. Wilson also launched a huge propaganda campaign to mobilize support for the war effort. But as the government whipped up enthusiasm for the war, intolerance of antiwar opinion spread across the land. President Wilson developed a program for a just peace even before the war ended. This program served as the focus of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Wilson had to compromise on many of the points, but the final treaty included the heart of his peace program – the League of Nations. The U.S. Senate, however, rejected the treaty. Without American membership, the League of Nations proved inadequate to solve the world’s postwar problems.
 * === WWI Breaks Out ===
 * People:** Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip ||  ||
 * === The U.S. Goes to War ===
 * People:** Robert Lansing, Jeanette Rankin, Ferdinand Foch ||
 * === The War at Home ===
 * People:** William McAdoo, Herbert Hoover, Bernard Baruch, Harriet Stanton Blatch, Victor Berger ||  ||
 * === The League of Nations ===
 * People:** Vittorio Orlando, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Henry Cabot Lodge ||  ||