Main Themes 1. How the United States, which had leaned toward the Allies since the outbreak of World War I, was eventually drawn into full participation in the war. 2. That the American intervention on land and sea provided the balance of victory for the beleaguered Allied forces. 3. How the Wilson administration financed the war, managed the economy, and encouraged public support of the war effort. 4. That Woodrow Wilson tried to apply his lofty war aims to the realities of world politics and that he substantially failed. 5. That the American war effort had profound economic, social, and racial significance.
| Learning Objectives A thorough study of Chapter Twenty-Three should enable the student to understand: |
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The background factors and the immediate sequence of events that caused the United States to declare war on Germany in 1917. |
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The contributions of the American military to Allied victory in World War I. |
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The extent of government control of the economy during World War I and the results of that control. |
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Propaganda and the extent of war hysteria in the United States during World War I. |
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The announced American objectives in fighting the war. |
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Woodrow Wilson's successes and failures of Versailles. |
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The circumstances that led the United States to reject the Treaty of Versailles. |
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The economic problems the United States faced immediately after the war. |
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The reasons for the Red Scare and the upsurge of racial unrest in postwar America. |