Evan Study guide.docx

Section 1: Prelude to War During the time that President Woodrow Wilson was President of the U.S., he felt that the U.S. had an obligation to be a leader in the world in both a moral sense and to be a leader to show the world that we should work for the common good of the world instead of just doing...

Section 1: Prelude to War During the time that President Woodrow Wilson was President of the U.S., he felt that the U.S. had an obligation to be a leader in the world in both a moral sense and to be a leader to show the world that we should work for the common good of the world instead of just doing things for our own self interest. President Wilson would be faced with practicing what he was preaching in his own backyard (the Western Hemisphere). What to do with Mexico? Porifrio Diaz was the dictator who ruler Mexico for nearly 30 years, but he had good points and bad points about him. Good: It was good that He encouraged foreign investment in Mexico It was good that he brought stability to country It was good that he helped Mexico to become part of the world community Bad: It was bad that he was ruthless and did not treat all Mexicans equally It was bad that he would not allow political opposition He was finally overthrown by Francisco Madero in 1911. Madero was not liked by American interests in Mexico b/c it was feared he would return their property to the Mexican people. Foreign investors along with Mexican business men plotted with people in the Mexican army to have Madero killed. He was murdered on General Victoriano Huerta's orders. Huerta took over and was supported by U.S. businessmen, but Pres. Wilson was repulsed by Huerta's actions and rebuked him in public. What would Wilson do to get rid of this guy? Remember that the U.S. was supposed to be a moral leader. Wilson would send the Marines to Mexico to get rid of Huerta. He sent to Veracruz to capture this port city and to start an overthrow of Huerta's regime. However the Mexican people did not want the Americans help in getting rid of this guy. This U.S. action resulted in anti-American riots and demonstrations throughout Latin America. Trying to settle this debacle, Wilson made an agreement with the ABC Powers(Argentina, Brazil and Chile) that allowed Huerta to go into exile and placed Venustiano Carranza as Mexican president. This did not stop the violence or mistrust between Mexico and the U.S. Pancho Villa and his cohorts made raids into the SW United States and killed 18 Americans in New Mexico. In retaliation, Wilson sent 6,000 troops into Mexico after Villa. After a year of searching, the head of the expedition John J. Pershing gave up and came home. Wilson would continue his "Gunboat diplomacy" (if the U.S. did not like a leader in a Latin American country, they would send in the Marines to get rid of that person and replace him with someone who thought like the U.S.) by sending the Marines to Haiti, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic to set up governments that favored the U.S. Was this Wilson's idea of setting an example for the world as a moral non-self-serving leader in world affairs? The War in Europe Causes for World War I: Nationalism was growing amongst the countries in Europe Old rivalries still existed between countries Many groups of people in Eastern Europe wanted to form independent states An arms race was created by the rivalries Formation of complex alliances The Balkan region was a source of tension Empire building in Europe The Alliances: The countries of Italy, Germany and Austria Hungary formed the Triple Alliance. The countries of Great Britain, France and Russia formed the Triple Entente. How did it start? Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary empire was visiting the Balkan region and he was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip who was a Serbian Nationalists. He did this b/c he wanted Serbia to free of outside influence. This act set off a chain reaction of events that would pull all of Europe into this conflict. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and Serbia was backed by Russia and this meant that all the people involved in the alliances would have to go to war. What did this mean to the U.S.? at the beginning of the U.S. was neutral, but it was hard to remain in this position b/c of all the different nationalities that resided in the U.S. Were we really neutral? the U.S. bought $2 billion dollars in British and French war bonds U.S. government lent the allies $2 billion the U.S. said it was neutral, but the whole time they were sending supplies to England via cargo and passenger ships. This would cause problems. Examples: the sinking of the Lusitania with 128 Americans killed ( the Germans did warn Americans not to go on this ship). The sinking of the Sussex which injured U.S. citizens was the last straw for President Wilson. He issued a stem warning to the Germans to stop sinking passenger ships or else. The German's agreed b/c they did not want the U.S. against them in the war. This agreement was the Sussex Pledge. It stated that the Germans would not sink any more merchant or passenger ships and that they would compensate those injured on the Sussex. In return the U.S. would not go to war against the Germans.