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6-A Questions
STUDENT RESOURCE 6-A
QUESTIONS: COLLAPSE
This video describes a number of events, conditions and attitudes that contributed to the collapse of Germany's willingness to continue the war effort. It describes the U.S. war effort and some of the circumstances that lead to the armistice agreement that brought a cease-fire on November 11, 1918.
These questions will help focus your attention during the video. Answering them will help you understand the collapse of the German war effort and what the people thought, felt and did.
1. What are at least five specific conditions-both inside and outside Germany-that directly contributed to the collapse of the German war effort in 1917 and 1918?
2. Imagine that you are General Ludendorff in January 1917 and that you are considering ordering unrestricted submarine warfare for the third time. Given the war situation at the time, what would be at least two possible positive and negative effects for Germany of this decision?
3. What benefits had the U.S. received from the Great War before it entered into combat? Name at least four benefits.
4. How did President Wilson's ideas about war contribute to his reluctance to enter the Great War?
5. What were the contents of and circumstances surrounding the Zimmermann note? How did it contribute to the U.S. decision to enter the Great War in April 1917?
6. What policies and actions did the U.S. adopt to organize and mobilize the entire population to participate in the Great War?
7. What does it mean to be "war mad"? What were specific examples in the U.S. of "war madness?"
8. What were the contradictions between the treatment of Blacks in the U.S. at this point in history and asking Black Americans to go to Europe to "make the world safe for democracy" and establish "a new world order"?
9. What impact did the presence and actions of the American soldiers have on the collapse of the German war effort?
10. Why did General Pershing order his officers to shoot large numbers of American soldiers? What did this order reveal about Pershing, his officers and his soldiers?
11. Why did the German navy mutiny in October 1918? Given at least three reasons.
12. Why did the mutiny of the German navy spread rapidly along the docks and into the major cities of Germany?
13. Why did the killing continue until the very minute of the cease-fire? Give at least four reasons.
STUDENT RESOURCE 6-B
Context and Overview of the Great War: COLLAPSE
When the armistice (or cease-fire) came on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, people all over the world celebrated. In the war-torn nations, the celebration was tempered by the knowledge of what had been lost and what was needed to rebuild. For most nations, the task was to build something new, a "new world order" as some called it.
However, the war had not ended with a resounding defeat of the Germans on the battlefield. Rather, the end came after Germany's civilian support for the Kaiser, for the leadership of the army and for continuing the war effort collapsed in late October 1918. A new form of government and new set of leaders came to power at that time, withdrawing Germany from the war.
The collapse of the German war effort in October 1918 was a remarkable contrast to the strong military position that Germany had held just 10 months earlier. However, the success of the Allies in limiting the effectiveness of the U-boats, the arrival of over one million American soldiers along the western front, the disastrous German offensives in the spring and the effects of the naval blockade against the Central Powers all weakened Germany. Germany could not win the war, so it had no choice but to agree to an armistice and to negotiate terms at the conference table. Even so, Germans did not think that they had lost the war.
Because of the nature of total war and the depth of the hatred that had been created on both sides, the killing and violence continued up to the exact minute of the cease-fire. Along miles of the western front, the Allies fired their artillery until all their shells were gone. On that last morning alone, hundreds of thousands of shells and bullets were fired, when none needed to be. Total war required destruction and violence, even when such actions were neither necessary nor likely to alter the outcome.
The war against German civilians did not end with the cease-fire. The Allies continued a blockade for eight more months, resulting in mass starvation and death for the Germans and the other Central Powers. The decision to maintain the blockade reflected the determination of the Allied leaders-with the exception of President Wilson-to hold the German nation directly accountable for the war and all its destruction. In the days that followed the armistice, the world learned that it is often far easier to wage war than to build a lasting peace.
QUESTIONS1. If civilian support for a nation's military effort collapses, what will be the effect on the military effort?
2. What conditions are most likely to lead to the collapse of civilian support for an army?
3. What conditions are most likely to lead to the collapse of civilian support for the government leadership?
4. Germany claimed that its army was never defeated on the battlefield. If this is so, why did the Germans agree to an armistice?
5. Why did the Allies continue their blockade for months after the armistice?
STUDENT RESOURCE 6-C
The Zimmermann Note
To German Ambassador, Mexico City
Top Secret-Decipher Personally
Berlin, January 19, 1917
On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral the United States of America.
If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The details of settlement are left to you.
You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan.
Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months.
ZIMMERMANN: (Source: Congressional Record, March 1, 1917, Vol. LVI, pt. 1, pp. 680-681.)
QUESTIONS
1. Why did the Germans send this telegram? Give at least three reasons.
2. Imagine that you are President Wilson and have just read this telegram. What are your emotions? What are your first words to your advisors?
3. Imagine that you live in Texas and have just read this telegram.What message would you send to President Wilson in reaction to its message?
4. The U.S. had failed to capture the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa, even though it had sent troops into Mexico looking for him. With this history in mind, how might Germany have evaluated the relative abilities of the Mexican and American armies?
5. Imagine that you are German foreign secretary Arthur von Zimmermann and have just been told that the British have decoded your telegram and that President Wilson has read it. What is your reaction to this news?
STUDENT RESOURCE 6-D
The following is an excerpted version of Section 3 of this Act.
Section 3. Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements,... or incite subordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall wilfully obstruct ... the recruitment or enlistment service,... or shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States ... or shall wilfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully ... urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production ... or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this chapter enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both.
(Source: U.S. Statutes at Large, 1918. Vol. 40:553. Washington, D.C.)
QUESTIONS
1. What are espionage and treason?
2. Why would a democratic nation pass a law like this? Give at least three reasons.
3. How did this law limit the civil rights of Americans?
4. Given the strong desire of Americans to preserve the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, why would they have allowed these rights to be restricted in 1917-1918?
5. If it were passed today, how would most Americans react to this law?
6. Is the government of any democratic nation ever justified in passing such a law?
7. General Pershing had ordered all American soldiers who fled the battlefield during one September 1919 offensive to be shot. According to the American Espionage Act of 1918, if you protested Pershing's order, would your protest be viewed as an act of espionage or treason?
8. Are the penalties and punishments specified in the above law severe enough to deter someone from committing espionage against the U.S.? Would they have been sufficient in 1918?
STUDENT RESOURCE 6-E
Motivations for the American Entry into War
The list below includes important factors that led Americans to support the decision to declare war against the Central Powers in April 1917. These factors were often cited to justify our entry into the war. Throughout this war, Germany was viewed as America's primary enemy, and only a small amount of the pro-war debate and propaganda in the U.S. was aimed at Germany's allies.
QUESTIONS
1. Define the phrase "new world order."
2. Define the phrase "make the world safe for democracy."
3. Why did the American government want to the protect the "rights of neutral nations to use the seas during war"?
4. Which three of the above factors do you think are the most important reasons for the Americans to have entered the Great War? the least important?
5. Which of these factors surprise you the most?
6. Which of these factors should never have been used to justify U.S. involvement in the Great War?
7. Which of these factors are worth dying for? killing someone for?
STUDENT RESOURCE 6-F
Noteworthy Quotes: COLLAPSE
War involves people, not just nations. These quotes will help you understand the thoughts and feelings of some of the people involved in the Great War. After watching the video, you should be able to interpret each quotation in the context of the person speaking and the situation in which the statement was made. (Quotes marked with an asterisk are from the video.)
"It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for things which we have always carried nearest to our hearts...The world must be made safe for democracy."
President Woodrow Wilson, April 2, 1917*
"Let us, while this war lasts, forget our special grievances and close ranks. Out of this war will rise an American Negro, with the right to vote and the right to work and the right to live without insult. These things may not and will not come at once, but they are written in the stars."
W.E.B. DuBois, 1917*
Black American leader
"The feeling towards the Kaiser is steadily diminishing in loyalty and respect...The same people who greeted him so warmly a short time ago with 'Ave, Caesar,' are now ...proclaiming, 'Down with the Kaiser.' "
Princess Blucher, 1917*
British wife of a German Count
"Our machine gunners had the day of their lives. They all agree that it was simply murder. [The bodies] piled and piled up...Fritz's casualties must be enormous."
Cyril Lawrence, Spring 1918*
Australian reporting on the results of the German mass assaults against Allied trenches
"Think of what it was they [members of Congress] were applauding. My message of today was a message of death for our young men. How strange it seems to applaud that."
President Woodrow Wilson, April 2, 1917
Comments made moments after Congress approved his request to declare war on Germany
"It is not an army that we must shape and train for war. It is a nation."
President Woodrow Wilson, 1917
Statement made after he asked Congress to declare war
"Lafayette, we are here."
American Colonel Charles E. Stanton, July 4, 1917
Comment standing before the tomb of Lafayette
"Whole American units ...[were] mowed down literally, falling in place as if they were cornstalks, cut by a single scythe in the field."
Historian David Kennedy*
"I have learned to hate and despise authority more than anything else in the world. I would feel proud to be a German if I had been treated as a human being during my five years of service, rather than as an animal."
German seaman Richard Stumpf, 1918*
Diary entry of a sailor describing life in the German Navy during the war
"It is a pitiful sight to watch the death-throes of a great nation. It reminds me of a great ship slowly sinking before one's eyes, and being swallowed up by storm-driven waves."
Princess Blucher, 1917*
British wife of a German count