Lesson 1: Prelude to War

Lesson Focus

We will explore how President Wilson’s 'moral diplomacy' was tested in Mexico and how complex rivalries plunged Europe into war, setting the stage for America's eventual involvement in the global conflict.

People to Know

Woodrow Wilson, Victoriano Huerta, Pancho Villa, Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Learning Objectives

• Describe President Wilson's 'moral diplomacy' and how it guided his approach to foreign policy in Mexico and the Caribbean.
• Identify the main causes of World War I, including nationalism, imperialism, the arms race, and the complex European alliance system.
• Explain why maintaining U.S. neutrality was difficult, considering economic ties and the impact of German submarine warfare.

President Wilson, aiming for a new "moral diplomacy," refused to recognize Mexico's brutal new leader, Victoriano Huerta.
To force Huerta from power, Wilson intervened by sending marines to seize the port of Veracruz. Later, he sent General John J. Pershing to chase the guerrilla leader Pancho Villa.
This intervention failed to achieve stability and instead provoked anti-American sentiment in Mexico and throughout Latin America, showing the limits of Wilson's ideals.

Deep-seated rivalries over colonies and growing feelings of nationalism created tension in Europe.
This instability led to an arms race and the formation of two major military alliances for protection: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and the Triple Entente (France, Russia, Great Britain).
Note that this system of alliances created a dangerous situation where a conflict between two nations could quickly escalate into a war involving all of Europe.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Slavic nationalist in June 1914 provided the spark for war.
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia mobilized to defend Serbia, causing Germany to declare war on Russia and France. When Germany invaded neutral Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany.
The alliance system transformed a regional dispute into a continental war between the Central Powers and the Allies within a month.

As war began, President Wilson declared the U.S. neutral, but true impartiality proved difficult.
Economic factors tied the U.S. to the Allies, as a British blockade stopped trade with the Central Powers but American exports to the Allies boomed. Propaganda from both sides also influenced public opinion.
As a result, the American economy became deeply dependent on an Allied victory, which compromised the nation's official policy of neutrality.

To break the British blockade, Germany used submarines, or U-boats, to sink ships in the Atlantic.
In 1915, a U-boat sank the British passenger ship Lusitania, killing nearly 1,200 people, including 128 Americans. After another attack on the Sussex, Germany made the Sussex Pledge, promising to warn ships before attacking.
Pay special attention to how these attacks on civilian vessels violated international law and pushed the United States closer to entering the war against Germany.