The United States in World War I
In the years leading up to the United States entering World War I the American people were given their information about what was going on during the war through newspapers. In this book there are three newspaper articles that provide information about the war to the American public. Read this articles as though you were living in the 1910s and are reading this articles with no idea of what happened during the war. As you read the sources there will be questions that you need to respond to in order to better answer the final question for your assessment at the end of the lesson. If you need help there will be coaches providing extra information about the sources and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Use this graphic organizer to answer the response questions at the end of each source. Also use this graphic organizer to write down your thoughts about each of these newspaper articles. Use this form to orgainze your thoughts to better write your journal article that goes along with this lesson.
The Bee August 14, 1914
Air Fleets In a Death Grapple. German, French, British and Russian Aeroplanes and Dirigibles Battling Among the Clouds. BATTLES In the air! Aeroplanes darting at dirigible balloons, piercing their thin envelopes and exploding their gasoline tanks until attacker and attacked fall to death! Maddened with the war fury, the aviator is glad to die, if so be can but take with him the enemy who disputes with him the mastery of the atmosphere. War in the air is a reality. Long the dream of the poet and novelist who "saw red" in the glare of the sun, It has in the present European war fulfilled nil the dread prophecies that have been made about It. The military aviator, , circling ever upward and outward lii his search for his foe, has come upon him In the upper reaches of the air. There have been sharp, short skirmishes for position, each man Intent upon guiding his own machine aright and seeking to deal a deathblow to tho other's aeroplane. Speed up the propeller, feed the engine to tho last ounce of power! There he is, circling around and look ing for you. And then, in the last fatal dash, drive the nose 'of your machluo into him! Your planes lock and tangle in a mortal embrace you fall, thou sands and thousands of feet but before you land you huvo the fierce conscious ness of having dragged your foe witli you to death! Already we have had such cases. And wo have had, too, tho stories of the gun and tho rifle on laud tilted until they pointed almost to the zenith, sending shell or bullet Into aeroplanes and the dirigible balloons and bringing them down to tho ground with their occupants in n helpless, shapeless mnss. Men are fighting with guns on land and sea ami lu the air. Tho last uudo flled element has been made to serve the purposes of slaughter. Aeroplanes, and dlrlgilles carry guns especially dcslgued for waging aerial battles and bombs for dropping from the heights on armies and cities. All the great lighting powers of Europe are playing ut the dreadful, deadly aerial fighting game. Great Britain, France ami Uussla soud their hopes aloft in aeroplanes. Germany and Austria spread their faith abroad on tho heavens in monster dirigible balloons. Of the heavier than air flying machines Great Britain lias 400, Franco 1.100 and Itussla 800. To Germany is credited tho ownership of 1,000, nnd Austria-Hungary has about -100. In dlrlgiblos Gormauy Is richer than any other country, thanks to the efforts of Zeppolln, Pursovnl and others. Sho lias thirty "battle airships," while France has only twenty nnd Great Britain seven. Austria-Hungary plauued to build six, but that was before the great war began. Just how far they are toward completion uo one knows but the Austrian general stuff. And its members will not tell.
The Day Book January 27, 1917
The Kaiser Today. "Kaiser Wilhelm is 58 today! He is the fifth oldest ruler of Europe and, third in duration of his reign. He has ruled 29 years. He became emperor of Germany and king of Prussia, June 15, 1888, upon the death of his father, Frederick In spite of his years, the kaiser is the most active ruler of all belliger ents in the European War. He travels from front to front, braving' all weathers, and is an inspiration to his 'men wherever he appears. Persons who have seen him have marveled at his power of endurance and resourcefulness. Kaiser Wilhelm was married in 1881 to Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. They have seven children and eight grandchildren. He1, of all European sovereigns, has been the only one to reaffirm his belief in the divine right of kings, in 1911. Next in line to the throne of Germany is Crown Prince Frederick' Wil liam, who will become Frederick IV. He was born in 1882" and was mar ried in 4905 to Duchess Cecilie of Macklenburg-Schwerin. They have four sons and one daughter. The f out rulers of Europe who are older than Kaiser Wilhelm are Peter Nicholas of Montenegro, 75; King Peter of Serbia, 72; Suitan Motiam med V., 72, and King Gustav V. of Sweden, 59. The kaiser is two years younger than President Wilson, who is 60. King George of England is 52; President Poincare of France, 57. The rulers who have' held the throne longer than the kaiser- are Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who. has ruled 30 years, and King Alfonso of Spain, who has been ruler .since his birth, 31 years ago.
The Tomahawk June 7, 1917
On April 5th last Congressman Lundeen made a speech in Con gress which will undoubtedly be largely quoted in the political campaign of next year, for then it will be that the voters of this and other states will have an opportun ity to register their opinions against the act of Congress which declared war. The following quotations are extracts from Mr Lundeen's speech: 'The right to vote on war will soon be seized by the people of the earth. Since the President hurriedly advanced the special session from April 16 to 2, and on account of the ox team mail ser vice now so general, my returns are not complete at this hour, but they run about 10 to 1 against de claring war on Germany. A pre liminary count discloses nearly 8,000 against declaring war and less than 300 for war. The final count will not materially cntige the situation. We have enough ballots to feel certain vas to the result. "I do not believe a congressman should trouble his constituents with a referendum or vote on min or questions, but questions of great national importance, such as war and conscription and any other _reat dominant issue, can easily be submitted by the congressman to his people under his frank for a popular expression. "Of course, there are those who laugh at such methods and effect to deride them but the great mass of voters are glad to take a hand in forming their own laws and ex press surprise that it has not been done long ago. If all of the con gressmen had placed the ballot iD the hands of the voters we would never enter the world war. Let us not forget that Abraham Lincoln once said our Government is 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.' "The President in bis message states that the German people were not consulted about getting into this world war. I ask, were the American people consulted about getting into this same world war? "They were not, except in the Fifth congressional district of Minnesota, where for the first time in our national history all of the voters vere given the ballot on war and there the American peo ple, living in that district, regis tered themselves overwhelmingly against plunging America into war. "When you have declared war you will have to finance the strug gle with billions of dollars and per haps tens and scores of billions. Already we have loaned the allies, through our banking system, up to December 31, 1916, the enormous sum of ,326,900,000 in formal loans. Other huge sums have been loaned and millions have been added since that date. 'Where your treasures are, there will be your heart also.' "That is one of the reasons why we are about to enter this war. Jfo wonder the Morgans and muni- -I-* S Si tions makers desire war. "The munition maker desire to make more munitions, to deliver them and receive their money in return at high war prices. Our financiers desire that Uncle Sam underwrite these and other huge loans and fight to defend their financial interests, that there may be no final loss. It is already rumored that^ we are to loan or give to the allies about ,000,000,- 000, perhaps more. All this, when millions of our own people are in great distress, when our own program of prepared neai is woefully lacking. "As for making loans or gifts to the allies, I have but one senti ment, and that is, billions for America, but not a dollar for the Kings of Europe. "Bread and many other food products cost less today in Berlin and London than in our cities. The situation is getting intolerable, and yet you are plunging us into war. The high cost of living is oppressive now without war. If war comes, God help the poor Congress may forget them. "When the poor cry out for bread when taxes raise beyond the power to pay when riots for food may have to be repressed with the murder of our own people then what will you say? What answer to the hungry? What will you say then, and what will 'your aiswer be to the mother whose son dies in battle under foreign k'nga and emperors? What will your answer be? "Great Britain and Germany have continually violated our rights on the higfb ea.-"- '-jRafib have created great and dangerous war zones' both have warned us to keep out. England even closed the ports of the neutrals to our shipping, unlawfully seized our ships and confiscated their cargoes. "She has censored and rifled our mails the whole of the North Sea has been made a military area by her orders. Both nations covered the ports of their enemies with war zones, strewing the seas with deadly mines and infesting them with ruthless submarines. In both of these zones we have lost Ameri can ships and American lives. "Both countries openly and flagrantly violated international law, but neither aimed their war fare and weapons directly at u^. They treated all neutral countries alike. They acted through neces sity, self-preservation being the first law of life. "We submittedwe surrender ed to Great Britain yet we sacrificed no honor. Great Britain acted through necessity. Germany also acted through necessity. We could have remained away with out loss of honor, but :n the case of Germany we refuse to yield. "We will not submit nor surrender, yet we did submit we did surrender to Great Britain
You final assessment for this lesson involves the journals you have been writing throughout the year. In your journal answer this question:How did newspapers affect Americans during WWI before the US entered the war? Put yourself in the shoes of the people living during this time period and think about how these articles affect your thoughts about the Great War. Use the sources provided in this book to help answer this question. You are required to make reference to at least two of the three sources. As always your journal entries need to be at least two pages of handwritten work or one page of typed work.