World War I
Trends and Themes of the Era
- Although the U.S. wanted to stay neutral
in the war, it could not. U.S. involvement in the war helped turn
the tide in favor of the Allies. If the Spanish-American War had
left any doubt, World War I firmly established the U.S. as a dominant
world power.
- Woodrow Wilson saw the war as an opportunity to prevent
future wars. He wanted to end the war through a liberal peace agreement,
but Allied nations and Republicans in Congress rejected his attempts.
The U.S. also refused to join the League of Nations, which was conceived
by Wilson.
- The war effort brought blacks and women into the workforce
in record numbers. It also prompted the migration of nearly 500,000
blacks from the South to the North. Women’s contributions to the
war effort resulted in the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment (women’s
right to vote).
- Progressivism continued throughout the war, securing its
last
great success with the prohibition of alcohol in the form of the
Eighteenth Amendment.
