Deck 23: Woodrow Wilson and the Great War

Question 1

President Wilson's basic approach to foreign relations was that he

A) favored aggressive military expansion by America.
B) thought the Open Door policy and the Panama Canal should be abandoned as imperialistic.
C) wanted to spread the gospel of American democracy to enlighten the unfortunate and ignorant.
D) demonstrated a hard-headed, almost cynical, realism.

Answer 1

wanted to spread the gospel of American democracy to enlighten the unfortunate and ignorant.

Question 2

The idealistic president who set out to raise the moral tone of American foreign policy by denouncing dollar diplomacy was

A) William Howard Taft.
B) Theodore Roosevelt.
C) Woodrow Wilson.
D) William McKinley.

Answer 2

Woodrow Wilson.

Question 3

Wilson became deeply involved in Mexican politics in response to the reactionary General ________, who led the 1913 coup and had his former chief murdered.

A) Francisco Madera
B) Adolfo Diaz
C) Francisco Villa
D) Victoriano Huerta

Answer 3

Victoriano Huerta

Question 4

After Victoriano Huerta fled from power, President Wilson made a mistake regarding his policy toward Mexico. What was it?

A) He maintained strict neutrality.
B) He supported the provisionary government because of their commitment to social reform.
C) He landed the marines at Vera Cruz to restore stability.
D) He supported one of Huerta's generals, Francisco "Pancho" Villa.

Question 5

In 1916, United States troops, commanded by General John J. Pershing, invaded ________ to capture "Pancho" Villa.

A) Haiti
B) Puerto Rico
C) Nicaragua
D) Mexico

Question 6

The Great War was precipitated by the

A) Austrians launching a massive offensive across Switzerland in order to outflank and surprise the French.
B) assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by a Serbian nationalist.
C) French invading Germany to seek revenge for their humiliation in the Franco-Prussian War.
D) inability of the French and the Germans to reach a peaceful settlement in their dispute over control of the Alsace-Lorraine region.

Question 7

At the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, the Allied Powers included

A) Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Turkey, and Germany.
B) Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.
C) the United States, Great Britain, and France.
D) Great Britain, France, and Russia.

Question 8

Many Americans favored neutrality during the Great War because

A) they believed the Central Powers were going to be victorious within the first six months.
B) over two-thirds of all Americans were either first- or second-generation immigrants.
C) they believed the Allies were going to win the war within the first six months.
D) Americans traditionally feared entanglement in European affairs.

Question 9

American attitudes towards the two sides in the Great War were most influenced by

A) German propaganda.
B) conflicts over freedom of the seas.
C) British propaganda.
D) Wilson's militarism.

Question 10

What was the effect of the Great War upon the American economy from 1914 to 1916?

A) Because of Wilson's embargo, there was almost no effect.
B) Trade with the Central Powers almost quadrupled to $3.2 billion a year, while that with the Allies fell to a trickle.
C) Because of Wilson's embargo, the economy suffered a severe recession.
D) Trade with the Allies almost quadrupled to $3.2 billion a year, while that with the Central Powers almost disappeared.

Question 11

Wilson's policy of holding the Germans to "strict accountability" for any American losses resulting from violations of freedom of the seas

A) did not reflect most Americans' neutrality.
B) was strongly opposed by Secretary of State Bryan.
C) was supported by his demands for greatly increased military appropriations.
D) was consistent with international law.

Question 12

Many Americans were shocked and outraged when the British liner ________ was torpedoed and almost 1200 people died.

A) Prince of Wales
B) Laconia
C) Sussex
D) Lusitania

Question 13

After the German sinking of a French channel steamer in March 1916,

A) the United States declared war on Germany.
B) the Americans protested, and the Germans pledged to stop attacks on merchant ships without warning.
C) the Americans protested and the Germans responded by sinking the Lusitania.
D) Wilson came to believe the United States should enter the war but was convinced by Theodore Roosevelt to remain neutral.

Question 14

In wooing the progressives in the election of 1916, Wilson

A) reversed himself and put into effect almost every important plank of the 1912 Progressive platform.
B) chose Theodore Roosevelt as his running mate.
C) appointed well-known progressive Felix Frankfurter to the Supreme Court.
D) continued to oppose "class legislation" which favored "special interests."

Question 15

In the presidential election of 1916, the leading issue was

A) Wilson's inept efforts at domestic reform.
B) American policy toward the warring powers.
C) government regulation of business.
D) child-labor legislation.

Question 16

In February, 1917, the U.S. learned of the ________ Telegram in which Germany offered a military alliance to Mexico if the U.S. entered the war on the Allied side.

A) Zimmermann
B) Nogales
C) Ludendorf
D) Hindenburg

Question 17

Which of the following is an accurate description of Woodrow Wilson's reaction toward the U.S. declaration of war in 1917?

A) energized and aggressive
B) belligerent and resolute
C) agonized and idealistic
D) noncommittal and depressed

Question 18

If the United States had not entered the Great War, it is likely that

A) the Central Powers would have won in 1918.
B) there would have been a negotiated settlement because of the mutual exhaustion of both sides.
C) the Bolshevik revolution would have succeeded in spreading to the rest of Europe.
D) Germany would have invaded England.

Question 19

When the United States entered the Great War, from a military point of view, the country was

A) lacking both a standing army and navy.
B) poorly prepared.
C) extremely well prepared.
D) lacking an adequate navy, although the army was first-rate and well-equipped.

Question 20

As a wartime leader, Wilson was

A) too idealistic and unrealistic.
B) lucky that America was so well prepared for war.
C) uncompromising and blundering.
D) forceful and inspiring.

Question 21

During the Great War, the government agency which had almost dictatorial powers to allocate scarce materials and fix prices was the

A) United States Railroad Administration.
B) Council of National Defense.
C) War Industries Board.
D) War Labor Policies Board.

Question 22

The alliance between leaders in the military and in business, the foundation of which was laid by President Wilson during World War I, is known as the

A) Iron Triangle.
B) military requirement.
C) industrial-military complex.
D) mobilization effort.

Question 23

What happened as a result of Wilson's mobilization of the home front in the war?

A) The government's regulation of the economy was extensive.
B) It was so ineffective that America failed to aid the Allied forces in time to prevent their defeat.
C) There was virtually no cooperation between business and the military.
D) The government totally deregulated the economy in order to unleash the productive forces of free enterprise.

Question 24

The former mining engineer and head of the Belgian Relief Commission, whom Wilson named to mobilize America's agricultural resources, was

A) William Jennings Bryan.
B) Herbert Hoover.
C) William G. McAdoo.
D) Frank P. Walsh.

Question 25

Farm income during the Great War

A) dropped.
B) increased slightly.
C) rose dramatically.
D) failed to keep up with inflation.

Question 26

During the Great War, the federal government asked citizens to

A) continue vigorous consumer spending.
B) invest in the stock market.
C) increase domestic food consumption.
D) buy "Victory" and "Liberty" bonds.

Question 27

The head of the Committee on Public Information, which portrayed Germany as determined to dominate the world, was

A) Bernard Baruch.
B) Herbert Hoover.
C) Fritz Kreisler.
D) George Creel.

Question 28

During the Great War, those most often suspected of disloyalty were

A) German-Americans.
B) Chinese-Americans.
C) Italian-Americans.
D) Japanese-Americans.

Question 29

During the Great War, mere criticism of the government became cause for arrest and imprisonment under the ________ Act.

A) Espionage
B) Sedition
C) Trading-with-the-Enemies
D) Homeland Security

Question 30

Which former presidential candidate was sentenced to ten years in prison under the Sedition Act for making an antiwar speech?

A) George Creel
B) Henry Cabot Lodge
C) Robert La Follette
D) Eugene V. Debs

Question 31

The Great War triggered a major movement of

A) farmers to urban centers.
B) urbanites to rural communities.
C) southern blacks to northern cities.
D) European immigrants to the United States.

Question 32

Most black Americans reacted to the Great War with

A) cynicism about the irony of a racist society fighting to make the world safe for democracy.
B) optimism that the walls of prejudice were beginning to crumble.
C) delight that the armed forces were desegregated.
D) disgust with a "white man's war" which did not concern them.

Question 33

On what day did the Germans sign the armistice ending the fighting in World War I?

A) July 4, 1917
B) March 14, 1918
C) May 14, 1918
D) November 11, 1918

Question 34

In their greatest engagement of the war, in September, 1918, despite the heavy loss of 120,000 casualties, American troops won the Battle of

A) Belleau Wood.
B) Chateau-Thierry.
C) Verdun.
D) Argonne Forest.

Question 35

President Wilson's plan for a lasting peace after the Great War was known as the

A) Fourteen Points.
B) Versailles Plan.
C) League of Nations.
D) Peace Without Victory Plan.

Question 36

Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points included

A) freedom of the seas.
B) ending European imperialism.
C) world disarmament.
D) industrial development of the Third World.

Question 37

When President Wilson left the United States to attend the peace conference in Paris he

A) garnered respect from the Republicans in Congress.
B) was the first U.S. president to leave American territory.
C) assured American involvement in and acceptance of the League of Nations.
D) had to take great precautions because of the Spanish flu epidemic.

Question 38

Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, and Vittorio Orlando were

A) the commanding generals of the French, English, and Italian armies.
B) jailed for criticizing the war in America.
C) members of the so-called Big Four at the Paris Peace Conference.
D) the first three presidents of the League of Nations.

Question 39

The peace settlement reached at the Paris conference of 1919 was called the ________ Treaty.

A) Tuileries Garden
B) Chartres
C) League of Nations
D) Versailles

Question 40

How did American liberals who took Wilson's pre-treaty statements literally react to the treaty that Wilson brought home from Paris?

A) They were dismayed by its rejection of the League of Nations.
B) They approved of its absolute commitment to the principle of self-determination.
C) They agreed with forcing Germany to accept responsibility for causing war.
D) They were abysmally disappointed by what they considered a betrayal of Wilson's Fourteen Points.

Question 41

Wilson believed that any weaknesses in the Versailles Treaty could be overcome by the

A) Fourteen Points.
B) World Court.
C) League of Nations.
D) Lodge Reservations.

Question 42

The leader of the Republican opposition in the Senate to Wilson's League of Nations was

A) William G. McAdoo.
B) Newton D. Baker.
C) Henry Cabot Lodge.
D) Warren G. Harding.

Question 43

When it appeared as if the Versailles Treaty, without reservations, would not be approved by the necessary two-thirds of the Senate, Wilson

A) compromised with the "mild" reservationists.
B) used all his political influence on fellow Democrats.
C) attempted to rally support for the treaty by a nationwide speaking tour.
D) lost all interest in the treaty.

Question 44

Due in large part to the _______, the U.S. Congress, after great debate, voted down the Treaty of Versailles.

A) War Aims and Peace Proposals
B) Irreconcilables Pledge
C) Fourteen Points
D) Lodge Reservations

Question 45

One basic reason why the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the Versailles Treaty was the

A) refusal of both Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge to compromise.
B) conflict between the treaty and the Monroe Doctrine.
C) uncompromising opposition of the "irreconcilables."
D) failure of the treaty to include a League of Nations.

Question 46

The work of radicals in the labor movement led to

A) the belief by many Americans that unions were associated with communism.
B) harmony in the industrial workforce for the first time since the Great War.
C) increased participation in unions by all major industries.
D) the development of collective bargaining.

Question 47

In the 1919-1920 red scare, radicals were ruthlessly suppressed by Attorney General

A) A. Mitchell Palmer.
B) J. Edgar Hoover.
C) Oliver Wendell Holmes.
D) Calvin Coolidge.

Question 48

The results of the presidential election of 1920 reflected most Americans'

A) support of the League of Nations.
B) dislike of the Lodge Reservations.
C) continuing faith in Woodrow Wilson.
D) rejection of reform and idealism.

Question 49

The most significant result of the Senate's failure to ratify the Versailles Treaty was the

A) creation of a powerful campaign issue for the Democrats.
B) decision by Wilson to seek re-election.
C) rejection of effective world government.
D) loss of the possibility of world peace.

Question 50

When the Great War began in 1914, President Wilson called upon Americans to be "crusaders for world democracy."

Question 51

In the 1916 Sussex Pledge, Germany promised it would no longer sink unarmed merchant ships without warning them.

Question 52

In February 1917, the Germans unleashed their submarines against all ships heading for Allied ports, knowing it would bring America into the war.

Question 53

During the Great War, the National War Labor Board prohibited union organizing in major war industries.

Question 54

Many progressives criticized the Great War for depriving the urban poor of needed resources.

Question 55

Most American women who took industrial jobs during the Great War were able to keep them when the war ended.

Question 56

In the last weeks of the war, Wilson demonstrated that he could be a brilliant diplomat.

Question 57

Senator William Borah led the "irreconcilables" in their opposition to the Versailles Treaty.

Question 58

Strikes in the steel industry in 1919 were one of the background causes of the red scare.

Question 59

The Great War officially ended for America when Congress passed a joint peace resolution in 1921.

Question 60

Explain Wilson's missionary diplomacy, particularly with Mexico. What were the results of this policy?

Question 61

Explain why Americans were neutral at the beginning of the Great War and why they abandoned that policy. Summarize American involvement in the Great War and explain why America's entry determined the outcome of the war.

Question 62

Explain how the American government mobilized society for fighting the Great War. Evaluate how this mobilization affected American society.

Question 63

Summarize Wilson's role in peace negotiations and treaty ratification after the Great War. Explain Wilson's goals and assumptions when the negotiations began. Evaluate how successful he was in realizing those goals.

Question 64

Summarize how Americans reacted to the end of the Great War. Evaluate how those reactions were both continuations from and rejections of the Great War.

Question 65

What is the definition of the following key term:
-Central Powers :