Committee of Public Information

  
Poster from the Committee of Public Information

     By 1917 Woodrow Wilson knew war was inevitable. That made him create the Committee of Public Information. Wilson created this organization to distribute propaganda among American citizens. This organization was created through executive order 2594 on April 13, 1917. The Committee of
Public Information consisted of the chairman George Creel also a few men from Wilson's cabinet such as the Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, Secretary of State Robert Lansing, and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.
   When Wilson was re-elected it proved people were still against the war. Wilson
wanted to go to war but needed to change the citizens point of view. The committee would
set up posters across America and created pamphlets in different languages to change the public
eye. The Committee of Public Information would also set up several speeches and rallies to gear
up citizens for war. They would also hold state fairs, create propaganda posters,and have movies created. All of this costed almost $5 million for the taxpayers.
     This organization didn't last long because they were broken up after the Treaty of Versailles on November 11, 1918. Wilson abolished that group on August 21, 1919 under executive order 3154. They were used to gear up citizens for war and just that.

Links & Sources

utk.edu
state.or
imsa.edu

The Story of World War One

    
                                Soldiers of WW1
           World War 1 had four main causes. The causes are militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and alliances. People had a lot of pride for their countries which is nationalism. They were building up their armies and wanting to become the most powerful in the world. European countries also started alliances they vowed to protect each other in times of war. When Francis Ferdinand of the Austria-Hungary empire got assassinated they blamed Serbia, later declaring war on them. Alliances joined the war starting World War 1.
      When the war started Americans wanted nothing to do with the war. Woodrow Wilson wanted the country to follow George Washington's plan of isolationism, but that plan didn't work well. The Germans stopped America from doing that because they knew America was loaning money to England for the war effort.  One of the reasons America entered the war was the sinking of the Lusitania. The Lusitania was a cruise ship heading to England but the Germans blew it up killing 128 American citizens. Another is propaganda. Posters and newspapers were slowly turning American citizens against the Germans, making them look like enemies. The last reason is the Zimmerman Telegram. Germany sent Mexico a telegram telling them that if they joined on the side of the Central Powers then Germany would give Mexico the land they lost during the Mexican-American War. England intercepted the telegram and sent it to Woodrow Wilson. Those events angered Americans which made Wilson ask congress for a declaration of war.
       On November 11, 1918 Germany surrender. The Allied Powers created the Treaty of Versailles. Germany's military was drastically decreased, they lost their foreign colonies, and gave part of their land to France and Poland. The Austria-Hungary Empire broke up into smaller into smaller countries. After the war America returned to isolationism.