World War I: Causes, US Entry, and the Latino Experience

1. World War I “The War to End All Wars” “The Great War” 1914-1918

2. Reasons for War • Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, June 1914 by Serbian National Immediate

3. Reasons for War LONG-STANDING • Nationalism • Imperialism • Militarism • Alliances

4. US Remains Neutral • Until the Sinking of the Lusitania, May 7, 1915

5. Zimmerman Note • This was a telegram from the German Foreign Minister to the German Ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents on January of 1917.

6. Zimmerman Promise • The telegram proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany and promised that if war with the US broke out, Germany would support Mexico in recovering it’s lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

7. US Enters the War • On April 2, 1917 President Wilson goes before Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany and its allies. • About 2 million troops reach Europe. Most had not finished high school and one of every five was foreign born. • The exact number of Mexican Americans who served in the War is not certain. However, the percentage of Mexican Americans who volunteered was greater than that of any other ethnic group in the nation. -The Latino Experience

8. Honor Roll • David Barkley- First Latino to receive the Medal of Honor. Barkley volunteered to spy on the position of the German Army. He died in action, but his maps of the area were carried to his unit by his partner. The unit was able to launch a successful attack against the Germans. • Nicholas Lucero- Received the French Croix de Guerre for destroying two German machine gun positions and for keeping constant fire on enemy positions for more than three hours. • Marcelino Serna- Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for single-handedly capturing 2 German prisoners. For later actions, Serna received the French Croix de Guerre, the Victory Medal with three bars, and two Purple Hearts.

9. The War at Home • The War caused a need for agriculture production that was filled by Mexicans who saw the opportunity to escape the Revolution and feed their families. They worked the cotton fields of Arizona and on the sugar beet farms of California and Colorado. They also labored in the copper mines of New Mexico and built railroad lines throughout the US West. Mexican American women, who often had to add to the family income, took jobs in garment factories, fish canneries, and food-processing pants.

10. Sugar Beets Colorado, US

11. The War at Home • In the fields and mines, Mexican lived in colonias. Ernesto Galarza says, “The colonia was like a sponge that was beginning to leak along the edges…but the colonia found a place for these chicanos, the name by which we called unskilled workers born in Mexico and just arrived in the US”. • In the city, the Mexican settled in all Latino neighborhoods called barrios. As late as 1920, 92% of the homes in the L.A. barrio had no gas and 72% lacked electricity. -The Latino Experience

12. Mexican-American Highlight • Ernesto Galarza 1905-1984

13. Latinos in the US • By the end of WWI, there were more than 65,000 Mexican Americans living in the Mid West and Northeast US. • By 1925, Chicago had 20,000 Mexican Americans, the largest population of Spanish speaking people outside the Southwest.