America and WWI

Involvement and The war

Why did the US become involved?

Main Reasons

  • Money Loans
  • 1.5 billion to Allies
  • 8 Million to Central Powers
  • Sinking of the Lusitania
  • Violation of the Sussex Pledge
  • Zimmerman Telegraph

Other Reasons

  • German Espionage
  • Arabic Crisis
  • Submarine warfare
  • British Propaganda
  • German Atrocities
  • Wilson’s Peace note
  • “Peace without Victory
  • Russian Revolution
  • Economic ramifications
  • Anti-German Sentiment

Where to Start?

Congress

  • Wilson asked the Senate for a declaration of war
  • It consented
  • Two days later the House did the same thing
  • Fun Fact
  • Due to the US going to war over the limited issue of Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare
  • We could have possible only gone into the war with using the US Navy

Western Front

  • Was where the allies wanted the American forces to come to and to base the US operations out of
  • The area was the place that the US could play a decisive role in defeating Germany
  • By the end of the War the US would throw over 2 million men into battle

Where to send the Troops

  • April 1917 French and British Government sent delegations to the US to coordinate assistance and offer advice on the form of American involvement
  • Lack of planning and unity between the two allies would prove to show that the allies had no common plan for American participation
  • Two ideas were created
  • To bolster sagging morale the French suggest that an American division should be sent to France to show American Participation
  • British suggest sending 50,000 to England to be trained and then fight under the British flag
  • Sending troops to fight under the French and British was not a plausible answer
  • Why?
  • Fighting under the other countries would decrease the visibility of the American contribution
  • Lessen the American leadership role in the war and in the peace that followed
  • US decided to build a separate force, it would have to start at the ground level and create the entire framework for a modern army and then ship them overseas

American Forces in Europe

  • Secretary of War Newton Baker selected Maj. General John J Pershing to command the larger American Force
  • May 28th 1917 Pershing and his headquarter staff of 191 set sail for France
  • Much of preliminary planning took place on the trip there, the nature, scope and objectives for the AEF
  • June 8thBri. Gen William L. Sibert assumed command of the 1st Expeditionary Division and sailed for France

Where to be based out of?

  • Late June 1917
  • Where the AEF would be based out of…Lorraine
  • Why
  • BEF guarded the English Channel
  • US placed north of Verdun would only create a disruption
  • Also would limit an independent American activity
  • Objective: penetrate the German lines and carry advancement into German territory, in doing so deprive Germany of iron fields and coal deposits

War Effort In the US

  • In the Summer of 1917 the US Military stood at
  • 208,000 men (Army and National Guard)
  • The army barely had enough artillery and machine guns to support itself
  • The 1st Division that was sent to Europe early in June of 1917 was the first of its size ever!

Movement in the War Dept.

Secretary of War

  • Baker

Appoints the following…

  • Benedict Crowell to assistant Secretary of War
  • Firm believer in centralized control
  • Maj. Gen George W. Goethals
  • Army’s Chief supply officer
  • Brought both military and civilians administrators with him
  • Maj. Gen. Peyton C March
  • General Chief of Staff get it done and made decisions

March’s Plan

  • Overarching goal was to get as many men as possible to Europe and into the AEF to win the war
  • He reorganized the General Staff
  • Four Main Divisions
  • Purchase, Storage, Traffic and War Plans
  • Was the first time the Army had centralized control over logistics

Selective Service Act

  • To raise the necessary manpower for the war
  • Because it was an act the difficulties that were seen in the American Civil War with conscription, were not seen now
  • No substitutes, eliminated most exemptions and bounties for those who “dodged”
  • Initially men ages 21-30 had to register later it would range18-45
  • Administration of the draft was left to local boards composed of local citizens
  • These local boards could grant selective exemptions based on essential occupations and family obligations
  • Very successful prewar= 200,000 men end of war=3.7 million men in the military
  • The act also established the broad framework of the Army’s structure
  • Outlined three components of the Army
  • Regular Army, National Guard, National Army
  • By mid-1918 The war department changed the designation of all land forces to the United States Army
  • Regular Army divisions were #s1-25
  • National Guard divisions were #s 26-75
  • National divisions were #s any number higher than 75

Training

  • Army would establish 32 training camps
  • Each soldier would be trained for 4 months or a 16 week program
  • Emphasizing military specialty
  • Riflemen, artillery gunners, supply, personnel clerks or medical specialists
  • Much of the training focused on trench or positional warfare
  • Pershing needed soldiers trained in marksmanship and other element of more open and mobile warfare
  • Training replacements was always difficult and a problem that was seen throughout the war

How to Arm an Army?

  • Demands for arming, equipping and supplying a 3 million-man army meant that the American industry also had to be mobilized
  • National Defense Act of 1916 had jumped started this
  • Created the Council of National Defense
  • Central point for the coordination of military industrial needs
  • Eventually this council would create the WIB War industries board
  • Under Bernard Baruch WIB would become the chief agency of economic and industrial mobilization for the war
  • The demand for weapons is too great for the US so the US Army relies heavily on allied weapons to arm the new US Army divisions
  • US used mostly French weapons

AEF Settles in

  • Training took place all the time
  • Pershing waited 6 months until he allowed any US personal to enter into the trenches
  • When he did it was one battalion at a time and for ten days at a time along side the French
  • Ideally all troops would have been trained in gas warfare, demolition and the use of hand grenade and the mortar
  • Pershing believed that the allies were to focused on the trenches so he added more training on mobilized warfare and offensive tactics
  • Still most troops never received their full training and entered into battle untrained and without many basic skills

German Stance

  • Late 1917 saw devastation for the allied forces
  • French troops were facing heavy losses and munities
  • British forces suffered blow after blow of the German Offensive
  • Bolshevik revolution was over and the Russian front was closed
  • The last of the Isonzo River battles were over
  • With victories for the Central Powers
  • What had been a three front war for the Central Powers was essentially a one front war
  • All the allies could do was hold on and wait for the America Forces to grow in numbers

American Army

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II said it did not matter if the US entered the war because there were “ just a bunch of cowboys with an army barely worthy of the name”
  • Allied forces welcomed the US Troops
  • Called them
  • Fighting Yanks
  • Sammies
  • Doughboys

Doughboys

  • Nickname for American Troops
  • Why
  • Nickname during the Mexican-American War
  • March across the desert and came out covered in a fine white dust which made the men look like they were made of dough
  • American field rations of flour and rice was an American mixture
  • Frank Woodruff BucklesFebruary 1, 1901– February 27, 2011
  • was aUnited States of America soldier and the last surviving American veteran ofWorld War I

American Battles

Outcome of the War

Numbers game

  • World War I (1917-1918)
  • Total U.S. Service members (Worldwide) 4,734,991
  • Battle Deaths 53,402
  • Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 63,114
  • Non-mortal Wounding 204,002

The American Army and the Great War

  • At wars end America was convinced that the AEF had played a decisive role in the defeat of Germany
  • In 200 days of fighting the AEF
  • Captured 49,000 Germans1,400 guns
  • 1 million soldiers had served in 29 divisions
  • AEF lost 320,000  50,280 killed and 200,600 wounded

Legacy of the Great War

  • AEF was the first modern American Army
  • AEF staffs proved the equal of their Allied counterparts
  • US Army of WWII is direct descendants of the WWI AEF
  • WWII Generals got their start in WWI
  • WWII organization and tactics are based off of WWI lessons

Home front!Civilians Roles

Supporting the War Effort!!!

  • Mobilization- The gathering of resources and the preparation for war
  • Liberty Bonds- A way to raise money for the war
  • Liberty Loans- The political act for raising money
  • National War Labor Board- Created on April 18th 1918 encouraged business owners to meet workers needs such as 8 hour work day, extra pay for overtime and right to form Unions. Workers in return agreed to not to go on strike.

New Ideas

  • Herbert Hoover- Would later become
  • President. For now Wilson assigned him to organize food for the war refugees in Europe.
  • Food Administration- Launched a campaign to encourage American farmers to produce more and to persuade the public to eat less.
  • Committee on Public Information- Persuade Americans that the war represented a battle for democracy.

Men

  • What happened to the men?
  • Enlisted in the Armed forces
  • Selective Service Act – (Draft)
  • A military draft people wanted to participate in. It was originally ages 21-35 but changed to 18-45.
  • Life in the Trenches
  • If they didn’t/couldn’t enlist?
  • Work in the fields, do speeches, helpsupport the war effort

Women

  • Did they enlist?
  • Yes for the first time, they were clerks, nurses and radios operators. They never saw combat!
  • Working in a man’s job?
  • Work in factories and in the fields
  • Sweethearts/ Widows…
  • The ones left behind when men went to war and didn’t come home

African Americans

  • Did they enlist?
  • Yes, 300,000 join the army & navy
  • Not allowed in the marines
  • How were they treated?
  • Discriminated against and had “lower jobs”
  • The Great Migration-
  • Traveled north to find jobs and work in factories.
  • Discrimination-
  • Race riots and they lived in small housing all on top of each other.

Buffalo Soldiers

  • The veteran Buffalo Soldier regiments of the Regular Army were also denied the opportunity to go into battle on the Western Front.
  • The24th Infantryhad been on the Mexican border since 1916 and remained there.
  • The10th Cavalrywas also assigned to patrol along the border. The military justified this action by saying that the country needed a dependable force on the border withMexico.
  • The 9th Cavalry spent the war years in thePhilippines(39).
  • The 25th Infantry was garrisoned in Hawaii.
  • In contrast, several African American National Guard regiments and battalions were called to active duty and sent to fight in the European war.
  • Thousands of African Americans either enlisted or responded to the draft during the war.
  • Most African American troops in the Expeditionary Forces were segregated and consolidated into two Divisions
  • 92nd and the 93rd.
  • The men of the 92nd Division were used primarily as support troops.
  • The 93rd Division was placed under the direct command and control of the French army.
  • These men distinguished themselves in battle, but casualties were high with dead or wounded men totaling almost 50% of the division.
  • The men of the 93rd were recognized with 68 Croix de Guerre's and 24 Distinguished Service Crosses.

American Red Cross

  • When War broke out in Europe the American Red Cross sent a ship over with supplies, surgeons and nurses.
  • They sailed on the SS Red Cross or “the Mercy Ship”
  • When the US declared war the organization would change over night
  • Red Cross national headquarters reeled under the demands of the national war effort. Communities flooded the headquarters with requests to establish local chapters.
  • Needs grew much faster than the infrastructures to support them and the situation was described as “chaotic.”
  • Under Davison’s leadership, the Red Cross accomplished the growth necessary to meet the challenges of a world war.
  • While the major focus was on the war effort, the Red Cross also provided services to civilians at home. Mostly this took the form of nursing activities and emergency response to natural disaster
  • 1918 the Red Cross met a major challenge on the home front. Fostered by wartime conditions, an influenza pandemic hit the United States and most of the rest of the world
  • It claimed an estimated 22 million lives worldwide and U.S. deaths were believed to reach 500,000.
  • Four months after the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the War Council disbanded and leadership of the Red Cross reverted to its Central Committee, which had run the organization since it received its congressional charter in 1905.
  • The result of their wartime activities, 400 American Red Cross workers lost their lives from 1914-1921, including 296 nurses.
  • The organization mobilized some 8 million volunteers who were assigned to service corps at Red Cross chapters
  • By the war’s end, nearly one-third of the U.S. population was either a donor to the Red Cross or serving as a volunteer
  • 20 million adults and 11 million youth claimed membership in the American Red Cross and more than 8 million adults were volunteer workers.
  • In terms of the war effort, its functions fell into four categories.
  • 1. Service to the American Armed Forces.
    2. Service to Allied military forces, particularly the French.
    3. Limited service to American and Allied prisoners of war.
    4. Service to civilian victims of war, with an emphasis on the children of Europe.

Limiting People’s Opinions

  • Pacifists- Person who doesn’t believe in violence and opposes the war.
  • Espionage Act- Congress passed the act in 1917 it gave the government a new weapon to punish people against espionage and spying.
  • Sabotage Act- Gave government another way to punish people who could take damaging action toward the war effort.
  • Sedition Act- Made it a crime to say, print or write almost anything perceived as negative about the government.

Affects

  • Due to the war industry in the USA, the women’s movement progressed, and the government adopted new diplomatic policies. The Great War affected all areas of life in America, and continued to have its effect for many years to come.
  • Industry production in America boomed.
  • In order to produce more material in a short amount of time, new technologies were developed to help manufacturers meet the needs of the government and people.
  • Previously unemployed people held jobs, and the finances of the public.
  • However, as the war ended, and soldiers started to return home, the industry production began to slow, and there was less need for workers in factories. Many women stopped working, but there were not enough jobs for the men returning home from Europe.
  • This rising unemployment after a time of industry and economic prosperity, planted the seeds of the coming Great Depression.

Propaganda

  • Propaganda:
  • Information designed to influence an opinion
  • What was it used for?
  • Liberty bonds-
  • A form of revenue that was used during the war(People loaned Gov. money and the Government gave the citizens an IOU in the form of a bond)
  • Liberty Loans-
  • The political act of collecting the bonds
  • Recruiting-
  • Posters were made to recruit men to join the armed forces
  • Who produced it and why?
  • The Government made the posters. They created them to support the war effort, recruit people, and encourage citizens to be Patriotic
  • What were common symbols used in the Posters?
  • Women, Uncle Sam, Eagle, Huns, Lady Liberty, Flag, Sword/ Shield, Red Cross…
  • Was it effective?
  • Yes it helped fund the war