World War I
The United States Goes to War
Front Lines – November 1918
Chateau Woods - Ypres - 1917
Fighting the Mud as well as the
Germans
Allied Trench in Flanders
British Trench: The Somme - 1916
The American Contribution
Wilson’s Plan
 Increased supply of materiel (arsenal of democracy)
 Navy would bear brunt of military participation
 No large ground forces in Europe
The American Contribution
The Reality
 American industry buckled under the strain
 Navy played a minor role
 A huge American army went to Europe
 Armed mostly with British and French equipment
 Inexperienced volunteers
American Troops in Combat
The Allied View (amalgamation):




Building U.S. divisions was a waste of resources
Building U.S. divisions was a waste of manpower
U.S. had no leaders qualified to lead large formations
American troops could be trained better and faster
when placed with veteran allied units
 U.S. insistence on separate divisions might lose the
war
American Troops in Combat
The American View:
 Allied control was a recipe for dead Americans
 U.S. population demanded U.S. troops under U.S.
Command
 U.S. war aims were different than Allies, demanded a
distinct American presence.
The German Spring Offensives of 1918
 Designed to force a negotiated settlement before U.S.
troops arrived in decisive numbers
 Germany committed all of its reserve forces
 Between 21 March and 15 July, Germany launched
four major (and one minor) attacks
German Troops Under Fire
German Offensives
1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
2
4
3
5
March 21, 1918
Michael 21 Mar - 5
April
Georgette - 9 - 11 Apr
Blucher-York 27 Apr
Gneisenau 9 Jun
Marne-Rheims 15-17
Jul
The Front Line - July 18, 1918
The Aisne-Marne Offensive
18 July - 6 August 1918
The Oise-Aisne Offensive
18 August - 11 November 1918
The St. Mihiel Offensive
12 – 16 September 1918
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive
26 September – 11 November 1918
American Troops Advance:
(Muese-Argonne) 1918
Destroyed Village
Meuse-Argonne 1918
Armistice Line
11 November 1918
The American Contribution
Naval Contribution
Reduced losses to U-boats by:
 Convincing British to adopt convoy system
 Providing 79 destroyers for escort duty
U.S. Merchant Ship Sinking After
Being Torpedoed - July,1918
The American Contribution
Ground Forces:
 Gave Allies a decisive manpower advantage
 Presence of U.S. formations on the
battlefield in 1918 broke the will of the
German General Staff
8,000,000 Dead in Four Years