Military Preparedness
• Prior to US entry into the War, the US Army
and Navy were unprepared for a major War.
• Recognizing this, the US Government began
increasing armed forces expenditures to
expand both the Army and Navy
• The National Defense Act – June, 1916
increased the standing army to 175,000.
• Congress approved the immediate
construction of 50 new warships.
• But once war was declared in April, 1917,
there was much more work to do…
On the Home Front
Three things the US had to do to fight
this war in which we found ourselves:
1. Create a War Economy (we need weapons)
2. Recruit an Army (we need men to shoot the
weapons)
3. Mobilize Public Opinion for the War.
(convince the public that our men should go
shoot weapons in other countries)
(And we needed to this quickly – 1917 was
a race against time and the Germans, who
were preparing to deliver a knock-out blow!)
1. War Economy
• Wilson created The War
Industries Board, which
regulated all industries
involved in the War effort.
• The Food Administration
Americans asked to
conserve food as a patriotic
gesture and so that food
could be shipped to the
Allies, and to our own troops,
once they arrived.
• The Fuel Administration
directed efforts to save
coal and other fuels.
• The National War Labor
Board worked to settle
disputes between labor
and employers to keep
manufacturing going.
1. War Economy cont.
• War is expensive - The war
government raised $33 billion
for the war effort through a
combination of (a)increased
taxes (income, corporate and
excise/luxury) and (b) the
sale of Liberty and Victory
Bonds
• While the US raised and
trained the Army, we shipped
munitions, food, and other
supplies to the Allies.
2. Recruiting an Army
• June, 1917- Congress passed
the Selective Service Act.
• All men ages 18-45 were
supposed to register for the
Draft.
• 2.8 Million were actually
drafted into the Army during
the war.
• 2 million soldiers would be
shipped overseas to fight
alongside the British and
French in the Trenches.
Resistance to the Draft
• Some men registered as
conscientious objectors. (were
not morally allowed to fight)
• Many men never responded to
the draft.
John T. Neufeld was a Mennonite
World War I conscientious objector
sentenced to 15 years hard labor in
the military prison at Leavenworth.
He was paroled to do dairy work
and released after serving five
months of his sentence. His diary of
army and prison life is published in
a collection with three other WWI
Mennonite conscientious objectors.
Shaping Public Opinion
• The Committee on Public
Information (CPI), headed
by George Creel, printed
lots of Propaganda, which
• “educated” Americans
about why they should
fight,
• “educated” Americans
about the nature of the
enemy (Germans
especially were labeled as
monsters)
• and dramatized the needs
of America and her allies.
“Propaganda is a form of communication
aimed at influencing the attitude of a
community toward some cause or position“
ENTRY #35
For each of the following WWI propaganda posters,
discuss the message and/or the meaning
A)
B)
ENTRY #35
For each of the following WWI propaganda posters,
discuss the message and/or the meaning
C)
D)
ENTRY #35
For each of the following WWI propaganda
posters, discuss the message and/or the meaning
E)
F)
Anti-German Prejudices Develop
• War enthusiasm and propaganda created
serious anti-German prejudice in the US,
which resulted in violence against German
Americans and rejection of German
culture in the US.
Silencing the Opposition
• During WWI the government
did not allow for dissenting
opinions.
• Obstructing army recruiters,
or “inciting rebellion” could
get you a heavy fine and/or
up to 20 years in jail.
• Over 2000 People were
convicted of “disloyal” and
“abusive” behavior under
various laws during the War.
• The Sedition Act (1918), made it
unlawful to use “disloyal, profane,
scurrilous, or abusive language” about
America, the Constitution, or US
military forces.
• Schenk v. The United States (1919)
upheld the Espionage Act (1917),
which gave postal authorities the job to
ban treasonous newspapers,
magazines, or printed materials of any
kind.
“Sometimes the need for order is so
pressing that the First Amendment
Protections of Speech do not apply.” –
S v.US decisions
Under the Sedition Act, Eugene
Debs went to prison for 10
years because of an anti-war
Speech.
Domestic By-Products of the War
• The Great Migration of African Americans from the Jim
Crow South to the northern cities, which had started
before the war, increased with job opportunities/openings
during the war. Many other African Americans enlisted as
soldiers.
• Likewise, Mexicans immigrated to the US with increased
demand for farmworkers, then often moved west to
California, or to the North to fill those vacancies created
by the war.
• Women moved into the workforce, as men joined the
military and left job vacancies; many others joined the
Army Corps of Nurses. Women’s roles on the home front
and as nurses earned President Wilson’s support for
suffrage… and helped win passage of the 19th
Amendment in 1919/1920.
Waging the War
While the US raised and trained its military (and
built new ships), we shipped munitions, food, and
other supplies to the Allies. Getting these
supplies to the Allies required the use of BritishAmerican convoys, groups of merchant ships
protected by warships.
The AEF Sent to France
• General John J.
Pershing led the AEF
(American
Expeditionary Force) to
France in June, 1917.
• His one specific order
from Wilson was to
“maintain a separate
American Army”
Bolshevik Revolution
• In November, 1917 a
communist revolution occurred
in Russia.
• The new Russian Government
signed a peace treaty with
Germany (Treaty of Brest –
Litovsk March, 1918), and
Russia pulled out of the war,
allowing a great German
offensive on the Western
Front…uh-oh…good thing the
US was sending troops there in
large numbers by this time!
Vladimir Len, leader of the
Russian Revolution
American Fighting on the Western Front
In battles such as the 2nd Battle of
the Marne, and the Battle of
Cantigny, the Allies, supported by
large American forces, defended
against the German offensive,
then counter-attacked at
Belleau Wood, and finally
went on the offensive along
the Meuse River and through
the Argonne Forest.
End of the War
• The Fighting ended on November 11,
1918, When Germany signed an armistice
(on a railway car in France)
Wilson’s “Plan” for Peace
Wilson, desiring a “peace without victory” had
Fourteen Points for his peace treaty, including:
1.Open Diplomacy: No Secret Treaties
2.Freedom of the Seas and Trade
3.Self Determination: countries/nationalities to form
their own destinies, especially within the former A-H
Empire, and including decolonization
4.Reduction of armaments
5.League of Nations: a general association of
nations to settle disputes, and protect the
independence and territorial integrity of nations,***
(Still trying to “Make the World safe for Democracy”)
The Reality
Instead, the Allies wanted revenge (A peace with lots of
victory) and The Big Four created the Treaty of
Versailles, which included:
1.War Guilt Clause: Maintained that it was Germany’s
fault that the war had happened
2.Reparations: Germany had to pay the GB and France
(lots) of money for “starting” the war and for war
damages
3.Germany was stripped of its colonies and militarily
occupied for 15 years
4.The Axis powers (plus Russia) lost European
territories to self determination
5.The only good news for Wilson: League of Nations
The Treaty was Rejected in the US!
• Many in US thought it was too harsh on
Germany
• Some nationalities (like Irish-Americans)
disappointed by “random” and incomplete selfdetermination
• Isolationists opposed the League of Nations,
especially article 10, calling for mutual defense
of the signers
• Wilson tried, but failed to get the votes to ratify
the Treaty of Versailles or the League of
Nations, thus weakening the League of Nations.
Europe, Before WWI
Europe, After WWI
Was it worth10 million dead and 20 million more casualties?