The US Enters The Great War

Selective Service Act of 1917

   Required all men between 21 and 30 to register for the draft Candidates were drafted through a lottery system and then either accepted or rejected for service by a local draft board About 2.8 million Americans were drafted while another 2 million volunteered

African-American Troops

   Nearly 400,000 blacks were drafted to serve overseas Had to serve in segregated units under white officers, faced racial discrimination Still, many, such as the “Harlem Hell Fighters,” served with distinction, winning medals

The War Industries Board

    Created in July 1917 Run by former stockbroker Bernard Baruch Tasked with efficiently managing US industry in the manufacture of war materials Controlled what products were made in US factories

Food Administration

   Run by Herbert Hoover Responsible for increasing food production and reducing food consumption Encouraged families to grow their own food in “victory gardens” and to observe “Wheatless Mondays” & “Meatless Tuesdays”

Fuel Administration

   Run by Harry Garfield To conserve fuel, Daylight Savings Time was created and Americans were asked to observe Heatless Mondays Factories not making war materials had their workweeks shortened

Paying for the War

   US spent $32 billion on the war Congress raised income taxes and created new taxes on corporations US also borrowed $20 billion from American citizens through the sale of Liberty Bonds or Victory Bonds

US Troops Arrive in Europe

  The “doughboys” (nickname of unknown origin for US soldiers) of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) arrived in France in July 1917 Commanded by General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing

Trench warfare

  Armies had dug a network of trenches (deep protective ditches) along the Western Front in which soldiers lived worked and fought Living conditions were poor, many soldiers suffered from diseases such as trenchfoot

Trench Foot

“No Man’s Land”

  The devastated area between the opposing armies’ trench lines where everything had been destroyed Soldiers would come out of the trenches and race toward the enemy while fully exposed to enemy fire

New Weapons

1. Machine Guns

2. Artillery

3. Poison gas

   Germans introduced the use of chemical gasses as weapons These gasses could burn the skin, blind, or destroy the lungs if breathed in Fortunately, gas masks and rubber chemical suits offered some protection

4. Tanks

5. Airplanes

6. U-boats (submarines)

7. Hand Grenades

8. Land Mines

Russia Pulls Out of the War

  Two revolutions in Russia in 1917 (the first one democratic, the second one communist) ousted Czar Nicholas II The new Russian government negotiated a separate peace with Germany and withdrew Russia from the conflict, closing the Eastern Front

American Victories

  Summer 1918: US forces successfully defended Paris from a German attack Fall 1918: US forces began the Battle of Argonne Forest, which would eventually shatter Germany’s fighting abilities

The War Ends

  Revolt broke out in Austria and the Ottomans surrendered to the Triple Entente, leaving Germany alone to fight After a mutiny broke out in the German navy and the people of Berlin erupted in riots over food shortages in Nov. 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II stepped down as Germany’s leader, clearing the way for an armistice

WWI ended at 11 AM, Nov. 11, 1918

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

  Pres. Wilson presented his plan for resolving the war; his plan sought to restabilize Europe and resolve the root problems that had started WWI to begin with Britain and France rejected Wilson’s plan in favor of punishing Germany with harsh reparations (fines)

Points 1 - 5

     Ban secret alliances Respect freedom of the seas Remove all barriers to trade (tariffs) Everyone reduce the size of their military Stop colonization, respect the rights of native peoples

Points 6 - 13

  Specified the creation of new states in Europe (such as Poland) and redrew the boundaries of Europe Also promoted self determination for various European ethnic states

Point 14: The League of Nations

  Create a “League of Nations” to help preserve peace and prevent future wars by offering a forum for resolving international disputes The only one of Wilson’s 14 Points to be accepted by Europe

The Treaty of Versailles



Signed in June 1919

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Officially ended WWI

1. Germany was forced to accept all blame for WWI

2. Germany had to pay reparations of $33 billion ($350 billion in today’s money)

3. Germany could only have a limited military

4. Germany had to give up territory to France & Poland

5. Germany had to give up its overseas colonies

Germans signed – but were furious over the terms

Congress Rejects the Treaty

  US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles because of strong opposition to joining the League of Nations – many feared that joining the League would mean giving up our right to decide our own foreign policies, while others saw the League as the type of “foreign entanglement” that Washington had warned the US to stay out of US never signed the Treaty or joined the League, returned to a policy of isolationism

Casualties of war

   

1 in every 4 soldiers involved died in the war Even more were maimed: lost limbs, lost vision, burned, etc.

Many suffered from mental problems after the war: “shell shock” or PTSD Europe lie in ruins

Austrian Corporal Adolf Hitler