Transcript WWI & Homefront
WWI & HOMEFRONT
SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT
May 1917 Required registration of all men from 18 to 45 No substitution aloud!
Yet exemptions took place from key industries (ex: shipbuilding) Within a month, army increased from 200,000 to over 4 mil Including 400,000 AA and Women (11,000 to Navy) Over 300,000 escaped the draft (10,000 prosecuted)
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFO. (CREEL COMMITTEE)
Propaganda committee to try to sell America on the War & world on Wilson’s 14 Pts.
Headed by George Creel Employed about 150,000 workers Encouraged Liberty Leagues to spy on neighbors and report suspicious behavior
PAYING FOR WAR?
Liberty Loan Committee US spent about 33 bil. directly on war effort Raised 1/3 with increased taxes (income, excise on tobacco, liquor and other luxuries Liberty Bonds Propaganda used to entice Americans to purchase bonds including celebrities and massive billboard advertisement Victory Loan Drives William McAdoo (Treasure Secretary): “Only a friend of Germany would refuse to buy war bonds”
NATIONAL WAR LABOR BOARD
Approx. 6,000 strikes during the war (protest stagnant wages despite inflation) Lost 35%purchasing power throughout war due to inflation Created to oversee labor disputes Prohibited strikes but encouraged progressive reforms such as 8-hour work day, higher wages, unionization, etc.
Union Membership 1916: 2.5 mil to 1919: 4 mil Wobblies (IWW) continued to be strike
FOOD ADMINISTRATION
Herbert Hoover Utilized voluntary compliance than enacting laws Wheatless Wednesdays & Meatless Tuesdays Victory Gardens Congress restricted the use of foodstuffs for manufacturing alcoholic beverages 18 th Amendment in 1919 (prohibited sale, transportation, manufacturing, and consumption of alcohol Results: Farm production increased by 25% Food exports to Allies tripled in volume
WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD
Created in March 1918, headed by Bernard Baruch Response to lack of cooperation between military and civilian agency in purchasing supplies Aimed to control raw materials, production, prices and labor relations Encouraged mass-production techniques to increase efficiency Used Price Controls 20% increase in industrial production under WIB
FUEL ADMINISTRATION
Issued Heatless Mondays, Lightless Tuesdays, and Gasless Sundays Responsible for Start of Daylight-Saving Time