Armed Forces & Fighting the War

Unit 8.3

Public Opinion

War Propaganda: › Progressive journalist

George Creel and the Committee on Public Information Volunteer artists, writers,

vaudeville performers, and movie stars depict the heroisms of the “boys” (U.S. soldiers) and the villainy of the German Kaiser

Watch out for German spies and “do your bit” for the war

Public Opinion

War Propaganda:› Excuse for nativist

groups to take out their prejudices on “disloyal” minorities

› Mounted campaigns against all-things German From Beethoven’s

music to German sauerkraut (renamed Liberty Cabbage)

Civil Liberties

Espionage Act: Imprisonment for up to 20 years for people who either tried to incite rebellion in the armed forces or obstruct the operation of the draft

Sedition Act: Prohibited anyone from making “disloyal” or “abusive” remarks about the U.S. government› About 2,000 people were prosecuted under

these laws (Eugene V. Debs was one of them)

Civil Liberties

Case of Schenck v. United States: Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Espionage Act

Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes used the term “clear and present danger” when referring to public safety

?

If the Supreme Court had made the opposite ruling in Schenck v. United States, what would’ve happened?

(Think about who got thrown in jail and the widespread war propaganda)

Armed Forces

As soon as war was declared, thousands of young men volunteered for service

Largest number of recruits were conscripted (drafted)

First- all men 21-30 Later- all men 18-45

Armed Forces

Selective Service Act (1917): ensured all groups in the population would be called to service

2.8 million men were eventually called by lottery

Provided over half the total of 4.7 million Americans fighting in the war

?

If conscription and the Selective Service Act were never adopted as policies, how would this affect our contributions/efforts in WWI?

Armed Forces

African Americans: Racial segregation applied to the army as well

400,000 black men served in WWI in segregated units

W.E.B. Du Bois hoped that African Americans fighting in the war would earn them equality at home as a result

Effects on American Society

Women: Jobs vacated by men were taken up by thousands of women

Their contributions to the war effort, as volunteers and as wage earners, finally convinced President Wilson and Congress to support the 19th Amendment

?

If the U.S. had never gotten directly involved in WWI, how would this have affected women’s suffrage rights?

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Job opportunities in America and political revolutions in Mexico cause thousands of Mexicans to cross the border into the Southwest› Mainly agricultural and mining jobs

African Americans also took advantage of job opportunities opened up by the war and migrated north

Fighting the War

By the time the U.S. got involved in late 1917, millions of European soldiers had already been killed

A second revolution in Russia by Bolsheviks (Communists) took Russia out of the war

With no Eastern Front to divide its forces, Germany focused all its efforts on the Allied lines in the West

?

How would the Allied nations have benefitted if there was not a Communist revolution in Russia?

Fighting the War: Naval Operations

Germany’s unrestricted warfare was having its intended effects› 900,000 tons of shipping was lost in just one

month

U.S. Navy implemented a convoy system of armed escorts for groups of merchant ships

By 1917, the system was working well enough to ensure Britain and France would not be starved into submission

?

What if the U.S. convoy system had failed?

Fighting the War:American Expeditionary Force

Unable to imagine the grim realities of trench warfare, “Over There” reflected the early idealism of American troops and the public

"Over There“

Fighting the War:American Expeditionary Force John J. “Black Jack”

Pershing commanded the A.E.F.

The A.E.F. assumed independent responsibility for at least one segment of the Western Front

New Weapons for a New War

Trench Warfare & “No man’s land”:› Poisonous gasses› Machine guns› Artillery barrages

Airplanes, zeppelins, and dogfights:› Red Baron (Germany)› Eddie Rickenbacker

(U.S)

?

What if U.S. forces had not adapted to trench warfare and instead maintained traditional methods of warfare (i.e cavalry charges, marching in phalanxes)?

New Weapons for a New War

Last German Offensive

U.S. troops stopped a ferocious assault by German troops at Château-Thierry in June, 1916

U.S. struck back with a successful counterattack at Belleau Wood

Drive to Victory

In August, September, and October, an allied offensive along the Meuse River and through the Argonne Forest succeeded in driving an exhausted German army back towards the German border

U.S. troops directly participated in this drive at St. Mihiel (the southern sector of the Allied lines)

Drive to Victory

At 11:00 on November, 11th, 1918 Germany signed an armistice

Surrendered their arms, gave up much of their navy, and evacuated occupied territories

U.S. Casualties

Combat deaths totaled nearly 49,000

Many more died of disease, mainly influenza, which brought the death total to 112,432