United States in World War I - Kenwood Academy



United States in World War I

From Wikipedia

The United States declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. Officially it was an independent power and did not join the Allied Powers. It made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money starting in 1917. U.S. soldiers under General John J. Pershing arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in summer 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the US had remained neutral, though the US had been an important supplier to Britain and other Allied powers. During the war, the US mobilized over 4,000,000 military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the US government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the US military. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson the war represented the climax of the Progressive Movement as it claimed to bring reform and democracy to the world.

A. Neutrality

When the war began the United States proclaimed a united policy of strict neutrality—"in thought and deed", as President Woodrow Wilson put it. When a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania in 1915, with a number of Americans aboard, Wilson said, "America is too proud to fight," and demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied. Although President Wilson posed a vision of neutrality early on in the war, he repeatedly warned Germany that the U.S. would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare because it was a violation of international law and of human rights.

Public opinion and the Preparedness movement

American public opinion was strongly divided, with most Americans until early 1917 strongly of the opinion that the United States should stay out of the war. Opinion changed gradually, partly in response to German actions in Belgium (Germany invaded a neutral Belgium) and the sinking of the several passenger cruise liners aroused furious denunciations of German brutality. The most prominent opponent of war was industrialist Henry Ford, who personally financed and led a peace ship to Europe to try to negotiate among the belligerents; no negotiations resulted.

By 1915, in Eastern cities a new "Preparedness" movement emerged. It argued that the United States needed to immediately build up strong naval and land forces for defensive purposes; an unspoken assumption was that America would fight sooner or later. The driving forces behind Preparedness were all Republicans, notably General Leonard Wood and ex-president Theodore Roosevelt; they enlisted many of the nation's most prominent bankers, industrialists, lawyers and prominent families. President Wilson enacted the National Defense Act of 1916 which brought the National Guard under the control of the federal government.

Submarines and blockades

A critical indirect strategy used by both sides was the blockade. The British Royal Navy successfully stopped the shipment of most war supplies and food to Germany. Neutral American ships that tried to trade with Germany were seized or turned back. The strangulation came about very slowly, because Germany and the Central Powers controlled extensive farmlands and raw materials. By 1918, German cities were on the verge of starvation; the front-line soldiers were on short rations and were running out of essential supplies.

German submarines, torpedoed ships without warning, and some sailors and passengers drowned. Berlin explained that submarines were so vulnerable that they dared not surface near merchant ships that might be carrying guns and which were too small to rescue submarine crews. Britain armed most of its merchant ships with medium caliber guns that could sink a submarine, making above-water attacks too risky. In February 1915, the United States warned Germany about misuse of submarines. On April 22, the German Imperial Embassy warned US-Citizens from boarding vessels to Great Britain which would have to face German attack. On May 7, Germany torpedoed the British passenger liner RMS Lusitania, sinking her. This act of aggression caused the loss of 1,198 civilian lives, including 128 Americans. The sinking of a large, unarmed passenger ship, combined with the previous atrocity stories from Belgium, shocked Americans and turned public opinion hostile to Germany, although not yet to the point of war. Wilson issued a warning to Germany that it would face "strict accountability" if it sank more neutral U.S. passenger ships. Berlin acquiesced, ordering its submarines to avoid passenger ships.

Business considerations

The beginning of war in Europe coincided with the end of the Recession of 1913–1914 in America. In 1913, J. P. Morgan, Jr. took over an American-based investment bank (The House of Morgan). The House of Morgan offered assistance in the wartime financing of Britain and France from the earliest stages of the war in 1914 through America's entrance in 1917. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan strictly opposed financial support of warring nations and wanted to ban loans to the belligerents in August 1914. He told President Wilson that "refusal to loan to any belligerent would naturally tend to hasten a conclusion of the war." Wilson at first agreed, but then reversed himself when France argued that if it was legal to buy American goods then it was legal to take out credits on the purchase. J.P. Morgan issued loans to France including one in March 1915 and another in October 1915, the latter amounting to US$500,000,000. Although the stance of the U.S. government was that ending such aid could hasten the end of the war and save millions of lives, little was done to insure adherence to the ban on loans. After the war, in 1918, J.P. Morgan & Co. continued to aid the French government financially through monetary stabilization and debt relief.

The American steel industry had faced difficulties and declining profits during the Recession of 1913–1914. As war began in Europe, however, the increased demand for tools of war began a period of heightened productivity that alleviated many U.S. industrial companies from the low-growth environment of the recession. Bethlehem Steel took particular advantage of the increased demand for armaments abroad by selling arms to all sides. Prior to American entrance into the War, these companies benefited from unrestricted commerce with sovereign customers abroad.

By the end of the war in 1918, Bethlehem Steel had produced 65,000 pounds of forged military products and 70 million pounds of armor plate, 1.1 billion pounds of steel for shells, and 20.1 million rounds of artillery ammunition for Britain and France. Bethlehem Steel took advantage of the domestic armaments market and produced 60% of the American weaponry and 40% of the artillery shells used in the War. Even with price controls and a lower profit margin on manufactured goods, the profits resulting from wartime sales expanded the company into the third largest manufacturing company in the country. Bethlehem Steel became the primary arms supplier for the United States and other allied powers again in 1939.

E. War declared[pic]

New York Times April 3, 1917

In January 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. The German Foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann invited revolution-torn Mexico to join the war as Germany's ally against the United States in the Zimmermann Telegram. In return, the Germans would send Mexico money and help it recover the territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona that Mexico lost during the Mexican–America War 70 years earlier. British intelligence intercepted the telegram and passed the information on to Washington. Wilson released the Zimmerman note to the public and Americans saw it as a casus belli—a cause for war.

At first, Wilson tried to maintain neutrality while fighting off the submarines by arming American merchant ships with guns powerful enough to sink German submarines on the surface (but useless when the U-boats were under water). After submarines sank seven U.S. merchant ships Wilson finally went to Congress calling for a declaration of war on Germany, which Congress voted on April 6, 1917.

As a result of the Russian February Revolution in 1917 the Tsar abdicated and was replaced by a Russian Provisional Government. This helped overcome Wilson's reluctance to having the USA fight alongside a country ruled by an absolute monarch. Pleased by the Provisional Government's pro-war stance, the USA accorded the new government diplomatic recognition on March 9, 1917.

Although the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, it did not initially declare war on the other Central Powers, a state of affairs that Woodrow Wilson described as an "embarrassing obstacle" in his State of the Union speech Congress declared war on Austria-Hungary on December 17, 1917, but never made declarations of war against the other Central Powers Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

F. Home front

The home front saw an organized mobilization of the entire population and the entire economy to produce the soldiers, food supplies, munitions, and money needed to win the war. Although the United States entered the war in 1917, there had been very little planning, or even recognition of the problems that the British and other Allies had to solve on their home fronts. As a result, the level of confusion was high in the first 12 months, then efficiency took control.

The war came in the midst of the Progressive Era, when efficiency and expertise were highly valued. Therefore the federal government set up a multitude of temporary agencies with 500,000 to 1,000,000 new employees to bring together the expertise necessary to redirect the economy into the production of munitions and food necessary for the war, as well as for propaganda purposes.

G. Food

The Food Administration under Herbert Hoover launched a massive campaign to teach Americans to economize on their food budgets and grow victory gardens in their backyards, where crops were grown for U.S soldiers. It managed the nation's food distribution and prices.

H. Propaganda

Crucial to U.S. participation was the sweeping domestic propaganda campaign executed by the Committee on Public Information, overseen by George Creel. The campaign consisted of tens of thousands of government-selected community leaders giving brief carefully scripted pro-war speeches at thousands of public gatherings. Along with other branches of government and private vigilante groups like the American Protective League, it also included the general repression and harassment of people either opposed to American entry into the war or of German heritage. Other forms of propaganda included newsreels, photos, and large-print posters.

I. Impact of US forces on the war

On the battlefields of France in spring 1918, the fresh American troops were enthusiastically welcomed by the war-weary Allied armies in the summer of 1918. They arrived at the rate of 10,000 a day, at a time that the Germans were unable to replace their losses. After the Allies turned back the powerful final German offensive (Spring Offensive), the Americans played a role in the Allied final offensive (Hundred Days Offensive). Many American commanders used the same flawed tactics which the British and French abandoned early in the war, and so not all American offensives were particularly effective. Pershing continued to commit troops to full frontal attacks, resulting high casualties against veteran German units. Nevertheless, the infusion of new U.S. troops greatly strengthened the Allies' strategic position and boosted morale. Victory over Germany was achieved on November 11, 1918 after German morale had collapsed both at home and on the battlefield.

J. After the War

Britain, France and Russia imposed severe economic penalties on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. The United States Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles; instead, the United States signed separate peace treaties with Germany and its allies. The Senate also refused to enter the newly created League of Nations on Wilson's terms, and Wilson rejected the Senate's compromise proposal.

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