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United States in World War I1917–1918Two American soldiers run towards a bunker.LocationUnited StatesPresident(s)Woodrow WilsonKey eventsSelective Service Act of 1917
Food and Fuel Control EraRoaring TwentiesThis article is part of a series on theHistory of the
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OutlineList of yearsHistoriographyThe United States declared war on theGerman Empireon April 6, 1917, nearly three years afterWorld War Istarted. A ceasefire andarmistice were declared on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the U.S. had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to the United Kingdom, France, and the other powers of theAllies of World War I.
The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material, and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers underGeneral of the ArmiesJohn Pershing,Commander-in-Chiefof theAmerican Expeditionary Force(AEF), arrived at the rate of 10,000 soldiers a day on theWestern Frontin the summer of 1918. During the war, the U.S. mobilized over 4.7 million military personnel and suffered the loss of over 116,000 soldiers.[1]The war saw a dramatic expansion of theUnited States governmentin an attempt to harness thewar effortand a significant increase in the size of theU.S. Armed Forces.
After a relatively slow start in mobilizing the economy and labor force, by spring 1918, the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of PresidentWoodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of theProgressive Eraas it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world. There was substantial public opposition to U.S. entry into the war.
Beginning[edit]Main article:American entry into World War I
The American entry into World War I came on April 6, 1917, after a year long effort by President Woodrow Wilson to get the United States into the war.[citation needed]Apart from anAnglophileelement urging early support for theBritish, American public opinion sentiment for neutrality was particularly strong amongIrish Americans,German AmericansandScandinavian Americans,[2]as well as among church leaders and among women in general. On the other hand, even beforeWorld War Ihad broken out, American opinion had been more negative toward the German Empire than towards any other country inEurope.[3]Over time, especially after reports ofatrocities in Belgiumin 1914 and following thesinking of the passenger liner RMSLusitaniain 1915, the American people increasingly came to see theGerman Empireas the aggressor.
1917 political cartoon about theZimmermann Telegrampublished in theDallas Morning News
As U.S. president, it was Wilson who made the key policy decisions over foreign affairs: while the country was at peace, the domestic economy ran on alaissez-fairebasis, with American banks making huge loans toBritainandFrance— funds that were in large part used to buy munitions, raw materials, and food from across the Atlantic. Until 1917, Wilson made minimal preparations for a land war and kept theUnited States Armyon a small peacetime footing, despite increasing demands for enhanced preparedness. He did, however, expand theUnited States Navy.
In 1917, with theRussian Revolutionand widespread disillusionment over the war, and with Britain andFrancelow on credit, the German Empire appeared to have the upper hand in Europe,[4]while theOttoman Empireclung to its possessions in the Middle East. In the same year, the German Empire decided to resumeunrestricted submarine warfareagainst any vessel approaching British waters; this attempt to starve Britain into surrender was balanced against the knowledge that it would almost certainly bring the United States into the war. The German Empire also made a secret offer to help Mexico regain territories lost in theMexican–American Warin an encoded telegram known as theZimmermann Telegram, which was intercepted by British Intelligence. Publication of that communique outraged Americans just as GermanU-boatsstarted sinking American merchant ships in theNorth Atlantic. Wilson then askedCongressfor \"awar to end all wars\" that would \"make the world safe for democracy\", and Congress voted todeclare war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917.[5]On December 7, 1917,the U.S. declared waronAustria-Hungary.[6][7]U.S. troops began arriving on theWestern Frontin large numbers in 1918.[citation needed]
Neutrality[edit]A 1915political cartoonabout the United States neutrality
After the war began in 1914, the United States proclaimed a policy ofneutralitydespite President Woodrow Wilson\'s antipathies against the German Empire.
When the GermanU-boatU-20sank the British linerLusitaniaon 7 May 1915 with 128 U.S. citizens aboard, Wilson demanded an end to German attacks on passenger ships, and warned that the US would not tolerateunrestricted submarine warfarein violation of \"American rights\" and of \"international obligations.\"[8]Wilson\'sSecretary of State,William Jennings Bryan, resigned, believing that the President\'s protests against the German use of U-boat attacks conflicted with America\'s official commitment to neutrality. On the other hand, Wilson came under pressure fromwar hawksled by former presidentTheodore Roosevelt, who denounced German acts as \"piracy\",[9]and from British delegations underCecil Spring RiceandSir Edward Grey.
U.S. Public opinion reacted with outrage to the suspected German sabotage ofBlack TominJersey City, New Jerseyon 30 July 1916, and to theKingsland explosionon 11 January 1917 in present-dayLyndhurst, New Jersey.[10]
Crucially, by the spring of 1917, President Wilson\'s official commitment to neutrality had finally unraveled. Wilson realized he needed to enter the war in order to shape the peace and implement his vision for aLeague of Nationsat theParis Peace Conference.[11][pageneeded]
Public opinion[edit]See also:Opposition to World War IAnti-German sentimentspiked after thesinking of the Lusitania. This recruiting poster depicts a drowning mother and child.
American public opinion was divided, with most Americans until early 1917 largely of the opinion that the United States should stay out of the war. Opinion changed gradually, partly in response to German actions in Belgium and theLusitania, partly as German Americans lost influence, and partly in response to Wilson\'s position that America had to play a role to make the world safe for democracy.[12]
In the general public, there was little if any support for entering the war on the side of the German Empire. The great majority of German Americans, as well asScandinavian Americans, wanted the United States to remain neutral; however, at the outbreak of war, thousands of U.S. citizens had tried to enlist in the German army.[13][14]TheIrish Catholic community, based in the large cities and often in control of the Democratic Party apparatus, was strongly hostile to helping Britain in any way, especially after theEaster uprisingof 1916 in Ireland.[15]Most of the Protestant church leaders in the United States, regardless of their theology, favored pacifistic solutions whereby the United States would broker a peace.[16]Most of the leaders of thewomen\'s movement, typified byJane Addams, likewise sought pacifistic solutions.[17]The most prominent opponent of war wasindustrialistHenry Ford, who personally financed and led a peace ship to Europe to try to negotiate among the belligerents; no negotiations resulted.[18]
Britain had significant support among intellectuals and families with close ties to Britain.[19]The most prominent leader wasSamuel Insullof Chicago, a leading industrialist who had emigrated from England. Insull funded many propaganda efforts, and financed young Americans who wished to fight by joining theCanadian military.[20][21]
Preparedness movement[edit]Main article:Preparedness Movement
By 1915 Americans were paying much more attention to the war. Thesinking of theLusitaniaaroused furious denunciations of German brutality.[22]In Eastern cities a new \"Preparedness\" movement emerged. It argued that the United States needed to build up immediately 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 GeneralLeonard Wood, ex-presidentTheodore Roosevelt, and former secretaries of warElihu RootandHenry Stimson; they enlisted many of the nation\'s most prominent bankers, industrialists, lawyers and scions of prominent families. Indeed, there emerged an \"Atlanticist\" foreign policy establishment, a group of influential Americans drawn primarily from upper-class lawyers, bankers, academics, and politicians of the Northeast, committed to a strand of Anglophile internationalism.[23]
The LandshipRecruitin Union Square in New York City
The Preparedness movement had what political scientists call a\"realism\"philosophy of world affairs—they believed that economic strength and military muscle were more decisive than idealistic crusades focused on causes like democracy and national self-determination. Emphasizing over and over the weak state of national defenses, they showed that the United States\' 100,000-man Army, even augmented by the 112,000-strongNational Guard, was outnumbered 20 to one by theGermanarmy; similarly in 1915, the armed forces ofGreat Britainand theBritish Empire,France,Russia, theAustro-Hungarian Empire,Ottoman all larger and more experienced than the United States military.[24]
They called for UMT or \"universal military service\" under which the 600,000 men who turned 18 every year would be required to spend six months in military training, and then be assigned to reserve units. The small regular army would primarily be a training agency. Public opinion, however, was not willing to go that far.[25]
Both the regular army and the Preparedness leaders had a low opinion of the National Guard, which they saw as politicized, provincial, poorly armed, ill trained, too inclined to idealistic crusading (as againstSpain in 1898), and too lacking in understanding of world affairs. The National Guard on the other hand was securely rooted in state and local politics, with representation from a very broad cross section of the U.S. political economy. The Guard was one of the nation\'s few institutions that (in some northern states) accepted black men on an equal footing with white men.
Democrats respond[edit]The Democratic party saw the Preparedness movement as a threat. Roosevelt, Root and Wood were prospective Republican presidential candidates. More subtly, the Democrats were rooted in localism that appreciated the National Guard, and the voters were hostile to the rich and powerful in the first place. Working with the Democrats who controlled Congress, Wilson was able to sidetrack the Preparedness forces. Army and Navy leaders were forced to testify before Congress to the effect that the nation\'s military was in excellent shape.
In reality, neither theU.S. ArmynorU.S. Navywas in shape for war in terms of manpower, size, military hardware or experience. The Navy had fine ships but Wilson had beenusing them to threaten Mexico, and the fleet\'s readiness had suffered. The crews of theTexasand theNew York, the two newest and largest battleships, had never fired a gun, and the morale of the sailors was low. The Army and Navy air forces were tiny in size. Despite the flood of new weapons systems unveiled in the war in Europe, the Army was paying scant attention. For example, it was making no studies oftrench warfare,poison gasortanks, and was unfamiliar with the rapid evolution ofaerial warfare. The Democrats in Congress tried to cut the military budget in 1915. The Preparedness movement effectively exploited the surge of outrage over theLusitaniain May 1915, forcing the Democrats to promise some improvements to the military and naval forces. Wilson, less fearful of the Navy, embraced a long-term building program designed to make the fleet the equal of the BritishRoyal Navyby the mid-1920s, although this would not come to pass untilWorld War II.[26]\"Realism\" was at work here; the admirals wereMahaniansand they therefore wanted a surface fleet of heavy battleships second to none—that is, equal to theRoyal Navy. The facts of submarine warfare (which necessitated destroyers, not battleships) and the possibilities of imminent war with the German Empire (or with Britain, for that matter), were simply ignored.
Wilson\'s decision touched off a firestorm.[27]Secretary of WarLindley Garrisonadopted many of the proposals of the Preparedness leaders, especially their emphasis on a large federal reserves and abandonment of theNational Guard. Garrison\'s proposals not only outraged the provincial politicians of both parties, they also offended a strongly held belief shared by the liberal wing of the Progressive movement, that was, that warfare always had a hidden economic motivation. Specifically, they warned the chief warmongers were New York bankers (such as J. P. Morgan) with millions at risk, profiteering munition makers (such asBethlehem Steel, which made armor, and DuPont, which made powder) and unspecified industrialists searching for global markets to control. Antiwar critics blasted them. These selfish special interests were too powerful, especially,Senator La Follettenoted, in the conservative wing of the Republican Party. The only road to peace was disarmament in the eyes of many.
National debate[edit]Poster for a March 1916charity bazaarinMadison Square Gardenraising funds for widows and orphans of theCentral Powers. This poster was drawn by aGerman Americanartist (Winold Reiss), and aimed to evoke the sympathies of German Americans,Hungarian AmericansandAustrian Americans.
Garrison\'s plan unleashed the fiercest battle in peacetime history over the relationship of military planning to national goals. In peacetime, War Department arsenals and Navy yards manufactured nearly all munitions that lacked civilian uses, including warships, artillery, naval guns, and shells. Items available on the civilian market, such as food, horses, saddles, wagons, and uniforms were always purchased from civilian contractors.
Peace leaders likeJane AddamsofHull HouseandDavid Starr Jordanof Stanford University redoubled their efforts, and now turned their voices against the President because he was \"sowing the seeds of militarism, raising up a military and naval caste.\" Many ministers, professors, farm spokesmen and labor union leaders joined in, with powerful support from a band of four dozen southern Democrats in Congress who took control of the House Military Affairs Committee. Wilson, in deep trouble, took his cause to the people in a major speaking tour in early 1916, a warm-up for his reelection campaign that fall.
Wilson seemed to have won over the middle classes, but had little impact on the largely ethnic working classes and the deeply isolationist farmers. Congress still refused to budge, so Wilson replaced Garrison as Secretary of War withNewton Baker, the Democratic mayor of Cleveland and an outspokenopponentof preparedness.[28]The upshot was a compromise passed in May 1916, as the war raged on and Berlin was debating whether America was so weak it could be ignored. The Army was to double in size to 11,300 officers and 208,000 men, with s, and a National Guard that would be enlarged in five years to 440,000 men. Summer camps on the Plattsburg model were authorized for new officers, and the government was given $20 million to build a nitrate plant of its own. Preparedness supporters were downcast, the antiwar people were jubilant. The United States would now be too weak to go to war. ColonelRobert L. Bullardprivately complained that \"Both sides [Britain and the German Empire] treat us with scorn and contempt; our fool, smug conceit of superiority has been exploded in our faces and deservedly.\".[29]The House gutted the naval plans as well, defeating a \"big navy\" plan by 189 to 183, and canceling the battleships. Thebattle of Jutland(May 31/June 1, 1916) saw the main German High Seas Fleet engage in a monumental yet inconclusive clash with the far stronger Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy. Arguing this battle proved the validity of Mahanian doctrine, the navalists took control in the Senate, broke the House coalition, and authorized a rapid three-year buildup of all classes of warships.[citation needed]A new weapons system, naval aviation, received $3.5 million, and the government was authorized to build its own armor-plate factory. The very weakness of American military power encouraged the German Empire to start its unrestricted submarine attacks in 1917. It knew this meant war with America, but it could discount the immediate risk because the U.S. Army was negligible and the new warships would not be at sea until 1919 by which time the war would be over, Berlin thought, with the German Empire victorious. The notion that armaments led to war was turned on its head: refusal to arm in 1916 led to war in 1917.
War declared[edit]Main article:United States declaration of war on Germany (1917)New York TimesApril 3, 1917
In January 1917, the German Empire resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in hopes of forcing Britain to begin peace talks. In a telegram sent to Mexico which became known as the Zimmerman Telegram, the German Foreign minister,Arthur Zimmermanninvitedrevolution-tornMexico to join the war as the German Empire\'s ally against the United States if the United States declared war on the German Empire. In return, the Germans would send Mexico money and help it recover the territories ofTexas,New MexicoandArizonathat Mexico lost during the Mexican–American War 70years earlier.[30]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 acasus belli—a justification for war.
President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in official relations with the German Empire on February 3, 1917.
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 theU-boatswere under water). After submarines sank seven U.S. merchant ships, Wilson finally went to Congress calling for a declaration of war on the German Empire, which Congress voted on April 6, 1917.[31]
As a result of the RussianFebruary Revolutionin 1917, the Tsar abdicated and was replaced by a Russian Provisional Government. This helped overcome Wilson\'s reluctance to having the U.S. fight alongside a country ruled by an absolutist monarch. Pleased by the Provisional Government\'s pro-war stance, the U.S. accorded the new government diplomatic recognition on March 9, 1917.[32]
Furthermore, as the war raged on Wilson started to increasingly see belligerency in the war as a ticket to theinternational conferencesthat would undoubtedly follow the war\'s end. This was part of his wider mission to make the United States a more instrumental player on the global stage (which he would later expand upon in hisFourteen points).[33]
Congress declared war on theAustro-Hungarian Empireon December 7, 1917,[34]but never made declarations of war against the other Central Powers,Bulgaria, theOttoman Empireor the various smallco-belligerentsallied with the Central Powers.[35]Thus, the United States remained uninvolved in the military campaigns in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
Home front[edit]Main article:United States home front during World War I
The home front required a systematic mobilization of the entire population and the entire economy to produce the soldiers, food supplies, munitions, and money needed to win the war. It took a year to reach a satisfactory state. Although the war had already raged for two years, Washington had avoided 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 at first. Finally efficiency was achieved in 1918.[36]
World War I propagandaposter for enlistment in theU.S. Army.
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 50,000 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.[37]
Food[edit]
The most admired agency for efficiency was theUnited States Food AdministrationunderHerbert Hoover. It launched a massive campaign to teach Americans to economize on their food budgets and growvictory gardensin their backyards for family consumption. It managed the nation\'s food distribution and prices and built Hoover\'s reputation as an independent force of presidential quality.[38]
Finance[edit]Liberty bondposter
In 1917 the government was unprepared for the enormous economic and financial strains of the war. Washington hurriedly took direct control of the economy. The total cost of the war came to $33 billion, which was 42 times as large as all Treasury receipts in 1916. A constitutional amendment legitimized income tax in 1913; its original very low levels were dramatically increased, especially at the demand of the Southern progressive elements. North Carolina CongressmanClaude Kitchin, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee argued that since Eastern businessman had been leaders in calling for war, they should pay for it.[39]In an era when most workers earned under $1000 a year, the basic exemption was $2,000 for a family. Above that level taxes began at the 2 percent rate in 1917, jumping to 12 percent in 1918. On top of that there were surcharges of one percent for incomes above $5,000 to 65 percent for incomes above $1,000,000. As a result, the richest 22 percent of American taxpayers paid 96 percent of individual income taxes. Businesses faced a series of new taxes, especially on \"excess profits\" ranging from 20 percent to 80 percent on profits above pre-war levels. There were also excise taxes that everyone paid who purchased an automobile, jewelry, camera, or a motorboat.[40][41]The greatest source of revenue came from war bonds, which were effectively merchandised to the masses through an elaborate innovative campaign to reach average Americans. Movie stars and other celebrities, supported by millions of posters, and an army of Four-Minute Men speakers explained the importance of buying bonds. In the third Liberty Loan campaign of 1918, more than half of all families subscribed. In total, $21 billion in bonds were sold with interest from 3.5 to 4.7 percent. The new Federal Reserve system encouraged banks to loan families money to buy bonds. All the bonds were redeemed, with interest, after the war. Before the United States entered the war, New York banks had loaned heavily to the British. After the U.S. entered in April 1917, the Treasury made $10 billion in long-term loans to Britain, France and the other allies, with the expectation the loans would be repaid after the war. Indeed, the United States insisted on repayment, which by the 1950s eventually was achieved by every country except Russia.[42][43]
Labor[edit]
TheAmerican Federation of Labor(AFL) and affiliated trade unions were strong supporters of the war effort.[44]Fear of disruptions to war production by labor radicals provided the AFL political leverage to gain recognition and mediation of labor disputes, often in favor of improvements for workers. They resisted strikes in favor of arbitration and wartime policy, and wages soared as near-full employment was reached at the height of the war. The AFL unions strongly encouraged young men to enlist in the military, and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by pacifists, the anti-warIndustrial Workers of the World(IWW) and radical socialists. To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established theNational War Labor Boardin 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions.[45]Wilson also appointed AFL presidentSamuel Gompersto the powerfulCouncil of National Defense, where he set up the War Committee on Labor.
After initially resisting taking a stance, the IWW became actively anti-war, engaging in strikes and speeches and suffering both legal and illegal suppression by federal and local governments as well as pro-war vigilantes. The IWW was branded as anarchic, socialist, unpatriotic, alien and funded by German gold, and violent attacks on members and offices would continue into the 1920s.[46]
Women\'s roles[edit]The Secretary of the Navy with female munition workers from New York
World War I saw women taking traditionally men\'s jobs in large numbers for the first time inAmerican history. Many women worked on theassembly linesof factories, assembling munitions. Some department stores employed African American women as elevator operators and cafeteria waitresses for the first time.[47]
Most women remained housewives. The Food Administration helped housewives prepare more nutritious meals with less waste and with optimum use of the foods available. Most important, the morale of the women remained high, as millions of middle-class women joined theRed Crossas volunteers to help soldiers and their families.[48][49]With rare exceptions, women did not try to block the draft.[50]
The Department of Labor created a Women in Industry group, headed by prominent labor researcher and social scientistMary van Kleeck.[51]This group helped develop standards for women who were working in industries connected to the war alongside the War Labor Policies Board, of which van Kleeck was also a member. After the war, the Women in Industry Service group developed into theU.S. Women\'s Bureau, headed byMary Anderson.[52][51]
Propaganda[edit]
Crucial to U.S. participation was the extensive domestic propaganda campaign. On April 13, 1917, President Wilson issued Executive Order 2594 establishing theCommittee on Public Information(CPI), the first state bureau in the United States dedicated solely to propaganda.George Creel, an energetic journalist and political campaign organizer, was appointed by President Wilson to lead the CPI. Creel sought out any information that would discredit his opponents. With boundless energy, Creel developed an intricate and unprecedented propaganda system that influenced every aspect of American life.[53]Through photographs, movies, rallies, press reports, and public meetings, the CPI saturated the public with propaganda, fostering American patriotism and stoking anti-German sentiment among the younger generation. This effectively suppressed the voices of neutrality supporters. The CPI also controlled the dissemination of war information on the American home front. The committee\'s New Division influenced news coverage by releasing thousands of press releases. The News Division also promoted a system of voluntary censorship by newspapers and magazines while policing seditious and anti-American content.[54]TheEspionage Act of 1917and theSedition Act of 1918effectively outlawed any criticism of the government or the war effort.[55]Violating these laws carried a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. While technically applicable to everyone, both laws were disproportionately enforced against immigrants and African Americans who often used their second class citizenship to protest their involvement in the war.[56]The propaganda campaign involved tens of thousands of government-selected community leaders delivering carefully scripted pro-war speeches at numerous public gatherings.[57][incomplete short citation][58]
In addition to government agencies, officially sanctioned private vigilante groups like theAmerican Protective Leagueclosely monitored — and sometimes harassed — people who opposed American entry into the war or displayed too much German heritage.[59]
\"Weapons for Liberty – U.S.A. Bonds\" calls on Boy Scouts to serve just like soldiers do; poster byJ. C. Leyendecker, 1918
Propaganda took various forms, includingnewsreels, billboards, magazine and newspaper articles, and large-print posters designed by well-known illustrators of the day, includingLouis D. FancherandHenry Reuterdahl. After the armistice was signed in 1918, the CPI was disbanded, having pioneered some of the tactics still employed by propagandists today.[60]
Children[edit]Main article:Effect of World War I on children in the United States
The nation placed a great importance on the role of children, teaching them patriotism and national service and asking them to encourage war support and educate the public about the importance of the war. TheBoy Scouts of Americahelped distribute war pamphlets, helped sell war bonds, and helped to drive nationalism and support for the war.[61]
