1 / 12

Late-War Times

Late-War Times. In Europe and back home. America Joins the War. When war is declared, only 200,000 men in active Army service Selective Service Act – ~3 million men drafted – rapid training with few supplies ~2 million would reach Europe before fighting ends

elda
Download Presentation

Late-War Times

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Late-War Times In Europe and back home

  2. America Joins the War • When war is declared, only 200,000 men in active Army service • Selective Service Act – ~3 million men drafted – rapid training with few supplies • ~2 million would reach Europe before fighting ends • ~400,000 African Americans in mostly segregated units • Women allowed to serve as nurses with army, served non-combat roles with navy and marines • Workers in shipyards so essentially, exempted or deferred from draft

  3. American Influences 1 • Safety at sea – great reduction in shipping losses • Convoy system – armed escort for merchant vessels • 230-mile barrier of mines helps keep U-boats from roaming the Atlantic • Important shot of manpower and morale for demoralized Allies

  4. Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood (June, 1918) • Perhaps most important American battle in WWI – (put a dot on your maps just to the west of the Marne battlefield labeled “BW” or “Belleau Wood”) • German advance had reached about 50 miles from Paris, Allies are struggling • American soldiers, including 5th Marine Division, bolster the line and turn back the offense • “Retreat? Hell, we just got here.” • After turning back German armies, go on the offense through Argonne forest and in St. Mihiel (Sept.) • A-H surrenders and German Navy mutinies on Nov. 3; Nov. 9, Kaiser Wilhelm gives up throne • Nov. 11, 1918 – Armistice!

  5. New and Improved Deadliness! • Improved machine guns – more accurate, higher rate of fire, air cooling • Poison gas – lethal gases and irritants • Tanks – initially terribly ineffective (breakdowns, getting stuck, terribly slow), but technology improves rapidly • Airplanes – initially for observation, but once the synchronization gear is invented, become devastating – point-and-shoot interface ;)

  6. Other Hazards • General filth • Mud, lice, rats • Tainted water  dysentery • dead/decaying bodies • “Shell Shock” – emotional fatigue/collapse • Trench foot – standing in wet trenches without any dry socks or boots – foot literally rots – many toes and whole feet had to be amputated • Trench mouth – infection of gums and throat

  7. Final Toll • Around 22 million dead – about half civilians • 20 million wounded • 10 million refugees • Direct cost ~$338 billion • American losses – 48,000 dead in battle; 62,000 dead of disease; 200,000 wounded

  8. War at Home • Congress gives Pres. Wilson a great deal of control, especially war-related industry • War Industries Board – increase efficiency, reduce waste – production increases 20% • Prices and corporate profits soar, wages increase, but struggle to keep up with prices • National War Labor Board – formed to settle disputes between labor and management. Keeps workers from striking, but also works for better conditions (8 hr day, safety inspections, etc.) • Food Administration – pushed conservation, not rationing • “Victory Gardens” at homes and garden plots in public plots to produce food, • “Meatless,” “Sweetless,” “Wheatless,” and “Porkless” days • High government price for staples – additional 40 million acres farmed

  9. Selling the War • $35.5 billion bill to pay • Taxes – progressive income tax, war profits tax, excise taxes on luxuries • Borrowing – Liberty Loan and Victory Loan bond sales • Propaganda – Committee on Public Information • commissioned artists and ad agencies to make posters, paintings, cartoons, etc. • 75,000 “Four-Minute Men” – speak about war-related topics in public • 25 million copies of “How the War Came to America” and many other booklets, pamphlets, etc.

  10. Attacks on Civil Liberties • Anti-Immigrant Hysteria • Especially directed at people of German descent • People with German names lost jobs • Orchestras refused to play German music (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms) • Some towns with German names changed them • Schools stopped teaching German • Mob violence • Sauerkraut renamed “victory cabbage,” hamburgers become “Salisbury steak,” dachshunds become “liberty pups” • Espionage and Sedition Acts • Could be fined $10,000 or jailed 20 years for interfering with war effort or saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the gov. or the war effort • Especially targets socialists and labor leaders

  11. Social Change –African Americans and Women • “Great Migration” – migration of large numbers of Southern blacks to cities in the north • Escape discrimination • JOBS! • Many women move into jobs traditionally held by men • Also many volunteers – bond sales, victory gardening, working with Red Cross • Active in peace movement • Numerous contributions helped build public support for woman suffrage

  12. Worldwide Flu Epidemic • Extremely virulent flu virus spreads in fall of 1918 • Possibly aided by close quarters in military, could have been spread virtually worldwide by soldiers • Affected about 25% of American population • Devastating to economy • 500,000 Americans die, somewhere between 20-40 million worldwide

More Related