Americans Answer Call To Arms During World War I by David Vergun, DOD News
November 11, 2021
World War I, which lasted from July 28, 1914 to Nov. 11, 1918, at
one time was known as the Great War or "the war to end all wars",
because not many could have imagined an even bloodier global
conflict ... World War II ... would occur just two decades later.
Around 10 million soldiers were killed during World War I; over
half of them were Allied forces, including 117,000 Americans.
Countless more service members were injured, and an equal number ...
around 10,000 ... civilians died or were injured.
U.S. troops
at an undisclosed location during World War I. (U.S. Army photo)
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The number of U.S. casualties undoubtedly
would have been much higher, except the U.S. entered the war rather
late, having favored a policy of neutrality.
On April 2,
1917, President Woodrow Wilson, who ran on the reelection slogan:
"He kept us out of war," went before a joint session of Congress to
request a declaration of war, citing Germany’s violation of its
pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North
Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice
Mexico into an alliance against the United States.
Four days
later, Congress declared war on Germany. Congress, however, didn't
declare war on one of Germany's most formidable allies,
Austria-Hungary, until Dec. 7, 1917.
Within a few months,
thousands of Americans were drafted for the war effort and were
showing up at hastily constructed training installations across the
nation. However, most of the more than one million U.S. troops
didn't arrive in Europe until about a year later because the nation
wasn't fully prepared or equipped for that scale of warfare.
The British and French commanders wanted Americans to fill their
depleted ranks. However, U.S. Army Gen. John J. Pershing, American
Expeditionary Forces commander, refused to have Americans serving
under foreign command.
The one exception was that Pershing
did allow African-American combat regiments to be used in French
divisions. For example, the "Harlem Hellfighters" fought as part of
the French 16th Division, and earned a unit Croix de Guerre medal
for their actions at Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood and Sechault.
In 1918, the Germans went on a massive spring offensive, coming
within just 75 miles of Paris. However, the Allied line held and
even though Germany launched another big offensive over the summer,
they were not able to regain the initiative. By that time, some
10,000 U.S. troops were arriving every day, and Germany's allies
were beginning to defect or capitulate and an invasion of Germany
itself seemed inevitable very soon.
The German government,
sensing a looming defeat, signed an armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, at
11 a.m., ending the war. Formal ending of the war, however, occurred
with the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
Some notable technology firsts of World
War I included:
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Tanks were employed by both sides.
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Aircraft were deployed by both sides
for use in reconnaissance, air-to-air combat and limited use in
bombing.
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Chemical warfare was used by both
sides, including chlorine, mustard gas and phosgene. In
response, gas masks were developed.
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Germany employed submarines, called
U-boats, which were effective at sinking convoys of supply and
troop ships. In response, the Allies developed depth charges,
attack submarines and sonar.
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Narrow gauge railroads supplied food,
ammunition and troops to the trenches on both sides, but motor
vehicles were becoming increasingly common, and, after the war,
became the transport of choice.
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Several aircraft carriers, then called
seaplane carriers, were used in battle by the British, Japanese
and Russians.
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Telephones and radios, known as
wireless telegraph, were used by both sides, although messenger
dogs and homing pigeons were still used for relaying messages.
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