AMERICAN POWER DURING WORLD WAR I

Selective Service Act

May 1917

Raising an army for fighting Draft, lottery, volunteer

Under this, 24 million men registered 3 million chosen by

lottery

Ages 18-45

Americans at War

Training lasted 9 months In U.S. and Europe 17 hour days Movies, books, shows to keep morale up

Women NOT drafted Couldn’t enlist either Navy accepted them (noncombat positions)

Nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators Army reluctant to accept them

Didn’t rank, pay or give benefits

African Americans

Separated living quarters and rec facilities

Trained some to be officers and put them in command of black troops

Assigned to noncombat duties

America in War – Shipyards

Construction of ships Problem: Draft reduced number of skilled

shipyard workers

SO U.S. government took some steps… 1. Exempted shipyard workers from draft 2. Campaigned to emphasize importance of

shipyard work3. Shipyards use fabrication technique4. Gov. took private owned ships and

converted them

America in War - Navy

America wanted a strong navy! To combat the U-boats!

Convoy System Merchant vessels travel in large groups with

a guard of destroyers and cruisers.

Fighting “Over There”

Many soldiers never ventured outside small towns or farms

New Weapons Poison Gas Machine Guns Tanks

New Weapons

Machine Guns 600 rounds of

ammunition per minute

Poison Gas Tubes that spewed

gas – a greensih-yellow fog of chlorine

Gas masks became standard after this

Mechanized Warfare

Tanks Bullets bounce off Developed by the British

Airplanes Early airplanes flimsy Used for recon missions Eventually they became

faster and able to carry heavy loads

http://www.history.com/shows/dogfights/videos/split-s-fighter-jet#split-s-fighter-jet

Medical Care

Red Cross ambulances carried soldiers to hospital Staffed by volunteers

Soldiers suffered from many things… Filth, lice, rats, polluted water Poison gas Reek of decaying bodies Lack of sleep “Shell shock” Trench foot Trench mouth

Americans fighting in Europe

Fresh and enthusiastic! Determined to hit

the Germans hard General John J.

Pershing – American Expeditionary Force American infantry

men nicknamed “doughboys”http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/

speeches#john-j-pershing-addresses-the-us-from-france

Russia says Bye-Bye

Russia economy collapsing due to war

Russian people unhappy with how government was handling the war So Tsar Nicholas II abdicated

from throne and Provisional Government set in

Rise of Bolshevik Party – led by Vladimir Lenin

The Tide Turns

Central Powers starting to weaken

Alvin York Mountaineer from Tennessee Captured 132 prisoners and

killed 25 Germans Pershing called him

“outstanding” “The greatest thing

accomplished by any private soldier of all armies of Europe”