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The Course and Conduct of

World War I How was World War I different from

previous wars?

Introduction

To many Americans in 1917, the nation’s

entry into World War I was the

commencement of a great adventure. Others

viewed it as a heroic cause that presented the

country an opportunity to demonstrate its

courage. President Woodrow Wilson’s call to

safeguard the world for democracy appealed

to Americans’ sense of idealism. Many shared

the president’s belief that this would be “the

war to end all wars.”

A young recruit named William Langer

enlisted to fight in the war, eagerly

emphasizing, “Here was our one great chance

for excitement and risk. We could not afford to pass it up.” Henry Villard, who

avidly followed incidents on the European battlefields, reading newspapers and

discussing events with friends, felt similarly and recalled, “There were posters

everywhere . . .’I want you,’ . . . ‘Join the Marines,’ ‘Join the Army.’ And there was

an irresistible feeling that one should do something . . . I said to myself, if there’s

never going to be another war, this is the only opportunity to see it.”

Villard’s chance came when a Red Cross official visited his college in 1917,

looking for volunteers to drive ambulances in Italy. Many of Villard’s friends

signed up, and although he knew his family would protest, Villard said, “I couldn’t

just stand by and let my friends depart.” Villard enlisted after securing his family’s

reluctant consent and soon departed for combat duty.

Shortly after arriving in Italy, Villard discovered how little he knew about

war. “The first person that I put into my ambulance was a man who had just had

a grenade explode in his hands.” Bomb fragments had severed both of the

soldier’s legs. As Villard sped from the front lines to the hospital, the wounded

soldier repeatedly implored him to drive more slowly. By the time the ambulance

reached the hospital, the young man was dead. “This was a kind of cold water

Here, an American soldier shares an

emotional goodbye as he heads off to fight in

World War I.

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treatment for me, to realize all of a sudden what war was like,” explained

Villard. “And it changed me—I grew up very quickly . . . It was the real world.”

Over 2 million Americans served in Europe during World War I. Eager to promote

democracy around the world, many entered the war enthusiastically. However,

their first taste of battle enlightened American troops to the horrors of war.

Section 1. A War of Firsts for the United States

World War I was a war of firsts for the United States. To begin, the war

marked the first time the U.S. government committed large numbers of American

soldiers to a distant war. In fact, when Congress declared war, many Americans

thought the nation would provide money, food, and equipment to the war effort—

not troops. Upon learning that military officials planned to expand the American

army, Virginia Senator Thomas Martin cried out in surprise, “Good Lord! You’re

not going to send soldiers over there, are you?”

That was indeed Wilson’s plan. Still, with Germany preparing for a

reinvigorated assault, many Americans wondered whether the United States

could set up military camps, train numerous troops, and transport soldiers to

Europe quickly enough to make a significant difference.

The Nation’s First Selective Service System Prior to the United States

entering World War I, the country possessed a volunteer army approximately

200,000 soldiers strong. These forces received low pay, lacked equipment, and

had little combat experience. To meet the challenges of war, the U.S. military

would need to amass tens of thousands more soldiers—and quickly. Congress

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passed the Selective Service Act in May 1917, imposing a national draft that

required every man between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for military service

at local polling stations. This was the first time the U.S. government had

established a draft before entering a war.

The government concurrently launched a major propaganda campaign to

encourage Americans to comply with the draft. Secretary of War Newton Baker

hoped tens of thousands would register on the designated day, urging mayors,

governors, and other local leaders to make the day a “festival and [a] patriotic

occasion.” These efforts paid off. Nearly 10 million young men registered. Across

the nation, towns held parades and celebrations honoring their draftees.

Within months, officers at camps around the country were training more than

500,000 draftees. While the new soldiers marched and drilled, the Allies grew

more anxious. In a message to U.S. officials, British Prime Minister David Lloyd

George stressed the Allies’ urgent need

for troops, pleading that the American

troops “be poured into France as soon as

World War I was largely concentrated in two main

battlefronts. The western front stretched across

Belgium and northern France, while the eastern front

spread through much of present day

Poland. Russia’s withdrawal from the war in early

1918 dissolved the eastern front.

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possible.” In his view, “the difference of even a week in the date of arrival may be

absolutely vital.”

The First Americans Reach French Soil The American Expeditionary

Force (AEF), commonly referred to as “the doughboys,” were the first American

troops to land in France, arriving in June 1917. The majority of the AEF

were infantry—soldiers who fight on foot—and served under the command of

General John J. Pershing. Although few in number, the AEF infantry bolstered

the Allies’ morale.

The Allies were not faring well when more American reinforcements reached

France. Their armies had suffered several major defeats, losing many men. Even

victories were deadly. In the battle at Passchendaele alone, which occurred in

November 1917, the Allies lost 300,000 soldiers. In return for the bloodshed, the

Allied forces had regained control of barely 5 miles of German-held territory.

Meanwhile, the second wave of the Russian Revolution augmented the Allies’

woes. Until this point, Russian troops had kept the Central powers occupied with

fighting on the eastern front. However, when Russia’s new revolutionary leaders

wrested control of the government, they immediately began planning Russia’s

withdrawal.

Russian peacemakers met with German and Austrian officials early in 1918 to

solidify the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the terms of which were severe for

Russia. The treaty forced Russia to cede large amounts of territory to the Central

powers, including Finland, Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic States—Estonia,

Latvia, and Lithuania. As a result of this treaty, the Central powers gained

territory and an end to war on the eastern front, meaning Germany was free to

dedicate its troops solely to the fighting on the western front.

To counter the increase of German troops on the western front, the Allies

asked General Pershing to assign American soldiers to Allied units that needed

to replace men killed or wounded in action. With President Wilson’s support,

Pershing resisted this request, insisting that the majority of his soldiers remain in

the AEF. Two factors largely motivated Pershing’s response. First, he disagreed

with Allied military strategy and did not believe the Allies could end the stalemate

by fighting a defensive war from the trenches. Instead, he advocated more

offensive, aggressive tactics. Second, both Wilson and Pershing presumed that if

the AEF succeeded as a separate army, the United States could demand a

greater role in the peacemaking process after the war. Pershing ultimately

prevailed, and by war’s end, some 2 million Americans had served overseas as

members of the AEF.

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The First African American Officer Training Camp

Over the course of the war, nearly 400,000 African Americans enlisted in the

armed forces. The military strictly segregated black and white troops in training

camps and forces overseas and did not initially allow black soldiers to become

officers. However, people across the country held mass meetings to advocate for

African American officer training, and in 1917, the military set up a separate

camp to train black soldiers as officers. The camp’s first class of officers

graduated later that year,

including 106 captains, 329

first lieutenants, and 204

second lieutenants.

Most black soldiers served

under white officers in labor

or supply units, either in

France or the United

States. However, the all-

black 369th Regiment’s

assignment differed. An

exception to Pershing’s

rule regarding American

soldiers not fighting in

Allied units, the 369th

operated under French

command and

participated in active combat, earning high praise. In fact, the soldiers of the

369th fought so fiercely, Germans dubbed them the “Hell Fighters.” After the war,

France awarded the 369th the country’s highest military

Section 2. New Technologies Change the Way War Is Fought

World War I differed from previous wars in several ways. One significant

change lay in the methods of battle, as opposing forces had conducted combat

face-to-face and hand-to-hand for centuries. During the American Civil

War, combatants—those physically fighting—faced their enemies with

handguns, rifles, and cannons, firing only at targets they could see clearly. The

development of new technology made World War I a more impersonal war, as

well as a far deadlier one.

African American soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment originated from

Harlem and other New York City neighborhoods and served under

French command during the war. They became famous for their

tenacious, aggressive fighting style. After facing them in Sechault,

France, Germans named these persistent soldiers the “Hell Fighters.”

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Combatants Introduce More Effective Killing Machines Improved weapons,

including machine guns, flamethrowers, and giant cannons known as howitzers,

transformed how and where war was fought. Unlike rifles and pistols, the

machine gun was a rapid-firing weapon—the first truly automatic gun. A soldier

using a machine gun, which released 600 bullets per minute, did not have to

reload near as often. In time, military commanders discovered that machine guns

were more effective when grouped together, and the Germans even created

separate machine gun companies to support the infantry.

The machine gun’s invention majorly impacted military strategy. The British

and French were slower to realize this, however. Allied armies charged across

open fields toward enemy lines, only to be mowed down by machine gun fire,

resulting in thousands of casualties. In September 1915, British infantry units

comprising about 10,000 each charged a well-protected German position, and

within four hours, over 8,000 men were killed almost entirely by machine gun fire.

At first, machine guns were used mainly for defense because soldiers found

them too heavy and bulky to carry in an offensive attack. Over time, both sides

engineered ways of mounting these weapons on aircrafts and used them on

warships as well.

Unlike the new machine gun, the flamethrower was an old weapon. In the

days of the Roman Empire, soldiers threw tubes filled with burning fuel at one

another. During World War I, Germany developed a small, lightweight

flamethrower, which sprayed burning fuel on victims,that a single person could

carry. This weapon was effective in attacks on nearby trenches but could not be

fired long distances.

Both sides employed large, heavy artillery, or “big guns,” which gunners

loaded with shells that often contained dozens of small lead balls. Big guns were

also used to deliver poison gas. New loading and firing methods, as well as a

novel recoil mechanism, made these guns very useful. Gunners blasted through

barbed wire, knocked out enemy machine gun nests, and lobbed poison gas

shells at enemy trenches.

Germany’s Big Berthas, the largest mobile guns ever used on a battlefield,

were the most infamous of these powerful guns. Each weighed about 75 tons

and was capable of firing a 2,100-pound shell a distance of more than 9 miles. At

the beginning of the war, the German army easily swept through Belgium as they

advanced west toward France because Belgian forts were unable to withstand

the Big Berthas’ assault, and consequently crumbled. Ultimately, heavy artillery

inflicted over half of the war’s battle casualties.

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Despite these technological advances, the rifle remained the most common

battlefield weapon because it was lighter than bigger guns and thus easier to

carry when advancing toward the enemy. As the war progressed, a new form of

combat developed, known as trench warfare. Soldiers with accurate aim played

a key role in trench warfare, either training to be sharpshooters, specialists at

hitting precise targets, or snipers, who fire from a concealed position.

Both Armies Seek Safety in Trenches The invention of rapid-firing machine

guns and long-range big guns made traditional ground attacks far too

dangerous. Soldiers could no longer charge each other across an open field

since they risked being killed instantly. Instead, both sides dug trenches for

protection, creating a new defensive form of combat appropriately called trench

warfare.

Opponents dug multiple lines of trenches commonly in zigzag patterns since

that pattern made it difficult for enemy sharpshooters to hit soldiers. Closest to

the enemy’s trenches lay the frontline trenches, where enemy soldiers hurled

grenades and fired machine guns at one another. Behind the frontline trenches,

soldiers dug a line of supply trenches, which held ammunition, supplies, and

communication equipment. In a third line of reserve trenches, weary soldiers

Generally, frontline trenches in World War I were six to eight feet deep and were also wide enough

for two people to stand side by side. Short trenches connected the frontline trenches to those behind

them. Although trench systems had kitchens, bathrooms, and supply rooms, life in the trenches was

not pleasant. Soldiers had to relax in cramped quarters when they were not fighting and often

developed gangrene, referred to as “trench foot,” from extended periods wading in wet, cold mud.

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rested before returning to the frontlines. Soldiers rotated through the frontline,

supply, and reserve trenches during the course of their trench duty.

Barbed wire encircled each side’s front line, extending into the open area

between the opposing trenches known as no-man’s land. Although no-man’s

land was only about 250 yards wide, crossing its short distance was usually

lethal. Any moving object in the barren zone was easily targeted by

sharpshooters and machine gunners, so soldiers venturing into no-man’s land

risked being shot or blown up. Dreadful conditions in the trenches spread

disease and discontent. The muddy trenches smelled of rotting bodies, sweat,

and overflowing latrines, and soldiers often contracted fevers or suffered from

painful foot infections. These infections, resulting from standing in the mud and

cold water that pooled in the bottom of

the trenches, often developed into

gangrene, or “trench foot.” In addition,

lice, frogs, and rats surrounded the

men. As an Allied soldier recalled:

One got used to many things, but I

never overcame my horror of the

rats. They abounded in some parts,

great loathsome beasts gorged with

flesh . . . About the same time every

night the dug-out was invaded by

swarms of rats. They gnawed holes in

our haversacks [backpacks] and

devoured our . . .rations.

—Harold Saunders, quoted

in Everyman at War, 1930

The Allied and Central powers developed new

weapons in hopes of ending the stalemate in

the trenches. In April 1915, Germany first released poison gas over Allied lines, where deadly

fumes caused vomiting and suffocation. Both sides invented gas masks shortly thereafter to

protect troops from such attacks.

The most frightening threats soldiers faced were chemical weapons, which

utilize toxic agents such as poison gas to harm and kill numerous

people. Although Germany was the first to use poison gas in World War I, the

British and French were not far behind. The deadliest chemical weapon was

odorless mustard gas, which caused huge, painful blisters, blindness, and critical

lung damage. Even those who survived a mustard gas attack often suffered

lifelong injuries.

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At first, soldiers released mustard gas from cylinders and relied on the wind to

carry it across no-man’s land to the enemy. However, shifting winds often

returned the gas to the sender’s trenches, so both sides engineered methods to

fill fireable shells with poison gas and developed gas masks to protect their

troops from these attacks.

Another newly developed weapon, the tank, would help end the trench

stalemate. Tanks were capable of driving over barbed wire, crushing the

otherwise treacherous material, and could also navigate steep embankments and

deep ditches to attack enemy trenches. While Germany was slow to develop its

own tanks, unsure of their potential effectiveness, the Allies were more proactive

with these new weapons. During the final Allied advance in the summer of 1918,

tanks rolled across no-man’s land ahead of Allied troops, protecting them from

enemy gunfire and weakening Germany’s defenses.

The Sky Is the New Battlefield Aircraft innovations in this period introduced war

into the sky. Previously, maximum airplane speed did not exceed 40 miles per

hour. But by 1917, powerful motors enabled airplanes to travel at speeds over

three times faster. Novel

aircraft technology not

only made planes faster,

but also equipped them to

travel farther distances

and be generally easier to

fly.

Airplanes were used as

weapons for the first time in

World War I. When enemy

planes met early in the war, pilots exchanged smiles and waves. However, they were soon

targeting each other with bricks, grenades, and pistols. Once guns were mounted on planes, the

era of air combat commenced.

Both sides used airplanes to scout enemy territory from the beginning of

World War I, but the course of the war challenged inventors to develop airplanes

for more specialized combat purposes, including shooting and bombing. Early in

the war, pilots leaned out of the cockpit to shoot at enemy pilots with a pistol or

dropped bombs by hand over the side of the plane. Then, Dutch inventor

Anthony Fokker built a device for Germany that timed the firing of a machine gun

with the rotation of a plane’s propeller, allowing a pilot to safely fire a machine

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gun mounted on the front of his aircraft. Fokker’s invention consequently

increased the threat of in-air combat.

The Germans also developed high-flying, gas-filled airships called

zeppelins. Although these cigar-shaped aircraft were originally intended to scout

enemy positions, German pilots flew zeppelins in bombing raids over London in

1915. While the German airships successfully terrified British civilians and

alarmed the Allies, they often missed their targets.

The British countered Germany’s airship threat by 1916, building fighter

planes that could fly as high as zeppelins and developing bullets sharp enough to

pierce zeppelins’ outer skin and detonate them. Through their various uses,

airplanes played a critical, versatile role in World War I and would prove to be

even more vital in later conflicts.

Waging a Savage War at Sea When World War I started, most naval experts

predicted that the greatest sea battles would occur between heavily armed and

armored battleships. In 1906, Britain introduced the world’s first modern

battleship, the HMS Dreadnought, which was greater in size, arms, and armor

than earlier warships. Facing this threat, major naval powers scrapped their old

fleets and began to replace them with comparable battleships. Following this

buildup, German and British navies fought a major naval battle with their

improved battleships in 1916, where each side sank many ships, but neither won

a clear victory.

The invention of the U-boat

permanently transformed

naval warfare. U-boats in

World War I were capable of

travelling undetected below

the surface, taking Allied

ships by deadly surprise. To

counter U-boats, the Allies

developed hydrophones, or

“underwater ears,” which

helped ships detect

approaching U-boats and take

appropriate defensive action.

After this battle,

Germany redirected its naval warfare strategy to focus on developing and

utilizing armed submarines, or U-boats. U-boats moved silently through the sea,

remaining undetectable until their close range made their torpedoes

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unavoidable. German U-boats sank over 1,000 ships carrying supplies and

weapons to Allied ports in the first four months of 1917 alone, prompting British

Admiral John Jellicoe’s warning, “It is impossible to go on with the war if losses

like this continue.”

The development of the convoy system, in which Allied warships escorted

protected groups of merchant ships across the Atlantic Ocean, greatly reduced

the effectiveness of U-boat attacks. Allied shipping losses quickly decreased as a

result. Between April and November 1917, the amount of goods lost in U-boat

attacks plummeted from more than 850,000 tons to just over 200,000 tons. In

1918, the Allies erected an underwater barrier of mines across the North Sea and

the English Channel, further mitigating the German submarine menace.

Section 3. The War Comes to a Close

As 1918 began, the Allies knew that Germany would launch a desperate

offensive in a final bid to end the war on the western front. Germany raced to

defeat the war-weary Allies before the Americans arrived, as more troops

amassed on the front lines every day. “We should strike,” argued General Erich

Ludendorff to Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German emperor, “before the Americans can

throw strong forces into the scale.”

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive Leads to an Armistice The Germans launched

their final push in the Spring, when their troops rapidly advanced within 50 miles

of Paris. By this time, however, American forces were arriving in Europe at the

rate of 300,000 soldiers per month, enough to drastically affect the war’s

outcome.

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Between July 15 and August 5, 1918, American forces joined French and

British forces at the Second Battle of the Marne. Soon after the Allied forces

counterattacked, the German troops retreated. “August 8 was the black day of

the German army,” General Ludendorff reported to the Kaiser, “It put the decline

of our fighting power beyond all doubt . . . The war must be ended.”

The Allies launched the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in late September, so the

AEF could infiltrate the German line and secure the Sedan railroad, the German

army’s main supply and communication line, in northern France. Over 1 million

U.S. troops participated in this final assault. After six weeks of persistent fighting

throughout the Argonne Forest, the Americans achieved their objective, and on

November 11, 1918, Germany agreed to an armistice—a truce. By then, the

other Central powers had surrendered as well. The long war was finally over.

Counting the Costs and Casualties For all parties involved, the costs of war

were immense. More than 8 million soldiers died and another 21 million were

injured, many of whom would never fully recover or be able to work. An English

veteran and poet named Siegfried Sassoon wrote bitterly of their sacrifice:

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Does it matter?—losing your legs? . . .

For people will always be kind,

And you need not show that you mind

When the others come in after hunting

To gobble their muffins and eggs.

Does it matter?—losing your sight? . . .

There’s such splendid work for the

blind;

And people will always be kind,

As you sit on the terrace remembering

And turning your face to the light.

—Siegfried Sassoon, “Does It Matter?”,

1918

Additionally, millions of civilians

throughout Europe died from

starvation, disease, and other war-

related causes. The United States

suffered far fewer casualties than the

other powers, with about 116,000

soldiers killed and twice as many

wounded or declared missing.

The war severely damaged farms, forests, factories, towns, and homes

throughout Europe. An Allied soldier described the villages he saw:

They are utterly destroyed, so that there are not even skeletons of buildings

left—nothing but a churned mass of debris, with bricks, stones and . . . bodies

pounded to nothing. And forests! There are not even tree trunks left—not a leaf

or a twig. All is buried and churned up again and buried again.

—John Raws, letter to a friend, August 4, 1916

The war also destroyed roads, bridges, railroad lines, and other transportation

facilities. Countries already critically burdened by the financial cost of war

withered under the weight of these additional losses. Economic recovery in

Europe would advance glacially in the years to come.

Damage to the human spirit, although difficult to measure, was another great

cost of the war. Many men and women who had eagerly supported the war effort

were left deeply disillusioned by their experiences, questioning long-held beliefs

about the glories of Western civilization and the nobility of war. American poet

Ezra Pound spoke for war-weary populations in both the United States and

Europe when he wrote of the “myriad,” or vast number, who had died “for a

botched civilization.”

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