World War I Notes

The U.S. in War and Life on the Homefront

A.E.F. = American Expeditionary Force

• Commander = Gen. John J. Pershing– Thought trench warfare was too defensive– Wanted to keep AEF an independent fighting force

“Doughboys”

• Nickname for American infantry

due to the white belts of uniform which they cleaned with pipe clay or “dough”

• U.S. lost 48,000 men in battle

• 62,000 more died from disease

• More than 200,000 more were wounded

Alvin York

• Red-head mountaineer from TN – born again Christian, wanted to be a ‘conscientious objector’ but denied.

• Decided it was morally ok to fight if cause was just, with six others killed 25 Germans and took 132 prisoner

• Pershing says York is “most outstanding of AEF”

Eddie Rickenbacker

• From Ohio, became outstanding U.S. fighter pilot

• Shot down a total of 26 enemy planes

• Won a dogfight with the team of the “Red Baron”

Organizations on the Homefront

• WIB – War Industries Board (Bernard Baruch)– Helped companies increase efficiency while

reducing waste (side effect – women’s fashion?)

Food Administration (Herbert Hoover)

- helped produce and conserve food

- “meatless” days and “sweetless” days

- “victory gardens” planted by homeowners

“It is not an army we must shape and train for war, it is a nation” W. Wilson

• CPI – Committee on Public Information (George Creel) – publicize and propagandize the war

• War Bonds – helped to finance the war (used movie stars to sell bonds)

African-Americans and the War

• Divided opinion: some say support the war, others said that “victims of racism should not support a racist government”

• The Great Migration = massive movement of hundreds of thousands of southern blacks to American cities in the north– Due to racism/discrimination in the south and

job opportunities for war production in the north (factories)

Women on the Homefront

• Women enter workforce in jobs left by men gone to war

• Railroad workers, bricklayers, dockworkers, etc.

• The majority made less money than the men who did the same jobs

• Many women also volunteered for the war effort

Flu Epidemic on the Homefront

• 1918, flu epidemic hits U.S.• ½ of U.S. population got sick• Companies had to shut down, cities ran

short on coffins, corpses lay unburied for a week

• Doctors didn’t really know what to do to stop it

• 500,000 Americans dies before it ended in 1919; 40 MILLION people died worldwide

End of War

• Germans begin to collapse near end of 1918• Agree to cease fire at the “11th hour of the

11th day in the 11th month of 1918”• War totals:

• 4 years long• 30 nations involved• 26 million total deaths (1/2 of those civilian)• Total cost of around $350 billion• P. 568 Eddie Rickenbacker quote