11.2 The U.S. Enters WWI

U.S. Gears up for war

• U.S. shifted our factories to focus on war equipment, especially naval ships

U.S. Gears up for war• Selective Service Act: all young men required to

register for the chance to be drafted– Still have a version of this today: All males 18-25, just

in case we end up in a war– In WWI, some workers, like shipbuilder, were

considered too important for the war effort to draft them

• African-American males could serve, but in separate military units.

U.S. Gears up for war

• Our troops in WWI in Europe were called the American Expeditionary Force (AEF)– Led by John J. Pershing (same guy that chased

down ___________________ in Mexico)

“Over There” by George M CohanJohnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,Take it on the run, on the run, on the run,Hear them calling you and me,Ev'ry son of liberty.Hurry right away, no delay, go today,Make your daddy glad to have had such a lad,Tell your sweetheart not to pine,To be proud her boy's in line.

Over there over thereSend the word, send the word over thereThat the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming,The drums rum-tumming ev'rywhere

So prepare say a pray'rSend the word, send the word to bewareWe'll be over, we're coming over,And we won't come back till it's over over there!

Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,Johnnie show the Hun you're a son of a gun,Hoist the flag and let her fly,Yankee Doodle do or die.Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit,Yankees to the ranks from the towns and the tanks,Make your mother proud of youAnd the old Red White and Blue.

Dangers of a Defensive War

Dangers of a Defensive War

Dangers of a Defensive War

Dangers of a Defensive War• Shell-shock: total mental breakdown caused

by extremely stressful situations– Now we would call this Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder (PTSD)

Dangers of a Defensive War

• Trench foot: when you live in a wet, slimy trench for extended time

American Troops on the Attack• Our troops showed up on the Western Front

(in France/Belgium) in 1917– We helped to raise the spirits of exhausted

British/French troops– Russians had just quit the war so Germany only

had to focus on the Western Front• They had overthrown their Tsar (king) in a

communist revolution

American Troops on the Attack• The German Kaiser (emperor) faced his own

overthrow in Nov. 1918• We sign the armistice (truce) on 11/11/18

(at 11:11)– The full treaty (with new land boundaries and

who would pay whom) would come later