World War I, a Brief History
America's Involvement-(Con't)
6 April 1917: Five more American ships were sunk by April 1917 without warning. President Wilson asked for Congressional approval to declare war and received permission to proceed. The Selective Service Act was passed on 18 May 1917, and American troops were drafted. The first Americans to arrive in France were the American Expeditionary Forces, led by Gen. John J. Pershing who arrived on 3 July 1917. Col. Douglas Mac Arthur, in charge of the famous Rainbow Division arrived in November
On 8 July 1918, President Wilson made his famous Fourteen Points for peace speech which laid out the formula for forming the League of Nations. Before the United States was fully involved in the war, Germany made the first of five offensives on 21 March 1918 and pushed the allied forces back.
In response to this push by the Germans, the allied commander, General Foch asked for and received more US troops, which turned the Germans back. By September, almost 900,00 Americans troops took part in the final offensive, while British forces penetrated the German lines to the north.
The War's End
Shortly thereafter, the German Army was crushed. By October 1918, the mighty German Navy revolted and Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 Nov. 1918. In November Austria surrendered. A week after the Austrian surrender, Germany signed the Armistice, and history recorded that on the eleventh hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
the war ended.
The death and destruction of this war was tremendous. 19th Century military tactics were fought with twentieth century weapons, Sabers and Calvary made way for Tanks, U-boats and other weapons of mass destruction.
The consequence for the losers were political chaos & economic destruction for almost all of Europe. Social class's started to meld together, and democracy reared its head. The ideas of European Superiority vanished, and new countries came into place.
Britain and France divided up the German and Ottoman Empires for themselves. The debt of war was huge, and demands for reparations, especially Germany, failed to solve the problem. Many countries increased the money supply thus triggering inflation. The allies were not kind to the Central Powers in the aftermath of war.
The Cost of War
The Treaty of Versailles, caused Germany to give up land, to accept responsibility for causing the war, to pay reparations, to return the Alsace-Lorraine region to France, give France 15 year control of the coal fields in Saar Valley, and war materials, ships, and other goods turned over to the Allies. Additionally an Allied force was to occupy the West Bank of the Rhine river for 15 years. The result of this saw the rise of Adolph Hitler. The Treaty of Versailles and the resulting conditions, laid the groundwork for WW2.
In the United States, President Wilson's League of Nations, was defeated by a Republican controlled Senate, as Wilson had left them out of the treaty negotiations. Without America involved, the League of Nations was doomed. It took another World War to form the United Nations in 1945, the same concept that Wilson had envisioned in 1918.