Transcript Americans at War, 1917 - 1918 - pams-byrd

GUIDED READING ACTIVITY ANSWERS
The German
Blockade of
England, WW I
Germany was able to
set up an effective
blockade of England
during World War I
by using its U-Boats
to sink trade vessels
approaching or
leaving England.
Unable to receive
food and supplies
from abroad, the
English population
suffered and the war
effort seemed
doomed.
General John Pershing had
gained fame for his role in
subduing Mexican
Revolutionary “Pancho”
Villa during the early 1910s.
During World War I, he
was the commander of the
American Expeditionary
Force – and cooperated
closely with the French
Commander Ferdinand
Foch.
Americans Fighting
under French
Command
At the start of
American
participation in the
war effort, Pershing
was opposed to any
American troops
serving under foreign
commanders. Soon,
however, he had
relinquished AfricanAmerican soldier to
French commanders,
and by the end of the
war, Americans
routinely served
under French
commanders.
The US Troops
Arrived in France,
June, 1917
World War I started in
Europe in the fall of
1914. Americans were
resolved to stay out of
the war – which they
considered a European
affair – but were
eventually dragged in.
Even after President
Woodrow Wilson
asked Congress for a
declaration of war in
April of 1917, it took
several months to
mobilize the AEF
(American
Expeditionary Force)
to join the fight.
Doughboys
Because most
American soldiers
were inexperienced
farm boys out in the
world for their first
time – and perhaps a
little pudgy until
they had been
through basic
training – they were
referred to as
“Doughboys.”
Communism is an economic and political system based on
the idea that social classes and the right to private property
should be eliminated.
The Bolshevik Party in Russia, led by Vladimir Lenin, used
violent force to take over the government of Russia, then
seized and redistributed land to collective farmers.
During a murderous, bloody Civil War between 1917 and 1923,
the Tsar and hundreds of thousands of citizens who opposed
the Bolsheviks’ plans were killed in the fighting.
The Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk
Vladimir Lenin and
the Bolsheviks were
so busy fighting a
Civil War at home
that they could not
fight against the
Germans – and
therefore quit the
war. In the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk,
Russia ceded
hundreds of
thousands of square
miles of land to
Germany.
Forty Divisions of
German Soldiers
Moved to the
Western Front.
When fighting
against Russia came
to an end, virtually
the entire Eastern
Front collapsed and
military
confrontation
ceased. German
Soldiers were
redeployed to the
Western Front, and
the Allies braced
themselves for a
massive assault.
The Spanish
Influenza
More men and
women died of the
Spanish Flu during
the winter of 19181919 than died during
all of World War I.
The epidemic hit
German and Allied
Soldiers so hard
during 1918 that it
interfered with troop
movements during
World War I.
The Battle of
Argonne Forest
In September of 1918,
the weakened
German lines were
forced to retreat by
Allied Soldiers who
had been reinforced
by American
“doughboys.” Crossing
the Meuse River, over 1
million American
soldiers pressed
forward through
heavily fortified
regions of the Argonne
Forest. German
soldiers continued to
retreat all the way
back into Germany.
An armistice is an agreement to halt fighting between
enemy combatants so that peace talks can begin.
Germany asked for an armistice, or cease-fire, during the
fall of 1918 so that peace talks could begin between their
nation and the Allied Powers.
Allied leaders, however, were not willing to halt their
progress right way. Germany would have to endure more
brutal punishment before the Allies would acquiesce.
Kaiser Wilhelm Abdicates his
Throne.
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the monarch who
was considered the leader of Germany
throughout World War I, was forced to
abdicate his throne, or give up
leadership, before the Allies would
accept a cease fire with Germany. He
left Germany to live in exile in Holland.
The once proud emperor, pictured to
the left, would live in exile for the rest
of his life, and watch Germany descend
into madness under Adolf Hitler
before the nation was destroyed again
during the Second World War.
The leaders of the Allied Powers wanted for the war to
end dramatically, and thus chose the memorable date we
now know as Armistice Day.
The war ended at exactly 11 O'clock AM on November
the 11th: The Eleventh hour of the Eleventh day of the
Eleventh month.
Why? For no reason at all. And the killing continued
until that date and that hour, although it might have
stopped days earlier.
“In Flanders Fields”
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
France
1.3 Million Men
Britain
900,000 Men
Russia
1.7 Million Men
Germany
1.6 Million Men
The United States
50,000 (less than 1 yr.)
 By the end of World War I, there were entire villages
in France whose populations were wiped out. These
cities simply disappeared from the map in the
aftermath of the war.
 Uncounted Millions died of disease (especially
Influenza), starvation, and other war related causes.
 Soldiers were frequently blinded, dismembered, or the
victims of poison gassing that left their lungs
permanently scarred.
 Psychological trauma plagued men and women after
the war – as it does the participants of all wars.