WWI

WWI Begins

• At the start of WWI Wilson declared that the US would be neutral during the war

• Because of trade, neutrality was a hard thing to keep, and the Allied Powers soon benefited from US resources

• Soon Germany began to attack ships traveling between Europe and North America, with their new invention the submarine

• Most Americans saw the sinking of civilian merchant ships as an outrage and a violation of the rules of war

• May 7, 1915 a German U-Boat sank the Lusitania killing 128 Americans, which prompted protests in the US, which caused Germany to change its tactics

• January 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and Wilson broke off diplomacy with Germany

• February the British government reveled through the Zimmerman Telegram that Germany was trying to get Mexico to attack the US, in exchange for the former Mexican territory

• End of 1917 Wilson asked congress to declare war on Germany, thus beginning WWI for the United States

WWI Battles•In 1917 the Selective Service

Act was formed which instituted the draft

•2 million men would serve in the American Expeditionary Force, under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing

•Most of the AEF would see combat on the Western Front

•the AEF that were sent over had little training and made little contributions to the war effort.

• In 1918 the stalemate that had taken place since 1914 was over when Germany was freed from fighting the Russians on the Eastern Front

• In September of 1918 the AEF took on two major offensives to drive the Germans back.

• AEF declared victory in October after breaking through the Germany line

• By the end of 1919 Germany was forced to sign the peace armistices

• American causalities were over 320,00o and more than 112,000 killed

Alvin York•Is one of the most famous

doughboys ( AEF solider) of WWI

•When WWI started he was a constant objector to the war

•After debating with his commanding office, the war became a moral crusade for him

•He was part of the fighting at Argonne Forest, and after his unit was pinned down he took on the Germany army alone

•He took 132 prisoners of war

•York received a promotion to sergeant, the Congressional Medal of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre, and 50 other decorations.

•He is one of the most decorated soldier of the war

•His exploits were popularized by 1940 movie called Sgt. York