Warm up – 11/13/13

1. Warm up – 11/13/13 • Sentence: the vietnam veterans memorial was dedicated in washington, d.c., on november 13 1982 the memorial was designed by mayayinglin and is a long, polished, black wall that lists the names of soldiers killed or missing in the war • Journal: What events triggered the U.S. entering the war? Explain them. Do you think the U.S. should have stayed neutral or was it their duty to go to war?

2. Firsts of WWI • http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/videos#wwi-firsts

3. American Power during World War I

4. Selective Service Act • May 1917 • Raising an army for fighting • Draft, lottery, volunteer • Under this, 24 million men registered • 3 million chosen by lottery • Ages 18-45

5. Americans at War • Training lasted 9 months • In U.S. and Europe • 17 hour days • Movies, books, shows to keep morale up • Women NOT drafted • Couldn’t enlist either • Navy accepted them (noncombat positions) • Nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators • Army reluctant to accept them • Didn’t rank, pay or give benefits

6. African Americans • Separated living quarters and rec facilities • Trained some to be officers and put them in command of black troops • Assigned to noncombat duties

7. America in War – Shipyards • Construction of ships • Problem: Draft reduced number of skilled shipyard workers • SO  U.S. government took some steps… • Exempted shipyard workers from draft • Campaigned to emphasize importance of shipyard work • Shipyards use fabrication technique • Gov. took private owned ships and converted them

8. America in War - Navy • America wanted a strong navy! • To combat the U-boats! • Convoy System • Merchant vessels travel in large groups with a guard of destroyers and cruisers.

9. Fighting “Over There” • Many soldiers never ventured outside small towns or farms • New Weapons • Poison Gas • Machine Guns • Tanks

10. New Weapons • Machine Guns • 600 rounds of ammunition per minute • Poison Gas • Tubes that spewed gas – a greensih-yellow fog of chlorine • Gas masks became standard after this

11. The Zeppelin • German airship- dropped bombs on enemy territories. • Terrifying • Not that deadly

12. Mechanized Warfare • Tanks • Bullets bounce off • Developed by the British • Airplanes • Early airplanes flimsy • Used for recon missions • Eventually they became faster and able to carry heavy loads http://www.history.com/shows/dogfights/videos/split-s-fighter-jet#split-s-fighter-jet

13. Medical Care • Red Cross ambulances carried soldiers to hospital • Staffed by volunteers • Soldiers suffered from many things… • Filth, lice, rats, polluted water • Poison gas • Reek of decaying bodies • Lack of sleep • “Shell shock” • Trench foot • Trench mouth

14. Americans fighting in Europe • Fresh and enthusiastic! • Determined to hit the Germans hard • General John J. Pershing – American Expeditionary Force • American infantry men nicknamed “doughboys” http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/speeches#john-j-pershing-addresses-the-us-from-france

15. Russia says Bye-Bye • Russia economy collapsing due to war • Russian people unhappy with how government was handling the war • So Tsar Nicholas II abdicated from throne and Provisional Government set in • Rise of Bolshevik Party – led by Vladimir Lenin

16. The Tide Turns • Central Powers starting to weaken • Alvin York • Mountaineer from Tennessee • Captured 132 prisoners and killed 25 Germans • Pershing called him “outstanding” • “The greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all armies of Europe”