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Mobilization. The United States Prepares for “Total War”. I. Mobilization.
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Mobilization The United States Prepares for “Total War”
I. Mobilization Mobilization is preparing for war. It takes a vast amount of time and planning to turn a peace-time country into a war-time country. Industry, economy, government, technology, and corporations all had to adjust to a country involved in TOTAL WAR. A. The Selective Service Act of 1917: required all men ages 18-45 to register for the draft. In this war, 2.8 million men were drafted; 2 million went overseas, and 1.4 million actually saw combat. Americans who served in WWI were part or the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commanded by General John J. Pershing.
B. Women who wanted to help the country overseas could do so in secretarial, domestic or medical roles. However, they had to pay their own way overseas and pay for their room and board. The government did not cover any costs.
Funds had to be raised by the government to pay for the war. This was done through: C.Liberty Loans and War Bonds: These bonds were sold to American people. A person would buy a bond for $50, and after the war was over, the government promised to pay back the $50 plus interest. $21 billion was raised by the bond program—this was 2/3 of the cost of the war. The other 1/3 was paid for by an increase in various taxes.
Mobilization also called for rationing of important war-time materials such as food, fuel and raw materials. D.Food Administration: headed by Herbert Hoover, urged Americans to “Hooverize” by conserving food. Americans were asked to grow “Victory Gardens” as well as have “Meatless Mondays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays” in order to conserve food so excess food could be sent overseas to troops and allies.
E.Fuel Administration: headed by Harry A. Garfield, urged Americans to conserve power and fuel. People were encouraged to walk to work, have “Heatless Tuesdays”, “Lightless Thursdays” (use candles only!). Daylight Savings Time was an effect of this conservation movement. F.War Industries Board (W.I.B), headed by Bernard Baruch, took almost complete control of the American economy. It set priorities for American industry and had the authority to decide what was produced and at what price it was sold.
A very important aspect of mobilization involved getting American public opinion solidly behind the war. The job of raising morale was done via the: G. Creel Commission: headed by George Creel, began an intense propaganda campaign to put a positive spin on the Allied war effort. Movies, popular songs and patriotic newspaper articles were all aimed at showing not only Americans, but also the Germans, that the U.S. was morally right in fighting the war.This was also known as the Committee on Public Information (CPI)
II. Civil Liberties History teaches us that civil liberties (freedom of press, speech, assembly, etc.) are usually limited during wartime. Loyalty and cooperation are necessary to win a war, and dissent (disagreement with a government policy) is not as widely tolerated as it is during peace-time. There is pressure for everyone to be united in favor of the war effort. During World War I, there were some examples of foolishness, like renaming frankfurters, “hot dogs”, and hamburgers, “victory meat”, to more sinister acts like vandalizing the property of German-Americans or even killing dachshunds or German Shepards. Also, many American high schools stopped teaching German as part of the curriculum.
There were laws passed to curb dissent, and these were the most repressive laws ever passed in the U.S. to that date. Some would argue that they were unconstitutional. A.The Espionage and Sedition Act-Congress passed two laws which made it possible for the government to prosecute those who opposed the war. Under these laws a person could be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for 20 years for a variety of offenses including: interfering with the draft, encouraging disloyalty, or even “abusive language” toward the government. More than 1,500 people were prosecuted under the laws (about 1,000 were convicted).
There were Supreme Court cases decided that had a negative impact on civil liberties during the war. The most notable one was: B. Schenck v. U.S. (1919)- The Court, in a decision written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, said that freedom of speech could be limited when it presented a “clear and present danger” to the nation. The case itself dealt with the conviction of two Socialists who passed out pamphlets urging draft resistance. Such activity, said the court, presented such a danger. Side note: This case where "shouting fire in a crowded theatre,“ came from. The acutal quote was: "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." Charles Schenck spent 10 years in prison.
III. U.S. Military Involvement A. The U.S. Army, fighting as the AEF, fought mostly on the Western Front, the boarder between France and Germany. Their most significant battles took place in the Argonne Forest. American soldiers, known as Yanks or Doughboys, played a critical part in the war because they brought: 1. High Morale 2. New Weapons 3. Fresh Troops 4. Evolved War Tactics
B. World War I was the most bloody war in history to that point. That’s why they called WWI “the Great War” or the “War to End All Wars”. Several new weapons were used successfully for the first time, including the submarine, airplane, tank, machine gun, poison gas, and flamethrower. WWI introduced Trench Warfare, where both sides would dig in, set up fortifications, barbed wire, bunkers and artillery stations and conduct the war from fixed positions. This new type of warfare led to disasterous casualty rates and stalemate, where neither side had an advantage in the war for long periods of time.
C. The U.S. Navy also played an important part in the war effort.It developed the convoy system for protecting merchant ships, and also laid a heavy minefield across the North Sea to protect against German U-Boats.
IV. The End of the War A. The final push provided by the AEF ensured the victory for the Allied Forces. Kaiser Wilhelm (German Kaiser) abdicated. Germany was suffering from stavation, lack of fuel and a destroyed homeland. B. The Armistice ending World War I was signed at the railroad center of Compiegne, France on 11-11-1918. The Germans were humiliated at the signing and never forgot how the Allies handled this situation so poorly.
V. Treaty of Versailles A. This treaty formally ended World War I and it was one of the major causes of World War II. It was unfair to Germany and this led to Germans holding on to animosity and anger after WWI, leading to WWII. B. The Treaty was worked out by the so-called “Big Four”: Woodrow Wilson (U.S), David Lloyd-George (G.B), Georges Clemenceau (Fra) and Vittorio Orlando (Itl)
The main points of the treaty were: 1. Germany accepted full blame for starting the war and were forced to $33 Billion in reparations (the bill was never paid) 2. Germany gives up all overseas colonies 3. Germany immobilized their Army and limited its standing forces 4. A League of Nations was created to prevent future world wars
Wilson’s Fourteen Points • In Wilson’s famous “Fourteen Points”, he outlines exactly how the World should deal with post-war issues so peace could reign. • One of Wilson’s points was: To create a League of Nations (much like our current United Nations) • The League of Nation’s main purpose was to prevent future wars from happening by using diplomacy, not force.
U.S. Senate Rejects the Treaty of Versailles • In an ironic turn of events, the U.S. Senate (who under the constitution, must approve all treaties) did not approve of the U.S. joining the League because: • They feared that it would further entangle the U.S. in foreign problems • The Senate, full of Republicans, was angry that Wilson did not ask them for advice before going to Europe to negotiate the treaty
Results of the War • The total cost was $300 billion, or $1,000 for every man, woman and child in each of the countries involved in WWI (that’s a lot) The cost for the U.S. was approx. $30 billion • More than 10 million were dead (including approx. 115,000 Americans. More than 20 million people were crippled
