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Course and Conduct of WWI

Course and Conduct of WWI. War of Firsts. First time the government sent large numbers of American soldiers to a war across the sea When the war first began, the US had a volunteer army of 200,000 soldiers They received low pay and lacked equipment

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Course and Conduct of WWI

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  1. Course and Conduct of WWI

  2. War of Firsts • First time the government sent large numbers of American soldiers to a war across the sea • When the war first began, the US had a volunteer army of 200,000 soldiers • They received low pay and lacked equipment • To enter the war, the military needed tens of thousands more soldiers • First Selective Service System • Created a national draft • All men 21-30 must register for service • 1st time there is a draft before entering a war

  3. Selective Service con’t • Nearly 10 million young men registered • First time Americans Reach French Soil • The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) • Nicknamed the “doughboys” • Most were infantry- fought on foot • Fought under command of John J Pershing • War was going poorly for Allies • Major defeats • Russian Revolution in 1917 • Began making plans to withdraw from war • Made a peace treaty with Germans and Austrians • Forced Russia to give up large amounts of territory • Was the end to fighting on the Eastern front

  4. Germany could now focus its troops on the western front • American troops sent to fight on the Western Front in France • First African American Officer Training Camp • 400,000 African Americans joined the Armed Forces • Segregated white and black troops in training camps and overseas • 1917- Camp to train black soldiers as officers • Most black soldiers served under white officers in labor or supply units in France or US • 369th Regiment- operated under French command, took part in active combat, earned high praise, “Hell Fighters”

  5. New Technologies • Unlike previous wars • No more face-to-face and hand-to-hand fighting • New technology made WWI an impersonal war and deadlier • New Weapons • Machine gun • Rapid-firing: 600 bullets per minute • Did not have to stop as often to reload • Could make a greater effect when grouped together

  6. Impact? • Taking offensive and attacking head-on was now a disadvantage • Those that charged across open fields were mowed down • Eventually used on aircraft and warships • Flamethrower • Not a new weapon, just improved during WWI • Sprayed burning fuel on victims • Effective in attacks on nearby trenches but could not be fired long distances

  7. Heavy Artillery • “big guns” • Used to deliver poison gas or shells • Used to blast through barbed wire, knock out machine gun nests • Big Berthas- largest mobile guns ever used on the battlefield • Helped Germany sweep through Belgium on the way to France • Belgian forts crumbled • Inflicted half of all battle casualties in WWI

  8. Trench Warfare • The introduction of new weapons made the old style of ground attack too dangerous • Could no longer charge across an open field would be killed instantly • New type of combat • Dug trenches in the ground for protection • New defensive war • No Man’s Land • Area between the opposing trenches • Barriers of barbed wire • Crossing this area was usually lethal • Any moving object was a target • War ground to a stalemate because neither side could effectively cross No Man’s Land

  9. Conditions in Trenches • Muddy, Rotting bodies, Overflowing latrines • Soldiers caught fevers or suffered painful foot infections called trench foot • From standing in water and mud that pooled at the bottom of trenches • Lice, frogs, rats • Chemical weapons • Toxic agents such as poison gas to kill or harm many people • Both sides used this weapon • Eventually created masks to protect troops from these attacks • Tanks • Helped end the stalemate in the trenches • Could drive tanks over barbed wire, up steep embankments, and across ditches to attack enemy trenches

  10. Sky • Improvements to airplanes brought war to the sky • Easier to fly and could travel further than before • Used to scout enemy territory • Eventually for fighting and bombing • At first, pilots would lean out of the plane to shoot at enemy pilots with a pistol or drop bombs by hand • Eventually- device that timed the firing of a machine gun with the rotation of a plane’s propeller • Zepellins- gas-filled airships for scouting and for bombing raids

  11. Sea • Battleships • Largest and most heavily armored type of warship • U-Boats • Armed submarines • Went undetected until it was too late • Convoy System • Reduced effectiveness of U-Boat attacks • Allied warships protected merchant ships by escorting them across the Atlantic Ocean • # of Allied losses decreased

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