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American Power Tips the Balance

Learn the pivotal role of America in WWI - from mobilization to battle, turning the tide of war, and the final toll on humanity. Discover key events and heroes shaping this historic era.

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American Power Tips the Balance

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  1. American Power Tips the Balance

  2. Eddie Rickenbacker • Famous WWI fighter pilot • Racecar driver before war • Learned to fly on his own time • Fought the German “Flying Circus” led by the “Red Baron” Manfred von Richthofen • Engaged in 134 air battles and downed 26 enemy aircrafts

  3. America Mobilizes • U.S. was not prepared for war • Few men in service • Inexperienced officers • Gov’t passes the Selective Service Act • Men must register for draft • Most people drafted had not attended high school • 400k African Americans (segregated units) • Not allowed in Navy or Marines • Mostly assigned to non-combat units • Weapons in short supply • Soldiers trained with fake guns and rocks • Women allowed to be nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators but not in combat

  4. Mass Production • Had to find a way to transport men across the ocean • Difficult because of German U-Boats • Had to expand fleet: • Gov’t exempted many shipyard workers from the draft • U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined in a public relations campaign to emphasize the importance of shipyard work • Shipyards used fabrication techniques • Parts built elsewhere and assembled in shipyard • Government took over commercial and private ships and converted them for war use -

  5. America Turns the Tide • Began to use the convoy system • Destroyers escorted merchant ships • U.S. Navy placed underwater mines in North Sea • Allies add freshness and enthusiasm to the war as well as numbers of people

  6. Fighting in Europe • American Expeditionary Force (AEF) • Led by John J Pershing • Included men from widely separated parts of the country • New Weapons introduced • Machine Gun • Tank and Airplane (How were they used?) • Mechanized warfare • Pilots shot at each other with pistols • Eventually mounted machine guns

  7. New Hazards • Along with weapons • Lice, rats, filth, polluted water • Inhaled poisonous gases • Shellshock (post-war) • Trench foot (rotting feet) • Trench mouth

  8. American Troops Go on the Offensive • Russia pulls out of war in 1917 • Germany shifts their armies from eastern to western front in France • U.S. arrives just in time to help stop Germany from entering Paris (50 miles away) • Alvin York -> War Hero • Was a Conscientious Objector (war objector) • Killed 25 Germans and captured 132 prisoners

  9. Collapse of Germany • November 3, 1918 -> Austria – Hungary surrenders to the Allies • Germany soldiers began to mutiny against gov’t authority • Caused German Kaiser to give up throne • Germans become exhausted • November 11, 1918 Germany agrees to armistice

  10. Final Toll • Bloodiest war in history to its time • 22 million deaths (half civilians) • 20 million wounded • 10 million people become refugees • U.S. losses: • 48K deaths in battle • 62K deaths from disease • 200K people were wounded

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