Download - Warm up – 11/13/13
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 maya ying lin 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?
Firsts of WWI http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-
i/videos#wwi-firsts
AMERICAN POWER DURING WORLD WAR I
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
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
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
America in War – Shipyards Construction of ships
Problem: Draft reduced number of skilled shipyard workers
SO U.S. government took some steps… 1. Exempted shipyard workers from draft 2. Campaigned to emphasize importance of
shipyard work3. Shipyards use fabrication technique4. Gov. took private owned ships and
converted them
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.
Fighting “Over There” Many soldiers never ventured outside
small towns or farms
New Weapons Poison Gas Machine Guns Tanks
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
The Zeppelin German
airship- dropped bombs on enemy territories.
Terrifying
Not that deadly
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
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
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
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
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”