U.S. Involvement in World War I - Research Paper Example

 U.S. Involvement in World War I This paper discusses the U.S. involvement in the World War I (1914-1918). The paper presents how the United States kept a non-intervention policy and then later on got involved in the World War I by declaring war on Germany and then being actively involved in the war. The paper will also discuss the impact of U.S. forces on the World War I and how the involvement of U.S. impacted the nation itself. The role of women in the world war has also been highlighted. Initial Years of the World War I U.S. decided not to enter the war in the initial years and keep a non-intervention policy and remain neutral in the World War I. Although the United States was not involved as a nation in the war in the beginning but the citizens did get involved in the war through various means (Feldman, 2004, page 15). A number of citizens joined French and German forces and went to Europe to join the Allies by forgoing their U.S. nationality; others took part in the war by helping the people and joining medical relief camps and programs. The U.S. government had not put restriction on providing medical support in the war. U.S. was keeping a neutral stance but it was when the German forces attacked one of the British ships which consisted of Americans as well. 128 Americans lost their lives due to the attack and most of them were women and children (Zeinert, 2001, page 15); there were mostly civilians on the ship and not military personnel. This was a turning point for the U.S. president then, Woodrow Wilson, who was the one who made sure that U.S. doesn’t get involved in the war at all; or at least till the time it wasn’t forced to. Despite the disagreement from some of the U.S. citizens, Wilson did not make an entry into the World War I. With the passage of time, the activists started to become more and more vocal in their support for Allies and demanded an involvement of U.S. in the World War (Feldman, 2004, page 20). U.S. Enters the WWI – Declaring War against Germany The repeated attacks of the German troops on ships under American flagship increased. Although the U.S. government warned the Germans that it was against law to attack the ships of the neutral party. The Germans did pursue not to attack on the ships with aid coming from U.S. and Canada to France and Britain for the next one year. But in the beginning of 1917, Germany once again attacked the U.S. ships. The German Forces were threatened by the increase in the aid that the French and Britain were getting from the U.S. and Canada. The Germans thus declared that they would attack any ship that passes through the territory. This was the time when the government of United States could not hold back anymore and it was on April 6, 1917 when U.S. declared a war against Germany. This war was based on the prevention of democracy and further peace as U.S. avoided to the maximum it could from entering the war. In the words of Woodrow Wilson (Beller, 2007, page 25) about declaring the war: “The world must be made safe for democracy.” This war was thus for a noble cause for the Americans. U.S. Involvement in WWI When U.S. declared war and was at war against Germany to foster peace, it was the first time that the country was experiencing such a thing. The nation was not at all prepared for the war. The country did not have enough workforce and armed men and the men of U.S. between ages of 21-30 were asked to apply for training for being part of the U.S. army. The Germans had been attacking the ships through their submarines and this was a threat to the United States. The task of training, managing and supplying an army was greater than anything that the country had done in its entire past history (Beller, 2007, page 28). The U.S. army used in the World War was around 4 million out of which 0.1 million gave their lives during the war and there were 0.3 million casualties. The involvements of the United States in the World War I lead to a dramatic expansion in the efforts to mobilization of the country’s resources – both human and industrial resources – in order to support the U.S. armed forces. When U.S. declared war, the women of United States did not take a backseat but they were also involved and their role is discussed in more detail in the letter part of this paper. Active Participation of the United States Initially, when the United States entered the U.S. army, it had a relatively small army and it wasn’t even a member of the Allies. The United States had become a power in its own and was making efficient use of its resources. The recruitment and training of men for the army enabled U.S. to strengthen its armed forces and it was able to send around 10,000 fresh trained soldiers to France everyday by the year 1918. This was an achievement for the country and the United States was actively involved in the world war by then by putting in all its resources it could. As part of the participations in the U.S. army, the people of Puerto Rico who opted to be a part of the U.S. army were given U.S. citizenship as well under the Jones Act. The Germans underestimated the power of the U.S. army and thought that their troops would arrive months after and can be stopped by U-boats (Saunders, 2005, page 23); although the U.S. navy arrived before the Germans expected them to. The U.S. navy sent a battleship to the British Grand Fleet and also dispatched several regiments to France to guard the fleet there. Although the British and he French wanted the United States not to waste their fleets for bringing supplies but rather be used to reinforce British and French units but the government of the United states did not agree to it and decided not to break up the U.S. units. The U.S. government however allowed the African-American battleships to be used at the French units. Role of Women of United States in WWI The role of women in the World War I started since the war started as women were a part of the medicinal aid that was sent to Britain and France. Jeannette Rankin was the only women in Congress when the decision was taken to declare war. She represented the U.S. women and opted not to declare war by saying (Zeinert, 2001, page 19): “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war…” This statement raised questions if the women would play any role in the war or not. When the U.S. declared war, the concern for keeping records and preparing orders required a number of typists. The women at that time were leaving offices for better wages in the industry (Zeinert, 2001, page 38) and therefore they wouldn’t have worked at lower wages for the government offices. This was a major requirement at that time and it would have not been possible to train the men for this work in such small period of time. The women took this responsibility as well in the war and the recruitment of the soldiers were all recorded efficiently and as a result U.S. was sending 10,000 soldiers to France everyday by 1918. Both the sides involved in the World War I needed millions of uniforms, jackets, blankets, tens and a lot of food to survive and fight. All this was needed at effective costs and in time; the U.S. women were the ones who took this job and contributed to a great extent in supporting the soldiers in all aspects. The women also cared for the wounded soldiers in the war and took shifts in the hospitals and provided medications as well. Moreover, the women also played the role of providing moral support which was much needed by the soldiers and a feeling that their country was behind them. Some women also played an active role by being war correspondents and writing and narrating the war events. Impact of U.S. Forces on WWI The U.S. forces had a strong and a very positive impact on the World War I. When the U.S. army started sending its troops to the French at a rate of 10,000 soldiers per day, the Germans were not able to match this strength of the U.S. forces as they were already trying to recover from their previous losses (Saunders, 2005, page 38). The strength of U.S. forces was totally unexpected for the Germans; the result being that they were unable to replace their loss of men and compete accordingly. The outcome was Germany’s defeat on the 11th of November, 1918. To conclude, it is also important to highlight the involvement and the role that U.S. played even after the World War I. Although the French, British and Allies imposed certain penalties on the Germans in the Treaty of Versailles but the U.S. did not become a part of the Treaty and instead signed peace treaties with the Germans and its allies. This step taken by the U.S. government reconfirmed their neutral stance that they took in the beginning of the World War I and their stand to get involved in the war to foster peace and democracy. Works Cited Feldman, Ruth Tenzer. World War I (Chronicle of America's Wars). Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group, 2004. Zeinert, Karen. Those Extraordinary Women of World War I. Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press, 2001. Saunders, Nicholas. World War 1: A Primary Source History. New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2005. Beller, Susan Provost. The Doughboys over There: Soldiering In World War I. Twenty-First Century Books, 2007. The First World War: The Complete Series 4 DVD set. Based on the Book by Professor Hew Strachan. Read More