Chapter 19 Section 3
Americans on the
European Front
 Draftees and Volunteers
 Selective Service Act- May
1917 authorizing a draft of
young men for military
service
 American Expeditionary
Force (AEF) - November
1918 24 million men were
signed up for the draft 3
million men were picked for
the draft volunteers and
National Guardsmen made
this up
 11,000 women volunteered
to serve as nurses, drivers
and clerks
 14,000_ women served
abroad as civilians working
for the government or private
agencies
 Training for War
 In September draftees went
to basic to learn how to
bayonet a rifle, dig a trench,
put on a gas mask and throw
a grenade.
 They learned German
Crimes and strategies of
Trench Warfare
 They did not receive much
training because America
tried to get soldiers into
France
 The Convoy System
 May 1917 all merchant
and troop ships traveled
in Convoy
 Convoy group of
unarmed ships
surrounded by a ring of
destroyers, torpedo boats
and other armed naval
vessels equipped with
hydrophones to track and
destroy submarines
 Between April and
December 1917
merchant marine losses
dropped by half
 Successful U-boats did
not sink a single U.S.
troopship traveling to
Europe
 American Soldiers in Europe
 AEF arrived in France in June 1917
 Perishing view- Allies became too accustomed to
defensive action; he wanted to save his men’s strength for
offensive moves
 American soldiers brought strength, good health, and
energy to the trenches
 They were called Dough boys
 300,000 African Americans fought in segregated units but
most never saw action
 Marines did not take African Americans, the navy used
them as menial tasks only and the army used them for
manual labor
 369th Infantry known as the Harlem Hell Fighters
persuaded white officers to loan them to the French, they
revived France’s highest combat medal, the Croix de
Guerre
 Turning the Tide of the
War
 After Russia withdrew
from the war Germany
concentrated all of their
forces on the Western
Front
 March 21, 1918 Germany
attacked British lines and
advanced deep into Allied
territory
 By May they were only
about 50 miles from Paris
 Americans Save Paris
 General Pershing dispatched
troops to the front
 American troops attacked and
recaptured the village of Cantigny
on May 28
 A week later Marine’s stopped
German attacks on Belleau Wood
and Château-Thierry
 Lost half the troops but saved Paris
 Mid July Germans launched a
massive attack on French positions
at the River of the Marne 28,000
Americans helped force the
Germans to the other side of the
river into retreat.
 Ended German hopes for victory
 Allied Counter attack
 250,000 Americans were arriving
in Europe every month
 The tank allowed soldiers to cross
into No Mans Land this caused a
break in German lines
 August 8 the battle of Amiens
allied armies stopped the German
advance in the north and
recaptured German gains from the
pervious year
 General von Ludendorff advised
Kaiser Wilhelm to seek peace
settlements
 September troops hit final German
strongholds
 St. Mihiel was the first all
American battle; this was
successful
 September 26, 1918 the final
allied assault Meuse-Argonne
Offensive caused Germany to go
into a full retreat from the Argonne
Forest and the region of the
Meuse River
 War in the Air
 Airplanes were used in
war; they were wooden,
covered in cloth and had
an open cock pit
 Air battles were fought
with pistols and later with
machine guns
 Zeppelins floating airships
and German bombers
launched more then 100
raids on London killing
1,500 civilians
 Ending the War
 The Central Powers Broke
down
 Bulgaria and the Ottoman
Empire made peace treaties
with the Allies
 Austria-Hungary splintered in
October as Poles,
Hungarians, Czechs and
Slovaks declared
independence
 Germany begged for peace
when fighting was brought on
German soil
 British Navy dominated the
sea
 November 10 Kaiser fled to
Holland
 A civilian representative of the
New German Republic signed
an Armistice or cease fire
 In a French Railroad car at
5:00 A.M. November 11, 1918
it was signed six hours later
guns fell silent