-
Included men from widely separated parts of the country. American infantrymen were nicknamed doughboys, possibly because of the white belts they wore, which they cleaned with pipe clay, or “dough.”
-
Constant bombardments and other experiences
often led to battle fatigue and “shell shock,” a term coined during WorldWar I to describe a complete emotional collapse from which many never recovered.Physical problems included a disease called trench foot, caused by standing in cold wet trenches for long periods of time without changing into dry socks or boots. A painful infection of the gums and throat, called trench mouth, was also common among the soldiers. -
That same day, German sailors mutinied against government authority. The mutiny spread quickly. Everywhere in Germany, groups of soldiers and workers organized revolutionary councils.
-
Socialist leaders in the capital, Berlin, established a German republic. The kaiser gave up the throne.
-
Although there were no Allied soldiers on German territory and no truly decisive battle had been fought, the Germans were too exhausted to continue fighting. So at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month of 1918, Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed the armistice, or truce, that ended the war.
-
Instead of rationing food, he called on people to follow the “gospel of the clean plate.” He declared one day a week “meatless,” another “sweetless,” two days “wheatless,” and two other days “porkless.” Restaurants removed sugar bowls from the table and served bread only after the first course.
-
The government raised about one-third of this amount through taxes, including a progressive income tax (which taxed high incomes at a higher rate than low incomes), a war-profits tax, and higher excise taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury goods. It raised the rest through public borrowing by selling “Liberty Loan” and “Victory Loan” bonds.
-
Propaganda is a kind of biased communication designed to
influence people’s thoughts and actions. Who spoke about
everything relating to the war: the draft, rationing, bond drives, victory gardens, and topics such as “Why We Are Fighting” and “The Meaning of America.” -
Eugene V. Debs was handed a ten-year prison sentence for speaking out against the war and the draft.
-
The anarchist Emma Goldman received a two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine for organizing the No Conscription League. When she left jail, the authorities deported her to Russia.
-
“Big Bill” Haywood and other leaders of the Industrial Workers of
the World were accused of sabotaging the war effort because they urged workers to strike for better conditions and higher pay. Haywood was sentenced to a long prison term. -
Workers who refused to obey board decisions could lose their draft
exemptions. “Work or fight,” the board told them. However, the board also worked to improve factory conditions. It pushed for an eight-hour workday, promoted safety inspections, and enforced the child labor ban. -
First, American ships carrying goods for Germany refused to challenge the blockade and seldom reached their desti- nation. Second, Germany found it increasingly difficult to import foodstuffs and fertilizers for crops. An estimated 750,000 Germans starved to death as a result of the British blockade. Americans had been angry at Britain’s blockade, which threatened freedom of the seas and prevented American goods from reaching German ports.
-
Neither side would impose harsh terms on the other. Wilson hoped that all nations would join in a “league for peace” that would work to extend democracy, maintain freedom of the seas, and reduce armaments.
-
A telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents. The telegram proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany and promised that if war with the United States broke out, Germany would support Mexico in recovering “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”
-
The act required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service.
-
The all-black 369th Infantry Regiment saw more continuous duty on the front lines than any other American regiment. Two soldiers of the 369th, Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, were the first Americans to receive France’s
highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre—the “cross of war.” -
Which a heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups. By fall of 1917, shipping losses had been cut in half.
-
The tide had turned against the Central Powers. In September, U.S. soldiers began to mount offensives against the Germans at Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne area.
-
A person who opposes warfare on moral grounds, pointing out that the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill.”
-
It was established in 1917 and reorganized in 1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch, a prosperous businessman. The board encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency. It also urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products—for instance, by making only 5 colors of typewriter ribbons instead of 150. The WIB set production quotas and allocated raw materials.
-
A person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20
years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort. -
The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky, overthrew the provisional government. They set up a Communist state and sought peace with the Central Powers.
-
Many Americans with German names lost their jobs. Orchestras refused to play the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Some towns with German names changed them. Schools stopped teaching the German language, and librarians removed books by German authors from the shelves. People even resorted to violence against German Americans, flogging them or smearing them with tar and feathers.
-
Lasted until mid-November—the British suf- fered 60,000 casualties the first day alone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 mil- lion, yet only about seven miles of ground changed hands.
-
This bloody trench warfare, in which armies fought for mere yards of ground, continued for over three years.
-
Germany broke its promise and torpedoed an unarmed French passenger steamer, the Sussex. The Sussex sank, and about 80 passengers, including Americans, were killed or injured.
-
when a U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland. Of the 1,198 persons lost, 128 were Americans.
-
A U-boat sank another British liner, the Arabic, drowning two Americans. Again the United States protested, and this time Germany agreed not to sink any more passenger ships.
-
As the royal entourage drove through the city, Serbian nation- alist Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the Archduke and his wife Sophie. Princip was a member of the Black Hand, an organization promoting Serbian national- ism. The assassinations touched off a diplomatic crisis.
-
This plan called for a holding action against Russia, combined with a quick drive through Belgium to Paris; after France had fallen, the two German armies would defeat Russia.
-
The Triple Entente, later known as the Allies, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
-
Germany and Austria-Hungary, together with the Ottoman Empire—an empire of mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks—were later known as the Central Powers.