Download United States Enters WWI

United States Enters WWI
“….the world must be made safe
for democracy.”
Woodrow Wilson
Addressing Congress and urging
a declaration of war
Americans Prepare to Fight
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April 6, 1917, Congress declared war
Allies very happy
Allies needed supplies and soldiers
United States had only 200,000 soldiers
Selective Service Act- Congress approved
a national draft
• 3 million men were drafted and 2 million
men volunteered
Fighting and Winning
• American Expeditionary Force (AEF)American troops who sailed overseas
• AEF soldiers learned about trench warfare
• General John J. Pershing (USA) realized
that trench warfare was not working
• Created plan that would send Germans
out of their trenches and force them to
retreat to open country
Fighting and Winning
• Russia dropped out of the war
• Russian revolution against the czar due to
millions of soldiers dead and widespread
starvation throughout the country
• Russia’s new government made peace
with Germans
• This enabled Germany to bring back
soldiers from the east- increased forces to
3.5 million men
Fighting and Winning
• Germans rushed to capture Paris, France
• American troops arrived just in timeGerman forces were 50 miles outside of
Paris
• Gradually American machine guns and
artillery forced the Germans back
• Summer of 1918, more than a million
American soldiers were in Europe
Pershing’s Plan
• Tanks would advance through trenches
• Airplanes would deliver machine-gun fire and
drop bombs
• Coordination of huge numbers of soldiers, tanks,
airplanes, and artillery forced the German
soldiers back to their own border
• To avoid invasion of their own country, German
leaders agreed to an armistice-cease-fire
• November 11, 1918 – guns were silenced