Word War One

World War I Soldier

Kecia Neely

HST/165

September 24, 2015

Brian Biffle

World War I Soldier

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson talked to Congress, requesting for a declaration of war against Germany (Chapter 1: American Military History, Volume II, 2006). Just over two months earlier, on January 31, the German administration had declared its renewal of “unrestricted submarine warfare (Chapter 1: American Military History, Volume II, 2006).” German U-boats would without notice try to sink all ships traveling to or from British or French harbors (Chapter 1: American Military History, Volume II, 2006). Under the new approach, U-boats had destroyed three American merchant ships with a heavy loss of American life in March 1917 (Chapter 1: American Military History, Volume II, 2006). Two days after Wilson’s speech, the Senate devastatingly professed that a state of war happened between Germany and the United States (Chapter 1: American Military History, Volume II, 2006). Two days later the House of Representatives followed suit. The United States had entered “the Great War (Chapter 1: American Military History, Volume II, 2006).”

As the overall idea of placing American soldiers into British or French elements became known, had the advantage of expanding the existing military system rather than beginning an entirely new one (Wilcox, 2014). If the United States decided to form a single force, it would have to start at the ground level and create the entire structure for a modern army and then ship it overseas (Wilcox, 2014). That attempt would need more shipping and more time, both of which were in short supply in 1917 (Wilcox, 2014). On the other hand, using American troops in foreign armies would be a slight to national pride and a slur especially on the efficiency of the American officer corps (Wilcox, 2014). Besides, merger would decrease the visibility of the American influence and lessen the role American leadership would be able to play in the war...