 Congress declared war in April 1917  More than a year passed before American troops made a significant contribution to the war  ALLIED POWERS: Britain, France, United States, Russia  CENTRAL POWERS: Germany, Austria- Hungary, Italy

 While the U.S. was preparing its army, Allies in Europe were growing very desperate  February-April 1917: German submarines sank 844 Allied vessels  Britain’s top naval official predicted Germany would win the war unless the flow of supplies from America increased

 To maintain the flow of products needed to sustain the war effort, Allied naval leaders developed a CONVOY system ◦ A convoy is a large group of merchant vessels sailing together

 Light and fast Allied destroyers accompanied the convoys  The first convoys reached Britain in May  Because of the convoy system, Allied ship losses fell to a fraction of what they had been

 Meanwhile, American forces were preparing to go overseas  The U.S. Army chose John J. Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Force, which was what American troops were known as in Europe

 Pershing (pictured to the left) insisted that American soldiers fight in separate units under American command  They were rarely integrated with British or French units  President Wilson believed that in order to look victorious, the Americans had to prove themselves on their own in battle

 The first American troops reached Europe in June 1917  The unit was not ready for combat…This unit was known as the “First Division” ◦ They were trying to boost up the spirits of the French, who were down from all the fighting  Even though the First Division was not very skilled at fighting, they still brought hope to the Allied nations by finally showing up to fight

 1917: Allies were waiting for more American troops, but they were growing increasingly desperate  On the Western Front, Great Britain was very bogged down  Austria-Hungary and Germany had major victories in the meantime

 The new government in Russia was struggling to keep up the war effort  Russian army was exhausted  Under the new leader, Vladimir Lenin, a new form of government started: COMMUNISM ◦ Communism is an economic and political system based on the idea that social classes and the right to private property should be eliminated

 Lenin’s first order of business as a communist leader: pull Russia out of the war  In March 1918, Russia and Germany signed a peace agreement… called the “Treaty of Brest-Litovsk” ◦ Transferred 30 percent of Russia’s territory to Germany  This peace in the east was a huge setback to the Allies  Could Germany knock out the Allies before the bulk of American forces reached Europe?

 On March 21, 1918, the German army unleashed a series of attacks called a “peace offensive”  They wanted to defeat the Allies quickly and bring peace

 Pershing traveled to France to pledge that American troops would now fight under the French  This helped raise the French spirits  The Germans eventually broke through the Allied lines in Belgium and France and eventually reached a town just 50 miles from Paris  While millions of Parisians were fleeing, American troops had arrived to help the Allies

 Answer the questions on your reading worksheet