1. Americans Join the Allies

2. Vocabulary Convoy: a group that travels with something, such as a ship
Front: a region where warfare is taking place
Armistice: a temporary peace agreement to end fighting

3. Desperation
The Allies desperately needed the help of American soldiers by 1917
Trench warfare had exhausted the Allied armies
French troops refused to keep fighting
British had started to run out of war supplies and food
German submarines were sinking one of every four ships that left British ports
Was taking a toll on European economy

4. Supplying the Allies
American entry into war made an immediate difference
US made sure supplies reached Great Britain by two ways
Helped British find and destroy German submarines
Used convoys-teams of navy destroyers to escort merchant ships across the Atlantic
With the convoy system not one American soldier was lost to submarine attack on the way to Europe

5. Diagram of Convoy System

6. Russian Withdrawals
Allies needed more troops because of a revolution in Russia
Bolsheviks, group of communists, overthrew the democratic government
Wanted to end Russia’s participation in the war
Wanted to focus on setting up a new Communist state
Allowed more German troops to move from fighting with Russia to the Western front (towards France)

7. New German Offensive
German military leaders now focused a major offensive against the Allies
Wanted to drive a wedge in the Allied lines
Area along the French-German border was being pushed towards Paris
Was going to be looking like a German victory

8. American Troops in the War
General John J. Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe
Were able to be full strength in 1918
Saw their first major fighting in June 1918
Were able to turn back the German offensive
French and American troops fought back the Germans to the Marne and Somme Rivers
By the middle of July, the Allies had stopped the German offensive

9. Allies Begin Offensive
Doughboys: Discovery Education
Allies Begin Offensive
By mid-September about 500,000 “doughboys”, nickname given to American soldiers, fighting alone had defeated the Germans in battles
The Allies were begin to push the Germans back and the tide of war began to change

10. The Battle of Argonne Forest
Battle of Argonne Forest raged for nearly seven weeks
The rugged terrain with rain, mud, barbed wire, and machine gun fire from the Germans hindered the Allies’ advance
Allies were finally able to push back Germans and broke through the enemy line
Germans were now faced with an invasion of their country

11. The End of War
With troops in retreat, German military leaders realized they had little chance of winning the war
Germans were suffering from food shortages and other supply shortages
Americans were aiding the Allies with essential supplies

12. Request for Armistice
October 1918, the German government appealed to President Wilson for an armistice
Wilson agreed only if Germany would accept his plan for peace and promise not to renew hostilities
All German troops must leave Belgium and France
Wilson would only deal with civilian leaders and not military leaders
Germany became a republic with removal of the Kaiser of Germany
New leaders quickly agreed to Wilson’s terms for the armistice

13. Peace Begins Armistice began on November 11, 1918
Germany agreed to withdraw all land forces, withdraw its fleets, and surrender huge amounts of equipment
The armistice ended the fighting of the Great War
However, full peace was long from being obtained