1. World War I The United States Goes to War

3. Front Lines – November 1918

4. Chateau Woods - Ypres - 1917

5. Fighting the Mud as well as the Germans

6. Allied Trench in Flanders

7. British Trench: The Somme - 1916

8. The American Contribution Wilson’s Plan  Increased supply of materiel (arsenal of democracy)  Navy would bear brunt of military participation  No large ground forces in Europe

9. The American Contribution The Reality  American industry buckled under the strain  Navy played a minor role  A huge American army went to Europe  Armed mostly with British and French equipment  Inexperienced volunteers

10. American Troops in Combat The Allied View (amalgamation):  Building U.S. divisions was a waste of resources  Building U.S. divisions was a waste of manpower  U.S. had no leaders qualified to lead large formations  American troops could be trained better and faster when placed with veteran allied units  U.S. insistence on separate divisions might lose the war

11. American Troops in Combat The American View:  Allied control was a recipe for dead Americans  U.S. population demanded U.S. troops under U.S. Command  U.S. war aims were different than Allies, demanded a distinct American presence.

12. The German Spring Offensives of 1918  Designed to force a negotiated settlement before U.S. troops arrived in decisive numbers  Germany committed all of its reserve forces  Between 21 March and 15 July, Germany launched four major (and one minor) attacks

13. German Troops Under Fire

14. German Offensives March 21, 1918 1.Michael 21 Mar - 5 April 2.Georgette - 9 - 11 Apr 3.Blucher-York 27 Apr 4.Gneisenau 9 Jun 5.Marne-Rheims 15-17 Jul 1 2 3 4 5

15. The Front Line - July 18, 1918

16. The Aisne-Marne Offensive 18 July - 6 August 1918

17. The Oise-Aisne Offensive 18 August - 11 November 1918

18. The St. Mihiel Offensive 12 – 16 September 1918

19. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive 26 September – 11 November 1918

20. American Troops Advance: (Muese-Argonne) 1918

21. Destroyed Village Meuse-Argonne 1918

22. Armistice Line 11 November 1918

23. The American Contribution Naval Contribution Reduced losses to U-boats by:  Convincing British to adopt convoy system  Providing 79 destroyers for escort duty

24. U.S. Merchant Ship Sinking After Being Torpedoed - July,1918

25. The American Contribution Ground Forces:  Gave Allies a decisive manpower advantage  Presence of U.S. formations on the battlefield in 1918 broke the will of the German General Staff

26. 8,000,000 Dead in Four Years