1. WWI

2. WWI Begins
• At the start of WWI Wilson declared that the US
would be neutral during the war
• Because of trade, neutrality was a hard thing to
keep, and the Allied Powers soon benefited from
US resources
• Soon Germany began to attack ships traveling
between Europe and North America, with their
new invention the submarine
• Most Americans saw the sinking of civilian
merchant ships as an outrage and a violation of
the rules of war
• May 7, 1915 a German U-Boat sank the Lusitania
killing 128 Americans, which prompted protests
in the US, which caused Germany to change its
tactics

3. • January 1917 Germany resumed
unrestricted submarine warfare and
Wilson broke off diplomacy with
Germany
• February the British government
reveled through the Zimmerman
Telegram that Germany was trying
to get Mexico to attack the US, in
exchange for the former Mexican
territory
• End of 1917 Wilson asked congress
to declare war on Germany, thus
beginning WWI for the United States

4. WWI Battles
• In 1917 the Selective Service Act
was formed which instituted the
draft
• 2 million men would serve in the
American Expeditionary Force,
under the command of Gen. John
J. Pershing
• Most of the AEF would see combat
on the Western Front
• the AEF that were sent over had
little training and made little
contributions to the war effort.

5. • In 1918 the stalemate that had
taken place since 1914 was over
when Germany was freed from
fighting the Russians on the
Eastern Front
• In September of 1918 the AEF took
on two major offensives to drive the
Germans back.
• AEF declared victory in October
after breaking through the
Germany line
• By the end of 1919 Germany was
forced to sign the peace armistices
• American causalities were over
320,00o and more than 112,000
killed

6. Alvin York
• Is one of the most famous
doughboys ( AEF solider) of WWI
• When WWI started he was a
constant objector to the war
• After debating with his
commanding office, the war
became a moral crusade for him
• He was part of the fighting at
Argonne Forest, and after his unit
was pinned down he took on the
Germany army alone
• He took 132 prisoners of war

7. • York received a promotion to
sergeant, the Congressional
Medal of Honor, the French
Croix de Guerre, and 50 other
decorations.
• He is one of the most
decorated soldier of the war
• His exploits were popularized
by 1940 movie called Sgt.
York