{"id":165,"date":"2018-09-07T20:03:21","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T20:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/primary-sources\/?page_id=165"},"modified":"2018-10-30T23:32:02","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T23:32:02","slug":"over-there-the-american-expeditionary-force","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/primary-sources\/sources-and-more\/over-there-the-american-expeditionary-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Over There: The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"

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World War One was a conflict on a level never before seen on the planet. By the end of the war, thirty-two countries were involved on either the side of the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) or the Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia, and Italy). Soldiers maimed and killed each other on an\u00a0industrial level\u00a0over the course of four hellish years. Initially, the conflict was largely a European affair until an impressive piece of spy work by the British intelligence community brought the\u00a0United States of America\u00a0into the fray – the American Expeditionary Force was born.<\/p>\n

The years leading up the First Great War were marked by major growth in nationalist sentiment, militarism, and alliances. Following the Russo-Japanese War, which was the first major military event of the twentieth centuries, countries bound themselves into alliances throughout Europe and parts of Asia. These alliances were tested in June of 1914. An assassin, Gavrilo Princip, struck down the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The event caused a chain reaction that plunged nation after nation into war.\"Map<\/p>\n

The United States, led by President Woodrow Wilson, maintained an isolated position for the first three years of the war. Woodrow Wilson even ran on an\u00a0“anti-war” platform\u00a0that won him re-election in 1916. The U.S., being a nation of immigrants, had divided loyalties on the conflict. Also, much of America saw the war as a problem caused by European militarism and figured it was their job to see their way out of it. They saw no reason for U.S. intervention as the Central Powers and Allied Powers pounded away at each other across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

As the war dragged on, the Allies were looking for any advantage to break the stalemate of the Western Front. \u00a0A crucial piece of intelligence work took place in the beginning of 1917. The war had been raging on in Europe for three years at the time and the United States still remained neutral. Then the impressive British intelligence team led by\u00a0Admiral “Blinker” Hall\u00a0and his Room 40 crew decoded a message they intercepted on January of 1917.\u00a0The message was sent by German Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Arthur Zimmerman, to officials in Mexico. Germany had revealed that they would attack shipping vessels regardless of the cargo or people aboard and pushed Mexico to attack the United States. They hoped that if Mexico could attack the United States, then it would prevent her from focusing on the war in Europe. Mexico did not agree to the offer, but this moves President Wilson\u00a0to ask Congress for a declaration of war on Germany and the Central Powers. On April 6, 1917, the United States officially ends its isolation and neutrality – now the country had to organize,\u00a0train, and transport her troops\u00a0across the Atlantic\u00a0to the horror that awaited them.<\/p>\n

\"WomanThe United States took volunteers and instituted a draft to develop the force that would head \u201cover there.\u201d Over the course of the next year, Americans trained and used large refit steamers to transport troops across the Atlantic to England and France. Once \u201cin country\u201d the first test of the American Expeditionary Force came at St. Mihiel, France. Led by American General John J. Pershing, American and French forces battled numerous entrenched German armies over the course of four rainy and muddy days. The win in this battle by the Allies, led by the Americans, set the stage for what was yet to come\u2026The Meuse-Argonne Offensive.<\/p>\n

On the early hours of September 26, 1918, the United States set loose its largest offensive of the first Great War. With an “on the move” strategy,\u00a0General John J. Pershing’s troops were not to dig in and continue the trench-style of warfare that had plagued the Allies up to that point. Instead, the American Expeditionary Force troops were to consistently push forward against the German battle lines in hopes of keeping them off guard.\u00a0The goal of the offensive was to cut off the German Second Army in order to prevent them from being reinforced or resupplied. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was one of the largest American Military offensives in history. The battle lasted 47 days and over 1.2 million Americans participated. That final 47-day push was the surge needed to bring the German military to its knees. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of November at 11:00 a.m. the First Great War came to an end as Germany officially surrendered.<\/p>\n