Modestas Ziugzda 10F

Grade 10 History Internal Assessment:

How significant was the United States involvement in the outcome of the First World War?

Modestas Ziugzda Vienna International School 10F Word Count: 1700

Modestas Ziugzda 10F

A. Plan of investigation I will investigate the question: to what extend did the United States involvement influence the outcome of the First World War. I will primarily focus of the time period of 1917-1918. I will investigate the state of Europe before Americas entry, besides that I will research its naval and military strengths to determine their significance in deciding the war. I will mainly focus on the mayor powers such as France, Great Britain and Germany while studying their relations with the USA military success. I will concentrate on the mayor factors and ignore some small less significant facts due to the word limit. There are various books written on this topic therefore I will use at least two of them to help me gather evidence.

B. Summary of evidence Pre US war entrance events:

In November of 1917 Russia1 declares seas fire with Germany, allowing the Germans to move all there military resources towards the west front. Before the Germans could pull their forces back France planned a new attack, that failed and 187,000 French soldiers were killed.2 During the battle Third Battle of Ypres(31 July 6 November 1917), where after suffering 244,897 causalities, the British were forced to retreat.3 The battle of Caporetto (24 October 12 November 1917) Italy lost 305,000 soldiers; thousands of allies had to leave western front to help the Italians.4 Germany sank 500,000 tons of shipping each month in 1917, to bring Britain to its knees.5 The Prospect of American support secured the allies from mutiny that was spreading in France. Just before the American arrival, in the spring of 1917 there were mutinies occurring in multiple French army divisions.6 Naval and Military superiority:

Seemingly endless supply of US troops- The allies were running out of troops where France had 100% conscription. New American, although untrained tropes, was a real military and moral relief.7 The Americans deployed around 70,000 sea mines in the North Sea, to hinder the German U-boats to enter the Atlantic Ocean.8 American ships helped the British delivered 2 million soldiers, to the front.9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mainly due to the Russian revolution. Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts

on File, on File, on File, on File, on File,

2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003,

p.51 . p. 53. p. 53. p. 49. p. 52.

James, D. Clayton and Anne Sharp Wells. America and the Great War, 1914-1920. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1998, p.28.
8

James, D. Clayton and Anne Sharp Wells. America and the Great War, 1914-1920. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1998, p. 30.
9

James, D. Clayton and Anne Sharp Wells. America and the Great War, 1914-1920. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1998, p. 30.

Modestas Ziugzda 10F

German spring offensive, allowed the Germans to pursued huge advances. (March 21 July 17 consisted out of five offences)10 Allies suffered great losses, but the Americans could always fill in.11 The Allied counter attack Following the Spring Offensive was only possible due to huge numbers of American replacement soldiers.12 The Germans had a very strong U-boot fleet that was able to sink most of the incoming American ships. Therefore the Americans developed the convoy tactic. In the convoy, a troop transporter would be surrounded by small fast moving combat ships called destroyers. The ships were equipped with anti-submarine weapons. The Americans believed that even if the defenders would be sank, the troops on the transporter would make it to the continent.13

C. Evaluation of sources

America and the Great war, 1914-1920 by D. Clayton James and Anne Sharp Wells: This American World War 1 book was published in 1998. The Author D. Clayton James has held five different professorships, has written 9 books and is a fellow to the society of American Historians. Anne Sharp Wells, served on the Faculties of Mississippi State University and Virginia Military institute, she has coauthored four books with D. Clayton James. The books purpose is to inform the reader about The United States involvement in World War. Its value lies in the fact that it primarily focuses on the United States involvement in WWI and is useful for anyone who wants to learn about the scope of the American engagement. Because the book cites various sources and is written 80 years after the war we can say that it is up to date. The book cites various primary and secondary sources and uses numerous photographs and diagrams to emphasize its reliability. A limitation of the source is that it covers a wide scope of events from 1914 to 1920, therefore only one of the four chapters deals with the American military actions in Europe.
1.

World war I by Peter I. Bosco: Published in 2003 this book gives us a clear account of the First World War from an American perspective. The author Peter I. Bosco has a B.A. in the Western Connecticut State University and has worked as a teacher. Prior to his studies he served in the U.S. army, where he visited many historic sights and battlegrounds of the First World War, while on duty for NATO in Europe. This source is Valuable
2.
10

James, D. Clayton and Anne Sharp Wells. America and the Great War, 1914-1920. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1998, p. 41-42.
11

James, D. Clayton and Anne Sharp Wells. America and the Great War, 1914-1920. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1998, p. 42.
12 13

Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts on File, 2003, p. 99.

Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts on File, 2003, p. 52.

Modestas Ziugzda 10F because it covers various aspects of the First World War, it particularly has a lot of information on the United States significance in it, but it also tells much about the events in Europe before Americas entry, to give us a Big Picture of all the significant events. The author uses various secondary and primary sources to justify his credibility. On top of that the fact that the author has visited many historical sites of the war just further emphasizes his reliability. The book is still very recent, which would make it less biased as the war was a long time ago. Nevertheless the book has some limitations as it mostly consults secondary sources, which makes it less accurate.

D. Analysis Before thinking about the American influence in the war one must first look at the state of the Allies at the end of 1917. The Communists have taken over power in Russia and withdrawn from the war, which enabled the Germans to move their eastern troops to the western front. France huge advance to crush Germany before they could get support from the east failed, as the Germans caught wind of the French plans, rearranged their lines and so were able to slaughter them causing the French 187,000 causalities. The British were not doing any better as they were forced to retreat after the Third Battle of Ypres were they lost 244.897 men in a wet and muddy marshland. On top of that an Austro-German army had crushed the Italians in the battle of Caporetto causing loses of 305,000 soldiers. This resulted in thousands of French and British troops being sent to Italy to investigate the German advance, although they were desperately needed on the western front. To make it even worse, the British were endangered by the fact, that they were losing over 500,000 tons of shipping, due to U-boat attacks. At the same time mutiny was spreading in France, where soldiers reacted to their terrible loss against the Germans that year, criticizing their High Command for using them as cannon fodder. The soldiers have taken more than they could stand, not from the Germans but from their own generals.14 The commanders were finally changed from Gen. Robert-Georges Nivelle to Gen. Henri Petain. The new general promised not to attack the Germans till the American would arrive. The words of H. Petain and the crushing defeats of the allies seem to suggest that the allies were dependent on the support the Americans.

Let us also examine the American military tactics, which helped them win the war or even to make it into Europe. First of all we have to consider that one of Germanys strongest qualities was its naval strength, as they were controlling the Atlantic with its superb submarine fleet. The Americans were able to break through the German defense using the convoy tactic. On top of that the US Navy was deploying thousand mines in the North Sea, to discourage them from entering the Atlantic Ocean. This allowed the Americans to halt the German dominance in water. This was a crucial turnover in the war as Germany that didnt expect that many Americans to make it to Europe in time had to rethink its strategies and most of all now the American were relentlessly moving into Europe. This Atlantic victory also meant that not only soldiers but also supplies and equipment could safely reach France and Britain, where before this tactic was implemented more than 500,000 tons of supplies monthly were lost in the three months before the implementation of the convoy tactic. The victory on sea was a major turning point for the allies, without the supplies and soldiers from overseas the war could have been lost.

14

Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts on File, 2003, p. 51.

Modestas Ziugzda 10F A great example of American influence was the German Spring Offence, were the German troops made a huge offensive move into France, caused huge causalities on both sides and gained a lot of new territory. The French suffered many causalities and it was up to the seemingly endless supply of American replacement soldiers to sustain the now larger front line. Although it could be argued that the Germans just expanded the front by so much that they couldnt defend it anymore, it is undeniable that the American replacements were crucial in the defense of the Allies. After this huge scale attack the Allies were able to turn the tables and start an offence against the Germans on July 18. For the most part the offence could only happen, because the Americans could supply new troops where The German army was shrinking. In this offence allied American and French troops pushed the Germans back and so gradually led to the end of the war.

E. Conclusion

In conclusion, we must agree that Americas involvement in the First World War was crucial for the victory of the Allied Forces. We can see this most evidently by looking at the situation in Europe before the war entrance of the United States. Russia withdrew, France, Britain and Italy had suffered major defeats and the Germans were dominating the Atlantic Ocean. Only after the Americans defeated the Germans at sea did everything start getting better for the Allies, as new soldiers and supplies were coming from overseas. Finally we can see that even after those events Germany remained strong and managed to launch the Spring Offensive. Here we can clearly see that although both sides suffered great losses the Allies came out on top because the Americans supplied them with a constant flow of replacement soldiers.

F. Bibliography

Bosco, Peter I.. World War I. New York: Facts on File, 2003. James, D. Clayton and Anne Sharp Wells. America and the Great War, 19141920. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1998.