Spirit of Paul Jones
1918 Original Poster
by E. G. Renesch
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Here is a battle scene showing American sailors loading a deck gun to fire at a burning enemy warship. The colors of this poster are vivid and detail tremendous!
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The United States was a formal participant in World War I from April 6, 1917 until the war's end in November 1918. Up to that point, the US had remained neutral, though the US had been an important supplier to Britain and other Allied powers. During the war, the US mobilized over 4,000,000 military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza
pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the US government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the US military. After a slow start in mobilizing the American economy and manpower, by spring 1918 the U.S. was poised to play the decisive role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson the war represented the climax of the Progressive Movement as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world.
The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join
with the British Grand Fleet, destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and
submarines to help guard convoys. Several regiments of U.S. Marines were
also dispatched to France. The British and French wanted U.S. units used
to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not waste
scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first
proposition and accepted the second. General John J. Pershing, American
Expeditionary Force (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units to
be used as reinforcements for British Empire and French units. As an
exception, he did allow African-American combat regiments to be used in
French divisions. The Harlem Hellfighters fought as part of the French
16th Division, earning a unit Croix de Guerre for their actions at
Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Sechault. AEF doctrine called
for the use of frontal assaults, which had long since been discarded by
British Empire and French commanders because of the large loss of life. |