A series of centennials have passed relatively unnoticed.
After a series of provocations, President Woodrow Wilson called upon Congress on April 2, 1917 to declare war against the German Empire. The speech contained the memorable sentence, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” Both Houses of Congress approved the declaration two days later by overwhelming majorities. The US declared war against Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917.
The United States had maintained neutrality in the world war that had broken out in August 1914. A resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany and the interception of a telegram from Germany’s foreign minister to his ambassador in Mexico, which sought to enlist that nation as an ally against the US, turned the tide of public and political opinion.
Dr. Clif CleavelandAt the outset, U.S. military forces numbered 121 thousand. Seventy-three thousand Americans volunteered for military service in the first weeks following the declaration of war. Two million had volunteered by war’s end. A Selective Draft Act, enacted in May 1917 led to the conscription of more than 2.5 million men. Physical incapacity and vital occupation were the only reasons for deferment.
Fourteen thousand U.S. soldiers reached France in June 1917. Their numbers would swell to more than a million. One half would see frontline duty. General John Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) from the time of its arrival in Europe. Training was often completed in Europe. Weapons and transport were in short supply and were initially supplied by allies.
Not until Oct. 23 did U.S. artillery fire its first rounds on enemy positions. Two days later the AEF suffered its first casualties. Major engagements followed in the summer and fall of 1918, leading to Germany’s surrender.
World War I ended on Nov. 11, 1918. U.S. forces suffered more than 53 thousand combat deaths, 63 thousand deaths from disease and accidents, and 200 thousand wounded. A deadly strain of influenza contributed to thousands of deaths among servicemen from the spring of 1918 through the winter of 1919.
Worldwide military and civilian casualties directly related to the war included 20 million killed and 21 million wounded. In addition to influenza, typhus, whooping cough, pneumonia, and wound infections exacted high tolls during and after the war.
The 1941 movie, “Sergeant York,” which starred Gary Cooper as the Tennessee Medal of Honor winner, provided my first contact with World War I. He was my first hero. I pestered a great uncle who had volunteered as a physician in the British Army in 1915 to tell me of his experiences. He attributed a chronic cough to a chlorine gas attack. He reluctantly spoke of surgeries where anesthetics were unavailable and of the casualties resulting from an artillery round which struck his evacuation hospital.
During clinical rotations at Nashville’s Veterans Administration Hospital in 1964-65, I had the opportunity to learn from veterans of the war. For many of the men, the war led to their first travel beyond their home counties. One spoke of marching through Manhattan, bearing a wooden rifle on his shoulder, to board a ship that would take his unit to France. His training continued aboard ship and after landing. Another spoke of marching past exhausted soldiers who were returning from combat. The veterans spoke of their travels by rail and truck through ruined landscapes. Miserable cold stood out in the collective memory. They remembered fierce fighting during spring and summer of 1918 tipped the balance in the stalemated war.
The influenza pandemic of 1918-20 featured prominently in recollections. Disease struck in cramped barracks and on ships transporting soldiers back to the US, exacting a terrible toll.
Upon return to the U.S. the one-time warriors resumed their civilian jobs of farming, factory work and commercial occupations.
In Munich, on Sept. 19, 1922, a one-time corporal in the German Army addressed a gathering: “We must call to account the November traitors of 1918. It cannot be that two million Germans have died in vain…No, we do not pardon. We demand vengeance.” This marked the beginning of the deadly rise to power of Adolph Hitler. That “vengeance” would lead to the Holocaust and ignite World War II.
“World War I and America: Told by the Americans Who Lived It,” a Library of America anthology, provides a superb overview of this turning point in our history.
On Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera will honor all veterans with a free concert at Memorial Auditorium.
Contact Clif Cleaveland at ccleaveland@timesfreepress.com.