Introduction
World War I marked the history of the American as it was the first time the American soldiers were sent to the foreign land for a defense mission. The World War I which began in the summer of 1914, had the central powers with the Germany and Austria-Hungary on one side and the other side was the allied countries including Britain, France, and Russia. Initially, President Woodrow Wilson had declared that the United States would remain neutral, but this never happened as the US troops were sent to help the allied countries fight Germany. While US had initially declared their its neutrality, the Germany attacks on American ships and its attempts to meddle in the relations between U.S. and Mexico drew the United States into the war on the side of the allies. On April 6, 1917, the United States had declared war on Germany.
Role Played by American Troops
The Second Battle of the Marne lasted from July 15 th to August 6, 1918, during the World War I. this battle was conceived as an attempt to draw allied troops to the south and to facilitate the attacks on the region. However, the offensive along the Marne came out to be the last attack for the German army. In the early parts of 1918, the German army had begun a series of attacks, which was known as the spring offensive with the aim of overpowering the allies before the arrival of the American troops (Rothbard, 2017).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
After the declaration of war on Germany, the American army attempted to mobilize the troops as fast as possible. The World War I had already gone on for three years, and the fatigued British and French troops who had been fighting in the war since 1914 needed relief and support to win the Second Battle of Marne. In May 1917, General Joseph Pershing took over as the supreme commander of the American troops in France (Rothbard, 2017). Due to the scarcity of the ships to transport the army, the service cruise ships and ships seized from the German troops were used to ferry the soldiers from America to Europe. There was a need for the new organizational strategies and structure to ensure a large number of troops were sent to America. Despite having arrived in Europe in June of 1917, the full participation in the war began in October.
Throughout the second battle for Marne in 1917 all through to 1918, the American troops played a key role in augmenting the French and Britain soldiers in defending the attacks from German troops. The first major contribution of the American troops came in May 1918 when they registered a victory at Cantigny, and the American Expeditionary Forces commanders took control of American forces in combat. Beginning September 12, Pershing was commanding the American Army that made up of the seven divisions with more than 500000 people (Storey, 2014). This emerged as the largest offensive operations to have ever been undertaken by the US. The successful offensive operations followed to the next months, with US forces helping the allied forces to recover over 200 square miles of the French territory from the German forces.
When Germany signed the Armistice in November 1918, the American forces had emerged as one of the best in the world after the role it played in helping the allies to claim victory over the German soldiers. Despite the victory, the United States had more than 300000 casualties during World War I, with more than 52000 people killed directly in the war while others died from the non-combat deaths (Storey, 2014). Through a well-structured and coordinated military led by Commander Pershing, the American troops stood out in the whole world as one of the strongest forces.
Weapons Used
One of the weapons used by the American soldiers during World War I was the riffles. While almost all the nations in the war had riffles, American troops used a special type of rifle known as Springfield. This was a weapon developed following the American experience with the German-made Mausers in the Spanish-American war (Coffman, 2014). This machine had a greater killing power and a long range and was one of the most dangerous weapons at the time. Another weapon used by the American troops was the machine guns. The guns were in different types, and each had a different operating power. However, the machine guns were not very lethal during World War I and could not be used for a long range.
The use of the mortars in World War I was much more advanced than ever before. The British had invented the strokes mortar in 1915, which had moving parts and could fire up to 20 shells every minute. It also had a range longer than 1200 yards. This machine was lethal and could be used to kill a large number of people from a long range (Coffman, 2014). The artillery, which is a traditional weapon technology had its lethality increased and used during the World War. It was amongst the most lethal weapons of the time and could be used to kill many people at ones. This weapon was present with both the participants in the war. In addition to the other weapons, poison gas was used to attack and kill the rivals. It was the first time that a gas attack was used in a war. The major used was the chlorine, which attacked the eyes and the respiratory system as well as skin leading to death.
Experiences of the Soldiers
In the western fronts, the soldiers fought while living in trenches. The trenches were narrow ditches dug on the ground and acted as places where soldiers lived. These trenches were muddy with poor conditions. The soldiers underwent a lot of terrible physical and emotional experiences. While expected to be in the battlefields, the soldiers experienced cold from snow and rain with limited shelter (Coffman, 2014). While not fighting, the soldiers were locked in the trenches, leading to boredom and lack of social life. Some soldiers had undergone injuries, and due to lack of quality medical care, they could suffer from severe pain with some losing their lives. Due to the use of poisonous gases, some soldiers developed health-related issues. The trenches were also smelly, and life was all terrible. But despite all these worse conditions, they were soldiers and were expected to live like one. The mission was to focus on defense and protection. And irrespective of these experiences, the American soldiers emerged victoriously and stood out to be one of the world’s most lethal soldiers ever seen.
References
Coffman, E. M., (2014). The war to end all wars: The American military experience in World War I . University Press of Kentucky.
Rothbard, M. N., (2017). World War I as Fulfillment: Power and the intellectuals. In The Costs of War (pp. 249-299). Routledge.
Storey, W. K., (2014). The First World War: A Concise Global History . Rowman & Littlefield.
