Dust bowl fireside chats4/13/2024 ![]() ![]() Between April 1917 and November 1918, the U-Boats sank 200 merchant and naval vessels. Focused on the war in Europe and underestimating German technology, the United States was caught off guard when four German Unterseeboots (U-Boats) began sinking American ships along the East Coast. Like in World War II, Americans on the home front faced the threat of direct enemy attack. Several went to prison or were forced into conscientious objector camps. Some conscientious objectors worked in noncombatant roles others worked on farms. The government cracked down on dissenters, arresting them and looking the other way when they were murdered. There were also people who opposed the war, including thousands who declared themselves conscientious objectors. ![]() They promoted support via patriotic posters, records, silent films, sheet music, and newspaper articles. In the media, the federal government’s Committee on Public Information “advertised” the war. These service flags became popular again in World War II, and their use continues. Each blue star represented someone serving a gold star replaced the blue for each of those lost in the war. Households with members serving in the military hung service flags in their windows. Twenty-four million men registered for the draft and almost 2.1 million Americans went to war either in the uniformed service or as spies. And the federal government sold Liberty Bonds and Thrift Stamps to raise money. Many people voluntarily limited their meat consumption. In the fall, gardeners canned and otherwise preserved their produce. Elsewhere on the home front, children collected scrap and people planted War Gardens. Just as they would 25 years later in World War II, civilian industry shifted to military production. The US remained neutral until Apwhen Congress declared war on Germany. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum (MO 1969.51). While this one was made in 1945, the symbolism was established during World War I.Ĭollection of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library who served in the military during World War II. While many indicated family members serving, businesses and organizations also created them. ![]() Rarely were the white perpetrators punished. In 1917 alone, deadly race riots erupted in East St. This included thousands of lynchings and the founding and rise in power of the revived Ku Klux Klan. The frequency and intensity of racial violence against African Americans increased during World War I. Although better, things were still hard in the North. As well as the promise of good paying jobs, African Americans left the South to escape Jim Crow segregation. Black Americans moving from the agricultural South to Northern industrial cities filled the growing demands for labor. Unemployment dropped, and money flowed into the pockets of many Americans. To meet the demand, American industries expanded their production. This sped up their development and introduced them to expanded markets. When World War I broke out, countries adapted these technologies to military use. Telegraph cables crisscrossed the country and the sea floor, connecting people around the world almost in real-time. Larger and faster ships, including the first modern battleships, plied the oceans. Improved steel rails meant longer trains could carry more goods, and the rail network expanded. The Wright brothers proved that heavier-than-air flight was possible. Before World War I, economies of scale and Ford’s invention of the assembly line increased production and lowered costs. And an increasingly small number of individuals controlled increasingly large methods of production – and wealth. People, products, ideas, and information moved faster and on a more global scale than any time before. Several changes that took place leading up to and because of World War I influenced America in the Second World War. Wheeling and Lake Erie Rail Yard, Brewster, Ohio. ![]()
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