The First World War
Identity- During World War 1 the Henry Ford car factory temporarily stopped making cars for the people and instead began making materials and tanks to support the war. Governments required families to grow gardens in their yard also to support the war effort. Half of the food grown in the gardens would go to feed the people in the war, the other half would be kept for their own families produce. One big thing that stayed the same during this time was the fact that their was still a lot of people that were anti-immigrant. Feelings were turned to become Anti-German. The answer to "What is an American?" has stayed the same in the aspect that American's were still anti-immigrant.
Work,exchange, and technology- The main way the technology and transportation changed was that factories were now building tanks and new warfare. The Ford factory completely halted their production of cars to support in manufacturing materials needed in war. World War 1 brought lots of debt to the United States the Paris Peace conference concluded the fact that the cost of war for the United States was 31 billion dollars. The U.S. is still working to pay off this debt almost a century later. These factors help cause the Great Depression, which caused millions of people to loss there jobs and homes.
Peopling- World War 1 greatly reduced the amount of Europeans who immigrated to the United States. The war brought a large anti-immigrant hysteria to the United States, conformity was drastically increased by the U.S. entry to war. Most bitter attacks were against immigrants from Austria-Hungary and Germany. Americans with German names lost their jobs, and schools stopped teaching German.
Politics and Power- President Wilson was in presidency during the entire time of the U.S. fighting in the war. He was the executive in making laws alongside congress. Wilson found that when it came to the War public opinion was necessary to keep, because of this Wilson created a position of the 4-minute men and the use of propaganda. Mobilizing for WW1 affected ALL Americans in ALL ways. For example, the U.S. government needed people to participate in the Food Administration so they could feed the people overseas in the War. The government definitely increased their role in the life of people creating these acts, they had to put the thoughts of the citizens at hand when creating these rules and regulations.
America and the World- In World War 1 the United States allied with France, Great Britain, the Russian Empire, and Italy. These countries allied and won the war. The U.S. was basically pulled into the war, at first they had stayed neutral. They were growing wealthy trading with both warring nations. The U.S. declared war on the Triple Alliance when they were having boats being bombed and innocent U.S. traders being killed.
Environment and Geography: To help finance the war the U.S. went to extreme measures. One Act put in place during this time was the Food Administration Act. This act led by Herbert Hoover encouraged people to make their own "Victory Gardens." These Gardens would provide people fighting in the war food that you grew right in your back yard. The idea was that out of all the fruits and vegetables grown half of them would be sent overseas. The other half would be left for you and your family to enjoy.
Ideas, beliefs, and culture- Gender Equality changed drastically during World War 1. The Selective Service Act, the draft for the war opened up sending many husbands and men overseas. Since there was no longer any men to work in factories and produce tanks and planes women had to do it. This was a large turning point in history, women the one's making the money in the family not men. Women having jobs and working outside their homes continued even when the men arrived back at home. This was a large step in the equality for women.