America at 250: The War to End All Wars
“Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there…
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming… we’re coming over… and it won’t be over ‘til it’s over over there.” -George M. Cohan, “Over There,” 1917
On June 28, 1914, an event occurred that eventually would spur involvement of nations from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Sparked by ethnic hatred of a European monarch, long standing rivalries led to the outbreak of a conflict the scope of which had never been seen before. A shot fired from the gun of Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, causing a torrent of bloodshed, taking the lives of approximately 20 million people.
World War I was the first truly global conflict, giving rise to the term “the Great War.” Yet the carnage was so astounding, that term would cause many to wonder whether it was appropriate. Seemingly readying itself to appear on the world stage, by the turn of the 20th century, America was on the rise, having defeated Spain decisively in a war lasting only four months, gaining territories around the globe. However, it was not America where ethnic rivalries were brewing- it was in Europe, eventually in the city of Sarajevo where they boiled over.
A series of violent clashes preceded Ferdinand’s assassination. In 1908, Austria formally annexed the former Ottoman territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina which it had occupied for decades. The Italo-Turkish War in 1911- 1912 further demonstrated the perceived weakness of the Ottoman Empire, leading to the formation of the Balkan League uniting Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece. These nations banded together and promptly took possession of a large portion of Ottoman territory in the 1912- 1913 First Balkan War. On June 16, 1913 Bulgaria unsuccessfully attacked Serbia and Greece, later ceding much of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece and Southern Dobruja to Romania. Despite their success in battle, leaders of Serbia and Greece somehow felt cheated of their gains. These developments led some observers to call the Balkans the “powder keg of Europe.”
When other nations later took sides and put troops into battle, the world would witness a shockingly different kind of warfare. For the first time, airplanes and tanks were used in battle, as well as deadly chemicals like mustard gas. The results were staggering. In the first Battle of the Marne in September 1914, more than 260,000 English and French soldiers were killed wounded and missing in action. Germany suffered an astonishing 298,000 casualties. In February 1916, Germany attacked French forces at Verdun, leading to mind-boggling losses of more than 700,000 between the two sides.
In the U.S., President Woodrow Wilson had won reelection with the slogan “He kept us out of war.” Yet, less than five months later, he had to change his position, with Germany sinking British ships throughout the North Atlantic, including the Lusitania, killing 128 Americans. By 1917, Germany was sinking U.S. merchant ships; Wilson knew he had to break his promise. On April 2, 1917 he asked Congress for an act of war. Four days later, America entered the conflict.
Pennsylvania Steps Up to the Plate
American labor and industry helped in the effort. The War Industries Board set production priorities, monitored raw material inventories and guided private manufacturing toward wartime-focused production. Automakers retooled their plants, producing thousands of airplanes, trucks and artillery. Pennsylvanians bought more than 3 billion dollar’s worth of Liberty and Victory Bonds to support the war effort. The Keystone State produced close to 50 per cent of the munitions supplied to the U. S. Army, a significant number of the ships supplied to the Navy, as well as all of the anthracite and most of the bituminous coal for the nation during the war. The public-private partnership between government and private business set a strong framework that would be successfully used 25 years later.
World War I: Post-Mortem
Despite the armistice signed on November 11, 1918, many observers recognized that the harsh terms imposed upon Germany established a very fragile peace, which fractured by the mid-1930s. Noted economist John Maynard Keynes openly noted that the terms of armistice were overly harsh, doubted whether the peace could last- and that despite the Allied victory, conditions which could lead to another war were in plain sight. Leaders realized that maintaining a sense of stability in a fragile Europe was paramount, yet the goal proved elusive. America helped the Allies very much to win the war and climbed to the top tier of nations, but politicians on both sides of the Atlantic recognized that another cataclysm might arise which would test American strength as never before… and that this war would NOT be “the war to end all wars.”
