The Inevitable Great War

The Great War is commonly known as World War I. The Americans ended up going to war shortly after President Woodrow Wilson was elected into office. Many people were not happy with his decision since he claimed the country would not go to war before he was elected. This war had its issues and conflicts many continue to research today. Some feel the United States ending up sticking its nose where it didn’t belong. The war ended Europe’s old world order and lead to the development of the American Century.

The war started around 1917 and the American people were not ready to fight at the time. The US had a limited number of troops and ships. The war lasted about four years with new countries being formed in the Middle East and Europe. The allied forces had over 49 million fighters which were much more than what the central power leaders of the defending countries had. A number of events lead to the war including the July Crisis of 1914 and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand the same year.

The American’s had a number of black soldiers that fought with French forces. This was thought to create conflict in the beginning but the black soldiers were recognized for their service. During the time of the war Civil Rights was a heated issue. Even when black soldiers came home some of them were lynched. This only fueled the Civil Right movement for years to come. Even though Americans helped win the war, the country had issues of its own to contend with when it was over. In some parts of the country the war helped grow manufacturing and industrial sectors. The American economy saw dramatic growth thanks to orders for products from Europe.

There has been debate on why this war was called the Great War. Some feel that the events that occurred during this time period help to define it and that it earned the title. There were more than 12 million military members wounded with over 5 million losing their lives. Over 4 million military service members were missing. The events that led up to war have some believing the war was going to happen eventually. There were still conflicts to work out after the war ended but the war helped pave the way for stronger relations among other countries.