America and WWI

B

brokebutitsworthit

Active member
I recently came across a cartoon which depicted that the reason the

Germans surrendered in World War I, was a direct result of the fighting

of the AEF on the western front. As The Great War is an area that I am

reasonably comfortable on, (I even have a graduate class on it) it made

me pause and question how exactly the First World War is taught in the

US school system. I figured with November 11 being less that a week ago

it would be a pertinent time to ask the question. So, how is the First

World War understood in America, and taught in your schools?
 
Uhhhh....

Well, Ii guess some shit went down, probably some barbarian dispute over rocks and mud, then American came over, flexed its muscles, then everyone else ran off with their tails between their legs and all of the European girls wanted to sleep with America, then I think we bombed the Japs or something with a bomb that Einstein made. Also, I think there was some guy with mustache and a bowl cut that had something against investors with nose jobs and perms.

Go USA!
 
Way I was taught it was that Germany went in and Pwnt the French (like everyone does) and that the French, Polish, and the English held them from sweeping all the way across Europe to the Atlantic and then the US showed up eventually after Russia dropped out and the fighting kept going for awhile and eventually the Allies began pushing the Huns back.
 
no but seriously i go to Boston College High School. and we go over all the wars indepth notjust WWI. our class a plethora (a fuckton) of papers we have to write about the american view and from the view of other countries so that we can have a better understanding of how each part of the world was affected by these events.
 
They kept fighting is what I meant. Eventually the Huns (Germans) give up for some reason. I haven't taken a class on WWI since I was like 15... and now I am 21.
 
im canadian so i dont know how it was taught in america

but from what i know about the war americans came and helped but i know mainly about how canadians took vimy ridge in like less than a day or something which france and britain couldn't do
 
there was a big ass war... started because of that shitty indie rock band got killed by some Hungarians or something, then there was a big war, and the germans lost.
 
legit response-
I was taught after the assassination of the arch duke Franz Ferdinand by the terrorist group the black hand who was secretly funded by the Serbian govnt. the Austrian-hungry countries attacked serbia serbia causing a chain reaction of countries choosing sides due to their alliances. America trying to stay out of Europe's back and forth bull shit attempted to stay out of the war. After the un-instigated attack on the lusitania and the deaths of some american civilians the Us joined the war to help the Allies. (the us was not completely innocent though it had been profiting off the war selling weapons to the allies) the US not being a big competetior at the time in European business was not given much credit for their soldiers at the time of their entry into the war. After the us performance in the battle at belleau many countries were impressed with what they had and they were considered fearless (how the marines got the nickname "devil dogs") Germany being a bunch of dummys started a 2 front war that they could not win and eventually being withered away to nothing had to surrender signing the treaty of Versailles.
Boom that is all from memory and 3 years away from when i learned it so much of it may be wrong but i am prettty sure i got the jist of it...
 
I was taught that the germans Were fighting on the eastern front again russia AND the western front against france and brittan and canada. And finally the russians surrendered and then all the trops from the east went to the west and destroyed the british and finally the americans came in got the germans to surrender to a peace agreement then the stupid french come in and take oover the peace agreement that the smart americans had to settle everything. then basically then french raped the germans with the treaty of verisalles (i butchered the name) and the americans said the french were stupid and are causing a bigger conflict in about 20 years.
 
Fuck sorry for the doubble post,

But i am canadian so it might not be how it's taught in your class my but teacher specialized in American history so maybe. But i also know that canadians also made TONS of progress when the british and french gave them a go at it.
 
Are you fucking serious?

"On July 27, 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in China, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany gave the order to act ruthlessly towards the rebels: "Mercy will not be shown, prisoners will not be taken. Just as a thousand years ago, the Huns under Attila [Etzel] won a reputation of might that lives on in legends, so may the name of Germany in China [sic: be asserted] such that no Chinaman will even again dare so much as to squint at a German."[32]

This speech gave rise to later use of the term "Hun" for the Germans during World War I. The comparison was helped by the Pickelhaube or spiked helmet worn by German forces until 1916, which was reminiscent of images depicting ancient Hun helmets. An alternative reason sometimes given for the use of the term was the motto Gott mit uns (God with us) on German soldiers' belt buckles during World War I. It is suggested that the word uns was mistaken for Huns. This usage, emphasizing the idea that the Germans were barbarians, was reinforced by Allied propaganda throughout the war. The French songwriter Theodore Botrel described the Kaiser as "an Attila, without remorse", launching "cannibal hordes".[33]

The usage of the term "Hun" to describe a German resurfaced during World War II. For example Winston Churchill referred in 1941 to the invasion of the Soviet Union as "the dull, drilled, docile brutish masses of the Hun soldiery, plodding on like a swarm of crawling locusts."[34]. Nevertheless, its use was less widespread than in the previous war. British and American WWII troops more often used the term "Jerry" or "Kraut" for their German opponents."
 
Hun, is also the name for a nomadic group of people that settled in eastern Germany and most of the rest of Eastern Europe. Now, me using "kraut" or "jerry" which was commonly used in WWII would cause me to be a hypocrite. So fuck off.
 
Sweet, legit response.

This is more of what I was interested in, the causes of the war etc are spot on, that is not a concern.The Battle of Belleau was a strong battle for the Americans, and one that proved they were a threat. The issue I was confronting was the belief that the USA was the reason for the victory, when in fact, their actual fighting contributed, but was not significant in winning the war. The biggest impact the Americans had was the threat of the massive manpower, and industrial might that forced the Germans into an ill fated spring offensive in 1918, which resulted in their ultimate defeat.

That does not take away from the some 100 000 casualties the Americans suffered in their 47 days of active fighting, just commenting more on the fact that they had only 47 days.
 
If I remember right though, wasn't the US having some of that isolationist outlook at the time that the Arch Duke was assassinated? The idea to not get involved and just worry about everything happening State-side instead of what is happening internationally.
 
Yup, which is fair enough for them. That is really more of the issue I have with the belief that the Americans just sat it out, then said well fuck it, went over beat up the pussy Germans and came home, which is obviously not the case but is what I have been told before (and which is why it pissed me off)
 
I can see how people get that feeling but everyone in the international community was having issues like that.

Then the Great Depression happened, Hitler starts blaming the Jews, and then WWII starts and the Polish get ran over, the Maginot Line is shown to be a complete joke (damn French always fucking shit up with the Germans), and then Japan attacks the US and we decide to come in and fuck shit up again.
 
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