Comments on: Did American involvement help end World War I?

By: John de Witt

John de Witt — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:19:01 +0000

Of course. The military impact wasn’t huge, but the point was that everybody else was running out of men and money. The fact that the US had plenty of both had an impact on the German mindset far out of proportion to the straightforward military impact.

By: Stinson

Stinson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:46:03 +0000

Eh, not really. Germany was losing the war anyway and the fact of the matter is that the US troops were untrained and so it look a long while till they were ready to fight. Then, when they were supposed to enter into what I think would be their first battle (the Battle of Hamel), their commander and/or the US government said no because it was independence day.
So yeah, Germany was stuffed either way. It wasn’t weight of numbers but change in strategy that won the war for the Triple Entente (look up General Sir John Monash). Thus, America’s involvement was helpful but not entirely necessary.

By: Bilbo

Bilbo — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:37:04 +0000

Whilst David Lloyd George was rather dismissive of America’s involvement there can be little doubt that the influx of fresh troops and armaments helped to break the stalemate and added impetus to the 100 Days Offensive helping to tip the odds in favour of the Allies. The reality is more likely that it was rather too little too late to be decicisive.