The Home Front: Victory at the front depended on economic and emotional mobilization at home. Consolidating federal authority, Wilson moved quickly in 1917 and 1918 to organize war production and distribution. An idealist who knew how to sway public opinion, he also recognized the need to enlist American emotions. To him, the war for people's minds, the "conquest of their convictions," was as vital as events on the battlefield.
1. Click here to read President Wilson's War Message.
2. A week after war was declared, Wilson formed the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and asked George Creel, an outspoken progressive journalist, to head it. Creel hired muckrakers like Ida Tarbel, and recruited thousand of people in the arts, advertising, and film industries.
Click hereto see examples of the propaganda created by the CPI.
Click here to read about other anti-German activities.
3. Wilson turned to conscription, which he felt was both efficient and democratic. In May, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, providing for the registration of all men between 21 - 30 (later changed to 18 - 45). Early in June, 9.5 million men registered for the draft.
Click here to view a draft card and read additional information about the Selective Service Act.
4. To create order, President Wilson established the War Industries Board (WIB) to increase industrial output and coordinate industries. Bernard Baruch was named head of the board. He established strict controls over industries. The government took over all factories and ran them like one big factory. The board instructed the factories on what to produce, how much to produce, and the cost of the items. Women's blouse factories made signal flags, radiator manufacturers made guns, automobile factories made airplane engines, and piano companies made airplane wings. Click here to see how the government encouraged production.
5. President Wilson created the National War Labor Board (WLB) to unify labor policies. He wanted to insure that management and workers cooperated during the war to prevent strikes. It was absolutely essential that the workers were kept satisfied so that industries could produce good for war. The WLB also worked to improve working conditions: an eight-hour workday was established in some areas, and standards for the employment of women and children were established. Click here to see how the government promoted unity amongst American workers.
6. When the US entered the war, the people of France, Britain, and Italy, along with their armies, were facing starvation, so increasing American food production became a top priority. To get the job done, President Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover as head of the Food Administration. Hoover had full authority over food production, distribution of food and farm supplies. He did not call for rationing of certain goods but instead relied on voluntary cooperation to conserve food products. Click here for some propaganda used by the Food Administration.
7. President Wilson established the Fuel Administration to control America's use of fuel. Fuel was needed by the soldiers overseas. As with the Food Administration, Americans were asked to voluntarily conserve their use of fuel. Lightless nights and gasless days were observed. Daylight Savings Time was observed for the first time in the US's history in order to cut back on the use of fuel and electricity. Click here to view propaganda used by the Fuel Administration.
8. Up to 30,000 American women served on the front during WWI. At home, women filled the gap left by the millions of men training and fighting in the war. The War Labor Board ordered that women be paid equal wages for equal work in war industries. One million women worked in war industries. In food, airplane, and electrical plants, women made up one-fifth or more of the workforce. Women also carried out traditional women's roles, such as rolling bandages, gardening, and caring for the sick and wounded on the home front. Click here to view women on the home front during the First World War.
9. Opposition to American involvement did exist. Click here to read about the war opposition movement as well as the state of civil liberties during the First World War.
10. In September of 1918, soldiers at an army base near Boston suddenly began to die. The cause of death was identified as influenza, but it was unlike any strain ever seen. As the killer virus spread across the country, hospitals overfilled, death carts roamed the streets and helpless city officials dug mass graves. It was the worst epidemic in American history, killing over 600,000, five times the deaths that the US sustained fighting the war, until it disappeared as mysteriously as it had begun.
Click here to see how the flu was killing thousands of people in major US cities.
Click here to read about the effects of the flu.
