WWI, A Force of Change

The United States’ participation in World War 1 forced great change among the nation. It affected America in a variety of ways ranging from changes in homes and communities to changes made on a global level. Both of which would greatly change our nation forever. On one end of the scale is the changes made in the home. President Woodrow Wilson, the President that decided to enter the war, summoned all of the Boy Scouts of America to help educate and raise the moral of Americans in respect to the war. (Boy Scouts) Very serious events were occurring in the homes America that made a much bigger impact on German-American civilians. Hatred towards German-Americans grew as did suspicion of disloyalty. (Palmer) After the war, President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points changed the nation from a global perspective. Nations were now called to maintain open diplomacy as well as freedom in the seas and plans were developed to help rebuild the countries that were hurt during the war. (Wilson) It is easy to see how the nation was changed by its participation in World War 1 on both a personal and global level.

World War 1 caused change even in the live of America’s youth. The Boy Scouts have a slogan that states “Every Scout to boost America.” They had a great opportunity to do just that when President Woodrow Wilson directly called them to serve the country. Never before has a President called on the services of the boy scouts to aid the nation. He asked them to educate the American people about the war and help boost their moral. One way in which the Scouts educated American citizens is by distributing pamphlets created by the government that described America’s purpose for entering the war and what they were doing to help win it. The boy scouts also helped raise national moral which according to President Wilson, is “just as effective in helping to bring victory as ships and guns.” (Boy Scouts)

A more serious way that America was changed on a person to person level was in the treatment of German-Americans. According to Newton D. Baker there was a “Growing frenzy of suspicion and hostility toward disloyalty.” This may have been caused by a sharp increase in patriotism, but the effects of this suspicion and fear were all negative. Many German-American men and women were “tarred and feathered” and others were even killed. Even the press expressed and intensity for the search for traitors. Most American-Germans had done nothing wrong, but were victims to overzealous, prejudice men that were acting out of fear even though they claimed patriotism. The American government tried to intervene for fear of retaliation from the German army, but apparently had little success. Many positive and negative changes occurred due to America’s involvement in World War 1, and this was unquestionably one of the negatives. (Palmer)

After the war President Wilson created a document called “The Fourteen Points.” In this document he laid out fourteen strategies that should be initiated after the war in order to promote peace on a global level. He proposed that nations should have an open diplomacy. This means that nations would have no private international understandings of any kind. Wilson also proposed that absolute freedom of ships in the ocean, outside of territorial waters, should take place. Another thing that Wilson did suggest was how other countries should be restored. In this suggestion he laid out unspecific, but fair ways in which disputes between countries could be resolved their lands rebuilt. Wilson’s Fourteen Points may have also been a great contributor to the development of the United Nations. (Wilson)

In Conclusion, it is easy to see how the United States’ participation in World War 1 forced change among the nation on many different levels. Calling the Boy Scouts to action was a great way to get the country involved and supporting the war. This also helped the American public be more educated on what was happening in the war. The negative attitude towards Germans that the war created caused turmoil between German-Americans and other American citizens. Finally, America was dynamically changed on a global level because President Wilson introduced “The Fourteen Points” which changed not only how America functioned, but how other countries functioned with us and each other. Not all of the changes that America faced due to the war were considered good or even necessary, but change was forced upon America in order to adapt to the time of war.

1. Boy Scouts of America; Boy Scouts Support the War Effort. Pearson Education, Inc, 1917.
2. Frederick Palmer, Newton D. Baker, vol. 2 (Dodd, Mead & Company, 1931), 162-163
3. Woodrow Wilson, Message to Congress; January 8, 1918