The Great War Dilemma

Gabriel Lentz
Mr. Baker
Literature Analysis
19 February 2016

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Gabriel Lentz
Literature Analysis
Mrs. Baker
19 February 2016
The Great War Dilemma
One man operating under a secret military operation called Black Hand started the
bloodiest conflict Europe has ever seen. It all came down to the assassination of Archduke of
Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand. The conflict used new technologies with highly outdated
methods that made the war have heavy casualties. America had been sending military equipment
and money to the Triple Entente made up of Britain, France and Imperial Russia. On May 7,
1915, a German

U-Boat sank the British Ocean Liner RMS Lusitania, killing Americans on the
voyage and sinking American cargo, forcing America to join the war within the next two years.
This war ended in an Allied victory in 1918, the year after America joined the War efforts
(Smith) The victory in Europe posed its challenges well into the 1920s; soldiers returning
brought home the Spanish flu, womens suffrage was easier to obtain, and President Woodrow
Wilson and the current congress of the time enacted the Sedition Act of 1918.
The end of the war in Europe posed problems for American soldiers voyage home.
America sent an estimated 4.8 million men over to Europe to put an end to the war. Due to a
large number of men and a shortage of transport vessels, 6,000 men at most were able to make
their voyage home per ship. The wounded were required to leave first to get to American
hospitals and be treated for their injuries better. While the soldiers were waiting to go home, a
virus struck the population of port cities. It was the Spanish Flu, and this influenza spread from

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citizens of these port cities to young men coming home to the citizens of America. This virus
was new to most people after it mutated, The pandemic of 1918-1919 occurred in three waves.
The first wave had occurred when mild influenza erupted in the late spring and summer of 1918.
The second wave occurred with an outbreak of severe influenza in the fall of 1918 and the final
wave occurred in the spring of 1919. In its wake, the pandemic would leave about twenty million
dead across the world. In America alone, about 675,000 people in a population of 105 million
would die from the disease, this flu was not only deadly but extremely contagious, (United
States Department of Health and Human Services). This made medical knowledge advance
greatly by being able to identify how viruses work opposed to previous beliefs of influenza being
a bacteria. These discoveries affected the 1920s by creating vaccines to prevent viruses and
treatments to decrease the effects of viruses.
The government required men that were able enough to fight to join the military in the
Great War. Roughly about two million volunteered and another 2.8 million were drafted into the
conflict. While a large sum of Americas working men were gone away fighting, women and
African-Americans were now allowed to work in whites only businesses. When the men came
back there was a worry that the women would lose their jobs, Either the women were sacked to
make way for the returning soldiers or women remained working alongside men but at lower
wage rates, most women didnt like working for lower wages causing the womans rights
protests, (Anitha). The protests lasted from 1918-1921 and laid groundwork for women's rights
and equality laws starting with the 19th amendment in 1920.
The 19th amendment wasnt the only major law passed that affected the 1920s. President
Calvin Coolidge amended the Espionage Act of 1917. The original Act was composed by

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President Woodrow Wilson during the war stating that there needed, to be a law protecting the
United States against the insidious methods of internal hostile activities," (Espionage).
However, the Espionage Act needed amendments and President Coolidge stepped up to plate.
Coolidge introduced the Sedition Act of 1918, this act imposed penalties for anti-government
expression, subverting the Bill of Rights, (Democracy, Hanke). This law affected the 20s
because the government was not allowed to be challenged or scrutinized about their actions in
the war publicly. Many people saw this as their right to free speech was taken away, and added
terror to the American people because [The Act] stifled civil liberties all over the country as
influential citizens were given authority to turn against neighbors perceived as traitors, (Giles,
County). The Act did have its benefits to the American people because they didnt have to worry
about Communistic Ideas being implemented into the Constitution from the U.S Government.
The 1920s were a prosperous time in the United States that had a strong economy
because of their new title as a world power. Women could finally vote and be recognized as
citizens thanks to the soldiers. Soldiers bringing home a virus advanced the medical world with
ways to treat influenza by identifying that the flu wasnt a bacterial disease. The U.S amended a
war law that prohibited people from slandering the government, including its veterans for their
actions in the war. World War I ended in 1918, but it played a major role on the people within
the 1920s.

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Works Cited
"Fighting Influenza." The Great Pandemic: The United States in 1918-1919. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Anitha, Sundari. "Striking Women." World War I: 1914-1918. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
John Graham-Royde Smith "World War I". Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica
Online. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 19 Feb. 2016
"Espionage Act of 1917." West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. 2008. The Gale
Group 19 Feb. 2016
"The county line: 1917: German spies beware; a Colonel BobAE kept his eye on neighbors
during WWI; Spreading fear, citizens like him obsessed with disloyalty went to work and
trampled rights." Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN] 1 Feb. 2015: 1N. General Reference
Center GOLD. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
"ON DEMOCRACY VERSUS LIBERTY." States News Service 20 Jan. 2011. General
Reference Center GOLD. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

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