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People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Mohamed Lamine Debaghine, Setif 2 University

Faculty of Letters and Languages

Department of English Language and Literature

Domain: Letters and Foreign Languages

Stream: English Language

Title:

The Impacts of World War 1 on The United State

By:AICHOUR Sara|& CHAOUI Lina

Professor :HOCINI

November18
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Table of Content

[Link]……………………………………………………………………………….

[Link] social impacts of World War 1 on the United States………………………………………………….

[Link] psychological impact…………………………………………………………….

[Link] sell shock………………………………………………………………….

[Link] changes in gender role …………………………………………………………

[Link] hello girls …………………………………………………………………

[Link] women suffrage…………………………………………………………..

[Link] rise of middle class………………………………………………………………

[Link] great migration………………………………………………………………….

[Link] red summer……………………………………………………………..

[Link] universal impacts of World War 1 on the United States……………………………..

Introduction

World War I (1914–1918), often referred to as the Great War, marked a pivotal turning point
in American history, transforming the nation from a relatively isolationist power into a global
player. While the U.S. entered the conflict late in 1917, its involvement catalyzed profound
changes across social, cultural, political, and economic spheres. These impacts were not
uniform but reflected the war's role in accelerating industrialization, challenging traditional
norms, and reshaping international relations. The war disrupted traditional social structures,
fostering greater mobility and diversity while exacerbating divisions. Mobilization drew
millions of Americans into military service or industrial labor, leading to significant internal
migrations—particularly from rural South to urban North—and the integration of immigrants
and African Americans into the workforce. Women's roles expanded dramatically; with men at
war, women filled factory jobs, advancing the suffrage movement and laying groundwork for
gender equality. However, this progress was uneven: the war heightened racial tensions, as seen
in the 1919 Red Summer riots, where economic competition fueled violence against Black
communities. Politically, the war shifted the U.S. from isolationism to internationalism,
fundamentally altering its foreign policy. President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918)
advocated for self-determination and collective security, leading to U.S. involvement in the
League of Nations—though domestic opposition, rooted in Senate rejection, reinforced
isolationist tendencies. Domestically, the war empowered the federal government through
measures like the Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918), which curtailed civil liberties
and targeted dissenters, including socialists and pacifists. This era also saw the culmination of
women's suffrage with the 19th Amendment (1920), partly spurred by wartime
contributions. Economically, World War I propelled the U.S. into a period of rapid growth,
transforming it from a debtor nation to a creditor powerhouse. Wartime production boomed,
with industries like steel, automobiles, and chemicals expanding to meet Allied demands,
creating jobs and boosting GDP. However, this prosperity was uneven; inflation soared, and the
post-war recession of 1920–1921 caused widespread unemployment. The war also entrenched
corporate power, as government contracts favored big business, widening the gap between rich
and poor. Internationally, the U.S. emerged as a lender, with the Dawes Plan (1924) addressing
European reparations, but domestic policies like high tariffs (e.g., Fordney-McCumber Tariff
of 1922) prioritized protectionism, contributing to global economic imbalances that
foreshadowed the Great Depression.
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The Social Impacts of the World War 1 on the United State

The psychological impact:

The WW1 resulted in both spiritual and physical disfigurement. Many soldiers returned

home with disfigured faces, due to shrapnel explosions, and physically handicapped, missing

limbs. Many also returned home disillusioned, unsure of how they could fit back into American

society after experiencing horrors in Europe. Some were "shell-shocked," a condition that we

now refer to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is common, to soldiers returning

from war zones.

The shell-shock:

Symptoms ranged from uncontrollable diarrhea to unrelenting anxiety. Soldiers who had

bayoneted men in the face developed hysterical tics of their own facial muscles. Stomach

cramps seized men who knifed their foes in the abdomen. Snipers lost their sight. Terrifying

nightmares of being unable to withdraw bayonets from the enemies' bodies persisted long after

the slaughter.

Changes in gender role:

The situations of women changed significantly during and after World War I. As millions of

men joined the military, there was a severe labor shortage. Women and minorities entered the

labor force. This profoundly changed the roles of women in society and led to the ratification

of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.

Thousands of women in the United States formed and/or joined organizations that worked to

bring relief to the war-torn countries in Europe, even before official American entry into the

war in April 1917. After the United States joined the Allies, women continued to join these

organizations and dedicate themselves to supporting and expanding the war effort. These
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groups were highly organized, much like the military, which helped women garner respect from

their fellow citizens and have their patriotic endeavors taken seriously. Aside from their mass

involvement in these voluntary organizations and efforts, a key difference between women’s

service during World War I and that of previous wars was the class of women

involved. Typically, women who followed armies were from the working classes of society,

but during the Great War, women from all classes served in many different capacities. Upper

class women were the primary founders and members of voluntary wartime organizations,

particularly because they could afford to devote so much of their time and money to these

efforts. Middle- and lower-class women also participated in these organizations and drives,

although they were more likely to be serving as nurses with the military or replacing men in

their jobs on the home front as the men went off to war. For the first time in American history,

women from every part of the class spectrum were serving in the war in some capacity. Another

significant change to women’s service during the Great War is that American civilian women

donned uniforms. The uniforms allowed women to look the part and claim credibility for their

services, as well as to be taken seriously by others; many women saw their wartime service as

a way to claim full citizenship, and the uniforms symbolized “their credentials as citizens

engaged in wartime service.” Other women donned uniforms because of their association with

the military—World War I was the first time in American history in which women were

officially attached to arms of the American military and government agencies. Yeomen (F)

served with the Navy and the Marine Corps, while the Army Nurse Corps was attached to the

Army. In France, 223 American women popularly known as “Hello Girls” served as long-

distance switchboard operators for the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

HelloGirls:

The “Hello Girls” were America’s first female soldiers in uniformed communications.

Trained by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, 223 bilingual telephone operators served overseas in
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France and Germany from 1918–1919. They handled thousands of calls a day, connecting

commanders, relaying orders, and keeping Pershing’s American Expeditionary Forces moving.

Though essential to victory, they were denied veteran status for decades, sparking a long fight

for recognition.

THE HELLO GIRLS

After the war, these changes continued to resonate. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920,

granted women the right to vote, further solidifying their role in society. This newfound political

power, combined with their contributions to the economy during the war, encouraged a re-

evaluation of women's roles both at home and in the workplace. Women began to seek

independence and autonomy, leading to the rise of the flapper culture, which epitomized the

liberated woman of the 1920s. Despite these advancements, women continued to face
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significant challenges. The post-war period saw a backlash against the changes that had

occurred, as traditionalists pushed back against the new societal norms. Nonetheless, the war

had planted the seeds for future movements advocating for women's rights and gender equality,

which would continue to evolve throughout the 20th century. The years of the First World War

and its immediate aftermath witnessed the close of a seventy-two-year struggle to achieve

woman suffrage in the United States, from the Seneca Falls, New York Women’s Rights

Convention in 1848 to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

in 1920. When the nation entered the First World War in April 1917, eleven U.S. states and one

territory provided full voting rights for women. During the final year of the war both houses of

the United States Congress approved an amendment to the U.S. constitution that provided for

women’s full voting rights. This Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on 26 August 1920.

Women sufferage :

The women’s suffrage movement was founded in the mid-19th century by women who had

become politically active through their work in the abolitionist and temperance movements. In

July 1848, 240 woman suffragists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, met in

Seneca Falls, New York, to assert the right of women to vote. Female enfranchisement was still

largely opposed by most Americans, and the distraction of the North-South conflict and

subsequent Civil War precluded further discussion. During the Reconstruction Era, the 15th

Amendment was adopted, granting African American men the right to vote, but the Republican-

dominated Congress failed to expand its progressive radicalism into the sphere of gender. In

1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady

Stanton, was formed to push for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Another organization,

the American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Lucy Stone, was organized in the same year

to work through the state legislatures. In 1890, these two societies were united as the National

American Woman Suffrage Association. That year, Wyoming became the first state to grant
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women the right to vote. By the beginning of the 20th century, the role of women in American

society was changing drastically; women were working more, receiving a better education,

bearing fewer children, and several states had authorized female suffrage. In 1913, the National

Woman’s party organized the voting power of these enfranchised women to elect congressional

representatives who supported woman suffrage, and by 1916 both the Democratic and

Republican parties openly endorsed female enfranchisement. In 1919, the 19th Amendment,

which stated that “the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or

abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” passed both houses of

Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. Eight days later, the 19th Amendment took

effect. Despite the passage of the amendment and the decades-long contributions of Black

women to achieve suffrage, poll taxes, local laws and other restrictions continued to block

women of color from voting. It would take another 50 years for all women to achieve voting

equality.

The rise of middle class:

Another significant societal change during this period was the rise of the middle class. The

economic boom that followed World War I contributed to the expansion of the middle class, as

increased job opportunities and higher wages allowed many Americans to experience a higher

standard of living. The war had stimulated industrial production, and as soldiers returned home,

the demand for consumer goods surged. The introduction of new technologies and mass

production methods, exemplified by the assembly line pioneered by Henry Ford, made products

more affordable and accessible. This era saw the rise of consumer culture, as families began to

invest in household appliances, automobiles, and entertainment, further solidifying their

middle-class status. The growth of the middle class also had profound implications for

American society. It fostered a sense of optimism and stability, as families aspired to the

"American Dream" of homeownership and upward mobility. Suburbanization began to take

hold, as people sought to escape the crowded urban centers for the perceived tranquility of

suburban life. This shift not only transformed the physical landscape of America but also

contributed to changing social dynamics, as the middle class increasingly influenced cultural

norms and values.

The great migration:

The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history.

Approximately six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern,

Midwestern, and Western states roughly from the 1910s until the 1970s. The driving force

behind the mass movement was to escape racial violence, pursue economic and educational

opportunities, and obtain freedom from the oppression of Jim Crow. The Great Migration is

often broken into two phases, coinciding with the participation and effects of the United States

in both World Wars. The First Great Migration (1910-1940) had Black southerners relocate to

northern and midwestern cities including: New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. When

the war effort ramped up in 1917, more able-bodied men were sent off to Europe to fight leaving

their industrial jobs vacant. The labor supply was further strained with a decline in immigration

from Europe and standing bans on peoples of color from other parts of the world. All of this

afforded the opportunity for the Black population to be the labor supply in non-agricultural

industries. Although the migrants found better jobs and fled the South entrenched in Jim Crow,

many African Americans faced injustices and difficulties after migrating.

The red summer:

The Red Summer was a pattern of white-on-black violence that occurred in 1919 throughout

the United States. The post World War I period was marked by a spike in racial violence, much

of it directed toward African American veterans returning from Europe, where they were often

treated much better there than by white Americans, despite their brave service to the country.
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The bloodiest incident occurred in Elaine, Arkansas, where it is estimated that over 100 African

Americans were killed. The racial violence of the Red Summer erupted in many other Southern

locations as well as in the North, most notably in Chicago. The presence of racial hostility in

the North was partly a reaction of Northern whites to the large influx of African Americans into

Northern cities during the Great Migration, though this hostility did not prevent large numbers

of African Americans from heading North. On July 27, 1919, an African American teenager

drowned in Lake Michigan after violating the unofficial segregation of Chicago’s beaches and

being stoned by a group of white youths. His death, and the police’s refusal to arrest the white

man whom eyewitnesses identified as causing it, sparked a week of rioting between gangs of

Black and white Chicagoans, concentrated on the South Side neighborhood surrounding the

stockyards. When the riots ended on August 3, 15 white and 23 Black people had been killed

and more than 500 people injured; an additional 1,000 Black families had lost their homes when

they were torched by rioters.

The Universal Impacts of WW1 on the USA:

When war erupted in Europe, it set off waves that touched countries around the world—

including the United States. The American economy was well-suited to profit from conflict

overseas because it could supply goods, food, and materials that were suddenly in high

demand. As factories ramped up production and exports increased, new jobs opened up, and

wages began to rise. The shift also sparked changes at home. Businesses adapted by turning

their resources toward war materials and technology, while families adjusted to new work

opportunities and the realities of rationing. The government played a bigger role, managing the

economy to keep everything running smoothly and support the war effort. Over time, profits

from exports and industrial growth helped the United States strengthen its position in global

politics and partnerships.