An American History

AMERICA AND THE GREAT WAR ★^745

The Fourteen Points

Not until the spring of 1918 did American forces arrive in Europe in large num-

bers. By then, the world situation had taken a dramatic turn. In November 1917,

a communist revolution headed by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the Russian gov-

ernment that had come to power the previous spring. Shortly thereafter, Lenin

withdrew Russia from the war and published the secret treaties by which the

Allies had agreed to divide up conquered territory after the war— an embarrass-

ment for Wilson, who had promised a just peace.

Partly to assure the country that the war was being fought for a moral cause,

Wilson in January 1918 issued the Fourteen Points, the clearest statement of

American war aims and of his vision of a new international order. Among the

key principles were self- determination for all nations, freedom of the seas, free

trade, open diplomacy (an end to secret treaties), the readjustment of colonial

How did the United States get involved in World War I?

Ghent

Zeebrugge

Nieuport

Calais Ypres

Dover

Abbeville

Arras

Amiens

Rouen

Paris

Chartres

Sens

Melun

Troyes

Toul

Épinal

Belfort

Mulhouse

Strasbourg

Trier

Saarbrücken

Luxembourg

Soissons

Lens

Cambrai

Antwerp

Brussels Cologne

Düsseldorf

Liège

Dinant Frankfurt

Coblenz

Reims

Sedan

Meuse-ArgonneSeptember–

November 1918

Arm

istice

(^)
(^) Line
Nov
emb
er (^11)
, (^191)
(^8)
Somme OffensiveAugust 19–
November 11, 1918
Aisne-Marne OffensiveJuly 18–August 6, 1918
LyAugust 19–s Offensive
November 11, 1918
LORR
AINE
ALS
AC
E^
FRANCE
GERMANY
LUXEMBOURG
BELGIUM
NETHERLANDS
SWITZERLAND
ENGLAND
Vos
ges
M
ts.^
ArgonneForest
Seine
(^) R.
Seine^ R.^ Aube (^) R.
Aisne^ R.^
Somm
e (^) R.
Lys^ R.^
Meuse
R.^
Sieg^ R.^
Lahn^ R.
Rhin
e^ R.^
Sambre^
R.
Saa
r (^) R.
Erft
R.
Rhin
St e (^) R.
rait
of^ D
over
0
0
25
25
50 miles
50 kilometers
Allied victory
U.S. offensives
German offensives
Allies
Central Powers
Neutral nations
Armistice line
Stabilized front, 1915–1917
Maximum advance ofCentral Powers, 1918
WORLD WAR I: THE WESTERN FRONT
After years of stalemate on the western front in World War I, the arrival of American troops in 1917
and 1918 shifted the balance of power and made possible the Allied victory.