World War I had
numerous impacts on America. As the country's first conflict of the twentieth century, it was
the first modern war.
The war led to the expansion of national government.
The public was exhorted to buy bonds. The economy was put on a wartime footing. The Food
Administration, under Herbert Hoover, increased agricultural production and reduced domestic
consumption. The War Industries Board, ably led by Bernard Baruch, fixed prices and set
production quotas.
As millions of men joined the military, there was a
severe labor shortage. Women and minorities entered the labor force. There was a Great Migration
as thousands of people, especially blacks, moved to the North for employment. However, they were
not usually welcomed, and there were bloody race riots in E. St. Louis and Chicago. Women
assumed many jobs that had hitherto been held only by men. After the war, most women returned to
their prior roles. Even though women's gains in the labor force were transitory, their
contribution helped win them theright to vote after the war.
The government
spread propaganda and did not allow dissent during the war. The Committee on Public Information
was a propaganda machine. A movie, The Beast of Berlin, portrayed Germans
as rapacious brutes. The Espionage and Sedition Acts targeted socialists and other dissenters.
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