Talk:American Expeditionary Force

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This article needs some further attention. If anyone wants to contribute, I think they should feel free to do so.

Contents 1 NPOV 2 the European's wishes concerning the AEF 3 Casualties 4 Pershing's Memior 5 Merge of A.E.F.

[edit] NPOV

To biased in favour of US contribution. The AEF did not become combat ready until Oct 1918. The war had already been won by Australian and Canadian forces , British and French troops by then. August 8th saw the capitulation of the German's at the Battler of Amiens. The US essentially performed mop up. The German's had asked for an armistice on Oct 5 1918 and the German Armys still had teeth but was always going to lose once the Hindenburg Line was breached early October (with some US troops in support). The US lost a lot of soldiers due to inexperience and disease.

The AEF was combat ready months earlier. The Germans had run out of offensive plans and were unable to mount any major attacks after their spring losses. The point is that the German leadership realized their position was hopeless when the Allies were adding 10,000 new American soldiers every day (and Germany could not replace its losses.) Furthermore the French were reenergized and were willing to fight again after their mutinies because with the Americans there, they knew victory was certain. It makes a lot of difference in history if you feel certain of victory or defeat.Rjensen 03:32, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes I accept your point. The Americans were bringing in huge numbers of forces which would replenish the Allies. Battlewise the Americans did not contribute as much as they did by force of numbers, i.e. as a potential military force. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the only significant battle that the AEF conducted on its own. The point I was trying to make was that this was very late in the war. The Germans had been smashed earlier in the year with only minor US support. But yes the prospect of millions of US soldiers arriving did accelerate the end of the war. The key battles of 1917/1918 that turned the war though were done by the British/French and significantly ANZACS and Canadians. Whenever the history of WWI is written it comes across that the US singlehandedly is credited with winning the war. The words "10,000 a day in summer 1918 was the decisive factor in restoring the advantage to the Allies" diminishes the importance of the actual battles that were fought.Roonz123 04:52, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

The battles are well covered. The battles were not the reason for german surrender--the reason was total loss of confidence: They knew they would lose. It was not a stab in the back by politicians in Berlin, it was colonels and generals at the front who could see for themselves that total defeat was a matter of weeks/months, with zero chance of any turnaround. That is the war was lost, and the sooner they asked for terms the better terms they would get. Rjensen 05:12, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] the European's wishes concerning the AEF

"In addition, Pershing insisted that the American force would not be used merely to fill gaps in the French and British armies. This attitude was resented by the Allied leaders who were short on troops."

This presentation of things is disputable.

French general Joffre supported the idea that the US soldiers would come in the form of an US army/corps.

Here's one source (but there are several others) that support this version.

http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/prm/blgenesisaef2.htm

"To make American troops immediately effective, therefore, Joffre's first inclination was to urge the Americans to furnish the French and British "with men instead of armies." If troops were sent to France organized only into companies and battalions, they could quickly be incorporated into French regiments for training and service at the front. There would therefore, according to Joffre, be "no occasion for training general officers and staff for the larger units, only captains and majors being needed."

Joffre quickly discarded that idea, however, because he knew the Americans could never accept it. No great nation, especially the United States, the prescient old soldier knew, would "allow its citizens to be incorporated like poor relations in the ranks of some other army and fight under a foreign flag." He therefore determined that he would start from that premise as he entered discussions in America. "

[edit] Casualties

Hello, the greater part of american ww-1 dead wasn't KIA or DOW, but DOD. See: www.abmc.gov, or www.greatwar.nl etc. Thanks, WernerE (germanwiki) 30.11.2005

[edit] Pershing's Memior

I have a copy of Pershing's memiors for the AEF my Experiences in The World War, which is a blow-by-blow history of the whole experience. The whole article needs to be re-written because it has way too much POV and opinion, and too little fact. SSG Cornelius Seon (Retired) 14:01, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge of A.E.F.

I have proposed merging A.E.F. into this article. I would have been bold and done it myself, but I don't know enough about the topic and it appears the newer A.E.F. article contains information that is not here or is inconsistent. If it is to be merged it should be by an editor who knows more about this than I do. Agent 86 16:44, 1 August 2006 (UTC)