Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America

by Jennifer D. Keene and Professor Jennifer D. Keene

Book Overview

How does a democratic government conscript citizens, turn them into soldiers who can fight effectively against a highly trained enemy, and then somehow reward these troops for their service? In Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America, Jennifer D. Keene argues that the doughboy experience in 1917-18 forged the U.S. Army of the twentieth century and ultimately led to the most sweeping piece of social-welfare legislation in the nation's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801874467
• ISBN13: 9780801874468
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

World War I Did Change American Society

Americans have largely forgoten the United States war effort during World War I. There are obvious reasons for this -- the larger role played during World War II, the failure of the politicians to live up to the rhetoric of lasting peace, the limited combat exposure and comparatively low casualties suffered by US troops, etc. But World War I did more than prepare the US for World War II, it fundamentaly changed a whole generation of Americans (Stein called Hemingway and company the lost generation because of World WarI) and as Keane effectively argues changed the way the Army works and the nature of the social contract between citizens and the government. Along the way Keane discusses changes in Army procedures and, somewhat disapointingly, the precarious nature race relations during the war. This book exposes little that is relavatory to those who study American history, but by skillfully aranging the facts and details that are known or obvious Keane carefully builds an air tight case in support of her thesis: The soldiers who served during World War I paved the way not only for the GI Bill but for a wider acceptance of government aid to those in need. The modern concept of Entightlements began with the veterans of the "War To End All Wars."