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“In order that the estimates and plans regarding our participation should be realized,
this organization behind the lines would have to become a great army in itself. . . . The success of a military commander depends largely
upon . . . managing the business of transportation and supply.”
—John J. Pershing, My Experiences in the World War, 1931
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World War I displayed the consequences of industrial growth and expanding mechanization. Vast armies supplied by railroad and motor
vehicle from seemingly endless production lines faced stalemate. Magazine rifles and machine guns
backed by quick-firing artillery drove armies to ground. Trench warfare, more siege than battle,
marked the triumph of the engineers and artillerists. It was a kind of war for which West Point
training seemed especially apt.
The American Expeditionary Force would break this deadlock imposed by mechanized firepower—as
soon as General Pershing (Class of 1886) built an independent American army. Although he refused to
feed American replacements into depleted Allied units, the swelling numbers of American troops still
boosted Allied morale and demoralized the enemy. Large-scale American combat began only in summer 1918.
It speeded the final exhaustion of German reserves and the Armistice on 11 November that ended the war,
much sooner than expected.
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