Over There

The United States of America entered the First World War on 6 April 1917. Before this it had been a neutral power. At the start it primarily supplied the allied powers with supplies, raw materials and money. The country was not initially equiped to send armed forces but soon launched a recruitment drive to the US forces and by the late spring of 1918 large numbers of American troops were in Europe under the command of General John Pershing. Altogether some 4 million joined the military. There were 110,000 deaths (including some 45,000 who died as a result of the 1918 influenza pandemic).

American war posters concentrated on the supply of materials and the production of war related items such as ships, the raising of funds to pay for the war and recruitment into the Military. Many of the artists employed came, as in Britain, from the field of advertising and the images they produced reflected a different tradition.