Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America / Edition 1

by Jennifer D. Keene

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 history--the G.I. Bill.

Keene shows how citizen-soldiers established standards of discipline that the army in a sense had to adopt. Even after these troops had returned to civilian life, lessons learned by the army during its first experience with a mass conscripted force continued to influence the military as an institution. The experience of going into uniform and fighting abroad politicized citizen-soldiers, Keene finally argues, in ways she asks us to ponder. She finds that the country and the conscripts--in their view--entered into a certain social compact, one that assured veterans that the federal government owed conscripted soldiers of the twentieth century debts far in excess of the pensions the Grand Army of the Republic had claimed in the late nineteenth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801874468
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2003
Series:	War/Society/Culture
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jennifer D. Keene is an associate professor of history at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1. A Force to Call Our Own: Establishing the National Army
Chapter 2. Americans as Warriors
Chapter 3. The Meaning of Obedience
Chapter 4. The Politics of Race: Racial Violence and Harmony in the Wartime Army
Chapter 5. Forging Their Own Alliances: American Soldier's Relations with the French and Germans
Chapter 6. The Legacy of the War for the Army
Chapter 7. War Memories: Re-Examining the Social Contract
Chapter 8. 'The Yanks Are Starving Everywhere': The Bonus MarchEpilogue - The War's Final Legacy for the Country: The GI Bill
Bibliographic Essay

What People are Saying About This

Stuart McConnell

This is an impressive piece of work, based on excellent primary sources in both France and the United States—a model of original research on an important topic. There is nothing exactly like this book at the intersection of social and military history. The writing is clear and effective, and Keene's arguments about conscription and her truly excellent chapter on the Bonus Army make her findings valuable to historians of all periods from the Civil War through the 1930s.

From the Publisher

This is an impressive piece of work, based on excellent primary sources in both France and the United States—a model of original research on an important topic. There is nothing exactly like this book at the intersection of social and military history. The writing is clear and effective, and Keene's arguments about conscription and her truly excellent chapter on the Bonus Army make her findings valuable to historians of all periods from the Civil War through the 1930s.
—Stuart McConnell, Pitzer College, Claremont

Editorial Reviews

Clearly written and magnificently researched . . . In the book's best passages Keene's Doughboys force the federal government to re-examine the relationship between itself and its citizen soldiers.
--Kerry E. Irish, Journal of Military History

Her work should help return the First World War to a place of primary importance in American history.
--Michael Neiberg, Journal of Social History

Jennifer D. Keene [has] illuminated these once unknown soldiers through scholarship of startling originality and insight.
--Steven Trout, American Studies

Keene brings strong academic credentials to the work . . . this is an impressive addition to the scholarly base of American military hisotry albeit of decidedly different focus. Highly Recommended.
--Rene Tyree, Wigs Wags

Keene's chapters on the military experiences of ordinary soldiers and the ways in which they perceived and articulated their careers as citizen soldiers are rich and engaging.
--Robert H. Zieger, Historian

Keene's work deserves an audience not only among scholars of military history and international relations but also among those interested in questions of race, social welfare, labor, and the relationship between the individual citizen and the state in the twentieth century.
--G. Kurt Piehler, Journal of American History

Superb history of American soldiers during and after World War I . . . Full of rich, new material and original and fresh insights, all presented in a lively and engaging style.
--Nancy K. Bristow, American Historical Review

This book is a valuable contribution to the history of World War I.
--Edward M. Coffman, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

From the Publisher

Keene brings strong academic credentials to the work... this is an impressive addition to the scholarly base of American military hisotry albeit of decidedly different focus. Highly Recommended.

— Rene Tyree

Wigs Wags

Keene's chapters on the military experiences of ordinary soldiers and the ways in which they perceived and articulated their careers as citizen soldiers are rich and engaging.

— Robert H. Zieger

Historian

Her work should help return the First World War to a place of primary importance in American history.

— Michael Neiberg

Journal of Social History

Superb history of American soldiers during and after World War I... Full of rich, new material and original and fresh insights, all presented in a lively and engaging style.

— Nancy K. Bristow

American Historical Review

This book is a valuable contribution to the history of World War I.

— Edward M. Coffman

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Clearly written and magnificently researched... In the book's best passages Keene's Doughboys force the federal government to re-examine the relationship between itself and its citizen soldiers.

— Kerry E. Irish

Journal of Military History

Keene's work deserves an audience not only among scholars of military history and international relations but also among those interested in questions of race, social welfare, labor, and the relationship between the individual citizen and the state in the twentieth century.

— G. Kurt Piehler

Journal of American History

Jennifer D. Keene [has] illuminated these once unknown soldiers through scholarship of startling originality and insight.

— Steven Trout

American Studies

Keene brings strong academic credentials to the work . . . this is an impressive addition to the scholarly base of American military hisotry albeit of decidedly different focus. Highly Recommended.

Wigs Wags - Rene Tyree

Jennifer D. Keene [has] illuminated these once unknown soldiers through scholarship of startling originality and insight.

American Studies - Steven Trout

This book is a valuable contribution to the history of World War I.

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society - Edward M. Coffman

Keene's chapters on the military experiences of ordinary soldiers and the ways in which they perceived and articulated their careers as citizen soldiers are rich and engaging.

Historian - Robert H. Zieger

Clearly written and magnificently researched . . . In the book's best passages Keene's Doughboys force the federal government to re-examine the relationship between itself and its citizen soldiers.

Journal of Military History - Kerry E. Irish

Superb history of American soldiers during and after World War I . . . Full of rich, new material and original and fresh insights, all presented in a lively and engaging style.

American Historical Review - Nancy K. Bristow

Her work should help return the First World War to a place of primary importance in American history.

Journal of Social History - Michael Neiberg

Keene's work deserves an audience not only among scholars of military history and international relations but also among those interested in questions of race, social welfare, labor, and the relationship between the individual citizen and the state in the twentieth century.

Journal of American History - G. Kurt Piehler