Obituary of a Three-Century Man, Chapter 5
“The Great War” Erupts in Europe 1914; the U.S. Enters the Fray in 1917
Jackson was 14 1/2 years old when what was first called “The Great War” broke out in the summer of 1914. Of course, it wasn’t a matter of complete peace prevailing on earth one day and an all-out, worldwide war raging the next. Although most of its citizens supported Britain and its allies, the United States did not get directly involved in the conflict until 1917, the year before the war ended.
That being the case, Jackson wasn’t overly concerned about the effects of the war on his family at first. He knew that he could eventually become personally involved, but that didn’t seem likely: Not only would the U.S. have to become enmeshed in the fracas, but the conflict would have to last several years, until Jackson was eighteen (the age generally considered suitable for engaging in warfare). Similar to the popular sentiment in 1861, when the Civil War—or the War Between the States, as the Southerners called it—broke out, at the beginning of the “Great War” most people were of the opinion that it would only last a few months.
But the war expanded like a fungus, both in scope and duration. Secret international pacts that had been entered into prior to the war stipulated that the member nations of these agreements would come to the aid of other members if they were attacked. So when Johnny attacked Billy, both Johnny’s set of friends and Billy’s entered the fray, opposing each other. It was as if a row of dominoes had been toppled—a chain reaction had been set off when Austria’s Archduke was assassinated.
However, despite the involvement of large swaths of the world in the war, in 1915 President Woodrow Wilson stated that, “America . . . will not fight.” In fact, Wilson was reelected in 1916 at least partly on the strength of his supposed determination to keep America out of the war. His campaign slogan was, “He Kept Us Out of the War.”
When Jackson heard about Wilson’s promise to let the European nations fight it out on their own, without America getting involved, he figured there was probably a very good chance that he would remain a bystander during the war, even if it lasted for a few more years. But Jackson had also learned not to fully trust experts and authority figures, and to expect the unexpected—or at least not be shocked when the unexpected occurred after all.
And so, when America did indeed become embroiled in the war, Jackson was only mildly surprised. In April of 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany. Jackson was still 17 years old at the time, too young to be conscripted or to enlist. On December 7th, 1917, however (twenty-four years to the day before the U.S. was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor and subsequently entered World War 2), war was also declared on Germany’s ally Austria-Hungary. At that time, Jackson was only three weeks shy of turning eighteen.
The military draft had commenced several months prior, in May. Jackson realized at that time that if the war continued for a few more months, he would likely be drafted soon after turning eighteen on December 28th. Jackson was now so close to being of age to fight that he began to seriously contemplate joining the effort to combat the aggression of Germany and its allies. After all, they had attacked American citizens when they sunk the Lusitania, and Jackson felt it was his duty to defend his country and its people. The only question in his mind was: would he enlist on his eighteenth birthday, or would he wait to be conscripted?
Chapter 1 can be read here.
Chapter 2 can be read here.
Chapter 3 can be read here.
Chapter 4 can be read here.
Chapter 6 can be read here.