The American Strike that Changed the World

As the US joined World War 1, their inexperienced troops and lack of military doctrine gave Allied commanders scarce hope that they would turn the tide of a war in which Britain and France were barely holding the line against a relentless German offensive, and Russia had signed a separate peace treaty with the central powers. Then, in the spring of 1918, the US militarys firstever modern division was swiftly organized to conduct the first American assault in the area in an attempt to capture Cantigny. Despite the minor strategic importance of the French village, the stakes could not be higher. If the 1st Division failed at Cantigny, the consequences on the morale of the Allied forces would be unmeasurable, the Germans would prove that the US troops were inferior, and the world would perceive the US as not being ready to enter the big leagues of the world superpowers.