African-American Community during Mobilization Measures 1917–1918: Hope and Practice

Abstract

The article is devoted to the military mobilization of the African-American community to the USA Army during the First World War; the expectations of African-Americans of participating in hostilities on the fronts of World War I in the U.S. Army; and the point of view of the U.S. government and military on the role of African-Americans as part of the U.S. Army. This question remains relevant today, as some aspects of the problem are still not studied enough in world historiography. The research methodology involves general scientific and special historical research methods. The integrated approach helped to combine different theoretical aspects of the issues under the study and relate them to specific historical events, based on which it was possible to trace the positions of different segments of society on both national and financial grounds regarding the role of African-American soldiers at the front. The chronological approach contributed to the study of the topic in historical retrospect, the study of the sequence of events of the mobilization activities and the arrival of African-American soldiers on the European front. The biographical approach identified certain individuals who played a key role in the mobilization of African-Americans and their further distribution in the military. A statistical approach to studying the problem made it possible to determine the number of African-Americans involved in the American armed corps in Europe and their relationship between combat and support battalions. The scientific novelty of the paper is that the study of the position of the African-American community in the mobilization of the First World War, their expectations and realities, called the racist position of the establishment and the army, are studied. The paper concludes that World War I was the first global event to give the African-American community hope for equal rights within its state. In practice, due to the predominance of racists in the command structure, the recruitment of African-Americans to the military was soon reduced, and segregation and racial discrimination remained within its borders.