Doughboys, the Great War, and the remaking of America / Jennifer D. Keene.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [215]-274) and index.

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

"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 accepted in the manner of a negotiated settlement. 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. Moreover, going into uniform and fighting abroad politicized citizen-soldiers in ways that Keene asks us to ponder."--BOOK JACKET".