This Day in World War 1 History: JUNE 03, 1916 : U.S. PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON SIGNS NATIONAL DEFENSE ACT

On June 3, 1916, United States President Woodrow Wilson signs into law the National Defense Act, which expanded the size and scope of the National Guard—the network of states’ militias that had been developing steadily since colonial times—and guaranteed its status as the nation’s permanent reserve force.

Though Theodore Roosevelt and other Republicans were pushing for U.S. intervention in World War I, Wilson, elected in 1912, maintained a position of neutrality throughout the first several years of the war. In the first half of 1916, however, with forces from the regular U.S. Army as well as the National Guard called out to face Mexican rebel leader Pancho Villa during his raids on states in the American Southwest, Wilson and Congress saw the need to reinforce the nation’s armed forces and increase U.S. military preparedness. The National Defense Act, ratified by Congress in May 1916 and signed by Wilson on June 3, brought the states’ militias more under federal control and gave the president authority, in case of war or national emergency, to mobilize the National Guard for the duration of the emergency.

The National Defense Act mandated that the term National Guard be used to refer to the combined network of states’ militias that became the primary reserve force for the U.S. Army. The term had first been adopted by New York’s militia in the years before the Civil War in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolution who commanded the Garde Nationale during the early days of the French Revolution in 1789. The National Defense Act also set qualifications for National Guard officers, allowing them to attend Army schools; all National Guard units would now be organized according to the standards of regular Army units. For the first time, National Guardsmen would receive payment from the federal government not only for their annual training—which was increased from 5 to 15 days—but also for their drills, which were also increased, from 24 per year to 48. Finally, the National Defense Act formally established the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) to train and prepare high school and college students for Army service.

Also in June 1916, Wilson secured passage of the Naval Appropriations Act, which set out to create a U.S. Navy equal to the most powerful in the world—Britain’s—by 1925. That November, Wilson was re-elected with the campaign slogan He kept us out of the war. His success was due less to his neutrality, however, than to his record on domestic policy, as U.S. public opinion—as well as the president’s own—had begun to move closer in line with those who favored intervention. By the following spring, Wilson had moved his country to the brink of war after continued German attacks on American interests at sea. On April 2, 1917, he would go before Congress to ask for a declaration of war. Four days later, the U.S. formally entered World War I.

Article Details:

June 03, 1916 : U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs National Defense Act

• Author

  History.com Staff

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  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  June 03, 1916 : U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs National Defense Act

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  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-president-woodrow-wilson-signs-national-defense-act

• Access Date

  June 03, 2015

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  A+E Networks

This Day in World War 1 History: JUNE 02, 1915 : AUSTRO-GERMAN FORCES ATTACK RUSSIANS AT PRZEMYSL

On June 2, 1915, Austro-Hungarian and German troops continue their attacks on the Russian soldiers holding Przemysl (now in Poland), the citadel guarding the northeastern-most point of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Used as the Austrian army headquarters during the first months of World War I, Przemysl was ordered to hold out until the end in the face of the surprisingly effective Russian advance into Austria-Hungary in the fall of 1914. After six months under siege, facing severe food shortages and heavy casualties, the last Austro-Hungarian troops at Przemysl finally relinquished control of the citadel on March 22, 1915.

With their hard-fought victory, Russia’s troops had gained a certain measure of control in the much-contested Galician region of Austria and were poised to move into Hungary. This was not to be, however, as the powerful German army stepped in to offer more help to their faltering ally. Over the course of the next several months, Austro-German forces began moving swiftly and aggressively on the Eastern Front, recapturing the passes of the Carpathian Mountains and moving steadily forward into Galicia. On May 25, the Germans announced they had taken some 21,000 Russian prisoners east of the San River; the Russians were soon pushed back toward Przemysl, and battle began there once again.

On June 2, 1915, Austro-German forces were nearing victory against the exhausted Russians at Przemysl; the citadel fell back into the hands of the Central Powers the following day. The recapture of Przemysl effectively marked the end of Russian control in Galicia. As a British observer wrote dismissively of the Russian troops, This army is now a harmless mob.

Article Details:

June 02, 1915 : Austro-German forces attack Russians at Przemysl

• Author

  History.com Staff

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  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  June 02, 1915 : Austro-German forces attack Russians at Przemysl

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  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/austro-german-forces-attack-russians-at-przemysl

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  June 02, 2015

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This Day in World War 1 History: JUNE 01, 1916 : GERMANS LAUNCH ATTACK ON BRITISH LINES IN YPRES SALIENT

On the first day of June 1916, as German and British naval forces clash in the North Sea during the Battle of Jutland and the French resist the persistent German siege at Verdun, German army troops launch a major attack on British lines in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front.

As the nexus of an Allied salient that blocked any German advance to the English Channel, the town of Ypres, Belgium, saw nearly constant fighting during World War I. Three major battles—in October-November 1914, April-May 1915 and July-November 1917—punctuated a stream of smaller attacks, including one on June 1, 1916, by German troops. The Germans advanced 700 yards through the British trenches along a 3,000-yard front near Ypres; among the casualties were one British general killed and one taken prisoner. Within 48 hours, however, the British were able recover some of the captured ground.

On the same day, at the city of Verdun, France, where French troops had been under siege since February 21, 1916, the Germans began a fresh attack against Fort Vaux, one of two principal fortresses used to defend Verdun. The other, Fort Douaumont, had fallen on February 25, but Fort Vaux had managed to hold out for three months under a relentless German onslaught. A previous assault, on March 2, had been thrown back by French forces, though one of the prisoners taken that day was Captain Charles de Gaulle, wounded in the thigh by a German bayonet. The German attack that began June 1 proved too much for the French defenders, and on June 7 the Germans finally captured Fort Vaux and its 600 surviving soldiers.

Verdun itself, however, continued to hold out, as the French desperately urged their allies, Britain and Russia, to launch offensives of their own to divert German men and resources. Russia responded first, with the famed Brusilov Offensive—named for General Alexei Brusilov—that nearly decimated the Austro-Hungarian army on the Eastern Front. In early July, Britain struck the Germans near the Somme River in France, as grinding, bloody battles continued on all fronts of World War I.

Article Details:

June 01, 1916 : Germans launch attack on British lines in Ypres Salient

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  June 01, 1916 : Germans launch attack on British lines in Ypres Salient

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  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-launch-attack-on-british-lines-in-ypres-salient

• Access Date

  June 01, 2015

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  A+E Networks