What impact did America joining the war have on Allied troops?

In 1917, the Allied powers were very happy that the Americans had finally joined the war. Prior to the Americans joining, the French army had been pushed to the breaking point, and the French soldiers were starting to mutiny in the trenches. While the situation was partially helped with more troop furloughs home and less time in the front trenches, the situation still looked bleak for France.

Britain was happy as well because the British...

In 1917, the Allied powers were very happy that the Americans had finally joined the war. Prior to the Americans joining, the French army had been pushed to the breaking point, and the French soldiers were starting to mutiny in the trenches. While the situation was partially helped with more troop furloughs home and less time in the front trenches, the situation still looked bleak for France.

Britain was happy as well because the British military leadership knew that the war could not go on indefinitely, given the kind of casualties the Allied armies were withstanding in each campaign.

The initial hope in Britain and France was that the Americans would serve in the trenches as fill-ins for British and French troops. When the American Expeditionary Force commander Jack Pershing insisted on his troops serving as an independent army, the rest of the Allied leadership was taken aback because it appeared as though the United States would not be a "team player."

When the Americans joined the fight and served admirably in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918, the British and French troops admired their bravery but were shocked by the heavy casualties the Americans took in a few months of fighting. While American munitions were more prevalent in the four years of World War I, it was the American serviceman who provided the valuable boost to morale at the end of the war that allowed the Allies to win.