1910's Government and Politics | America At War: Governing the Home Front

An Expanded Military.

Prior to World War I the United States defense budget was comparatively small. From 1900 to 1914 the country spent less than 1 percent of its gross national product (GNP) on defense. But in May 1916, with tensions between Mexico and the United States high, and war raging in Europe, Congress had increased U.S. military strength by passing the National Defense Act, authorizing an army of 223,000 and a National Guard of 450,000. This act was augmented on 18 May 1917 with the passage of the Selective Service Act, initiating the wartime draft. By 1918 the U.S. Army reached a peak strength of 3.7 million men (2.8 million of whom had been drafted), and by 1917 only Britain and Germany had more naval tonnage than the United States. U.S. war expenditures eventually totaled $17.1 billion, exceeded only by those of Britain and Germany. At home the executive branch of the federal government gained extraordinary wartime...