CHAPTER 4
The Aftermath of World War I
I think that the work of this Board was undertaken so soon after the close of hostilities that the members were unduly influenced by the special situation which existed during our participation in the World War.
General John J. Pershing[1]
The abrupt end of World War I and the immediate demand for demobilization threw the Army into disarray, but out of the disorder eventually came a new military establishment. Between the armistice in November 1918 and the summer of 1923 the Army occupied a portion of Germany, demobilized its World War I forces, helped revise the laws regulating its size and structure, and devised a mobilization plan to meet future emergencies. Amid the turmoil Army officers analyzed and debated their war experience, arguing the merits of a large, powerful infantry division designed to penetrate an enemy position with a frontal assault versus a lighter, more mobile unit that could outmaneuver an opponent. The cavalry division received a similar but less extensive examination. After close scrutiny, the Army adopted new infantry and cavalry divisions and reorganized its forces to meet postwar conditions.
Occupation and Demobilization
Hostilities ended on 11 November 1918, but the Army still had many tasks to perform, including the occupation of the Coblenz bridgehead on the Rhine River. For that purpose, Maj. Gen. Joseph T. Dickman, at the direction of General Pershing, organized the Third Army on 15 November. Ten U.S. divisions eventually served with it—the 1st through 5th, 32d, 42d, 89th, and 90th in Germany and the 33d in Luxembourg—as well as the French 2d Cavalry Division. Also elements of the 6th Division began moving toward the bridgehead in later April 1919, but that movement was halted in early May. Divisional missions included the administration of civil government, the maintenance of public order, and the prevention of renewed aggression.[2]
The divisional structure proved unsatisfactory for the military government role. Its organization could not mesh with the civil government of Germany, and the Third Army lacked the time and expertise needed to mature a uniform civil affairs program. Furthermore, assigned areas for the divisional units shift-
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- ↑ Wrapper Indorsement (Forwarding Report of A.E.F. Superior Board on Organization and Tactics), General Headquarters (GHQ, AEF, to Sec of War, 16 Jun 20, AGO 322 (4–19–19), RG 407, NARA.
- ↑ General Headquarters, Armies, pp. 170–91; Henry T. Allen, The Rhineland Occupation (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1927), p. 13; Huidekoper, The History of the 33rd Division, 1: 257–95.
