Optimism at Armageddon

The experiences of American soldiers in World War I differed enormously from those of European combatants. With the United States emerging from its previous isolation, soldiers arrived in the European theater late, fought briefly, and soon found themselves among the victors. Combat in the trenches - the brutal warfare that so dominated the war experience for Europeans - was over too quickly to define the conflict for Americans. Exposed for the first time to a foreign culture and bombarded by the messages of America's first concerted propaganda campaign, doughboys and other American…