A war has broken out in Europe on July 28, 1914, in which Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy formed the Allies to fight the Central Powers that include Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The US would remain neutral for the most of the war providing support to Allies by sending supplies. Germany was using submarine warfare against the US to prevent them from sending more supplies to Allies and the US was able to intercept a note from Germany to Mexico known as the Zimmerman Note to ask Mexico if they would invade the US. From this Wilson would ask Congress for a declaration of war against the German Empire on April 2, 1917. The United States had joined the first World War on April 6, 1917, on the side of the Allies. The United States had formed the American Expeditionary Forces that ranged 1 million to almost 3 million soldiers. Wilson had said that the US would enter the war to fight for democracy. The soldiers were entering a war with the mindset of winning the war in the name of democracy. Once arrived in Europe the soldiers were helping the war effort on the Western front which would help end the war in 1918. During the war, European forces on the Western front would start to nickname their fellow American soldiers, "Doughboys." My question is why did the American soldiers get this nickname?
So what is a Doughboy? A "Doughboy" is typically an American infantrymen from the American Expeditionary Forces who served during World War 1.
Why were they called this? It is widely unknown specifically where the name officially came from, but a lot of sources seem to point out their uniforms during WW1. Some say that the name was given to them because of their buttons on their uniform and the white belts that soldiers often cleaned with clay during WW1. Throughout my research I found one possible idea that says the term could date back to the Mexican War of 1846-48, when American infantrymen made long treks over dusty terrain, giving them the appearance of being covered in flour, or dough. A variation of this account goes, the men were coated in the dust of adobe soil and as a result, they were called “adobes,” which morphed into “dobies” and, eventually, “doughboys.” Another source says the name could have come from the beginning of American history during the American revolution where Continental Army soldiers who kept the piping on their uniforms to keep them white through the application of clay. When the troops got rained on the clay on their uniforms turned into “doughy blobs,” leading to the name "doughboy."
While there is no specific origin throughout American history of the name coming from Doughboys would have an impact on the war once they had arrived in Europe. While the name would be forgotten after the war citizens should not forget the actions the Doughboys did for the US and the world.
The Doughboys were certainly important in American history, as they served the United States, risking their lives for the country in a very hostile and dangerous time period. Another thing that I believe is important to note is that the Allies originally called the Doughboys "Sammies" for Uncle Sam. It was a name that was widely despised by the American troops, and eventually they were just called the Doughboys.
ReplyDeleteI believe everything you said was very interesting and to add on with everything stated above, the Doughboys' that fought the WWI, it was just one of the names given to those who fought in WWI. An example being the "poilu" which meant the hairy one as a number of them had beards, was a term for French soldiers and Tommy for British soldiers. In addition with some facts, from research it showed that the last Doughboy from the 4.7 million American soldiers in WWI, Frank Buckles died in 2011 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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