Worldwar I, the Great
Depression, andWorldWar II
W
L E S S O N 2 7
Key Questions
1. What was Pennsylvania’s role
inWorldWar I?
2. What was the Great
Depression of the 1920s &
1930s?
3. Howwere the people of
Pennsylvania hurt by the
Great Depression?
4. What was Pennsylvania’s role
inWorldWar II?
KeyWords
neutral
depression
Key People, Events,
& Places
WorldWar I
Great Depression
Gifford Pinchot
WorldWar II
Germany
Japan
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Chapter 9
WorldWar I
I
n 1914,
World War I
broke out in
Europe among many fighting nations.
The United States tried to stay
neutral
. Neutral means that you do not
take one side or the other. However,
Germany would not stop blowing up our
ships. By 1917, the United States had
enough of these acts of war. Our country
entered World War I and sent troops to
Europe. Near the end of 1918, WorldWar I
endedwithGermany signing a peace treaty.
Pennsylvania helped the war effort in
many ways. Our state sent 370,000 soldiers
to Europe. Nearly eight out of 100 soldiers
were from Pennsylvania. In addition, 3,000
of our industries turned out great amounts
of war supplies. Some of these industries
were steel, coal, oil, clothing, shipbuilding,
and weapons. Pennsylvania steel factories
producedmore thanone-half of all the steel
used inWorldWar I.
The First World War also started a
huge migration of African-Americans from
Southern states to Pittsburgh factories. That
iswheremany jobswere located. From1917
to 1923, 43,000 African-Americans moved
to the Pittsburgh area.
