Mostly true, but the USA had THE largest industrial base in the world at the time. One of the biggest reasons that we used French and British heavy weapons (for most of the war) was that the USA was already tooled up making huge quantities of munitions for them, and the Gov decided it would be a wasted division of effort to re-tool to mass produce our own heavy weapons (except for small arms and small arms ammo) so they worked a deal with the French and British to rush the men overseas and have our Allies equip their heavy weapons needs.
B
Agree
Don't forget, another reason the US didn't deploy the M1918 BAR is because it was feared that if the magnificent weapon (and at the time it was a marvel) was captured by the Germans, then they would begin producing it and use it against US troops. A stupid reason, but still a motivation.
Exactly
An industrial base is the foundation for supporting the troops in the field with what they need.
When the US expeditionary force went to Europe, it was mostly equipped with French weapons like the Hotchkiss in the picture, because the US military industries was set up to support the very small army that the US had had until then, and not the huge drafted army that had to be hurried off to the front. France had been at war for 4 years and it's military industry was up and running.
I could not disagree with you more. The American entry into the War in Europe is as complex as the free market system that dominated business in the early 20th century. There are several factors to take into consideration. The US Declaration of War and the state of American industry in the early 20th century must be considered carefully. It shows that the US did not hurry off to war and had an ample industrial base to support the war.
The United States declared war on Germany on 4 April 1917. When closely looking at events like the Zimmerman Telegram, the Sinking of the Lusitania, the percantage of American citizens fighting in the Canadian and French armed forces, and the number of arms that were produced for sale to both the Entente and the Central Powers it is not surprising at all. Consider the long standing American Foriegn policy defined by President Washington given in his farewell address, "Do not enter into entangling alliances," this was completely unpresedented. When war was declared the US Army drafted two million soldiers and expanded the reserve to maintain three million. The US did not rush troops to Europe. Once the Entente or the Allies got wind of these numbers, their greedy hands rubbed together with excitement and demanded that the US immediately start plumping up their battalions with US Army regiments. Thankfully, both Congress and the US Army were not game for this. This act justified the British when they quipped "you Yanks always arrive late and take all the credit." You may, also, recall that the first American soldiers into combat were not Army but Marines at Bellou Woods north east of Paris.
On a personal note, my first year of College I used to hang out at a bar called the Armory. It was called this because the Colorado State armory was based in Greeley, Colorado, and it definately produced arms. In my time, it was a cool place because they had an entire hull of a B17G hanging from the ceiling and girls would actually hang out there. Back to the point, it was definately in business during the First World War, and I have never checked the production records. I bet they are in the state archive, and I am hard pressed to believe that they were not producing BAR's.
American industry in the Early 20th century was phenominal for several reasons. First, it was considered ok socially to be a laborer. Second, the American Federation of Labor and other Teamster orginizations had yet to over power the average businessman or factory owner through State law and bully-boy tactics. Third, like all countries at the time, the US Military relied on the public and private entrapenuers to arm it. The US Army had no R&D department. Although, the Navy did, and it had some of the finest vessels in all of the world.
The aircraft, the tank, the Vickers-Maxim machinegun, the French 75, the German Unterseeboot et al...was all interesting stuff but came out as a result of constant warfare that the US never faced. It would seem that the US lacked an industrial base because there was no wartime pressure to produce arms. This is a mistake to think so because the US Army already had an adventure in Mexico prior to fighting in Europe, already had 2 million men before arriving in Europe, and already was equipped by the domestic sale of arms. The demand for those arms was already there before the first Yank got off the the ship.
This begs the question why the US Army did not supply the BAR, the Thompson, or the M1917. Why did American troops fly French and British planes. Why did the infantry carry the Hotckiss? Why did the Army Tank Corps use the Renault? The US Army was underfunded and unprepared. The US Army has always suffered Congress and its own beauracracy. I can't imagine how difficult it was to maintain a 5 million man army. The US Army lacked serious combat experience or war preperation. The Army's own leadership had little idea of how to fight a modern war. A great example was the regular rifle platoon upon landing in France averaged 150 men, and within a month by order of General Pershing, it was reduced to 75 men. Again, it was not a lack of industrial capacity but the Army suffered from other problems both national and internal.
The BAR was produced because of the war and the army's growing relization of how to fight a modern war. The Hotchkiss or the Benett-Mercie was not produced because of the war. The patent goes back to 1909. The BAR was not pattented until 1918. How many Hotchkiss' were already in existence before the war even started? As stated by Tankerace there was some fear of the Germans getting hold of this pattent. This fear does not seem unwarranted when considering the widespread use of the Vickers-Maxim and the 75mm artillery piece.
