Even though their involvement only made a significant contribution in the field in the last few months of the conflict, the Americans put in place a real "war machine". They unloaded tonnes of equipment and built infrastructure to deploy their army in preparation for offensives in 1919.
American troops in Iéna Square in Paris on Washington's birthday (22/02/1918).
After the armistice, significant stocks of equipment were left in place and sold off at low prices, in particular crates containing "Liberty" trucks in kit form. They were bought by Louis Willème, providing tough competition for French trucks. In addition, the sudden cessation of orders for military vehicles led to a sharp drop in activity for national manufacturers, who had to find new outlets.
Renault converted its tanks into agricultural tractors and Berliet diversified its production to the manufacture of machine tools and vehicles running on wood gas, or even all-terrain vehicles …
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION…
Article : The United States entering the war in 1917, memory lane : http://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/fr/entree-en-guerre-des-etats-unis-en-1917
Video : The United States enters the war : https://education.francetv.fr/matiere/epoque-contemporaine/premiere/video/1917-l-entree-en-guerre-des-usa-apocalypse-la-1ere-guerre-mondiale