World War I and the Automobile

World War I: War Without End

Photograph shows automobiles requisitioned to move troops to the front during World War I, Paris, France. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011) (LC)

There is plenty of stories about the requisitioning of civilian cars and taxis for support of French troops at the Battle of the Marne. The arrival of six thousand soldiers by taxi has traditionally been described as critical in stopping a possible German breakthrough against the 6th Army. However, in 2001, Hew Strachan described the course of the battle without mentioning taxis and in 2009, Herwig called the matter a legend: he wrote that many French soldiers travelled in lorries and all the artillery left Paris by train. The impact on morale was undeniable, the taxis de la Marne were perceived as a manifestation of the union sacré of the French civilian population and its soldiers at the front, reminiscent of the people in arms who had saved the French Republic Campaign of 1794: a symbol of unity and national solidarity beyond their strategical role in the battle. It was also the first large-scale use of motorized infantry in battle; a Marne taxicab is prominently displayed in the exhibit on the battle at the Musée de l'Armée at Les Invalides in Paris.

Photograph shows race car drivers Georges Louis Frederic Boillot (1884-1916) and Victor Rigal with a Peugot automobile during their service in the French Army during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011) (LC). While the participation of French race car drivers were a morale booster, WWI proved pivotal in shifting the center of engine performance design from France to the United States.

Photograph shows French people in street with an automobile with banner "Honour to the English Army" hung above them, during World War I, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011). (LC).

Photograph shows automobile, probably requisitioned for the war effort in Russia during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011. 1914-5. (LC)

 Photograph shows automobiles and trucks, probably requisitioned for the war effort in Russia during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011) 1914-15. (LC). The war was critical to the development of the truck industry. Larger autos -- Pierce-Arrows, or Packards, for example, would be rebooted and turned into trucks for the war effort.

Photograph shows a German Army automobile during World War I. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011) (LC).

While strict American involvement in World War I was relatively brief (March 1917 to November of 1918), the event’s long term consequences to the development American automobile industry beyond 1918 was significant.⁷⁷The War brought to completion the establishment of industry standards, a problem recognized as early as 1911. For example, by 1918 the 200 different tire sizes used by manufacturers were reduced to only 32. Hudson’s Howard Coffin and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) led the push for standardization. Initially a fringe group, by the end of the war the SAE took a leadership role in the creation and dissemination of automotive technology, a place it still holds. Automotive technology would be critically linked to the development of aviation engine technology during the war; most significantly, Packard’s Jesse Vincent played the key role in the design of the Liberty V-8 and V-12 engines. 

A further development of note was that of the burgeoning growth of truck manufacturing. In 1917 Charles Nash, formerly of General Motors and the head his namesake firm, became the leading manufacturer in assembling trucks. Trucks were increasingly pivotal to the war effort, and particularly important to the French success in holding the Germans at bay during the battle of Verdun. It was said that without motor trucks, including those built by Pierce-Arrow, Verdun would have fallen to the Germans in this struggle of attrition. Several American luxury automobile makers, taking advantage of their long wheelbase vehicles, converted their products to trucks, and output doubled between 1917 and 1918.

In sum, despite a record year of production in 1917, American automobile manufacturers also found the capacity to make tractors, airplane engines, tanks, marine gas engines, armored cars, motorcycles, bicycles, ammunition, antiaircraft guns, helmets, caissons, submarine chasers, ambulances, and field kitchens. Although 1918 resulted in reduced car production, a real or imagined gasoline shortage, and a voluntary Sunday driving abstinence day, the automobile industry bounced back with a peacetime reconversion in 1919 during which 820,400 motor vehicles were made. The entire episode foreshadowed WWII productivity, when Detroit automobile manufacturers could rightly be labeled the “Arsenal of Democracy.”