The First World War (1914-18) was a profoundly influential event in the development of American literature. Although the American Civil War (1861-65) and the Second World War (1939-45) exercise a stronger hold on the American imagination, and are more frequently dramatised in contemporary film and fiction, the Great War had, arguably, a deeper impact than either of these on the nature and scope of American writing. President Woodrow Wilson's decision to enter the war in 1917 on the side of the Allied Forces dramatically altered America's political relationship with the rest of the world and set patterns of action and rhetoric which continue to influence US foreign policy to the present day. The experience of war also left its mark on the writers caught up in it as observers or…

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Citation: Hutchison, Hazel McNair. "American Literature of World War One". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 July 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1735, accessed 24 November 2024.]