Headquarters Branch
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131
World War I Draft Registration
"Background Information" by Raymond H. Banks
Important World War I Draft
Registration Dates · Country Boundaries |
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Copyright ©
1997 by Raymond H. Banks
Reprinted with permission.
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The
following is reprinted from Raymond H.
Banks’ seven-volume set, Births,
1873-1900; Part of an Ongoing
Compilation of Male Birth Information
as Found in the Civilian Draft
Registration Cards from World War I,
which is available only at the Family
History Library in Salt Lake City,
Utah. Special Collections would like
to thank Mr. Banks for allowing the
reprint of his introductory material on
this website.
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Important World War I
Draft Registration Dates |
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28
Mar 1917 |
President
Wilson reached his unannounced
decision to call for a draft |
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2
Apr 1917 |
President
Wilson asked Congress for a
declaration of war |
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Apr-May
1917 |
The
Army secretly printed draft
registration cards and shipped
them to local sheriffs |
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18
May 1917 |
President
Wilson signed the draft law passed
by Congress |
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1
Jun 1917 |
President
Wilson declared that anyone
failing to register would be
arrested and subject to a year in
prison |
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2-4
Jun 1917 |
Newspapers
reported stories of arrests of
persons trying to leave the
country |
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5
Jun 1917 |
About
10 million men registered for
first draft registration day |
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20
Jul 1917 |
Secretary
of War Baker drew the first draft
number from a large bowl |
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1
Sep 1917 |
American
commander, General Pershing,
established his American troop
headquarters in France |
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15
Dec 1917 |
Voluntary
enlistment no longer allowed after
this date |
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May
1918 |
First
major American engagements in the
war |
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5
Jun 1918 |
About
a million men who reached
draftable age registered during
the second draft registration day |
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12
Sep 1918 |
About
14 million men registered during
the third draft registration day |
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30
Sep 1918 |
President
Wilson drew the first capsule for
third draft lottery |
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11
Nov 1918 |
All
hostilities ended at 11 a.m. |
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Country
Boundaries Were Different in the World
War I Era
The
end of World War I resulted in shrinkage
of Russia, Austria, Turkey and Germany.
The following are some of the
differences in ownership and national
boundaries that were in effect in 1917
which may not be obvious to today's
generation:
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Current
Country |
Description
of that country in 1917. |
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Australia |
Australia
was then a British possession, and
draft registrants sometimes listed
themselves simply as citizens of
Britain |
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Austria |
Austria
Hungary contained southern parts
of Poland, all of the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as
well as the Yugoslavian countries
of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia
Herzegovina. |
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Bosnia
Herzegovina |
then
a part of Austria Hungary |
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Canada |
Canada
was then a British possession, and
draft registrants listed
themselves simply as citizens of
Britain |
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Croatia |
then
a part of Austria Hungary |
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Czech
Republic |
then
a part of Austria Hungary |
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Estonia |
then
a part of Russia |
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Finland |
then
a part of Russia |
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Great
Britain |
Great
Britain then possessed the Irish
Republic, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa and dozens
of other possessions now
independent. |
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Hungary |
then
a part of Austria Hungary |
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Ireland |
today's
Irish Republic was then a part of
Great Britain |
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Latvia |
then
a part of Russia |
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Lebanon |
then
a part of Turkey |
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Lithuania |
then
a part of Russia |
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New
Zealand |
New
Zealand was then a British
possession, and draft registrants
sometimes listed themselves simply
as citizens of Britain |
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Poland |
then
a part of Germany (northern
sector), Russia (central sector)
and Austria Hungary (southern
sector) |
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Russia |
Russia
contained Finland, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania and the central
portion of present-day Poland |
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Serbia |
Serbia
then contained part of today's
Macedonia |
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Slovakia |
then
a part of Austria Hungary |
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Slovenia |
then
a part of Austria Hungary |
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South
Africa |
South
Africa was then a British
possession, and draft registrants
sometimes listed themselves simply
as citizens of Britain |
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Syria |
then
a part of Turkey |
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Turkey |
Turkey
contained much of the Middle East
and a few years prior to 1917 had
lost control of Albania, Macedonia
and part of southern Bulgaria. |
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Modified:
01 March 2010
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