A Fraternity of Arms: America and France in the Great War (review)

While scholarly explorations of the Anglo-American relationship during the Great War do have some precedence, few historians have attempted to prove the existence of an exceptional Franco-American bond. Robert Bruce sets this colossal task for himself, arguing that the Franco-American relationship was of far greater significance than that which existed between the United States and Great Britain during the War. This mutual bond extended beyond the military to include the French and American people, based on a shared democratic ideal. His book promises new material on all major American battles, while detailing key contributions of the coalition with France, a "historical and natural ally" (p. xiii).

Offered here is a sweeping historical narrative of American participation in the war, beginning with the pre-1917 volunteers, inspired by glory and their love for France, to serve with the French ambulance service, Foreign Legion, and flying corps. Through their service, the author claims, they "assisted in swaying the neutral nation to join the French cause" (p. 31). Such broad generalisations are pervasive in this study, distracting the reader from what might have been an engaging historical analysis, punctuated with skilfully crafted, captivating accounts of complex political issues and battlefield action. In an attempt to force the argument, A Fraternity of Arms suffers from repetition, unsupported conclusions, and a biased assortment of fact.

No mention is made, for instance, of the Americans who joined British forces by the thousands; nor of the hundreds of women who for humanitarian reasons, voluntarily left the U.S. in 1917 to aid civilians in the devastated regions of Picardy; nor of French animosity over America's late entry into the war. One cannot deny that France played a dominant role in arming and training the American Expeditionary Forces, but Bruce's repeated attempts to cast the British as competitors, seems excessive. He states, "the French developed tanks at approximately the same time as the British and were quite angered when the latter jumped the gun and revealed to the Germans the existence of the machines in 1916" (p. 133).

Operationally, Bruce unabashedly credits the success of American offensives at Cantigny, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne primarily to the French army's support and involvement. "American and French soldiers cooperated magnificently on the battlefield," he asserts, "winning brilliant victories and together providing a significant military contribution to the final Allied victory that neither could have achieved alone" (p. 286).

A Fraternity of Arms offers a vivid account of the first three Americans to die in November 1917, and concludes with a full description of the elaborate ceremonial for America's Unknown Soldier at war's end. The author fails to recognize that throughout the war, American families clamored for and ultimately succeeded (70 percent), in having their deceased returned to the U.S. for burial rather than leaving them in cemeteries overseas. Most American fliers were included in this repatriation, along with Corporal Gresham, and Privates Enright and Hay.

Standard military archives in the U.S. and France, accompanied by private correspondence, diaries, and memoirs, provide the basis for this study, with considerable input from French secondary sources. A more balanced approach might have resulted if similar Anglo-American relationship studies had been consulted; or, if the papers (at the Quai d'Orsay archives, Paris), of Jean Jules Jusserand, French Ambassador to the U.S., had been incorporated. Plenty of informative material is presented here in a clear style that would appeal even to casual readers with an interest in America's participation in the Great War.