Editing Preparedness Movement (section)

{{Short description|Political campaign to strengthen the U.S. military after the outbreak of World War I}}
{{About|the state of the U.S. military prior to entry in World War I|disaster preparedness|Survivalism}}

The '''Preparedness Movement''' was a campaign led by former [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army]], [[Leonard Wood]], and former President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] to strengthen the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] after the outbreak of [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53651|title=America and the World War|first=Theodore|last=Roosevelt|date=2 December 2016|access-date=4 September 2018|publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/02/13/archives/fear-god-and-take-your-own-part-a-volume-of-essays-and-addresses-in.html|title=Fear God and Take Your Own Part|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=13 February 1916 |access-date=4 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/feargodandtakeyo00roosuoft|title=Fear God and take your own part|first=Theodore|last=Roosevelt|date=|publisher=New York G.H. Doran|access-date=4 September 2018}}</ref> Wood advocated a summer training school for reserve officers to be held in [[Plattsburgh (city), New York|Plattsburgh]], [[New York (state)|New York]].

The movement was at first opposed by President [[Woodrow Wilson]], who believed the United States should be in a position of [[Neutral country|neutrality]] in order to broker a compromise peace in Europe. Several organizations were formed around the Preparedness Movement and held parades and organized opposition to Wilson's policies. After the ''[[RMS Lusitania|Lusitania]]'' was [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|sunk]] by German [[U-boat]]s on May 7, 1915, and [[Pancho Villa]] launched his [[Pancho Villa Expedition|raid]] against [[Columbus, New Mexico]], Wilson's attitude changed. The [[United States Congress]] passed the [[National Defense Act of 1916]] in June 1916 to authorize an increase in the size of the [[U.S. Army]] from 100,000 men in 1916 to 200,000 on active duty and 400,000 in the [[U.S. National Guard]], by 1921. It also padded a large long-term increase in the [[U.S. Navy]].