When World War I broke out in 1914, President Wilson decided that the U.S. would not at that time join the Allies but would instead remain on the sidelines. However, in 1916 he did establish the Council of National Defense which was composed of government officials that would coordinate resources and industry if necessary. When the U.S. did eventually declare war on Germany in April 1917, the Council went into action. At that point the Council turned much of the country’s manufacturing infrastructure toward making what was needed for the war and among other things, banned the manufacture of nonessential...
