Doughboys, the YMCA, and the Moral Economy of Sacrifice in the First World War

This article examines the socio-cultural dynamics that characterized the interaction between American troops and the representatives of the YMCA in France during the First World War. Soldiers and Marines critiqued the YMCA’s shortcomings as the self-proclaimed guardian of American troops’ material comfort and moral welfare. A closer examination reveals their critique transcended petty complaints about the YMCA’s policies and conduct. Soldiers linked their dissatisfaction with the Association’s misdeeds to what they perceived as disturbing phenomena unfolding on the home front: intrusive and arbitrary forms of social control, profiteering, draft evasion, and a skewed conscription system. This demonstrates the central role perceptions of the home front played in shaping soldiers’ ideas about the value of their sacrifices.