On April 2, 1917, Woodrow Wilson thrust the United States into World War I by declaring, "The world must be made safe for democracy." For the 380,000 African American soldiers who fought and labored in the global conflict, these words carried life or death meaning. Relating stories bridging the war and postwar years, spanning the streets of Chicago and the streets of Harlem, from the battlefields of the American South to the battlefields of the Western Front, Chad L. Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in World War I and how they, along with race activists.

Democracy at war : African Americans, citizenship, and the meanings of military service -- The "race question" : the U.S. government and the training experiences of African American soldiers -- The hell of war : African American soldiers in labor and combat -- Les soldats noir : France, Black military service, and the challenges of internationalism and diaspora -- Waging peace : the end of the war and the hope of democracy -- The war at home : African American veterans and violence in the long "red summer" -- Soldiers to "new Negroes" : African American veterans and postwar racial militancy -- Lest we forget : the war and African American soldiers in history and memory.