<P> The American Federation of Labor (AFL) and affiliated trade unions were strong supporters of the war effort . Fear of disruptions to war production by labor radicals provided the AFL political leverage to gain recognition and mediation of labor disputes, often in favor of improvements for workers . They resisted strikes in favor of arbitration and wartime policy, and wages soared as near - full employment was reached at the height of the war . The AFL unions strongly encouraged young men to enlist in the military, and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by pacifists, the anti-war Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and radical socialists . To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions . Wilson also appointed AFL president Samuel Gompers to the powerful Council of National Defense, where he set up the War Committee on Labor . </P> <P> After initially resisting taking a stance, the IWW became actively anti-war, engaging in strikes and speeches and suffering both legal and illegal suppression by federal and local governments as well as pro-war vigilantes . The IWW was branded as anarchic, socialist, unpatriotic, alien and funded by German gold, and violent attacks on members and offices would continue into the 1920s . </P> <P> The AFL membership soared to 2.4 million in 1917 . In 1919, the AFL tried to make their gains permanent and called a series of major strikes in meat, steel and other industries . The strikes ultimately failed, forcing unions back to membership and power similar to those around 1910 . </P> <P> During WWI (1914 - 1918), large numbers of women were recruited into jobs that had either been vacated by men who had gone to fight in the war, or had been created as part of the war effort . The high demand for weapons and the overall wartime situation resulted in munitions factories collectively becoming the largest employer of American women by 1918 . While there was initial resistance to hiring women for jobs traditionally held by men, the war made the need for labor so urgent that women were hired in large numbers and the government even actively promoted the employment of women in war - related industries through recruitment drives . As a result, women not only began working in heavy industry, but also took other jobs traditionally reserved solely for men, such as railway guards, ticket collectors, bus and tram conductors, postal workers, police officers, firefighters, and clerks . </P>

How did us participation in ww1 affect the american civilian population