World War I was the first time in American history that the United States sent soldiers abroad to defend foreign soil. On April 6, 1917, when the United States declared war against Germany, the nation had a standing army of 127,500 officers and soldiers. Compared to when World War I broke out in 1914, the Russian Empire had the world's largest standing army, with approximately 1,400,000 soldiers on active duty. The Russian Army bore the brunt of the fighting on the Eastern Front and also saw action on the Balkan Front and the Western Front.
