In his speech before Congress, Wilson laid out evidence of why the United States should now join its allies, Great Britain and France. Introduction On April 2, 1917, Washington buzzed with excitement. While “a soft fragrant rain of early spring” poured over the city, thousands of people clogged the streets and hotels; others stood near[…]
From Zeppelin airships to propaganda leaflet drops, aerial combat was used on a large scale for the first time in World War One. Introduction Aerial warfare was by no means a First World War invention. Balloons had already been used for observation and propaganda distribution during the Napoleonic wars and the Franco-Prussian conflict of 1870-1871.[…]
Empire was a consistent theme in these hundreds of pamphlets. In the Great War, the British government modernised and systematised propaganda for the first time. From the beginning in 1914, it aimed not only at domestic and enemy audiences, but also at the most powerful neutral country: the United States. The Propaganda Bureau, operating secretly[…]
Just leave it to a group of fiercely determined women to make a name for themselves behind the wheels of the Motor Corps’ ambulances. As Sophia Petrillo of the Golden Girls repeatedly said, “Picture it”… it’s the turn of the 19th Century and the production of automobiles has, pun intended, revved up. It’s an age of[…]
The event is also said to be the second-most studied case of genocide, and often draws comparison with the Holocaust. Introduction The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, Great Calamity or the Armenian Massacre—refers to the forced mass evacuation and related deaths of hundreds of thousands or over a million Armenians, during the government[…]
Soldier photographers would capture the day-to-day routine of military life. The Great War was the first conflict that would be comprehensively documented by amateur photographers. While professional lenses had captured scenes from the Crimean and the American Civil War, this was the first time that large numbers of serving men took cameras into the frontlines[…]
In 1918, the Marine Corps began investigating how the integration of women would take place. By Kenna HowatHistorian Prior to World War I, if a woman wanted to join the military, she would have to join as a nurse or disguise her sex. Some historians estimate that hundreds of women served in the Civil War[…]
Discussing the role of animals in transport, logistics, cavalry and communications in the First World War. Introduction While the First World War witnessed the development of modern, technological warfare, it also made unprecedented demands on what we might see as archaic methods of campaigning. Despite the tanks, planes and machine guns, fighting still depended on[…]
Examining the U.S. 82nd Infantry Division and the bloodiest battle in American history. Originally published by Learn ArcGIS, republished with embed permission for educational, non-commercial purposes.
After WWI, German psychiatrists diagnosed traumatized soldiers as having “hysteria,” othering the men to somewhat disastrous effect. For many soldiers who returned from World War I, the terror of combat never abated. Though the statistics are still fuzzy, at least one historian estimates that upwards of twenty percent of all soldiers suffered from shell shock, the early twentieth-century[…]
As a result of the need to exchange information faster and more efficiently, telecommunications advanced rapidly. As the First World War raged, governments harnessed modern technologies to give them an advantage in conflict. New inventions – from tanks to Zeppelins – appeared on the battlefield, while existing technologies were adapted to fit the needs of the British[…]
An overview of the numbers and roles of colonial troops in World War One. Introduction Even by conservative estimates well over four million non-white men were mobilised into the European and American armies during the First World War, in combatant and non-combatant roles. What do we know about the daily lived war experiences of these[…]
President Wilson’s support for a new international system offered the first practical opportunity to create a universal organisation of states pledged to non-violent diplomacy. Abstract In 1918, President Wilson’s support for a new international system offered the first practical opportunity to create a universal organisation of states pledged to non-violent diplomacy. This article explores some[…]
From Zeppelin airships to propaganda leaflet drops, exploring the significant role of aerial warfare in World War One – where it was used on a large scale for the first time. Introduction Aerial warfare was by no means a First World War invention. Balloons had already been used for observation and propaganda distribution during the[…]
The experience of the Great War helped to radically change notions of citizenship in Britain. Three days after the armistice was signed, a general election was called and was held on Saturday 14th December 1918. Over six million women were able to vote in parliamentary elections for the first time following the Representation of the[…]
The British poster artist Cyril Kenneth Bird, known as Fougasse, once referred to posters as “anything stuck on a wall with the objective of persuading the passer-by”. Introduction The British poster artist Cyril Kenneth Bird, known as Fougasse, once referred to posters as “anything stuck on a wall with the objective of persuading the passer-by”[…]