World War I

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==Civil liberties==
 
==Civil liberties==
World War I saw a massive [[propaganda]] campaign and an all-out government attack on civil liberties in the United States.  The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 made it illegal to speak out against the war in any significant way.  Citizen groups carried out vigilante actions against those considered "un-American", and people were essentially forced to support the war vocally and financially by various "citizens groups" who could report others for disloyalty for not buying war bonds and giving other material support.  Among those who were sent to jail for opposing the war and /or conscription were [[Eugene V. Debs]] (10 year sentence) and [[Emma Goldman]] (2 year sentence).<ref>Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki and Paul Buhle,  ''A People's History of American Empire'', Metropolitan Books, New York, 2008</ref>
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World War I saw a massive [[propaganda]] campaign and an all-out government attack on civil liberties in the United States.  The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 made it illegal to speak out against the war in any significant way.  Citizen groups carried out [[vigilante]] actions against those considered "un-American", and people were essentially forced to support the war vocally and financially by various "citizens groups" who could report others for disloyalty for not buying war bonds and giving other material support.  Among those who were sent to jail for opposing the war and /or conscription were [[Eugene V. Debs]] (10 year sentence) and [[Emma Goldman]] (2 year sentence).<ref>Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki and Paul Buhle,  ''A People's History of American Empire'', Metropolitan Books, New York, 2008</ref>
  
 
==How'd it get started?==
 
==How'd it get started?==

Revision as of 13:07, 10 October 2010

What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!

War

Icon war2.svg
Don't believe us?

The First World War, or World War I (known at the time, and still occasionally today, as "The Great War"), (1914–1918) [1] was so horrifying in terms of the casualties suffered, that an entire generation that had been raised to view war as a glorious and heroic endeavor came home (at least those who survived) with a deep understanding of the horrors of war. It was thought that the conflict proved once and for all that war was a futile exercise, and the war was often referred to as "the war to end all wars."

Contents

How the war progressed, in brief

The Russians were rushin' the Prussians;
The Prussians were crushin' the Russians.
The Balkans were balkin' and Turkey was squawkin'
Rasputin disputin' and Italy scootin'.
The Boches all bulled Bolshevikis;
The British were watching the sea.
But the good Lord I'm thankin'
The Yanks started yankin',
And yanked Kaiser Bill up a tree.[2]

Civil liberties

World War I saw a massive propaganda campaign and an all-out government attack on civil liberties in the United States. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 made it illegal to speak out against the war in any significant way. Citizen groups carried out vigilante actions against those considered "un-American", and people were essentially forced to support the war vocally and financially by various "citizens groups" who could report others for disloyalty for not buying war bonds and giving other material support. Among those who were sent to jail for opposing the war and /or conscription were Eugene V. Debs (10 year sentence) and Emma Goldman (2 year sentence).[3]

How'd it get started?

World War I got its start after the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Franz-Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Traditionally historians have argued that the roots go much deeper, to various alliances that had been set up in Europe in a desperate attempt to maintain some semblance of a balance of power amongst the nations. Austria-Hungary had allied itself with Germany, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Italy, to form a central European power block against Russia and France. Meanwhile, Russia and France felt threatened by that arrangement and formed their own alliance along with Great Britain. Franz-Ferdianand, however, was murdered by a Serbian ultranationalist. Austria demanded that Serbia hand over other members of his terrorist group, but Serbia refused and Russia agreed to back them up. Austria then declared war on Serbia and Russia followed suit against Austria, which brought Germany into the mix. For some reason, Germany's plans for war with Russia involved attacking Belgium and France (who was considering not backing up Russia). In turn this provoked Great Britain. After three bloody years of fighting, the United States, which had enough of Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and their attempt to prod Mexico into attacking the US declared war on Germany.

The view that the war happened simply because of the European alliance system, which was the view most people had immediately after the war happened, has been seriously challenged and is now basically discredited in academic circles. There are now three "schools" of history about why the war happened: the structuralists argue that the war was inevitable because of trends in German society, the 'Kaiser-led' school argue that the war was part of a plan mainly made by Kaiser Wilhelm II (this is also the 'official' view which comes from the Treaty of Versailles), and the 'military-led' school who say that the War was planned by the German military, who worked outside of the control of both the Kaiser and the German people.

Why was World War I such a big deal?

Second down on the German 40 yard line with three years to go in the game...

German soldiers were killed at the rate of one every 45 seconds, and French death rates were even higher. In the five months during which the battles of Verdun and the Somme were waged in 1916, nearly a million men died, an average of 6,600 every day, more than 277 every minute, nearly 5 every second. This was not exceptional. As Gilbert points out, the 20,000 British soldiers killed on the first day of the Somme are often recalled with horror, yet on average, a similar number of soldiers died during every four-day period of the entire war.[4] It should be noted that in this one war, there were more French deaths than there have been American casualties in all of its wars combined.[5] Russia and Germany each suffered even greater casualties.

The maps and politics of the world following the war were a large part of its legacy. Several dynasties, notably the Royal House of Hohenzollern in Germany and the House of Romanov in Russia ceased, for all practical matters, to exist. The Soviet Union arose out of the war's ashes, as did the Weimar Republic in Germany, whose short-lived existence was followed by the Third Reich. The Austrio-Hungarian empire split up into several different states, including, Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. The breakup of the latter nation in the 1990s led to a bloody war and "ethnic cleansing."

The war also introduced or honed many different kinds of military technologies and tactics. During the American Civil War both sides experimented with trench warfare, however, during World War I it became the main method of fighting and the primary reason why there were so many casualties. Horse calvary went out and was replaced by tanks and armored divisions. Machine guns came into widespread use on both sides. Air power, initially for reconnaissance, and later for for crude bombing and air combat, was first utilized. Finally, both sides began experimenting with chemical attacks, often with chlorine or mustard gas.

World War I in popular culture.

The years following the end of the war were marked by an almost unparalleled number of monuments being erected in both Europe and the United States to those who fought and those who died in the carnage. In America perhaps only the Civil War has produced more memorials than the First World War. One particular statue, The Doughboy by sculptor E.M. Viqueseney is believed to have over 200 castings through out the USA, though he claimed to have produced around 300 of them.[6]

The legendary football match said to have taken place in 1914 during a Christmas truce between German and British forces is one of the most iconic images of World War I,[7] and later used as the basis of the video for Paul McCartney's song, Pipes of Peace.[8]

The War remained alive through the Rock and Roll era in songs such as the Zombie's The Butcher's Tale (Western Front, 1914) and Passchendaele by Terry Vogel and Ragnar Kvaran.

The 1981 film Gallipoli, named after the campaign of the same name reminded many people (many did not need to be reminded) of the pointless waste of human life that accompanied much of the action in the war.

The main character in Charles Todd's series (1996–2008) of British village murder mysteries, Inspector Ian Rutledge, is a shell shocked veteran of the trenches, who is always accompanied (at least in his mind) by a Scottish soldier that he was compelled to execute.

The fourth and final series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder was set in a trench during World War I. Though a comedy show, it featured many truths and poignant moments regarding life in the trenches.

See also

Footnotes

  1. Willett, John, Art 7 Politics in the Weimar Period: The New Sobriety 1917-1933. Pantheon Press, New York, 1978
  2. http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/yanksstartedyankin.htm
  3. Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki and Paul Buhle, A People's History of American Empire, Metropolitan Books, New York, 2008
  4. Martin Gilbert.The First World War: A Complete History, 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc
  5. Which puts all claims of French cowardice to bed.
  6. http://doughboy_lamp.tripod.com/id8.html
  7. BBC News report on the Christmas Truce The actual scale and details of the football match remain unclear, and reports are prone to romanticization.
  8. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVK_mJrLbmY Paul McCartney's Pipes of Peace video at YouTube
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