World War I

Overview:

The Associated Press ranked WWI as the 8th most important event of the 20th century. In fact, almost everything that subsequently happened occurred because of World War I: the Great Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, the Cold War, the collapse of empires all trace back to World War I. No event better underscores the utter unpredictability of the future. Europe hadn't fought a major war for 100 years. A product of miscalculation, misunderstanding, and miscommunicationt, the conflict might have been averted at many points during the the five weeks preceding the fighting.

WWI destroyed four empires—German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Romanov—and touched off colonial revolts in the Middle East and Vietnam . World War I shattered Americans' faith in reform and moral crusades. World War I carried far-reaching consequences for the homefront, including prohibition, women's suffrage, and a bitter debate over civil liberties.

Summary:

World War I killed more people--9 million combatants and 5 million civilians--and cost more money--$186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion in indirect costs--than any previous war in history.

Triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, World War I began in August 1914 when Germany invaded Belgium and France. Several events led to U.S. intervention: the sinking of the Lusitania, a British passenger liner; unrestricted German submarine warfare; and the Zimmerman note, which revealed a German plot to provoke Mexico to war against the United States. Millions of American men were drafted and Congress created a War Industries Board to coordinate production and a National War Labor Board to unify labor policy. The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of territory and forced it to pay reparations. President Wilson agreed to the treaty because it provided for establishment of a League of Nations, but he was unable to persuade the Senate to ratify the treaty.

Consequences

1. Nearly 10 million soldiers died and about 21 million were wounded. U.S. deaths totaled 116,516.

2. Four empires collapsed: the Russian Empire in 1917, the German and the Austro-Hungarian in 1918, and the Ottoman in 1922.

3. Independent republics were formed in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Turkey.

4. Most Arab lands that had been part of the Ottoman Empire came under the control of Britain and France.

5. The Bolsheviks took power in Russia in 1917 and fascists triumphed in Italy in 1922.

6. Other consequences of the war included the mass murder of Armenians in Turkey and an influenza epidemic that killed over 25 million people worldwide.

7. Under the peace settlement, Germany was required to pay reparations eventually set at $33 billion; accept responsibility for the war; cede territory to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, and Poland; give up its overseas colonies; and accept an allied military force on the west bank of the Rhine River for 15 years.

Our Online Textbook

The United States Enters the War:

Over There: American Doughboys Go to War

Over Here: World War I on the Home Front

The Espionage and Sabotage Act

World War I Music

Aba Daba Honeymoon , Performed by: Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan
All Of No Man's Land Is Ours , Performed by: Jim Europe's 369th Infantry Hell Fighters Band
Are We Downhearted? , Performed by: Arthur Boyton
Au Revoir But Not Goodbye , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
Bachelor Gay , Performed by: Peter Dawson
Battle That Wasn't , Performed by: Jolly Jesters
Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser , Performed by: Mark Sheridan
Boys in Khaki, Boys in Blue , Performed by: F. Wheeler
Break the News to Mother , Performed by: Henry Burr
Colonel Bogey March , Performed by: Henri Miro
Conscientious Objector , Performed by: Alfred Lester
Do Something , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Doctor Shelly , Performed by: Harry Champion
Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You , Performed by: Billy Murray
Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You , Performed by: Walter van Brunt
Don't Take My Darling Boy Away , Performed by: J. Philips and Helen Clark
Doughboy Jack and Doughnut Jill , Performed by: Geoffrey O'Hara
Down in the U-17 , Performed by: Billy Murray
Farmyard on the Brain , Performed by: Ernie Mayne
For Your Country and My Country , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
From the North, South, East, and West , Performed by: Harry Lauder
Good Bye-ee , Performed by: Courtland and Jeffries
Good Morning, Mr. Zip-Zip-Zip! , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Goodbye Broadway, Hello France , Performed by: American Quartet
Goodbye Broadway, Hello France , Performed by: American Quintet
Grand Peace Record , Performed by: Military Band
Have You Heard of My Boy Jack? , Performed by: Louise Kirkby-Lunn
Hello Central! Give Me No Man's Land , Performed by: Henry Burr
Hello Central, Get Me No Man's Land , Performed by: Al Jolson
Here We Are, Here We Are Again! , Performed by: F. Wheeler
Hoch, Hoch Der Kaiser , Performed by: Whit Cunliffe
Homes They Left Behind , Performed by: Maggie Teyte
How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm , Performed by: Harry Fay
How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm? , Performed by: Jim Europe's 369th Infantry Hell Fighters Band
Hunting the Hun , Performed by: Arthur Fields
I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier , Performed by: Morton Harvey
I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier , Performed by: Morton Harvey
I Don't Know Where I'm Going, But… , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
I Don't Want to Get Well , Performed by: Van & Schenck
I May Be Gone for a Long Time , Performed by: Shannon Four
I'd Feel at Home If They Let… , Performed by: Billy Murray
If You Were the Olnly Girl in the World , Performed by: Violet Lorraine and George Robey
It's a Long Way to Berlin , Performed by: Maurice Burkhart
It's A Long Way to Berlin But We'll Get There , Performed by: Arthur Fields
It's a Long Way to Tipperary , Performed by: John McCormack
It's a Long Way to Tipperary , Performed by: Billy Murray
It's a Long Way to Tipperary , Performed by: Albert Farrington
It's a Long Way to Tipperary , Performed by: Stanley Kirkby
I've a Bit of a "Blighty One" , Performed by: Vesta Tilley
Joan of Arc , Performed by: Henry Burr
Just a Baby's Prayer at Twilight , Performed by: Henry Burr
Keep the Home Fires Burning , Performed by: John McCormack
Keep the Home Fires Burning , Performed by: Columbia Stellar Quartet
Keep the Trench Fires Going , Performed by: Henry Burr
K-K-K-Katy , Performed by: Billy Murray
Laddie in Khaki , Performed by: Robert Carr
Let's All Be Americans Now , Performed by: American Quartet
L-I-B-E-R-T-Y , Performed by: Henry Burr
L-I-B-E-R-T-Y , Performed by: Henry Burr
Liberty Bell , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
Liberty Loan March , Performed by: Sousa's Band
Little Bit of Carpenter , Performed by: Harry Champion
Lloyd George's Beer , Performed by: Ernie Mayne
Marching Back to Blighty , Performed by: Harry Cove
My Choc'late Soldier Sammy Boy , Performed by: Jim Europe's 369th Infantry Hell Fighters Band
My Meatless Day , Performed by: Ernie Mayne
My Old Iron Cross , Performed by: Harry Champion
My Sweetheart is Somewhere in France , Performed by: Elizabeth Spencer
Never Mind the Food Controller , Performed by: Florrie Forde
Now You've Got the Khaki On , Performed by: Marie Lloyd
Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning , Performed by: Eddie Cantor
Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Oh! It's a Lovely War , Performed by: Courtland and Jeffries
Oh! Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh! , Performed by: Billy Murray
Old Contemptibles , Performed by: Robert Carr
On Patrol In No Man's Land , Performed by: Jim Europe's 369th Infantry Hell Fighters Band
Our Whistling Tommies , Performed by: Royal Court Orchestra
Over There , Performed by: Nora Bayes
Over There , Performed by: Billy Murray
Over There , Performed by: Enrico Caruso
Over There , Performed by: Henry Burr
Pack Up Your Troubles , Performed by: Murray Johnson
Pack Up Your Troubles , Performed by: Reinald Werrenrath
Pack Up Your Troubles , Performed by: Columbia Stellar Quartet
Parodies of the Camp , Performed by: Geoffrey O'Hara
Potsdam , Performed by: Penrose and Whitlock
Rose of No Man's Land , Performed by: William Thomas
Rose of No Man's Land , Performed by: Henry Burr
Rose of Picardy , Performed by: John McCormack
Roses of Picardy , Performed by: Ernest Pike
Send Me Away With a Smile , Performed by: John McCormack
Sergeant Solomon Isaacstein , Performed by: Gus Harris
Sidney's in Civvies Again , Performed by: Vesta Tilley
Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts , Performed by: Jack Charman
Smoke Clouds , Performed by: Herbert Payne
So Long Mother , Performed by: Columbia Quartet
Somewhere in France is a Lily , Performed by: Henry Burr
Somewhere in France, Dear Mother , Performed by: Stanley Krikby
Sons of Liberty , Performed by: Henry Burr
Stoney Broke in No Man's Land , Performed by: Frank Miller
Submarine Attack, Somewhere at Sea , Performed by: Henry Burr
Sugar , Performed by: Ernie Mayne
Summertime on Bredon , Performed by: Gervase Elwes
Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty , Performed by: Florrie Forde
Tanks that Broke the Ranks , Performed by: Fanning and Fortune
There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding , Performed by: John McCormack
There's a Service Flag Flying at Our House , Performed by: Henry Burr
There's a Vacant Chair at Home , Performed by: Joseph Phillips
There's a Vacant Chair in Every House Tonight , Performed by: Shannon Four
They All Look Alike in Khaki , Performed by: Ella Retford
Three Cheers for Little Belgium , Performed by: Violet Lorraine
Till the Boys Come Home , Performed by: Stanley Kirkby
Till We Meet Again , Performed by: Vernon Dalhart and Gladys Price
Till We Meet Again , Performed by: Henry Burr
Torpedo and the Whale , Performed by: Columbia Stellar Quartet
Tow, the Row, Row , Performed by: Whit Cunliffe
U.S. Field Artillery March , Performed by: Sousa's Band
United Forces March , Performed by: Metropolitan Military Band
We All Went Marching Home , Performed by: Black Diamonds Band
We Didn't Want to Fight , Performed by: Stanley Kirkby
We Don't Want the Bacon , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
We Stopped Them at the Marne , Performed by: Henry Burr
We'll Do Our Share , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
We'll Never Let the Old Flag Fall , Performed by: Frederick Wheeler
What Are You Going to Do to Help the Boys , Performed by: Charles Hart
What Are You Going to Do to Help the Boys , Performed by: Henry Burr
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? , Performed by: Tom Clare
When I Get Back to the U.S.A. , Performed by: Billy Murray
When I Send You a Picture of Berlin , Performed by: Arthur Fields
When the Lusitania Went Down , Performed by: Herbert Stuart
When Tommy Comes Marching Home , Performed by: Harry Marlow
When Uncle Sammy Leads the Band , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
When We've Wound Up the Watch , Performed by: Lorraine and Thorne
When You're a Long Way from Home , Performed by: Kirby & Cove
Where Do We Go From Here? , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Where Do We Go From Here? , Performed by: American Quartet
While They Were Dancing Around , Performed by: Henry Burr
While They Were Dancing Around , Performed by: Peerless Quartet
Who Bashed Bill Kaiser? , Performed by: Tom Clare
Would You Rather Be a Colonel , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Yanks Are At It Again , Performed by: Billy Murray
Yanks Started Yankin' , Performed by: Arthur Fields
You Can't Beat Us , Performed by: Arthur Fields
Your King and Country Wants You , Performed by: Helen Clark
Your King and Country Wants You , Performed by: Edna Thornton
You're a Grand Old Flag , Performed by: American Quartet

Speeches

James Hamilton Lewis, "Call of America" c.1917 3:38
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000027.ram

John D. Rockefeller, Jr., "The United War Work Campaign" c.1917 4:12
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000052.ram

Warren G. Harding, "The Republic Must Awaken" c.1917 3:33
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000029.ram

William McAdoo, "American Rights" c.1917 3:31
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000033.ram

Josephus Daniels, "The Navy Is Ready" c.1917 3:07
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000032.ram

Newton Baker, "At The Front" c.1917 2:56
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000055.ram

Samual Gompers, Pledges Union Support For War 1917 1:10
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000025.ram

James Gerard, "Loyalty" 11/23/1917 2:55
http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?nfor:2:./temp/~ammem_qP8R::

James "Champ" Clark, "At Valley Forge" c.1917-1918 3:27
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000030.ram

Frank Vanderlip, "One Hundred Million Soldiers" c.1917-1918 3:37
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000031.ram

Franklin K. Lane, "The Nation In Arms" c.1917-1918 3:16
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000028.ram

Josephus Daniels, "No Rank In Sacrifice" c.1917-1918 3:35
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000054.ram

Newton Baker, "America's Choice" c.1917-1918 3:01

Samuel Gompers, "On War" c.1917-1918 3:27

Rabbi Steven S. Wise, "What Are We Fighting For?" c.1917-1918 3:29
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000034.ram

General John J. Pershing, From The Battlefields Of France April, 1918 :31
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000001.ram

James Gerard, "America Safe!" c.1918 4:02
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000011.ram

Richard Purdy, "The Third Liberty Loan" c.1918 2:35
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000035.ram

Bainbridge Colby, Founder of The National Progressive Party, "Loyalty" c.1918 4:05
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000053.ram

Former Secretary of Treasury William G. McAdoo, "Revise Taxes"
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000005.ram

Warren G. Harding, "League of Nations" c.1918-1919 4:23
http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?nfor:4:./temp/~ammem_NcFU::

Senator Gilbert Hitchcock, "League of Nations" c.1919 3:55
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000036.ram

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, "League of Nations" c.1919 4:02
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000004.ram

A. Mitchell Palmer, "Democrats In The World War" c.1919 4:21
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000007.ram

Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Americanism" n.d. 4:21
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000024.ram

Rabbi Stephen Wise, "President Wilson" c.1919
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000009.ram

General Leonard Wood, "Theodore Roosevelt" 1919
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000014.ram

General Leonard Wood, "Americanism" n.d.
http://rs6.loc.gov/mbrs/nforum/9000008.ram

Timeline