The Great War

100 hundred years ago the world witnessed a war so horrific, so widespread that they called it “the War to end all wars” or simply the Great War.  With the anniversary of the United States participation in World War 1 coming up next year I would encourage you all to visit a museum explaining the war and America’s part in it.

9th Machine Gun Battalion

 Most Americans were opposed to entering the European war, so much so that Woodrow Wilson won his second term in office under the idea that “the president kept us out of war.”[3] January 19, 1917 the British presented America a telegram that had been sent from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance.  Between this revelation and the unrestricted submarine warfare conducted by Germany against all shipping between America and Britain, the pacifism was turning to a demand for war. On February 3^rd, the American grain ship, Housatonic, was sunk and three weeks later a British liner was sunk killing four Americans. Two months later on April 6^th the United States declared war on Germany. [2]

369th Infantry

4,000,000 military personnel mobilized during WW1.  The Argonne-Meuse Offensive, starting on September 26, 1918 was the largest battle that US troops participated in during the war. [1] Approximately 1.2 million American troops fought from September to November by the end 26, 277 American soldiers had died in the battle. [2]

On October 4^th Wilson received a message from Germany to conduct peace talks according to his 14 points.  The war ended on November 11, 1918. [2]

The list provided is just a small sampling of museums around the country. Take a road trip to one of these or find one closer to you. WW1 should not be forgotten. Find a Museum or exhibit that honors the sacrifice of the 50,000 men killed and an additional 230,000 wounded. [2]

 


The National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO https://www.theworldwar.org

Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton, VA http://www.woodrowwilson.org

Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, MO http://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/WWI

The Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA https://www.museumofflight.org/WWI

American Armored Foundation Tank Museum in Danville, VA http://www.aaftankmuseum.com/

Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago, Ill http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/

 http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/

Bibliography

[1] Paul S. Boyer, Clifford E. Clark, Jr., Joseph F. Kett Neal Salisbury, Harvard Sitkoff, Nancy Woloch, Enduring Vision: A History of the American People Sixth ed. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009), 700-701.

[2] H.P. Willmott, World War I (New York: DK Publishing, 2009), 196, 264-265, 307.

[3] A. Scott Berg, Wilson (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013), 410-411.

Image A. http://www.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/wwi/introduction/

Image B. http://www.history.army.mil/art/a&i/avop-0206.htm

Image C. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/ww1posters/5041

Image D. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/ww1posters/5041

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sitka and the Benefits of Historical Fiction

Image 1

I confess I had not paid much attention to the purchase of Alaska in my studies until I read Sitka.  Sitka is a fine historical fiction from Louis L’Amour about a young American man who smuggles furs from Alaska to San Francisco while it was still part of the Russian Empire. I was so foggy on the facts about this episode in American history that Mr. L’Amour could have put anything he wanted in his book and I would not have noticed the historical inaccuracies.  That is the dark side of historical fiction.  However the benefit of books like this is that it can make students curious.

I ended up looking up not only when did Alaska get purchased by the United States but also it made me curious about other Russian colonies in the Americas.  I also had to look up what a Porter Percussion Turret Rifle was.  It was an early repeating rifle design that used a revolving wheel to store the bullets. This proved to be a poor design because one chamber would always be pointed at the shooter and if something set that cartridge off it could kill you. It proved to be not a very popular weapon, go figure). [1] This is the benefit of historical fiction, it gets the student curious to look up some of these details, to see what really happened. And it reminds old students like me, there is always something else to look at in history.

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             I sometimes get pretty uppity about how much I know about American history, and then I talk to some of my friends or read a book (like this one) and I just want to cry, “WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING WITH MY LIFE!”  This book made me curious about Russian America or Alaska during the mid-19th century which is what a historical fiction is supposed to do. It was a good adventure and a good reminder of why I love history so much.

Image 3

 

[1] http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/guns/rifles/2009/01/whats-it-worth-porter-rifle

 

Image 1: personal collection

Image 2: http://www.19thcenturyweapons.com/909/porter.html

Image 3: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/akdiv/faq.cfm