World War I was called “The Great War” before World War II because people did not think there could be a repeat of the idiocy that reigned in Europe from 1914-1918. It started in Europe in August 1914 as a result of the June 28, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, by Gavrilo Princip,…

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The war was fought on three different fronts: the Western Front (France), the Eastern Front (Russia, Poland and East Prussia) and the Southern Front (Turkey, the Balkans and the Middle East). Germany’s battle plan—The Schleiffin Plan—called for a surprise strike against France from the north through Belgium and Luxembourg instead of a direct assault across the common Germany-France border—the Rhine…

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At Christmas time in 1914 an amazing event occurred at numerous places along the trench lines on the Western Front. The guns fell silent; soldiers declared a temporary truce and celebrated Christmas with each other. Remember, the trench lines were close enough that the opposing troops could yell back and forth. This allowed them to exchange greetings of the season….

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One of the deadliest battles of World War I was in the Southern Theatre at Gallipoli, an area near the Dardanelles, the strait that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea. The strait was of great strategic importance to the Allies because it allowed them to transport troops and materiel to and from Russia. To secure the strait, Britain…

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President Woodrow Wilson, following the prevailing isolationist mood of the country, adopted a position of strict neutrality towards the European conflict: “neutral in thought as well as action.” Wilson’s campaign slogan for the 1916 presidential election was “He kept us out of war.” Wilson tried to broker a negotiated settlement among the warring factions, a proposal he characterized as “Peace…

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At the turn of the 20th century, sheet music was the primary source of music for the American family, which was enamored with the increasingly available piano. Parker, World War I Sheet Music, Vols. I and II, p.13.) By 1910 sales of sheet music had reached some two billion copies per year. (Id.) From the turn of the century well…

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An interesting note about the participation of Americans in World War I was the fact that American service men were organized into segregated units. Black soldiers did not serve in white units and vice-versa. It was quite unlikely for black soldiers to serve in American combat units, serving instead in support functions, such as mess units, supply units, etc. Nevertheless,…

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The Armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918 at 11:11 AM. More than 10 million people were killed in the war, including about 115,000 Americans. President Wilson tried to convince the French and English to agree to a non-punitive peace. However, the terms of the Versailles Treaty imposed by France and Great Britain primarily on Germany…

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