Articles on the causes of World War One, its battles, and its outcomes
Articles on the causes of World War One, its battles, and its outcomes
[That soldiers behave badly off the battlefield is an ugly fact of war. Contributor Dan McEwen examines how in WW1, that ugliness began in the first days.] War is a special kind of hell for the civilians who get in the way of one. During the four years of fighting…
[In 1982, British PM Margaret Thatcher ordered the Royal Navy to re-capture the Falkland Islands from Argentina. It only took them 10 weeks. But then, as contributor Dan McEwen explains, they’d been there once before.] In 1908, Winston Churchill, then 33 and the youngest minister in the new Liberal government’s…
[The staggering death toll of WW1 battles prompted unrest in every army but among war-weary French soldiers, that anger boiled over into open rebellion. Contributor Dan McEwen highlights the events of the French army mutiny.] Napoleon Bonaparte’s military ambitions ruined France. Although it took six coalitions of nations 12 years…
The Zimmermann Telegram: Words Of War [Was it fears for its citizenry or its sovereignty that pushed America’s Congress into declaring war on Germany in 1917? Dan McEwen looks at the unintended consequence of WW1’s most infamous telegram.] One of the most enduring questions about WW1 is why the shooting…
Kaiser Wilhelm, the German emperor, and King of Prussia was a more-than-slightly recognizable figure of World War 1 and World War 2. It was a storied life that included ascending to royalty, abdication, and finally, exile. He also just may have been one of the reasons that World War 1…
[‘Friction’ is Murphy's Law in uniform. Contributor Dan McEwen explains why it caused bad things to happen to good military plans in The Great War.] “The best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry and leave us nothing but grief and pain for promised joy,” observed Scottish poet Robert…
World War One was the most consequential social event in centuries. 10 million soldiers died, creating 3 million widows and 10 million orphans. Many Europeans felt disillusionment and even anger about the war. They questioned earlier notions of honor, duty, and bravery. Europe lost its economic centrality. New York replaced…
From 1914-1918, the leaders of World War One were generals who commanded millions of men, emperors who inherited dynasties with centuries of accumulated wealth, and Sultans who claimed a direct line of connection to the Prophet Muhammed. After the war, many of them lost all their money and power, and…
The Paris Peace Conference opened on January 18, 1919. Its task was the writing of five separate peace treaties with the defeated separate powers: Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria, Austria, and Hungary (now separate nations). The defeated Central Powers were not allowed to participate in the negotiations. The terms would be dictated…
After Germany's' failed spring offensive, realized the only way to win was to push into France before the United States fully deployed its resources. The French and British were barely hanging on in 1918. By 1918, French reserves of military-aged recruits were literally a state secret; there were so few…
