World War I Facts

#history #World War I #WWI #Slimbridge #Gloucestershire #England

WWI "ghost" soldiers stand beside their graves in Slimbridge churchyard, Gloucestershire, UK. These chicken wire sculptures were created to commemorate the deaths of eleven of the village's soldiers as well as the 2018 centennial of the war's end.

scrapironflotilla

Members of the Vietnamese Royal Family in French service at Le Breuil, May 1917. Left to right: Prince Bun Vien, Count Ung Triel, Count Ung Thien, Count Bun Dong.

#history #World War 1 #WWI

#history #World War I #WWI #England

#history #World War I #WWI #Passchendale

This is a big reason why I feel so compelled to study WWI. Their stories deserve to be heard and read and not be forgotten to time.

#history #WWI #World War I

MORE WWI MASCOTS

PILOT PUPPIES

A SPRINGBOK NAMED NANCY

TIRPITZ THE GERMAN PIG WHO WAS RESCUED BY THE BRITISH AFTER THEY SUNK HIS SHIP

PINCHER THE NAVY CAT WHO IS ALSO CONSIDERING AVIATION

MORE OF TINY THE DONKEY WHO LIKES TO DRINK LITERALLY 9 CUPS OF TEA FROM A CUP IN ONE SITTING

COCKY THE AUSTRALIAN COCKATOO

THIS SMUG GOAT

NAVY CATS WHO LOVE BIG GUNS

PET RABBITS BEING CARED FOR BY GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR

A NAVY DOG AND...A BABY LEVIATHAN (???), BOTH MASCOTS

“Enemy aliens turn in their weapons on order of President.”

“President Wilson’s order of April 16, 1917, calling upon all aliens to give up any weapons in their possession resulted in the gathering of a collection of all types and models. Enough ordnance has been collected throughout the country to equip a division of the Army. Photo shows the collection of firearms gathered by the police of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”

File Unit: Enemy Activities - Miscellaneous, 1917 - 1918. Series: American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, 1917 - 1918. Record Group 165: Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, 1860 - 1952

Uncover more World War I Centennial Resources at the National Archives

historical-nonfiction

A Scottish factory worker, showing off her tattoos in July of 1917. On her right arm are the emblems of her sweetheart’s Royal Navy warship. On her left arm are the names of her friends who had died, sweeping for mines in the North Sea. World War I had been raging for three years at this point.

#history #World War I #WWI #Armenian Genocide

Records on Turkish atrocities against the Armenians during World War I can be found in a number of different records groups holding records of the Department of State…

New guidance on using State Department records (statedept) to research the atrocities committed against the Armenian population during World War I, which began 100 years ago on April 24, 1915.

“You won’t let me starve will you? I am little Shushan from Armenia…”, ca. 1917 - ca. 1919 From the series: World War I Posters, 1917 - 1919

today-in-wwi

Outrage Grows in Washington as Dead Pile Up

A Red Cross demonstration in Washington during the flu pandemic.

October 13 1918, Washington, DC–The first death from the new, most virulent wave of the Spanish flu was reported in Washington, DC on September 21, having spread from New York by the railroad. By early October, as deaths continue to mount, local health officials banned large public gatherings, shuttered schools and churches. Federal agencies staggered working hours and stopped hiring non-local employees for war work. William Sardo, the son of a funeral director, recalled the atmosphere in the city at the time:

It kept people apart….It took away all your community life, you had no community life, you had no school life, you had no church life, you had nothing….People were afraid to kiss one another, people were afraid to eat with one another, they were afraid to have anything that mad contact because that’s how you got the flu….You were constantly afraid, you were afraid because you saw so much death around you, you were surrounded by death….When each day dawned you didn’t know whether you would be there when the sun set that day. It wiped out entire families from the time that the day began in the morning to bedtime at night….They disappeared from the face of the earth.

At its peak, the flu killed 72 people a day. All hospital beds were filled by mid-October. The logistics of burying the dead became more and more difficult. A shortage of gravediggers forced District health officials to conscript Marines, and then prisoners, for the task. On October 10, the District ran out of coffins. Some were available on the open market, but at exorbitant prices. An October 13 editorial in the Washington Post excoriated the “coffin trust” that was “holding the people of the city by the throat and extorting from them outrageous prices for coffins and the disposal of the dead.”

District health officials were able to solve the coffin shortage, at least, later in the week, by using wartime powers to seize a shipment of coffins headed for Pittsburgh (which had a shortage of its own). That fall and winter, nearly 3000 District residents (around 1% of the population) would die of the flu.

Today in 1917: Haig Pauses Passchendaele Attacks Today in 1916: Norway Bans Submarines From Territorial Waters Today in 1915: Deadliest Zeppelin Raid of the War Today in 1914: British Receive German Naval Code Books

Sources include: John M. Barry, The Great Influenza.

Remember to get your flu shot this season!

#history #World War I #WWI #Spanish Flu

#history #World War I #WWI #101st Ammunition

French children waving to 101st Ammunition train, 26th Div., passing thru the village of Soulosse, France, on way to the front., 4/10/1918

Series: Photographs of American Military Activities, ca. 1918 - ca. 1981. Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1985

The 101st Ammunition train was organized in Boston, MA in August 1917, then assigned to the 26th Division. The unit participated in four campaigns of World War I: Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne before it was demobilized in May 1919.

Uncover more World War I Centennial Resources at the National Archives

World War I Centennial News, Events and Exhibits

Remembering WWI App: Engage with our extensive collection of moving and still images

Educator Resources: Bring World War I documents into the classroom

Genealogy: Researching Individuals in World War I Records

Prologue Magazine: Articles about World War I drawn from our holdings

Citizen Archivists: Tag and Transcribe World War I records

Shooting World War I: The History of the Army Signal Corps Cameramen, 1917-1918

A Brief Look at African American Soldiers in the Great War

The Women of World War I in Photographs

Accessing World War I Photos in the Digital Age

World War I films collection on the National Archives YouTube Channel

Today’s post comes via Nora Sutton, one of our interns from the Department of State’s Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) program. Nora is finishing her Master’s in Public History at West Virginia University this semester.

my-retro-vintage

An allied soldier bandages the paw of a Red Cross working dog in Flanders, Belgium, during the first world war May 1917

#history #World War I #WWI #Belgium

#history #World War I #WWI #United States

Ineligible for Citizenship

Bill of Complaint, 01/07/1921 File Unit: U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 1921 - 1926 Series: Civil, Criminal, and Admiralty Case Files, 1859 - 1923 Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009

Settling in Oregon, Indian-born Bhagat Singh Thind served during World War I and was naturalized at least twice. However in 1921, the District Court of Oregon filed a bill of complaint denying citizenship to Thind. The case went to the Supreme Court and in its 1923 decision, the court ended up defining Asian Indians as non-white and ineligible for naturalization.

(Thind would ultimately obtain citizenship a third and final time through the state of New York, following a law granting citizenship to any World War I veterans.)

via DocsTeach

gemmaroses

ficklefandoms

This does a good job at showing how ridiculously free-for-all and confusing WWI was.

she-s-a-shy-one

The historical accuracy here, as a History major, makes me weep tears of joy.

joyseeker56-deactivated20181214

*Cries of laughter*

theoryofmerp

A history major this made me extremely amused. This is beautifully accurate.

musicalhell

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW

inkspot-fox

Russia gets thrown through a plate glass window, gets knocked out, suffers brain damage, and wakes up with a complete personality change

I’m dying.

dagnobutrly

Why did no one mention that while Germany was cold cocking Belgium, Austria back handed Serbia so hard he ended getting his name changed, Turkey’s dad died of a heart attack, and HEY EVERYBODY POLANDS BACK! 🎉

icescrabblerjerky

it’s back and I love it.

feralkwe-deactivated20210912

America pretends it won by itself.

katbelleinthedark

Fucking accurate.

peneigh-dzredfohl

If this was women, they’d be at a tea house, get snarky, then catty and then all leave in a huff and never speak to each other again. This is why women don’t start wars…OK unless they are really beautiful and men want them, the men start the fight and will fight to death and all their soldiers deaths to win her hand as she is just like, ewwww, send me flowers, chocolates, and a hallmark card. A FLUFFY unicorn if you really mean it!

“A refugee who was bombed out of her home by the Germans with her worldly possessions - a cow. Amiens 28.3.18.”

Series: British Photographs of World War I, 1914 - 1918. Record Group 165: Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, 1860 - 1952

Uncover more World War I Centennial Resources at the National Archives

beautifulwarbirds

For those who beat the drums of war, dehumanize, and add suffering, reflect on the flowing red fields. The poppy flower is a symbol for all those who have suffered and endured for the greater good.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I (1914-1918). One of the darkest periods in history. I remember one of my history professors, who studied for a numbers of years in France. The absence of grandfathers was evident. Many who survived wore the scars of this conflict. An entire generation of young men gone and maimed.

Take time to reflect on our words and actions. We are always too quick to resort to fighting. Far too many young men and women are eternally young, never knowing their children or grandchildren. Remember our veterans and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Pray we never have to know their experiences and comprehend their suffering. Try to make a difference and to make the world a better place. When you see the fields of poppies placed to honor the fallen, take a moment to reflect on the size and numbers. Far too many…far too many always suffer.