| World War I
During the time of World War I, the citizens of the United States often
called it the Great War or the War to End All Wars. The belief was that
this war was so prevailing and costly and damaging and that the world
would never again repeat and suffer from such a war.
World War I was fought on a larger scale than any war before it. Twenty-seven
countries on five continents fought in the war, and it is estimated that
about 70 million soldiers participated. About thirteen million people
died in the war with an additional thirteen million wounded. It is thought
that an entire generation of young men were tragically wiped out in France,
England, Germany, and other European nations.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about World War
I.
Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about World War I.
Lost Liners: Lusitania
Travel on board the Lusitania. It was a British ship that was sunk off
the coast of Ireland by a German submarine on May 7, 1915. Of the 1,195
people who died,128 were U.S. citizens. The sinking of this unarmed ship
contributed to the rise of American sentiment for the entry of the United
States into World War I.
World War
I : Trenches on the Web : An Internet History of The Great War
Take a tour of the Western Front. The Western Front was approximately
the western border of France. Both the allied and the German troops dug
trenches to defend themselves and to stop the other side form advancing.
It was where most of the battles of World War I took place and where most
of the casualties happened.
The
Versailles Treaty
Virtually visit Versailles, France. In the palace of Versailles in the
great Hall of Mirrors, on June 28, 1919, one of the treaties that ended
WWI was signed. Have students find out about the four other peace treaties
that ended the war. The Treaty
of Versailles encompassed the discussions and negotiations of the
Paris Peace Conference of 1919.
Flanders Field
Spend time at Flanders Field. It is a cemetery and war memorial near the
town of Waregem, Belgium. Almost 400 American military personnel are buried
there, most of whom gave their lives to liberate Belgium in WWI.
Battle
of Verdun
Travel to Verdun, France. It was the site of a major military engagement
of World War I. The battle lasted for ten months in 1916, and about two
million men were part of the battle. The French lost 328,500 men, and
the Germans 348,000.
U-boat Attack,
1916
Travel on board a U-boat and learn about these German submarines.
Gallipoli
Travel to Gallipoli. It is a port in western Turkey at the east end of
the Dardanelles, near the neck of the Gallipoli Peninsula. It was the
site of a major allied offensive during World War I. The allied forces
were attempting to gain control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits,
capturing Constantinople, and open a Black Sea supply route to Russia.
Tomb of
the Unknown Soldier
Visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington
National Cemetery. In 1921, a plan was created to honor the thousands
of American soldiers who had died in World War I. An unidentified
soldier who had died in the war was removed from his unmarked grave
in France and sent by ship to the United States. His remains were interred
in a special monument in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1958, the bodies
of two other unknown soldiers—one of whom had died in World War II,
the other during the Korean War—were buried in the tomb. The tomb
was renamed the Tomb
of the Unknowns. Plans were made to include a soldier from every war
the United States had been involved in since WWI. In 1984, remains of
an unknown soldier from the Vietnam War were included in the monument.
Later investigations revealed the soldier's identity, and the soldier's
remains were released to his family. Deciding that scientific advances,
such as DNA tests would make Vietnam War or future unknowns unlikely,
the Pentagon announced in 1999 that no new remains would be placed in
the memorial. Other countries, such as France, have similar monuments to honor its unidentified war dead.
Warships
on the Web
Travel on a World War I troop ship. From this website, you can find links
to many different kinds of military ships used during different wars.
At the time of World War I, there were no airplanes capable of flying
the long distance between the United States and Europe. So troops had
to cross the Atlantic by ship. This was also before sophisticated tracking
systems. Enemy ships often located each other in the vast ocean simply
by sight. Many of the ships that transported soldiers were converted
luxery liners, and they were huge and contained thousands of soldiers.
It was important to the allies to keep these ships as safe as possible
from enemy detection. So these troop ships were often painted to make
them harder to see in the ocean. Sometimes they were painted in gray,
white, and black stripes which broke up their huge mass. Sometimes they
were painted the color of the ocean and a small ship was painted on the
side of the real big ship. The small ship was painted going the opposite
direction. The idea was to make it difficult for German U-boats to get
a clear idea of the size and direction of a troop ship. From this website,
you can find out many other interesting warship details. 
People To See
Ernest
Hemingway
Get re-acquainted with Ernest Hemingway. He was a Red Cross ambulance
driver in WWI.
Doughboy Center
Meet a WWI doughboy. Soldiers in WWI were sometimes called doughboys because
women working with the Salvation Army in France during WWI wanted to make
the American soldiers feel less homesick. So they began making them doughnuts.
The American soldiers became known for their fondness for doughnuts and
earned the nickname of doughboys.
Meet the allied world leaders during World War I
General
John Pershing
Learn about General
John Pershing. He was Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary
Force in Europe.
Douglas
MacArthur
Meet Douglas MacArthur. His name is associated with many of the wars of
the 20th century. He was a brigadier general in World War I, a five-star
general in World War II, and assumed a significant positition in the Korean
War.
Robert
Lindsay Mackay's First World War Diary
Make the acquaintance of Robert Lindsay Mackay and read his diary which
gives an account of his day-to-day life with the 11th Batallion of the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from 1915 until the end of the war.
Manfred
von Richtofen
Meet Baron von Richtofen. He was also called the Red Baron. He was a German
ace aviator and is credited with shooting down over 80 aircraft. He was
killed in action on April 21, 1918. Roy
Brown, flying in his Sopwith
Camel, was the British aviator who was credited stopping the Red Baron.
Eddie
Rickenbacker
Meet Eddie Rickenbacker. He was called America's Ace of Aces during World
War I, the highest scorer of American aerial victories over the Germans.
Billy
Bishop Museum
Meet Billy Bishop and read his story. He was a Canadian pilot and World
War I fighter ace. He flew hundreds of missions as part of the Royal Flying
Corps. Learn about the many things that war pilots did besides bombing
raids. For instance, they took hundreds of photographs as they flew over
the German trenches so that British map-makers could trace each detail
of the German trench positions and check any changes in the enemy zone.
Cher
Ami--World War I Carrier Pigeon
Meet Cher Ami. He was a carrier pigeon. During part of the fighting in
the Argonne Forest in France, a group of allied soldiers were trapped
between their own troops and the German troops. They began to mistakenly
be fired upon by their own allied soldiers. Carrier
pigeons were often used to carry
messages in World War I. However, as this poorly positioned group
of soldiers began to release carrier pigeons to warn their fellow soldiers
to cease firing upon them, every pigeon was shot down by the Germans.
One lone pigeon was finally able to fly through the gunfire. He flew 25
miles and delivered his message, helping to save the allied soldiers.
The pigeon, named Cher Ami, was wounded in his flight. He lost an eye,
and his leg and breastbone were pierced by bullets. Cher
Ami was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre" with Palm for his heroic
service. He later died from his injuries. His little stuffed body is on
display at the National Museum of American History which is part of the
Smithsonian.
Newton
Baker
Spend time with Newton Baker. He was the Secretary of War under Woodrow
Wilson. With the entry of the United States into World War I, he drew
up plans for universal military conscription which resulted in the mobilization
of more than 4 million men.
Eugene
Jacques Bullard
Make the acquaintance of Eugene Bullard. He was the grandson of a slave.
As a young man, he moved to France where he felt that African Americans
could receive more equal treatment. During World War I Bullard became
a distinguished fighter pilot for the French Flying Corps. He flew 20
missions against the Germans and was wounded three times before being
honorably discharged. When the United States entered the war in 1917,
Bullard volunteered his services to the U.S. Army Air Service. At the
time, it barred African Americans from flying, and Bullard was denied
the opportunity to fly for his own country.
Alvin
York
Get to know Alvin York. He is considered to be the greatest war hero of
World War I. With little help, he captured 132 German prisoners while
fighting in the Argonne Forest in France and killed many others. The irony
of this feat is that York was a conscientious objector at the beginning
of the war and only entered the war when his pastor convinced him that
it was the right thing to do. For his bravery, York was given the Medal
of Honor. His story was made into a movie called Sergeant York, and Gary
Cooper won an Oscar for portraying Alvin in the movie.
World
War I Poets
Meet some of the poets who wrote about World War I.
BBC:
The Great War : 80 Years On
Get
to know the men and women of the Great War. Read their personal accounts
and letters home. Learn using primary resources in research.
Things To Do
First
World War
Find information on the outbreak of WWI, allied armed forces, the central
powers, important battles, political leaders, the British home front,
military leaders, trench war, major offensives, war at sea, war in the
air, war artists, war heroes, women at war, stragtegies and tactics, weapons
and war machines, theatres of war, war statistics, and more.
PBS : The
Great War
Explore the WWI interactive timeline from this PBS site.
Timeline
To The Great War
Find incidents and events which contributed to World War I.
The Aerodome :
Flying Aces and Aircraft of World War I
World War I was the first war in which airplanes were used. Learn about
the aircraft made famous in the war.
Over
There
Read the lyrics and listen to the midi file of the World War I patriotic
song, Over There. It was written by George
M. Cohan who also wrote You're
A Grand Old Flag, Yankee Doodle Boy, and Give My Regards to Broadway.
Propaganda
Postcards of the Great War
Study this collection of war-themed postal cards produced during World
War I. Have students discuss the idea of postcards as important historical
artifacts and whether or not these kinds of emotional postcards that were
meant to convey a particular message would be as effective today.
The World
War I Document Archive
Read primary source documents relating to WWI.
Eyewitness
: World War One
Learn about the assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
and his wife Sophie.
BBC
News : The Great War : 80 Years On
Learn about the war that lasted from 1914-18, claimed 10 million lives,
and forever changed the political map of Europe. BBC News Online looks
back at what became known as "the war to end all wars".
The
Great Zeppelin Raid
A zeppelin a large dirigible balloon consisting of a long,cylindrical,
covered framework containing compartments or cells filled with gas. Imagine
using zeppelins in combat! Find out more about the role of zeppelins in
World War I.
Big Guns
of the Great War
Prior to World War I, battles had been fought and won by soldiers being
good shots and by soldiers participating in hand-to-hand combat. World
War I was the first war to use machine guns and flamethrowers and sophisticated
weaponry from a distance. Have students compare the personal/impersonal
aspects of battles and war when soldiers no longer "look each other in
the eye" during combat.
Tank
Museum
Learn about the tanks of World War I. Tanks were a new part of warfare,
and they were invented by the British. They were developed partly to break
the stalemate on the Western Front. As they were being designed and tested
in Britain, there was an attempt to keep this development somewhat secret.
So, while they had at first been called the equivalent of "land battleships",
the testers of the vehicles called them, instead, water carriers--designed,
they said, to transport huge tanks of water to the troops. The name "tank"
stuck.
Fourteen
Points
Learn about Woodrow
Wilson's Fourteen
Points. They were a plan establishing a peace program at the end of World War I. The League of
Nations was a result of one of the fourteenth point.
Adolph
Hitler : A Study in Tyranny
Learn about how Hitler served in World War I. He was a corporal who earned
several military awards and was hospitalized due to gas exposure. He was
very bitter about the settlements that were part of the Treaty of Versailles.
After the war, he became part of a group whose goals were to return Germany
to a leading world power.
World
War I Women’s Posters
Check out some of the posters used to recruit women to join the military.
Teacher Resources
Lesson Plans/Webquests
Bibliography
- Bosco, Peter I. World War One. New York : Facts on File, 1991.
- Dolan, Edward F. America in World War I. Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook
Press, c1996.
- Gay, Kathlyn. World War I. New York : Twenty-First Century Books,
1995.
- Jantzen, Steven. Hooray for Peace, Hurrah for War : the United States
During World War I. New York : Facts on File, c1991.
- Kent, Zachary. World War I : The War to End Wars. Hillside, N.J.,
U.S.A. : Enslow Publishers, c1994.
- McGowen, Tom. World War I. New York : F. Watts, c1993.
- Pimlott, John. The First World War. New York : Franklin Watts, 1986.
- Rees, Rosemary. The Western Front. Crystal Lake, IL : Rigby Interactive
Library, c1997.
- Ross, Stewart. Causes and Consequences of World War I. Austin, Tex.
: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, c1998.
- Stewart, Gail. World War I. San Diego, CA : Lucent Books, c1991
|
