World War I
To Field an Army: A Short History of the Draft
By Mike HaskewThe call of a nation on its civilian population either to create a military force or to augment a standing army is virtually as old as civilization itself. Read more
World War I
World War I was a global conflict of the early 20th century from 1914-1918, between the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, and the Allied powers, primarily Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States. World War I was ignited in the Balkan city of Sarajevo in June 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and war was declared in August. World War I was characterized by the horror of trench warfare on the Western Front and the rise of Bolshevism in the East, and millions died in the catastrophic conflict. The causes of World War I were many, including various territorial disputes, a major arms race, conflicting political ideologies, and more. World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles; however, the agreement left many issues unresolved and heaped blame and the requirement for reparations on Germany, sowing the seeds of World War II.
World War I
Famous Marines: Smedley Butler
by Edward L. BimbergThe annals of the United States Marine Corps are filled with the names of mavericks known not only for their fighting skills, but for their offbeat personalities as well. Read more
World War I
The History of the U.S. Coast Guard
by Blaine TaylorOn August 4, 1790, at the urging of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the United States Congress authorized the construction of 10 armed revenue cutters. Read more
World War I
Trafalgar in Reverse: The Battle of Jutland
By James DunnIn the spring of 1916, as the result of intense international pressure, Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer called in all his submarines after Germany announced an end to unrestricted underwater attacks on transatlantic merchant ships. Read more
World War I
The British Cromwell Tank: What Made it Such a Success
By Arnold BlumbergAt the outbreak of World War II, the British War Office assumed that conditions on the Western Front in France would be the same as those experienced in the Great War of 1914-1918. Read more
World War I
Militaria: WWI Helmets from French Troops
by Peter SuciuThick metal helmets were used since ancient times to offer protection to their wearers in combat and are among the earliest forms of armor. Read more
World War I
WWII Spies: Oreste Pinto
by Robert WhiterTwo men were seated on either side of a paper-strewn table inside an office of MI5, the British intelligence service, in the Royal Victoria Patriotic School at Clapham, London, shortly after the fall of France in the spring of 1940. Read more
World War I
Why Study Military History?
by Roy Morris Jr.For the past twenty years, as a writer and editor, it’s been my privilege to spend a great deal of time in the company of my betters: ordinary men and women engaged in the often heartbreaking act of making history. Read more
World War I
Were the Angels of Mons in World War I Real, or Mass Hysteria?
By Robert Barr SmithSome Tommies swore it had been St. George, the warrior saint of England. Others said the “Angels of Mons” might have been St. Read more
World War I
Australia’s Venerable Albert Jacka
By Thomas G. BradbeerHe had the distinction of being the first Commonwealth soldier to receive the Victoria Cross for valor in World War I, and many observers felt that Australian-born Albert Jacka should have earned at least three of Great Britain’s highest award. Read more
World War I
World War I’s Second Battle of Ypres: Salient of Death
By Mike PhiferDespite the incessant German shelling that had been hammering away at the French lines to their immediate left near the rubble-strewn city of Ypres in northwestern Belgium, the largely untested soldiers of the Canadian 1st Division found the early spring day of April 22, 1915, surprisingly warm and pleasant. Read more
World War I
WW I Tanks at Amiens
by Eric NiderostThe tank was created to break the bloody deadlock along the Western Front. It was originally envisioned as a kind of “land battleship” that could cross trenches and barbed-wire entanglements. Read more
World War I
Battle of Amiens: Putting the Allies on the Road to Victory
By Eric NiderostAt the start of the Battle of Amiens, Sergeant Paul Maze was in a forward observation post not a thousand yards from the front, peering into the darkness for any signs of enemy activity. Read more
World War I
Gothas: The German Bombers of World War I
by Jim HavilandOn May 25, 1917, a fleet of 21 bombers lumbered in a line at 12,000 feet over the English coast. Read more
World War I
WWI’s Verdun Battlefield Today
by O’Brien BrowneFrom a distance, the bush- and tree- covered hills seem innocuous, even welcoming. But as you drive upwards and peer through the leafy undergrowth, you began to perceive that there is something wrong, even sinister, about this place. Read more
