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War and Social Upheaval: World War I
at least weak leaders, usually those on the losing side. HBC has developed a number of biographies of some of the important people involved in World War I. Our focus is of course their childhood and clothing, but we also provide some basic information on their adult lives. In many cases, their childhood played an important role in the War. Many others were caught up in the War. Millions were in fact killed, both soldiers and civilians. Many more had the course of their lives irevocably altered by the War. We want to have a look at some of the ordinary families in the different cobatant countries.
Casulaties
The casulaties in World War I were horendous. Neither these soldiers who enthuistically marched off to war in August 1914 expected the level of casulaties experienced or the duration of the War. This was in part because of the development of such lethal weapons, including machine guns, improved artillery, airplanes, poison gas, tanks, and other refinements. Europe had not fought a war since the Franco Prussian War (1870-71) and thus tactics taking these improvements in weaponery had not yet been developed. The reslt was killing and maiming on n inustrial scale. The professional armies that began the War was desimated. Each commatant county was forced to draft huge conscript armies. Virtually every family had loved ones at the front.
Wilson's 14 Points
American President Woodrow Wilson ran for reelection in 1916 on a campaign "He kept us out of war." The President became increasingly uneasy about a possible German victory. Efforts by Wilson to negotiate an end to the War were dimissed by the Kaiser as naive. Many Americans favored the Allles at the onset of war and German offers of the southwest to Mexico (Zimmerman Telegram) and British war popaganda gradually moved most Americans increasingkly to the Allied side. When the Kaiser ordered the resumtion of unrestricted sunmarine warfare, Wilson asked the Congress to declare war. (April 1917) President Woodrow Wilson unveiled a new Peace Program to Congress (January 1918). The program had been prepared by a group of U.S. foreign policy experts and consisted of 14 major princiles. The first five points dealt with major principles. Point 1 renounced secret treaties which many had come to see as a cause of the War. Point 2 dealt with freedom of the seas, the issue that brought America into the War. Point 3 called for the removal of worldwide trade barriers. This was a major issue both in American domestic politics as well as international diplomact. Point 4 advocated arms reductions. Point 5 suggested the international arbitration of all colonial disputes. Points 6 to 13 were concerned with specific territorial problems, including claims made by Russia, France and Italy--some of the major Allied beligerants. Here Wilson addressed difficult issues such as the control of the Dardanelles and the claims for independence by the people living in areas controlled by the Central Powers. The principle to be followed was to be national self-determination. This is such [next page]