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War and Social Upheaval: World War I
is difficult to fathom. The loss of life in all the major combatent countries was astromical, although smaller in America which entered the War in 1917 and did not commit troops in large numbers until 1918. The number of orphans was extremely high in Belgium and other areas where fighging took palace. ted. A friend tells me that early Life Magazine articles had some images of European children showing period clothes. I think in 1917-18 they ran a series of articles on French children who had lost their fathers in the War. The magazine I think was asking for donations to help these families. The series contained lots of pictures of these, sadly mostly young, fatherless children. If anyone has access to a good University library, these Life Magazine images should be available. There apparently was a variety of boys clothes pictured. Another problem was that while many children were not orphaned, rhere were millions without fathers. As the father in the 1910s was the principal, if not thde only, income eraner, this maent that millions of children were reduced to poverty or very close to it.
World War I Research Resources
The World War I site "Trenches on the Web" is a wonderful resource for readers who would like to persue the War in more detail.
Territorial Changes
There were major territorial changes duriung World War I and even more were to follow the War. The primary changes were made as part of the Vesailles Treaty ending the War. Some occurred as referendum mandated by the Treaty. Others ocurred as a result of military engangements, especially conflicts between the Red Army and the Polish Army and white armies. The results were so resented in Germany that that they were a major cause of the rise of the NAZIs and World War II.
Political Consequences
The people of the combatatant nations made huge sacrifices to support their country's war efforts. The sacrifices in the trenches was beyond belief and te war casualties were staggering. People on the homefront also sacrified. The consequences of the War varied significantly from country to country. The British people were promissed, "A land fit for heroes" after the War. The experienced of the War radicalized politics and made the Labour Party into a political force that continues to this day. The cost of the War affectd post-War conditions which did not improve like many had expectd. TheGerman people were shocked in 1918. They had knocked Russia out of the War in 1917 and thought that they were about to win the War. Rationing had reached very severe levels, but the collapse of the Western Front surprised many. This commbined with the inflation of the 1920s and Depression of the 1930s radicalized German politics, paving the way for the NAZIs to seize power.
Individual Accounts
Because of the time frame, HBC readers can not offer any personal accounts of World War I. We are, however, looking for published accounts. Here we are especially interested in finding accounts of the War as [next page]