Zimmerman Telegram In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. This message helped draw the United States into the war and thus changed the course of history. The telegram had such an impact on American opinion that, according to David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers, "No other single cryptanalysis has had such enormous consequences." It is his opinion that "never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message." In an effort to protect their intelligence from detection and to capitalize on growing anti-German sentiment in the United States, the British waited until February 24 to present the telegram to Woodrow Wilson. The American press published news of the telegram on March 1. On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress formally declared war on Germany and its allies. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/zimmermann/
The Tank The tank was in many ways merely an extension of the principle of the armored car. Armored cars were popular on the Western Front at the start of the war, since at that stage it was very much a war of movement. Their use only dwindled with the onset of static trench warfare, when their utility was questionable.
This is the Zimmerman Telegram as received by the German Ambassador to Mexico, 1/19/1917.
The Royal Navy's role in tank development may seem incongruous but was in fact merely an extension of the role they had played thus far in the use of armored cars. The navy had deployed squadrons of armored cars to protect Allied airstrips in Belgium against enemy attack. It was this experience that Churchill drew upon when offering his department's support for the 'landship'. http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/tanks.htm
This is the decoded message of the Zimmerman Telegram.
The Abwehr The Abwehr was the German military intelligence organization from 1866 to 1944. The intelligence agency was tested at the out-break of World War I in 1914. German agents worked to pinpoint the location and strength of the Allied forces, helping the German forces to invade and progress through northern France before stalemated trench warfare began. New military technology changed the nature of espionage. Agency director Walther Nicolai recognized the need for a modernized intelligence force and reorganized the department to include experts in wiretapping, munitions manufacturing, shipping, and encryption. The agency tapped enemy communications wires, intercepting and deciphering Allied dispatches with measured accomplishment. The Abwehr sent several agents to spy on the manufacture of poison gas in France, and tracked munitions production and shipping in Britain. The organization sent saboteurs to disrupt the shipment of arms from America to Allied forces in Europe. Several ships were sunk in transit after being identified by agents as smuggling arms. German agents, often acting on information collected by Abwehr, set fire to several American weapons factories and storage facilities. While the Abwehr was generally successful, the loss of the German codebook to British intelligence somewhat undermined the agency's ultimate efficacy during the war. http://www.faqs.org/espionage/A-An/Abwehr.html
The Battle of Ypres- Battle fought for the strategic town of Ypres in western Belgium. Ypres was the last major obstacle to the German advance on BoulogneSur-Mer and Calais. The result was a victory for the Allies, although losses were particularly heavy on both sides. The end of the battle marked the end of mobile operations until 1918.
French Navy By 1918, the French had come to play an important part in the war against the U-boats - both on patrol and as convoy escorts. Apart from destroyers, anti-submarine forces were organized into nine patrol and escort commands with 111 torpedo boats, 35 submarines, 63 sloops and gunboats, 153 submarine chasers and 734 armed trawlers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Ypres
Field Hospitals Field hospitals in world war one were no more than tents or huts manned by one matron and her under staff of Nurses and sisters. Most housed about 1000 beds but with all the casualties and diseases they were, soon full. They had wards like modern hospitals but they were, often just separate tents or one tent separated by a sheet. They didn’t have running water.
Tunneling
The main objective was to place mines beneath enemy defensive positions. When it was detonated, the explosion would destroy that section of the trench.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtunnelling.htm Iron Cross The Iron Cross was a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany. The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Also used as the symbol of the German Army from 1871 to 1918. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross
American Uniforms Soldiers complained greatly about the uniforms and how they fit. http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/US_Army_Uniforms_of_World_War_One
Women’s Royal Navy System Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, and electricians and air mechanics. It was formed in 1917 during the First World War, and by the end of the war had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. It was disbanded in 1919. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces (and is therefore known as the Senior Service). The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.
Life as a Prisoner of War A prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. During World War I about 8 million men surrendered and were held in POW camps until the war ended. The POWs had a much higher survival rate than their peers who were not captured.
Food in the Trenches At the beginning of the war British soldiers were given 10 ounces of meat and 8 ounces of vegetables a day. Later troops not in the front-line only received meat on nine out of every thirty days. The daily bread ration was also cut in April 1917. The battalion's kitchen staff had just two large vats, in which everything was prepared. As a result, everything the men ate tasted of something else. For example, soldiers often complained that their tea tasted of vegetables. Providing fresh food was also very difficult. << Gilbert Rogers painted this picture of two stretcher-bearers trying to prepare hot food.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrenchfood.htm
Propaganda Propaganda ensured that the people only got to know what their governments wanted them to know. Each of the nations which participated in World War One from 1914-18 used propaganda posters not only as a means of justifying involvement to their own populace, but also as a means of procuring men, money and resources to sustain the military campaign.
Sidney Godley Sidney was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first private soldier awarded the VC in World War I. Sidney Godley offered to defend the Nimy Bridge while the rest of the British and French armies retreated for a better defense in inland France. When Lieutenant Dease had been mortally wounded and killed, Private Godley held the bridge single-handed for two hours under very heavy fire and was wounded twice. He was eventually taken to a prisoner of war camp by German soldiers.
Letters from Home A letter from an actual soldier: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~rstaley/wwlettr1.htm My Dearest Mary, We are in the Army now. I am sitting inside our little old tent listening to the gentle patter of the raindrops on the canvas. It began raining here this morning and it is still at it. No drill today, so I will have time to write a letter or two. We got into the city all O.K., marched up to the armory and had dinner. They have mess in the armory. We have to march back and forth to eat. Eats are pretty good so far as they have some women helping with the cooking. Set up camp in the afternoon. Shoemaker has been Acting Corporal in our squad. We got the tent up all right under the direction of one of the old heads who has seen service on the border. Some equipment was issued in the afternoon. As my name is down well in the list, I have not received anything yet in my own name. Corporal Hilton is staying in town so he let me have his stuff. Got pack, gun, poncho, and numerous other things I don't know what are used for. Slept on the ground last night in a tent with just an even dozen in it. Some of the fellows are staying in town at hotels, rooming houses, and private houses. Taken altogether, things are in rather poor shape as yet, but I suppose it takes a little time to get around. A few of the bunch act like a bunch of bums instead of soldiers, but they will get that taken out of them when they get to a real camp.
They got Parker Melliush for kitchen duty the first thing. Walter Anthony was stuck for guard duty last night. It must be fine walking up and down in front of a row of tents watching the other fellows sleep. One thing they did do, everybody had to quiet down at ten-thirty last night. We had a good entertainment before lights out. (We had a light, too, as some of the bunch got hold of a lantern.) A fellow in our squad by the name of Donald gets off some pretty good comedy -- original stuff, too. He is a rather rough nut, but not as bad as some of this crowd. There was some crowd at the station yesterday, wasn't there? I think I shook hands with everybody in town three or four times. Not a very pleasant task under the circumstances, either. Well, I got so much company in here that I can't think straight. This is rather a poor excuse of a letter, but I will write again soon. With best of love to my own little girl, Lloyd S.
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918 and in the shadow of the Russian Revolution and other events in Russia. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris - hence its title - between Germany and the Allies. The Versailles Palace was considered the most appropriate venue simply because of its size - many hundreds of people were involved in the process and the final signing ceremony in the Hall of Mirrors could accommodate hundreds of dignitaries. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm
American Air Service The United States Air Service deployed 45 fighter, bomber and observation squadrons. They participated in seven campaigns and shot down 781 enemy planes and 73 balloons. They dropped 140 tons of bombs in 150 bombing runs. They lost 289 planes and 48 balloons and 237 men. The War ended before America could begin to mass produce aircraft. They dropped 140 tons of bombs in 150 bombing runs. They lost 289 planes and 48 balloons and 237 men. The United States Navy also had one ace. http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww1/air/cou/w1acus.html
Influenza Pandemic The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. The flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. Of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, half of them fell to the influenza virus and not to the enemy. http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
Flying Circus In 1917 the German Army Air Service created the Jagdgeschwader fighter group. The group was nicknamed the Flying Circus because of the pilotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to paint their aircraft bright colors. Placed under the command of Manfred von Richthofen, the Flying Circus was made up of four elite fighter squadrons (12 aircraft per squadron). German Army Air Service created a system where it was possible
to quickly send its top fighter pilots to any part of the Western Front. Richthofen and his Flying Circus achieved immediate success during the air war over Ypres during August and September of 1917. The use of massed fighter pilot units contributed to the rise in large-scale dogfights in the later stages of the war.
Paul Vielle Vielle became an engineer and in the 1980s began working on the development of a smokeless gunpowder. Military commanders had been complaining for some time about the problems of giving orders on a battlefield that was swathed in thick smoke from the gunpowder used by the guns. In 1886 Vieille invented smokeless gunpowder called Poudre B. Made from gelatinized nitrocellulose mixed with ether and alcohol; it was passed through rollers to form thin sheets, which were cut with a guillotine to flakes of the desired size. The French Army was the first to use Poudre B but it was not long before other European countries followed their example. It revolutionized the effectiveness of small guns and rifles. Firstly because practically no smoke was formed when the gun was fired and secondly because it was much more powerful than gun powder, giving an accurate rifle range of up to 1000 yards. Paul Vielle died in 1934. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWvieille.htm