This book is an international comparative study of the British, German and French military chaplains during the First World War. It describes their role, position and daily work within the army and how the often conflicting expectations of the church, the state, the military and the soldiers effected these. This study seeks to explain similarities and differences between the chaplaincies by looking at how the pre-war relations between church, state and society influenced the work of these army chaplains.

The First World War has been described as the "primordial catastrophe of the twentieth century." Arguably, Italian Fascism, German National Socialism and Soviet Leninism and Stalinism would not have emerged without the cultural and political shock of World War I. The question why this catastrophe happened therefore preoccupies historians to this day. The focus of this volume is not on the consequences, but rather on the connection between the Great War and the long 19th century, the short- and long-term causes of World War I. This approach results in the questioning of many received ideas about the war's causes, especially the notion of "inevitability."

Virginia played an important role during World War I, supplying the Allied forces with food, horses and steel in 1915 and 1916. After America entered the war in 1917, Virginians served in numerous military and civilian roles-Red Cross nurses, sailors, shipbuilders, pilots, stenographers and domestic gardeners. More than 100,000 were drafted-more than 3600 lost their lives. Almost every city and county lost men and women to the war. The author details the state's manifold contributions to the war effort and presents a study of monuments erected after the war.

'Lloyd George at War, 1916-1918' provides a much needed re-evaluation of this charismatic prime minister's wartime leadership. Calling on a wide range of primary sources and focussing on Lloyd George's role in the war cabinet, Cassar compellingly argues that George's reputation as the "man who won the war" was wholly unmerited. Instead Cassar shows that Lloyd George's heavy handed leadership was often detrimental to the Allied cause. From his wholehearted support for the disastrous Nivelle offensive, to his pursuit of a peripheral strategy that diverted troops away from the critical theatre of war on the Western Front, Cassar shows that Lloyd George consistently bucked the advice of his generals in preference for ineffectual and dangerous military strategies. Cassar's approach also differs from that of other studies of Lloyd George by adopting a thematic approach in preference to a chronological narrative, thereby allowing a closer evaluation of Lloyd George's handling of complex issues.

"Strategy and Intelligence," which brings together original essays by a number of leading authorities on various aspects of the First World War, aims both to summarise the latest literature on Britain's participation in that war and also to open up new lines of investigation. These include the role of intelligence in land and air battles; Anglo-American financial relations; Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Irish relations; the British Labour movement in the war; and the final campaigns of 1918, which led to the Allied victory. These essays are written not only for the specialist but also to be accessible to students and to the general reader.

On 15th April 1915, British and Dominion troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The campaign which followed lasted over eight months and cost the terrible total of nearly half a million Allied and Turkish casualties. The eventual failure of the Gallipoli campaign, after heart-breaking opportunities had been missed, was a disastrous set-back to Allied hopes. It remains one of the most engrossing and poignant tragedies in British military history. In our new edition of this classic in military writing, Robert Rhodes James was one of the first historians to work from the official archives and makes brilliant use of diaries and letters of the men who fought there and the photographs they took. Gallipoli stands the test of time, bringing vividly to life the conditions and circumstances of a campaign which has never ceased to enthral the imagination.

When on May 15, 1918 a French lieutenant warned Henry Johnson of the 369th to move back because of a possible enemy raid, Johnson reportedly replied: "I'm an American, and I never retreat." The story, even if apocryphal, captures the mythic status of the Harlem Rattlers, the African-American combat unit that grew out of the 15th New York National Guard, who were said to have never lost a man to capture or a foot of ground that had been taken. It also, in its insistence on American identity, points to a truth at the heart of this book--more than fighting to make the world safe for democracy, the black men of the 369th fought to convince America to live up to its democratic promise. It is this aspect of the storied regiment's history--its place within the larger movement of African Americans for full citizenship in the face of virulent racism--that "Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War" brings to the fore.

With sweeping vision, historical precision, and unparalleled research, this book will stand as the definitive study of the 369th. Though discussed in numerous histories and featured in popular culture (most famously the film "Stormy Weather" and the novel "Jazz"), the 369th has become more a matter of mythology than grounded, factually accurate history--a situation that authors Jeffrey T. Sammons and John H. Morrow, Jr. set out to right. Their book--which eschews the regiment's famous nickname, the "Harlem Hellfighters," a name never embraced by the unit itself--tells the full story of the self-proclaimed Harlem Rattlers. Combining the "fighting focus" of military history with the insights of social commentary, "Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War" reveals the centrality of military service and war to the quest for equality as it details the origins, evolution, combat exploits, and postwar struggles of the 369th.

The authors take up the internal dynamics of the regiment as well as external pressures, paying particular attention to the environment created by the presence of both black and white officers in the unit. They also explore the role of women--in particular, the Women's Auxiliary of the 369th--as partners in the struggle for full citizenship. From its beginnings in the 15th New York National Guard through its training in the explosive atmosphere in the South, its singular performance in the French army during World War I, and the pathos of postwar adjustment--this book reveals as never before the details of the Harlem Rattlers' experience, the poignant history of some of its heroes, its place in the story of both World War I and the African American campaign for equality--and its full importance in our understanding of American history.

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 was done mainly, if one is to believe US policy at the time, to liberate the people of Iraq from an oppressive dictator. However, the many protests in London, New York, and other cities imply that the policy of "making the world safe for democracy" was not shared by millions of people in many Western countries. Thinking about this controversy inspired the present volume, which takes a closer look at how society responded to the outbreaks and conclusions of the First and Second World Wars. In order to examine this relationship between the conduct of wars and public opinion, leading scholars trace the moods and attitudes of the people of four Western countries (Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy) before, during and after the crucial moments of the two major conflicts of the twentieth century. Focusing less on politics and more on how people experienced the wars, this volume shows how the distinction between enthusiasm for war and concern about its consequences is rarely clear-cut.

A vivid account of the opening weeks of war by a volunteer despatch rider who may have prevented a swift German victory. Of Anglo-German stock, Roger West was conflicted when the war broke out but volunteered out of the strong sense of duty that was characteristic of his class. His linguistic skills led to his being commissioned into the Intelligence Corps but he was seconded as a despatch rider to the 19th Brigade, which bore a great brunt of the fighting in the first few weeks in 1914. West was in the thick of things despite being crippled with a badly-damaged foot, often riding round the clock, delivering despatches and directing and assisting soldiers separated from their units and disoriented stragglers. Discovering that a critical bridge had been left open to the German advance he volunteered to ride back and blow it up, preventing the retreating Fifth French Army from being taken in the flank, something that could have fulfilled the Schlieffen Plan's aims and won the war for Germany.

This classic study examines the deployment of U.S. naval vessels in European and Near Eastern waters from the end of the Civil War until the United States declared war in April 1917. Initially these ships were employed to visit various ports from the Baltic Sea to the eastern Mediterranean and Constantinople (today Istanbul), for the primary purpose of showing the flag. From the 1890s on, most of the need for the presence of the American warships occurred in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Unrest in the Ottoman Empire and particularly the Muslim hostility and threats to Armenians led to calls for protection. This would continue into the years of World War I. In 1905, the Navy Department ended the permanent stationing of a squadron in European waters.From then until the U.S. declaration of war in 1917, individual ships, detached units, and special squadrons were at times deployed in European waters. In 1908, the converted yacht Scorpion was sent as station ship (stationnaire) to Constantinople where she would remain, operating in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea until 1928. Upon the outbreak of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson ordered cruisers to northern European waters and the Mediterranean to protect American interests. These warships, however, did more than protect American interests. They would evacuate thousands of refugees, American tourists, Armenians, Jews, and Italians after Italy entered the conflict on the side of the Allies.

World War I was a global cataclysm that toppled centuries-old dynasties and launched ""the American century."" Yet at the outset few Americans saw any reason to get involved in yet another conflict among the crowned heads of Europe. Despite its declared neutrality, the U.S. government gradually became more sympathetic with the Allies, until President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany to ""make the world safe for democracy." Key to this shift in policy and public opinion was ""Anglo-Saxonism""-the belief that the English-speaking peoples were inherently superior and fit for world leadership. Just before the war, British and American elites set aside former disputes and recognized their potential for dominating the international stage. By casting Germans as "barbarians" and spreading stories of atrocities, the Wilson administration persuaded the public-including millions of German Americans-that siding with the Allies was a just cause.

Explore the Eastern Front battle that resulted in one of the greatest defeats of World War I, in which an entire Russian army was annihilated by German arms. Tannenberg is a major battle that deserves a fully illustrated treatment all of its own, and for the first time this book brings the epic Eastern Front clash to life in visual detail. No other book on this topic walks you through the action like this one, using detailed maps to provide unit locations and movements and help explain key command decisions, while period photographs and colour battlescenes put soldiering back at the core of the events by revealing the military material culture of the opposing sides. Michael McNally guides you through the initial border engagements and the battles of Gumbinnen and Stallupoenen, before moving on to explore the massive, often confused running battle of Tannenberg in easy to follow and concise detail. This work helps you understand how the Germans managed to maul Samsonov's Second Army and all but destroyed the Russians as a fighting force. The Russian war plan of using overwhelming numbers to gain a quick victory before conducting further operations would soon lie in pieces on the ground. It also assesses the contribution modern technology - such as railways, aerial reconnaissance, radio and telegraphy - made to the emphatic German victory.

World War I directly and indirectly caused events and social and political trends which defined the history of the world for the rest of the century, including the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism to the Great Crash of 1929 which lead to the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. It marked a turning point in world history as the end of the historical era of European dominance and the ushering in of a period which accelerated demands for freedom and autonomy in colonial settings. India played a significant role in the war and in the Allied victory on the battlefield. This book explores India's involvement in the Great War and the way the war impacted upon the country from a variety of different viewpoints including case studies focusing on key individuals who played vital roles in the war. The long and short term impacts of the war on different locations in India are also explored in the chapters which offer an analysis of the importance of the war on India while commemorating the sacrifices which were made. A new, innovative and multidisciplinary examination of India and World War I, this book presents a select number of case studies showing the intimate relationship of the global war and its social, political and economic impacts on the Indian subcontinent. It will be of interest to academics in the field of War Studies, Colonial and Imperial History and South Asian and Modern Indian History.

What did home mean to British soldiers and how did it help them to cope with the psychological strains of the Great War? Family relationships lie at the heart of this book. It explores the contribution letters and parcels from home played in maintaining the morale of this largely young, amateur army. And it shows how soldiers, in their turn, sought to adapt domestic habits to the trenches. Pursuing the unconscious clues within a rich collection of letters and memoirs with the help of psychoanalytical ideas, including those formulated by the veteran tank commander Wilfred Bion, this study asks fundamental questions about the psychological resources of this generation of young men. It reveals how the extremities of battle exposed the deepest emotional ties of childhood, and went on marking the post-war domestic lives of those who returned. -- .

Newly available in paperback, this groundbreaking study examines the dynamics of race and masculinity to provide fresh historical insight into the First World War. It examines, in detail, the experiences of Jamaicans who served in the British West Indies Regiment and other British regiments. From the earliest days of the war there was reluctance to accept Jamaican and other West Indian volunteers. Black volunteers were deemed to lack the masculine qualities of stoicism and self control necessary to modern warfare. But more significanlty, prewar fears of white racial degeneration merged with concerns that many white men could not withstand the psychological effects of modern warfare. If Imperial race and gender hierarchies were to be preserved, black soldiers could not be seen to outperform white soliders on the battlefield and so were generally deployed in labour battalions. This study also provides a comprehensive discussion of the war's impact on anti-colonial struggles in the West Indies. Despite their exclusion from the front line, black Jamaican volunteers appropriated codes of military heroism, sacrifice and citizenship. After the war, veterans enlisted the idealised imagers of chivalric combat to support demands for land and political enfranchisement, culminating in the nationalist upsurge of the late 1930s. A lively and accessible account that will prove invaluable to undergraduates studying the Imperial dimensions of the First World War. It will also be of great interest to students exploring the broader implications of race and masculinity in the British Empire and to the general reader interested in warfare or black history.

Europe from War to War, 1914-1945 explores this age of metamorphosis within European history, an age that played a crucial role in shaping the Europe of today. Covering a wide range of topics such as religion, arts and literature, humanitarian relief during the wars, transnational feminism, and efforts to create a unified Europe, it examines the social and cultural history of this period as well as political, economic, military, and diplomatic perspectives. Thematically organized within a chronological framework, this book takes a fully comparative approach to the era, allowing the reader to follow the evolution of key trends and ideas across these 30 turbulent years. Each period is analyzed from both an international and a domestic perspective, expanding the traditional narrative to include the role and impact of European colonies around the world while retaining a close focus on national affairs, everyday existence within Europe itself and the impact of the wars on people's lives. Chapters include discussion of regions such as Scandinavia, the Balkans, and Iberia that are less frequently covered, emphasizing the network of connections between events and places across the continent. Global in scope, accessibly written and illustrated throughout with photographs and maps, this is the perfect introductory textbook for all students of early twentieth-century European history.

Europe from War to War, 1914-1945 explores this age of metamorphosis within European history, an age that played a crucial role in shaping the Europe of today. Covering a wide range of topics such as religion, arts and literature, humanitarian relief during the wars, transnational feminism, and efforts to create a unified Europe, it examines the social and cultural history of this period as well as political, economic, military, and diplomatic perspectives. Thematically organized within a chronological framework, this book takes a fully comparative approach to the era, allowing the reader to follow the evolution of key trends and ideas across these 30 turbulent years. Each period is analyzed from both an international and a domestic perspective, expanding the traditional narrative to include the role and impact of European colonies around the world while retaining a close focus on national affairs, everyday existence within Europe itself and the impact of the wars on people's lives. Chapters include discussion of regions such as Scandinavia, the Balkans, and Iberia that are less frequently covered, emphasizing the network of connections between events and places across the continent. Global in scope, accessibly written and illustrated throughout with photographs and maps, this is the perfect introductory textbook for all students of early twentieth-century European history.

The U.S. Army evolved into a truly modern fighting force during World War I. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, the infantry was its primary offensive arm. Training focused mainly on target practice, bayonet charges and marching drills. Antiquated tactics emphasized massive attack waves relying on ferocity to achieve battlefield objectives. Heavy casualties resulted when inexperienced American troops encountered entrenched German veterans trained in the use of modern artillery and machine guns. By war's end the American Expeditionary Force had progressed along a bloody learning curve, developing sophisticated techniques-small flexible formations, fire-and-maneuver and infiltration-for breaking the trench warfare stalemate. Eventually, the AEF integrated new weapons like poison gas, tanks and aircraft into its offensive tactics and pioneered the mechanized combined arms warfare still practiced by the U.S. Army. The exploits of the Fifth ""Red Diamond"" Division exemplify this critical period of development.

This book examines language change and documentation during the First World War. With contributions from international academics, the chapters cover all aspects of communicating in a transnational war including languages at the front; interpretation, translation and parallels between languages; communication with the home front; propaganda and language manipulation; and recording language during the war. This book will appeal to a wide readership, including linguists and historians and is complemented by the sister volume Languages and the First World War: Representation and Memory which examines issues around the representation and memory of the war such as portrayals in letters and diaries, documentation of language change, and the language of remembering the war.

The Great War and the Moving Image focuses upon the Allied war effort on the Western Front and in the Mediterranean. In doing so, the book addresses topics ranging from how carefully selected images projected a positive portrayal of ambulance trains, through film's instructional role promoting self-sufficiency on the home front, to the vital role of makeshift YMCA cinemas both sides of the Channel. With editors and contributors who are authorities on cinema in wartime Britain and on the British response to the challenge of 'total war', the volume highlights the power that the moving image had during the Great War. In the introduction, the editors consider why the First World War can be seen as the first uniquely cinematic conflict. Later, historians from Britain, Australia, and America go on to explore film's pioneering role as a powerful vehicle for propaganda at home and abroad, and its contribution to maintaining morale among soldiers on the front line as well as across civilian audiences back home. The book concludes by considering the representation of trench warfare in today's hi-tech computer games. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television.

This is the first book to bring together an interdisciplinary, theoretically engaged and global perspective on the First World War through the lens of historical and cultural geography. Reflecting the centennial interest in the conflict, the collection explores the relationships between warfare and space, and pays particular attention to how commemoration is connected to spatial elements of national identity, and processes of heritage and belonging. Venturing beyond military history and memory studies, contributors explore conceptual contributions of geography to analyse the First World War, as well as reflecting upon the imperative for an academic discussion on the War's centenary. This book explores the War's impact in more unexpected theatres, blurring the boundary between home and fighting fronts, investigating the experiences of the war amongst civilians and often overlooked combatants. It also critically examines the politics of hindsight in the post-war period, and offers an historical geographical account of how the First World War has been memorialised within 'official' spaces, in addition to those overlooked and often undervalued 'alternative spaces' of commemoration. This innovative and timely text will be key reading for students and scholars of the First World War, and more broadly in historical and cultural geography, social and cultural history, European history, Heritage Studies, military history and memory studies.

*Telling tales about men* explores some of the ways in which conscientious objectors to compulsory military service were viewed and treated in England during the First World War. In doing so it considers these men's experiences, their beliefs, perceptions and actions. Each of the six main chapters explores a different collection of ideas about objectors. Thus, they are, for example, portrayed as cowards, heroes, traitors, patriots, criminals, deviants, degenerates and upstanding, intensely moral men. Here the tales told draw upon sources ranging from diaries, government papers, tribunal records, newspapers, magazines and novels and are informed by writings from fields including literary studies, criminology, sociology and law as well as various branches of historical studies. *Telling tales about men* is essential reading for scholars in the fields of the First World War, pacifism, militarism and gender. It is also aimed at those with a general interest in the Great War and the military as well as in peace movements and pacifism. -- .