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Uniforms in the military from WW1
The British wore khaki uniforms throughout World War One. These uniforms had originally been designed and issued in 1902 to replace the traditional red uniform and remained unchanged by 1914. The tunic had large breast pockets as well as two side pockets for storage -
German Fire
The Germans began actively to develop chemical weapons. In October 1914, the Germans placed some small tear-gas canisters in shells that were fired at soldiers but the Russians nonetheless reported more than 1,000 killed as a result of the new weapon. -
Trenches
Trenches were used to try to protect soldiers from poison gas, giving them more time to put on gas masks. Dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, and trench foot were all common diseases in the trenches, especially during WWI. The trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived. -
Trench Food
The bulk of their diet in the trenches was bully beef (canned corned beef), bread and biscuits. By the winter of 1916 flour was in such short supply that bread was being made with dried ground turnips. The main food was now a pea-soup with a few lumps of horsemeat. -
Lusitania
After World War I began in 1914, Lusitania remained a passenger ship, although it was secretly modified for war.
On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned luxury steamship Lusitania, killing 1,128 people including 128 Americans. -
Archduke Assassination
In June 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie traveled to Bosnia. On June 28, the couple went to the capital city of Sarajevo to inspect imperial troops stationed there, their driver inadvertently drove them past Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip who shot and killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife at point-blank range. -
Russia Mobilizes
Russia entered into World War I on August 1, 1914, when Germany declared war on it. In accordance with its war plan, Germany ignored Russia and moved first against France declaring war on August 3 and sending its main armies through Belgium to attack Paris from the north. -
Nursing During WW1
Nurses treated numerous types of wounds, as well as infections and mustard gas burns. They were also faced with soldiers suffering from emotional injuries, including shell shock. Some were trained in social work, including psychiatric training, in order to help current soldiers and those returning home deal with their experiences. -
Changes in care
Cleanliness and hygiene are key weapons in preventing the spread of infection in both army accommodation and military hospitals. Soldiers living in the squalid conditions of the First World War trenches were susceptible to a range of infections, including typhus fever carried by lice. -
Economic impact
During WWI, governments learned their people would submit to taxation and conscription if it meant protection from outside forces. The U.S. top tax rate rose from 7 percent in 1915 to 77 percent in 1918. In World War II, it rose above 90 percent in 1944 and remained there until President Johnson reduced it in 1964. -
Germany Limits Submarines
Germany agrees to limit its submarine warfare. On this day in 1915, Germany responds to a demand by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson by agreeing to limit its submarine warfare in order to avert a diplomatic break with the United States. -
Weapons advancement
This weapon, along with barbed wire and mines, made movement across open land both difficult and dangerous. Thus trench warfare was born. The British introduced tanks in 1916; they were used with airplanes and artillery to advance the front. The advent of chemical warfare added to the soldier's perils. -
Transportation in World War 1
At the beginning of World war 1, horses were the main source of transport during warfare, but as the war progressed and trench warfare became more prominent, horses became more useless and weak against the enemy’s machine guns and barbed wire, so cars became more efficient and tanks were used more for protection in the battles -
The Forgotten Communities of World War I
1917 the United States Government embarked upon unprecedented experiments in the planning and construction of neighborhoods and housing for American workers and their families. Within a period of two years,over83 new housing projects in 26 States were designed, planned and had commenced construction. The achievements of this effort are staggering. Within few years 5,033 acres were developed into housing for over 17,0000 people. Almost 30,000 families lived in 9-543 single and 3,996 semi-detached -
U.S. Economy in World War I
The United States was actively involved in World War I for only nineteen months, from April 1917 to November 1918, the mobilization of the economy was extraordinary. Over four million Americans served in the armed forces, and the U.S. economy turned out a vast supply of raw materials and munitions. The war in Europe, of course, began long before the United States entered. -
Wilson for War
The public outcry against Germany buoyed President Wilson in asking Congress to abandon America’s neutrality to make the world safe for democracy. -
Selective Service Act
Authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. The Act was upheld as constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1917. -
Mobilizing the Economy
The first and most important mobilization decision was the size of the army. When the United States entered the war, the army stood at 200,000, hardly enough to have a decisive impact in Europe. However, on May 18, 1917, a draft was imposed and the numbers were increased rapidly. Initially, the expectation was that the United States would mobilize an army of one million.
