World War 1

[Jamieva]

I've been watching a documentary on the Military Channel each morning this week about World War 1. been a long time since I took a class on it in college (15 years) and decided to read up on it again.

I picked up Keegan's book, any others you suggest? I read Guns of August as part of the college course I took.

I always felt it a shame that WW1 got so little attention in books and TV yet WW2 gets (IMO) more then it deserves WW2 has been rehashed way too many times.

[5fish]

Originally Posted by Jamieva

I've been watching a documentary on the Military Channel each morning this week about World War 1. been a long time since I took a class on it in college (15 years) and decided to read up on it again.

I picked up Keegan's book, any others you suggest? I read Guns of August as part of the college course I took.

I always felt it a shame that WW1 got so little attention in books and TV yet WW2 gets (IMO) more then it deserves WW2 has been rehashed way too many times.

I completely agree all the ills of the 20th century start with WWI. The human cost in lives during WWI matches or exceeded WWII for many countries. The problem is we(America) enter the late and did not enter the trenches until Oct, 1917 but don't enter the fighting until March 1918. The war was over by Nov, 1918 so for Americans WWI is just a blip on the screen of time. Unlike WWII were we fought for four years and lost ten of thousands of lives compared to WWI were only 50,000 lives were lost.

I can go on but don't let the British fool you if it was not for us the war would have ended in a stalemated even if Germany was in civil strafe. The French and the British did not have the manpower or the will and their countries were heading toward civil strafe as well.

WWI is completely underappreciated by history and by Americans. I can go on and on but I will stop for now.

[william42]

by 5fish
Either you misunderstood me or I wrote something wrong for all my earlier comments were about WW ONE.
I was not commenting on WW TWO. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

No apology necessary. If I had read your post more carefully I wouldn't have made the mistake. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'm deleting my post since it's obviously irrelevant to the thread.

Terry

[cw1865]

Originally Posted by Jamieva

I always felt it a shame that WW1 got so little attention in books and TV yet WW2 gets (IMO) more then it deserves WW2 has been rehashed way too many times.

It gets better coverage because it was covered better, the technology improved markedly.

I've seen a lot on the trench system in WWI and how it extended from the Channel to the Swiss border. I always wondered what exactly happened 'at the border' - did the trench just get dug right up to the border? (with a Swiss customs point just beyond)

I think its pretty clear that the entry of the US is the 'straw' that broke the camel's back but the better question (I think) is whether the 1918 German offensive would've brought France/Britain to armistice.

You can make a good argument, human suffering aside, that most of the major belligerents parties lost the war, Britain/France are both weaker, Germany goes into chaos, Russia goes into Bolshevism, the Austro/Hungarian empire falls apart, the Ottoman empire falls apart....

[5fish]

[quote=cw1865;81154]

I think its pretty clear that the entry of the US is the 'straw' that broke the camel's back but the better question (I think) is whether the 1918 German offensive would've brought France/Britain to armistice.

If America had not been there, I think the offensive would had bog down like the earlier ones did. The German's lack the manpower to end the war. Even after defeating the Russians, they had to keep 1.5 million men on that front till the end of the war. I believe that by the end of 1918 or the beginning of 1919 all sides would have ask for an armisticed.

With us there in 1918, we had the manpower to win the war so they sued for an armisticed that was unfavorable to them. Without us the armisticed would have been more even handed

[Cwarnut]

I recommend Martin Gilbert's Book "The First World War."

[5fish]

[quote=Jamieva;81117]I've been watching a documentary on the Military Channel each morning this week about World War 1. been a long time since I took a class on it in college (15 years) and decided to read up on it again.

A few years back I picked up two different set of WWI DVD's. One was a Black and White that had commentary from men who actually fought in the Trenches, called "Trenches".

The other one was called "WWI in color".

They will add different perspective on WWI for you.

This "war" needs some love from Historians other then British and French ones.

[ole]

I've read that the European War Colleges studied the USCW and Spanish-American War extensively, yet they still got themselves bogged down in attacking entrenched positions. The more things change ......

Confirmation please. I read somewhere that the doughboy was issued one uniform and one only. That he worked in it fought in it and marched in it. Is there any truth to that?

ole

[cw1865]

Originally Posted by ole

I read somewhere that the doughboy was issued one uniform and one only. That he worked in it fought in it and marched in it. Is there any truth to that?

Surefire method of preventing the spread of STDs among the men....

I'd say probably not, it would wear out too quickly....

[5fish]

Originally Posted by ole

I've read that the European War Colleges studied the USCW and Spanish-American War extensively, yet they still got themselves bogged down in attacking entrenched positions. The more things change ......

Confirmation please. I read somewhere that the doughboy was issued one uniform and one only. That he worked in it fought in it and marched in it. Is there any truth to that?

ole

I know little except that in the trenches there were body lice and before the soldiers left the trenches to go to the back they had to be de-liced. They took group showers and sprayed down with something that killed the lice. Their old clothes burned and were issued new ones.

There are many stories where a wounded British soldier covered in mud would be taken to a field doctor. As the doctor work past all the mud the clothes underneath would fall off the wounded soldier for the fabric had begun to rot.

Our Marines had to be issue U.S. Army informs before they went to the front because their uniforms looked very similar to the German inform.