Widespread Fraternization of German and Allied Troops. Spontaneous Outpouring of Anti-War Sentiment. Special to The Great War Project (24-25 December) And now something unexpected happens – something that will echo powerfully down through these one hundred years. Something that historians call “a spontaneous outburst of pacific feeling” in the war zones, according to historian Martin…
DEVASTATION FROM FLANDERS TO SERBIA.
by Mike Shuster
Nothing but Cruelty and Suffering. Kill them: the White Flag Be Damned. Special to The Great War Project (22-23 December) It keeps getting crueler and crueler. On December 22 a century ago, Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, lets it be known that orders now require… …British soldiers to bring “instant fire” to…
OTTOMAN CALLS FOR ‘JIHAD’ A FLOP.
by Mike Shuster
Holy War Finds Little Support Among Ottoman Muslims; New Front Opening in the Caucasus. Special to The Great War Project. (19-20-21 December) Turkey’s holy war against the Allied nations, especially Britain, is a flop. That’s the conclusion of war historian John Keegan. The Muslim Caliphate in the person of Sultan Mehmed V declares “holy war”…
GERMAN BATTLEFIELD DIARY CITES SAVAGERY OF OWN TROOPS
by Mike Shuster
Soldier Calls German Behavior ‘Bestiality.’ Special to The Great War Project (17-18 December) The German treatment of wounded prisoners is sparking outrage in Britain and France. More and more stories emerge of the killing of the wounded. “The savagery of the conflict,” writes historian Martin Gilbert “was to arouse great indignation when details of German…
GERMAN NAVY SHELLS BRITISH SEASIDE RESORT
by Mike Shuster
British Allow Bombardment in Bid to Sink German Ships Special to The Great War Project (15-16 December) German warships are bombarding the British coast this day a century ago at the Yorkshire seaside resort of Scarborough, in the first German naval bombardment of civilian targets. Many of the residents and visitors to Scarborough are “elderly…
MUD – THE SILENT KILLER
by Mike Shuster
The Trenches Fill with Water; They are Sinking, Along with the Soldiers in Them. ‘More Cruel, Relentless, Pitiless: Sigmund Freud. Special to The Great War Project (12-13-14 December) Conditions on the Western Front are horrible, and getting worse. One great factor is mud, making fighting almost impossible. Visiting the front line, French General Philippe Petain…
U.S. IN STATE OF ‘NEAR CRISIS’ WITH BRITAIN.
by Mike Shuster
American Ships Seized; Believed Carrying Copper for Germany. Special to The Great War Project (10-11 December) Trouble breaks out between Britain and the United States in the late fall of 1914 – “a state of near crisis,” according to Arthur Link, biographer of the American president Woodrow Wilson. The issue is neutrality – what the…
IN JIHAD, OTTOMANS USE BLACKMAIL, CAPTIVES AS HUMAN SHIELDS
by Mike Shuster
Threat to Kill Hostages; Suez Canal the Target. Britannia Still Rules the Waves. Special to The Great War Project (8-9 December) The Turks are now taking action against allied citizens, among them diplomatic personnel, living in outposts of the Ottoman Empire. By this time a century ago, writes historian Sean McMeekin… …hundreds of English, French, and…
THE MURDEROUS BATTLE FOR SERBIA
by Mike Shuster
The Suffering of Victors and Vanquished. Belgrade Now a City of Beggars, Cripples, and Orphans. Special to The Great War Project (6-7 December) Fighting in Serbia on these days a century ago seems first to favor Austria-Hungary. The Serbian government abandons Belgrade, and despite the incompetence and chaos within the Austrian forces, they appear to…
THE TERRAIN OF DEATH
by Mike Shuster
Letters from the Frozen, Blood-Soaked Battlefield. Every Man Wants it Ended “At Once.” Special to The Great War Project. (4-5 December) In these days of freezing temperatures and mounting fatalities, an extraordinary exchange of letters takes place involving Winston Churchill, the British First Lord of the Admiralty and one of Britain’s most aggressively pro-war senior…