Millions of Americans Crossing the Atlantic Germany’s First Target at Sea: the Tuscania. Special to The Great War Project (18 February) The build-up of American troops on the Western Front is proceeding far too slowly, and the Americans know it. The Americans “feared the worst for the coming year,” writes one American officer a century…
Tag Archive for U-boat
FIRST AMERICANS KILLED IN FRANCE
by Mike Shuster
French Are Bled White, but Are Americans Ready? What A Way to Get Leave. Special to The Great War Project. Editor’s note: an earlier caption on a graphic in this report misidentified it. It is Marshal Foch, the French military leader, not the French president Raymond Poincare (4 September) Some of the first Americans arrive…
WILL THE U.S. ENTER THE WAR?
by Mike Shuster
Debate Sharpens Amidst Submarine Attacks, Secret Plotting. Britain Regaining Offensive; Russia Collapsing. Special to The Great War Project. (5 March) Across the globe a century ago, events are speeding up, with the United States hurtling toward war. “The Zimmerman telegram was published in the United States on March 1st,” reports historian Martin Gilbert. Many in…
A FIGHT OVER HUNGER
by Mike Shuster
Food is Running Out, for Allies and Adversaries. If U.S. Enters War, Germans Gamble American Help Won’t Reach Europe Soon Enough. Special to The Great War Project. (12-19 February) War exhaustion at this moment of the Great War a century ago is plaguing all the major combatants: Britain and France, Germany and Austria, and Russia.…
GERMANY WOOS THE MEXICANS
by Mike Shuster
Secretly Temps Them To Join German Side. Germany Sinks American Ship; U.S. Breaks Relations Special to The Great War Project. (6 February) A clandestine German plot is underway, designed to counter an eventual American decision to get into the war. The plot is the handiwork of Dr. Arthur von Zimmermann, Germany’s newly appointed foreign minister.…
WILSON SEEKS A NEGOTIATED PEACE
by Mike Shuster
Finds Little Support, Belligerents Seek Knockout Blow; Germans Threaten U.S. Home Territory Special to The Great War Project (29 September-3 October) The Germans now eye the possibility of submarine attacks on the United States. American targets begin to attract German U-boat attention, as the underwater offensive spreads. At the beginning of October exactly a century…
WILSON PONDERS REELECTION AND WAR
by Mike Shuster
German U-boat Attacks Spread; An Ultimatum from the American President Special to The Great War Project (15-18 April) The American President, Woodrow Wilson is running for reelection, and the war is concerning him greatly. Since the war began, Wilson pursues a policy of neutrality. There is pressure in the United States to join the Allies…
DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS
by Mike Shuster
Germany Returns to Unrestricted Submarine Warfare Wilson Struggles with Policy of Neutrality Will the U.S. Enter the War? Special to The Great War Project (26-30 March) Tension is growing in the United States over the German decision to return to unrestricted submarine warfare and the American response to it. In the winter of 1916, the…
BRITISH DESPERATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
by Mike Shuster
Food Stores at Kut All But Gone; A Bribe for the Bey. In Contested Waters, Return of the U-Boats Special to The Great War Project (21-25 March) On this day a century ago, the British introduce a new weapon into the war at sea — the depth charge. A British ship drops an underwater explosive…
ALLIES NEED U.S. MONEY, WEAPONS TO CONTINUE THE WAR
by Mike Shuster
German Limits on U-boat Ops Satisfies Americans. Under Siege in Iraq, British Desperate for American Support Special to The Great War Project (3-6 February) It is now completely obvious that, at this stage in the war a century ago, without American support in munitions and loans, Britain and France will lose the war. Writes historian…