In World War I, hand grenades were also known as “hand bombs.” The general philosophy for their use in the fighting armies was that grenades could kill the enemy underground or behind cover.
Sports, including football, had an important role in preparing U.S. soldiers for combat in World War I. By 1917, when the United States entered WWI, football had been played by many of the young men...
Dogs played an important military role for most European armies during World War I, serving in a variety of tasks. Dogs hauled machine gun and supply carts.
On Jan. 16, 1919, after nearly a century of activism, the Prohibition movement finally achieved its goal to rid American society of “the tyranny of drink.” Passed by Congress on Dec. 18, 1917, or...
Beer was part of daily life for soldiers during WWI. This article focuses on the personal and official references to beer during World War I, held in the archives of the Museum and Memorial.
The national food effort, and reorganization of the supply chain, served an Allied victory and inarguably changed how Americans ate, prepared and thought about food.
One aspect of American life not anticipated to be uprooted by World War I: Major League Baseball. Hundreds of current and future MLB players served in WWI.
The Hundred Days Offensive was a series of attacks by the Allied troops at the end of World War I. Starting on August 8, 1918, and ending with the Armistice on November 11, the Offensive led to the...
During the course of the Paris Peace Conference, three treaties were signed with members of the former Central Powers, with two additional treaties finalized after the official closing of the in...
In his war address to Congress on April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson spoke of the need for the United States to enter the war in part to “make the world safe for democracy.” Almost a year in...
These interviews, recorded between 1978 and 1980, allowed surviving veterans of the First World War to share their experiences, in their own words. If available, transcripts are also linked below.
At the dawn of 1917, the German high command forced a return to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, engineering the dismissal of opponents of the policy that aimed to sink more than 600,000...
Indelibly tied to Americans, “Doughboys” became the most enduring nickname for the troops of General John Pershing’s American Expeditionary Forces, who traversed the Atlantic to join war weary...
