About WWI

Portable Communion sets allowed chaplains to bring the spiritual comfort of sacraments to service members wherever they were stationed, even under active bombardment.

In almost every country involved in WWI, propaganda played its part as a munition of the war.

This small charm highlights chaplains’ efforts to keep the bonds between service members close after the end of the war.

The service flag, or the Blue Star flag, is an official banner authorized by the Department of Defense for families who have members serving in the United States Armed Forces.

During the Great War, “Gott mit uns” (“God is with us”) was the rallying cry of the German military. It reflected deeply-held beliefs by German leadership and the hopes of the German people.

Clothed in white robes and arms outstretched, C. Howard Walker’s patriotic, feminine figure stands resolute in her goal to unite immigrant women in the United States of America.

Spotlight on an illustration by French artist Charles Huard depicting Algerian colonial soldiers known as Spahis. Find out about their roles in WWI as fighters for France and as prisoners of Germany.

Plaintive music wafts across a French compound where German prisoners of war are held behind the wire.

You’ve seen the movie versions, now check out the real things from WWI, curated from the National WWI Museum and Memorial's collection.

The story of Sgt. Edgar Halyburton, one of the first U.S. prisoners of war taken in WWI, and how he came to be immortalized in bronze by sculptor Cyrus Dallin.

At age 21, Ruth Law bought her first airplane from Orville Wright, who refused to train her since he believed women did not have the mechanical aptitude for flight.

By 1915, the great demand for material resources to support the war effort caused supplies that German civilians and soldiers commonly used to dwindle, increasing their costs and value.

While there were no coffee shops on every corner in Europe during WWI, American soldiers and sailors could still get that hot cup of coffee.

Oral history provides rich support to the written records that fill the Museum and Memorial’s collection.