Reason why it was considered and embarrassment was that the United States got involved and sent thousands of men over to Europe, and fell under the command of French and British troops. And, not to put too fine a point on things, they were used as fodder. Why send your own men if you can send someone else? Likewise, after the war it was even more embarrassing. Of the world powers assembled to decide the fate of Germany, the United States got pretty much nothing of what it wanted accomplished. France and England proceeded to tear Germany down, forcing it to pay insane restitutions it couldn't possibly afford, etc, and coupled with the American stock market crash in 1929 help send Germany into a spiral that allowed Hitler's regime to come to power in the 30's.
As for the Harlem Rennassaince, it went something like this. African Americans went over in alongside white troops. Not always in the same roles (clearly), but generally they were thrilled to get out there in the world view as an integrated part of things. So in the end that inspired something of a social identity revolution.
And Italy...well...Italy had sort of the same role both times. I think ol' El Duche was mostly trying to rekindle the thrill of his youth. One of Hitler's prized possessions, allegedly, was an autograph signed by Musolini when Hitler was much younger. So the facists in Italy were a loose model for the Nazis. Clearly Hitler succeeded where Musolinni failed in a number of regards, but Italy did serve a purpose; it was a consideration and a distraction.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
vertue had this to say about Captain Planet:
Well, I know that Pearl Harbor was in the 1940s at least. I was just 3 years off.
Landing at Normandy was in 44 wasn't it? I think so. And wasn't that the first "Official" large detatchment of USA soldiers in Europe?
Not really =p
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Not really =p
Ok, then what was it? Otaku?
Archers Roxxors!
~~~
And, 'Deth, it's not that the American generals in WWI had any better ideas, or that the British or French quit sending their own men into the meat grinder when we got there.
WWI was an odd time in military thought, when technology (the machine gun) had completely outstripped doctrine.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
That was one of the things that made WW1 so strange. Since enemy soldiers could spend months living within 10 feet of each other, it was a little more difficult to think of them as enemies, and not as fellow human beings.
I also like Woodrow Wilson's sort of prediction of WW2
Archers Roxxors!
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How.... Eva_LORe.... uughhhhhh:
I know it's off topic but how do you get exp? I know someone asked that already
Why didn't you make a separate thread for that? Why didn't you just go back a couple pages looking for it?
Answers to these questions and more in the next exciting episode of "N00b Adventures!"
Yes, that's right, hot live sex!WWI is a very interesting war to study because it was the first full scale modern war. Ever since the fall of Naoplean 100 years before Europe had been swelling with massive amounts of nationalism and it all burst in a tragic chain of events.
From an American standpoint WWI can be seen a the spark that thrust us onto the world's stage. US wasn't as effected by the war as the European nations so the historical importance of the war isn't as stressed in American schools. Even with that limitation there are many great stories of WWI that are very interesting.
I think the one that is most interesting from an American standpoint is what helped bring the US into WWI. A letter sent to from Germany to the German Consulate in Mexico detailing a plan to help Mexico regain land lost in the Mexican-American War was intercepted by American intelligence. Until that point the US had taken an isolationist view of what they considered a European war and wasn't at all interested in getting involved.
Another interesting historical fact about WWI is how our troops were deployed to France. When the US entered WWI the war was already in it's third year and had already degraded into a trench war stalemate that was a deathtrap of shells, gas, and machine gun fire. In order to make sure that US resources were not wasted US commanders refused to send US troops to the frontline until one million had been amassed, trained, and armed. That alone was going to take at the very least a year to get together, and in the mean time troops would be shipped to Franced and housed at the French's expense. So while the French and British troops were dying in the trenches during 1917 and early 1918 hundreds of thousands of American "dough boys" were living in French towns and villas in various parts of France. When the Americans finially joined the troops on the trenches the war quickly ended in a matter of months. The Germans exaughsted by years of war were just outnumbered and quickly surrendered. It's hard to accuse the French/British of using US troops for cannon fodder, as pretty much all troops in the trenches were treated as such.
From where I stand I don't think the US was as much embrassed by it's involvment in WWI as it was fearful. It was clear that WWI could have been easily avoided if countries had taken greater steps to reign in nationalism and poorly thought out alliances. That knowledge was what lead the US to shun Wilson's execellent "League of Nations" treaty, fear that it would just drag the US into more pointless wars for countries that we would never want to fight for. This ultimatly was a mistake for the US as without the United States' support the League failed and Europe was set up to become the stage for a second world war which would have a far greater impact on the US and the world at large.
There are a lot of great resources avaliable about WWI, but if you really want to learn more about WWI and not have to spend a lot of time digging through history text books I recommend you do this. Get in touch with your local VFW and see if they are keeping any records of local people who fought in WWI, and go looking there for the really interesting stuff. If you are really lucky you may even find someone who fought in WWI, but by now those chances are rather slim. It's really a shame that people don't live longer than they do and that so many young people don't care to stop and listen to the elderly as they can related to a time we can only read about these days. My grandfather was a "dough boy" in WWI and as a child and teenager he used to tell me storys of his "Adventures in France". While I'm sure some of it was embellished to a great extent, it gave me a great sense of how his generation viewed the world.
Oh well I'm rambling now, and have written far too much. Enjoy.=)
