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Lots of people love spicy food for that tongue-tingling feeling. But where does it come from? What's happening in our mouths when we bite down on a jalapeño or chili flake? We asked taste and smell researcher Arthur Zimmerman to help us find the answer.Got a tasteful question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll spice up your life with the answer!
John O'Farrell and Angela Barnes take a not-so-serious look at the most captivating and bizarre moments in history. This time Angela tells John how in 1917, the German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to his man in Washington. Sounds dull? It isn't; this telegraph was probably responsible for changing the course of WW1. What could a telegram possibly say that would make peace loving US President Woodrow Wilson take his country into the bloodiest conflict? Recommended reading: The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman. Cryptologic Quarterly, National Security Agency - The Zimmermann Telegram. Get all episodes a week early – when you support We Are History on Patreon: https://patreon.com/WeAreHistory Angela Barnes is on tour with her critically acclaimed, sold out Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Hot Mess'. Tickets are available here https://www.angelabarnescomedy.co.uk We Are History is written and presented by Angela Barnes and John O'Farrell. Audio production by Simon Williams and artwork by James Parrett. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor is Andrew Harrison. We Are History is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the cold winter of early 1917, the world was in the throes of one of its deadliest conflicts, World War I. From the muddy trenches of Western Europe to the icy waters of the Atlantic, nations were locked in a horrific struggle that seemed to have no end in sight. Thousands of miles away, the United States stood on the sidelines, committed to a policy of neutrality, even as the cries of the suffering echoed across the globe. At the heart of this struggle was Germany, wrestling to maintain its place as the world teetered on the brink of change. Arthur Zimmerman, the German Foreign Secretary, bore the weight of these global tensions, looking for a way to tilt the balance of the war in Germany's favor. This pivotal moment led to the birth of the Zimmerman Telegram - a secret message that would change the trajectory of the war and ripple through the annals of history. A world away, in a nondescript room in the heart of London, a team of British cryptanalysts known as Room 40 were immersed in a silent, intellectual combat of their own. Unknown to them, they were about to uncover a message that would shake the world's political stage and decisively alter the course of the Great War. In this dramatic narrative, we invite you on a journey through the twisting tunnels of political strategy, secret communications, espionage, and global diplomacy. This is the story of the Zimmerman Telegram Interception - a saga that reveals how one coded message could change the world forever.
Vừa chập chững những bước đi đầu tiên, điện ảnh Mỹ đã bị cuộc Thế Chiến Thứ Nhất ở châu Âu bên kia bờ Đại Tây Dương cuốn theo. Một lý do rất chính trị, chính phủ Mỹ thời bấy giờ đã nhìn thấy điện ảnh như một công cụ tuyên truyền hữu hiệu và các nhà điện ảnh Mỹ trở thành những chiến sĩ xung kích trên mặt trận tuyên truyền. (Tạp chí được phát lần đầu ngày 20/09/2017). Chính bối cảnh và các trải nghiệm chiến tranh đã giúp Hollywood có được sức bật mới để phát triển thành một ngành công nghiệp giải trí có sức ảnh hưởng lớn nhất thế giới hiện nay. Các nhà làm phim Hollywood đã bị lôi kéo vào cuộc Chiến Tranh Thế Giới Thứ Nhất như thế nào? Một sự kiện làm đảo lộn dư luận Mỹ: Con tàu thủy Lusitania chuyên chở đến Anh những thường dân và các khí tài chiến tranh đã bị tàu ngầm Đức phóng lôi đánh chìm. Hậu quả 1.200 nạn nhân, trong đó có 128 người Mỹ. Giáo sư sử học William Deverelle nhớ lại: "Người Mỹ có cảm giác chiến tranh ở xa họ, bên châu Âu cho đến tận khi chiếc tàu ngầm Đức làm thiệt mạng các công dân Mỹ. Quả thực Los Angeles đang ngày càng chú ý nhiều đến chiến tranh. Trong những năm 1915, 1916 nhiều người ở Los Angeles đã lên tiếng nói rằng cần phải can thiệp". Cuốn theo chiều gió chiến tranh Rồi sau đó xuất hiện vụ “bức điện tín Zimmerman”. Tháng Giêng năm 1917, một bức điện mật gửi đến chính phủ Mêhicô bị tình báo Anh chặn được. Tác giả bức điện là bộ trưởng ngoại giao Đế chế Đức Arthur Zimmerman. Ông William Deverelle cho biết tiếp: “Bức điện nói rằng nếu Hoa Kỳ lao vào cuộc chiến với các đồng minh, họ có thể chọn đồng minh giữa Đức và Mêhicô. Điều này đã gây tức giận ở Hoa Kỳ. Bức điện của Zimmerman nhắc Hoa Kỳ rằng miền tây nam nước này cách đó không lâu vẫn còn là lãnh thổ Mêhicô và nó có thể trở lại Mêhicô dưới sự quản lý của chính phủ Mêhicô. Điều này đã làm thức tỉnh California, bang này nhận thấy tình trạng nghiêm trọng”. Cùng thời kỳ đó, Cecil B. DeMille làm bộ phim “La petite américaine - Cô bé Mỹ” với Mary Pickford đóng vai chính. Cô vào vai Angela trên đường đến gặp bà cô già ở châu Âu. Cô xuống một con tàu thủy, cũng giống như con tàu Lusitania, tàu của cô bị thủy lôi bắn chìm trên đường qua châu Âu. Được cứu sống ở phút chót, cô đến được nước Pháp khi đó đang bị Đức chiếm đóng. Nhưng tại đây, cô được chứng kiến những tội ác dã man của người Đức và cô chọn đứng về phe đồng minh. Ngày 06/04/1917, Quốc Hội Mỹ đồng ý tham chiến với 373 phiếu thuận, 50 phiếu chống. Tổng thống Wilson đã phải thay đổi căn bản lập trường. Theo nhà nghiên cứu Steven Ross: “Cách đó chưa đầy một năm, ông đã hứa không đưa nước Mỹ vào cuộc chiến tranh, còn giờ thì ông đã chính thức lao vào và ông phải quay ngược dư luận toàn quốc. Một tuần sau khi tuyên bố chiến tranh, ông thành lập ủy ban thông tin nhà nước. Ông chỉ định một cựu nhà báo, George Creel và ra lệnh cho ông ấy bằng một dòng chữ : “Hãy tán dương cuộc chiến này với người dân Mỹ!” Ý thức được quyền lực ngày càng lớn của điện ảnh, George Creel liên hệ với Hollywood yêu cầu sản xuất các bộ phim ca tụng nước Mỹ và chính phủ. Ban đầu đề nghị bị bác bỏ, các nhà sản xuất phim muốn chứng tỏ độc lập. George Creel sử dụng đến đe dọa nếu Hollywood từ chối, chính phủ sẽ hạn chế xuất khẩu phim, sẽ gọi nhân viên của Hollywood đăng lính và đóng cửa các sân khấu buổi tối. Vài ngày sau, ông nhận được một bức thư của các trường quay Hollywood với một giọng điệu khắc hẳn. Steven Ross cho biết tiếp: “Chúng tôi quyết định hợp tác với chính phủ, từ nay chúng tôi sẽ không còn sản xuất các phim mang tính tích cực với khán giả Mỹ. Creel như vậy đã giành thắng lợi trong cuộc chơi. Ông bảo đảm không có ai ly khai ở Hollywood. Không có phim phê phán chiến tranh làm ảnh hưởng đến tinh thần dân chúng Mỹ.” Các ngôi sao điện ảnh cũng muốn thể hiện cho thấy họ tham gia vào các nỗ lực của cuộc chiến. Hai tuần sau khi Quốc hội bỏ phiếu, một đội vệ binh được thành lập ở Los Angeles. Cecil B DeMille là chỉ huy, Mary Pickford, người cầm cờ. Một ngày Chủ Nhật, đội vệ binh diễu hành trên đại lộ Hollywood và trung tâm Los Angeles. Ông Marc Wanameker: “Đội vệ binh quốc gia chính là Hollywood biểu dương tinh thần ái quốc, tất nhiên rất biểu tượng. Nhưng cũng có những đơn vị được quân đội huấn luyện tại trang trại Jessy Lasky, được học cách bắn và tác chiến. Họ trở thành những thủ lĩnh không chỉ trong lĩnh vực làm phim mà cả trong cuộc chiến tranh”. Một đóng góp khác của các nghệ sĩ của màn ảnh rộng. Chiến dịch đăng ký tham gia chiến tranh. Washington tổ chức nhiều chuyến lưu diễn trong đó có một cuộc với Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford và võ sĩ quyền anh Jack Demsey, chuyến lưu diễn đã thành công. Hàng triệu đô la đã được quyên góp. “Có hàng triệu người đến xem họ. Chúng ta đang ở những năm 1910 không có truyền hình, phát thanh; họ trở thành những ngôi sao quốc tế. Ta có thể nói đó là hệ quả của chiến tranh”. Sự hợp tác giữa Washington và Hollywood tỏ ra sinh lợi vì ngoài các phim của họ, các xưởng phim còn nhận được đơn đặt hàng của chính phủ về các đề tài thời sự mặt trận, phóng sự chiến trường, phim ngắn ca ngợi tinh thần yêu nước… Không bao lâu sau, điện ảnh đã vượt qua mong đợi của chính phủ, chuyển theo hướng tuyên truyền. Tất cả những phim như vậy góp phần huấn luyện binh sĩ, phần lớn trong họ khám phá điện ảnh đồng thời với chiến tranh. Mary Pickford trở thành người đỡ đầu cho nhiều đơn vị trong hải quân, pháo binh và không quân. Năm 1918, nhà biên kịch Frances Marion viết riêng cho cô nhân vật Johanna Enlists. Trong phim này nữ diễn viên kêu gọi công chúng dấn thân và kêu gọi các đoàn quân hãy chỉ trở về sau khi giành chiến thắng ở Đức. Về phần mình đạo diễn David W. Griffith được chính phủ Anh đề nghị làm một phim tài liệu ca ngợi các đồng minh. Ông được mời đến quay tại mặt trận Somme (Pháp), ông lồng ghép những hình ảnh chiến tranh vào một câu chuyện tâm lý tình cảm để lên án sự tàn bạo của Đức. Vẫn theo chuyên gia Marc Wanamaker: “Griffith đến Pháp và quay các cảnh trong các đường hào, cho dù phần lớn của bộ phim được thực hiện tại Hollywood, trong trường quay thực địa. Chủ đề của phim là để cho thấy các phụ nữ, trẻ em, gia đình chịu đau khổ. Khi bạn mô tả các phụ nữ trong chiến tranh là bạn nói về nhân loại, trong đó công chúng có thể cảm thấy có mình trong đó”. Chiến Tranh Thế Giới lần thứ nhất làm 10 triệu người chết ở châu Âu, 5.000 người Mỹ. Nhưng nó cũng giúp Mỹ trở thành cường quốc kinh tế hàng đầu thế giới. Như nhận xét của nữ văn sĩ Cari Beauchamp : “Chiến tranh đã thay đổi tại đất nước này, tôi không nghĩ họ nhận ra điều đó vào năm 1914. Nhưng chiến tranh đã sinh lợi rất nhiều cho Hollywood vì nó đã loại trừ mọi cạnh tranh. Châu Âu thực tế có những nhà điện ảnh lớn giờ đuổi theo sự chậm trễ và họ không thể làm được khi chiến tranh kết thúc vì 90% sản phẩm điện ảnh trên thế giới là làm tại Mỹ”. Năm 1919 Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford và David W. Griffith thành lập hội United Artist để bảo vệ các tác phẩm của họ. Các xưởng phim Hollywood giờ đây tự kiểm soát việc sản xuất, phát hành và khai thác phim. Chiến tranh đã giúp điện ảnh phát triển thành một ngành công nghiệp thực thụ. Los Angeles là thủ đô và các minh tinh màn bạc, là đồng minh quý giá của Washington. Từ giờ một điều không thể chối cãi là Hollywood đã trở thành một thế lực kinh tế và nghệ thuật có ảnh hưởng đối với cả thế giới.
The Emancipation Proclamation Station Welcome back to the Emancipation podcast station the place to hear about history, researched and retold through the eyes of Middle and High school students Beginning of World War I: Ella - One of the known causes of world war 1 turning into a world war was the alliance system. In 1839, the treaty of London was signed which was where Britain was going to protect the neutrality of Belgium. In 1879 the dual alliance treaty was signed between Germany and Austria-Hungary to protect each other from Russia. Many other alliances were also forming at the time. Ethan - Germany’s navy was starting to get threatening to Britain’s navy. Britain took necessary precautions and signed a document with France called the Entente Cordial, tipping the odds of any war in in their favor. This made Germany realize they were a threat and thought they were being pushed back down, so in turn they became more aggressive and ready for war. Hunter- something that happened about three months before the war was the assassination of: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, on June 28 1914, in Sarajevo, resulting in the July Crisis. How Austria-Hungary responded to this assassination was by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia’s reply to the ultimatum didn’t satisfy the Austrians, afterword the two moved to a war footing. Emma - The power that the nations of Germany and Italy possessed at the beginning of the first world war was impressive as it was, but we have to take into account how quickly they had acquired it. Both of these countries, though they had deep cultural roots, were very new as official nations. Both had formed during the Franco-Prussian war barely more than forty years previous but now held power over regions stretching from Africa to east Asia. Audrey - Starting in 1892 there was an alliance between France and Russia and this was the Franco Russian Military Convention. Then in the early 1900s there were a series of agreements between Great Britain France and Russia so that they were in good terms with each other. The alliance between Great Britain France and Russia was the Triple Entente (which means agreements). Skylar - World war I or sometimes known as the Great War started on July 28th, 1914, the war started in Europe. The war was in Africa, the middle east, Pacific islands, indian ocean, China, north and south atlantic oceans, and like i said Europe. They think that this war killed about 16 million people died from direct cause of this war. Gabe - The war started basically because russia wanted to protect serbia and germany wanted to protect austria so when austria went to fight serbia russia went to fight germany Ben - America only began to fight in World War 1 in 1917 ( April 6th to be specific ) with their allies. They had alliances with Russia, Britain, and France at the time, making them a strong force at the time. Led by major General John J. Pershing, 2 million American soldiers fought despite many American citizens wanting the country to stay neutral. Other fronts of World War I: 1.Hunter- One of the many different fronts of the war was the Italian front, the italians were apart of the Triple Alliance during this time, but italy stayed out of the war in 1914 because it claimed that Austria had not been attacked so therefor italy didn’t have to support Austria. In all reality the Italians had a secret agreement with the allies, the allies said that they would give the italians some Austrian territory if they attacked Austria-Hungary. EthanOL - As soon as the war started Japan decided they wanted what the Germans had. Japan was already allied Britain so that they could attack Germany without Britain growing apart from them. They attacked Tsingtao which was a German base in China. This was the first naval/aerial assault ever. They didn’t use exactly aircraft carriers but they did carry their aircrafts. This was called the Siege of Tsingtao which took place in 1914. Ella - Serbia was a very small country with approximately 4.5 million people and an army of around 400,000 soldiers. Almost everyone who could be in the army at the time was in it but it still ended up being destroyed with 60% of the army getting killed, which decreased Serbia's population by 16%. Emma - Italy’s agreements with the Triple Alliance and the Allies were only two of a long series of strategic alliances and deals the nation made on the road to the first world war. Their entry into the Triple Alliance was the first move, which was actually a surprising one, due to the fact that Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire (another member of the triple alliance) had been enemies previously. Twenty years later, which still under this pact, they made a secret alliance with France. Twelve years after that, the Austro-Hungarian empire entered the war. Only one year later, they entered the treaty of London, an agreement with the Triple entente (england, russia, and france) to fight against their original allies, exit the triple alliance, and declare war on the Austro-Hungarian empire. 5.Skylar - Italy took part in the triple alliance in 1882 when they agreed to be apart of it, they were one of the first countries to take part in it. The whole reason that it was called the triple alliance was because there were three countries in it Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany. This was kind of a weird mix because they didn’t really like each other but still said they would protect each other if worse comes to worst. Italy was making deals with other places like france in 1902. It was kind of just a lot of back stabbing. Gabe - The Italians helped the allies by attacking austria hungary which is in the triple alliance so basically they made an alliance and were like let's help each other i mean we all don't like each other and would love to see each other destroyed so why not make an alliance really smart and then they dont even help each other its completely useless Ben - Japan played a big part in the fight for the West Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Most of the reason Japan fought was because they wanted influence in China, but even with the help of Sun Yat-sen, they didn’t have many successes. 8. Western and Eastern fronts of World War I: 1.Hunter- during this time in the war the Germans were fighting two countries, one of which during the western front was France, the Germans had thought if they were to defeat the French (Russia’s ally) in four weeks then they could have an advantage against the Russians in the Eastern front. Ethan- The Germans realized that after the Franco-Prussian War, they were going to be due for another war with France. Germany unified in advance to make sure France had a disadvantage. The humiliation was huge and Germany took Alsace and Lorraine, which were mineral rich and valuable to anyone who controlled it. Germany realized this might hurt them later because France was allied with Russia so if there was war that it’d be on 2 fronts. Ella - The western front in world war 1 was much smaller that the eastern front, but the western front could uses trenches as a defence system since they had less land to defend. The eastern front however, could not use this method due to the land being so wide and them not having enough people to dig them. Even if they were able to dig some, they wouldn't have enough and the western people could easily go around. Emma - In February of the year 1916, the battle of Verdun took place when the Germans launched an attack on the French military at the border between Germany and France. Unlike a lot of the other offensive acts in the war, this battle was not intended to result in the gain of territory for the Germans. The point of this attack was to cause the French to send so many troops, and to cause so many casualties that the French would deplete all their resources and be forced to withdraw from the war. Audrey - In WW1 the Germans were using poison gas as a weapon. Some of the poison gases are chlorine gas, which would immediately cause you to choke to death, phosgene gas, which wouldn’t cause choking and this allowed the gas to get into to lungs and there was a delayed effect, and mustard gas, another that wouldn’t cause choking but it would cause severe blistering which would take you out of the war. Ben - Germany eventually gained peace with Russia on May 3rd, 1918. Russia accomplished this by giving Germany a significant amount of land. This was done under the Bolshevik Government of Russia, which was founded in 1917 after a revolution overthrew the provisional government. Skylar- After the battle of Verdun the british and the French decide to go against a different part of the front, this time close to the Somme river in july of 1916. This battle was the first time they used tanks, it was an extremely bloody battle. 8. Blockades and American entry: Hunter- On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sunk the British ocean liner called Lusitania, ending in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people and that includes 128 Americans. The event strained diplomatic relations between Washington and Berlin, and turned public opinion on Germany. Skylar - the united states had maintained being neutral in the war up until this point, Wilson had just won presidency again because he had kept the US out of the war. Germany was getting pretty desperate so they were going to go back to their idea of unrestricted submarine warfare but they knew if they did that the US would side with their allies. In january of 1917 the Zimmerman Telegram was created by Arthur Zimmerman sent a encoded telegram to mexico, it was encoded because it had to pass through lines that the US controlled. He told them that he knows a way to slow them down. (if someone wants to go off of this that would b awesome) 3.Ethan - In April 1917 the administration had thought about it and Germany had took it too far, with their submarine warfare. President Wilson decided that war on Germany was inevitable and sent a famous message to Congress for why it needs to go to war with Germany. On April 4th Congress decided to allow war on Germany, and war pursued quickly. Now, many people were deciding for themselves why we were at war. Many public opinion were stated, some saying it was inevitable, some saying we should stay out of war. Ella - So the United States entered world war 1 for multiple reasons including them having financial ties, trade ties, and cultural ties with the British. Another reason being the British using a lot of successful propaganda. Gabe - im a take a step back to skylar so the encoded telegram was intercepted by the british and then shared with america and it said that they would help mexico take texas arizona and new mexico back from the united states if they helped the germans in the war Audrey - In November of 1914 the British declared the entire North Sea a war zone so if a ship came they would probably be destroyed. The ships especially couldn’t carry any contraband, and food was considered a contraband. So the Germans and the Austrians had to start rationing food to the point of eating only 1k calories a day. This was making the central powers weaker not only because they couldn’t get what they needed for war but people were dying and there were about 400k deaths due to starvation. Emma - In 1917, Senator George Norris issued a speech in opposition to the entry of the United States of America into the World War. In his speech he acknowledged that both England and Germany were wrong in the actions of war they had chosen to take; declaring certain areas war zones, but he did not support the entry into the war and listed several alternative actions that could have been taken. Ben - Most of the American soldiers starting arriving and began fighting on the battlefields of france on the twenty sixth of June. Britain and France also sent additional officers to help train the newly drafted American soldiers. World War I shapes the Middle East: 1.Hunter- The first world war truly shaped the middle east, but the aftermath of the war made the largest change in the region as we know it. One of the events that had changed the middle east was when Russia had staked a claim on Istanbul and waterways linking the Black seas to the Mediterranean seas, and the French claimed Syria and Cilicia in modern day Turkey. Skylar - the British wanted the help of the Arab’s because they wanted them to fight the Ottoman’s on the Palestine and Sinai fronts. So they told Hussein bin ali if he helped them that they would give him free territory, for an independent arab state and he agrees. After that he names himself king of the Hejaz in 1916. Ethan - Britain had a presence in the Middle East at the time of the end of the war. Egypt was under the protection of Britain, and when they didn’t get freedom until 1922 there was a sort of revolt. In the end the Egyptians won this slight war and obtained their freedom. At this time Britain was also protecting Kuwait and they have since the 1800s. They still did not get their freedom handed to them until 1961. Ella - In 1915, 6,500 people from the British army were sieged in Kut, after retreating from Ctesiphon by the ottoman Empire for 147 days till they were forced to surrender. Gabe - The Ibn Saud ruled the basically the other side of saudi arabia right next to Hussein bin ali and he actually goes and takes the Hejaz empire and declares himself king of the sauds in the hejaz in 1926 and this is how you get saudi arabia Emma - The British troops (made up of all the various countries that were part of the British empire, such as India and New Zealand) started their Middle Eastern campaign at the southern end of Mesopotamia, near the Persian gulf. They moved northward along the Tigris river, capturing land until they held control over the majority of what is now Iraq. Meanwhile on the other side of the land mass in Egypt, they were on the defensive side of the war for quite a while while the Ottomans attempted, and failed, to take capture Suez canal from British control. 7.Ben - After the Middle East changed, a lot of its boundaries and borders did too. They looked a lot closer to what they look like today. This happens a lot with very large wars because tons of land gets conquered, traded, or destroyed. 8. Aftermath of World War I Skylar - Woodrow Wilson gave a speech on January 8th, 1918 that is called Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points. The fourteen points were statements that Wilson gave to try to make peace with everyone and end the war. During his speech he talked about why he thought the war started and what they could do to end it with peace instead of hatred. He talked about free trade, how all conversations should be open for everyone to see, freedom of navigation, and many more things. 2.Hunter- the aftermath of this war truly was amazing, this war had changed so much of the world that we know now, for instance: WW1 had brought about the temporary political disruption of four venerable dynasties-- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Turkey. This war also brought up a massive social disruption, as millions of women entered the workforce to support men who had went to war, and to replace those who never came back. Ella - World War one ended at the end of 1918, so in 1919 they started discussing the terms of peace so they held the Paris Peace conference. Now during the peace conference the winners decide the “terms of peace” but they all had different outlooks about it (someone plz build off of me if you can if not cool tho Gabe - One of the “Terms of peace” that came out of the Paris Peace conference is the Treaty of Versailles which probably was the treaty to germany it said that germany was gonna pay for all of the allies losses they had to pay something like 60 billion in today's money and that's not including the resources they payed they also were only allowed to have 100,000 men in there army there weren't allowed to have any u boats battleships tanks basically nothing mechanized and we took lots of their territory and split and was given to the allies 5..Emma - The Treaty of Versailles had a huge effect on the German economy and government at the time. Another term of the treaty was that they were not allowed to make an alliance with Austria, due to the cultural and linguistic ties between the two. They were also occupied by the allies in the Saar region of Germany, near the French border. This area was a large coal mining area and for fifteen years, all the coal mined there got shipped to France. That still left a large portion of reparations to be paid back in currency so the government basically printed a ton of money, and tried to convert it into other currencies which resulted in serious inflation all the way into the twenties. So when that happened and they could no longer pay in money, France occupied the Ruhr region and began shipping steel and coal out of there. Ethan - WWI left many families without a parent or without a child to come home to. Many soldier died in battle and from starvation, so in turn this was one of the most bloody battles in history. The U.S. lost approximately 116,708 soldiers in war. Not to mention the prisoners of war that died from many causes like starvation and disease. For those whose remains were never found we have the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. This is a tradition that has been kept up since 1931 and have never not been guarded since then Ben - Strangely enough, World War 1 kind of helped Japan’s economy. The demand for japanese products became very large and the economy flourished for a time. This also happened similarly in America, because the American economy in the 1920’s was doing very nice. Audrey - There were approximately 16 million deaths due to WWI 8-10 million being military. About 60% of the soldiers deaths were the Entente and 40% were the Central Powers. But 6-7 million that died were civilians and out of that over a million of the civilian deaths were due to direct military action were the rest was caused by starvation and disease.
The Emancipation Proclamation Station Welcome back to the Emancipation podcast station the place to hear about history, researched and retold through the eyes of Middle and High school students Beginning of World War I: Ella - One of the known causes of world war 1 turning into a world war was the alliance system. In 1839, the treaty of London was signed which was where Britain was going to protect the neutrality of Belgium. In 1879 the dual alliance treaty was signed between Germany and Austria-Hungary to protect each other from Russia. Many other alliances were also forming at the time. Ethan - Germany’s navy was starting to get threatening to Britain’s navy. Britain took necessary precautions and signed a document with France called the Entente Cordial, tipping the odds of any war in in their favor. This made Germany realize they were a threat and thought they were being pushed back down, so in turn they became more aggressive and ready for war. Hunter- something that happened about three months before the war was the assassination of: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, on June 28 1914, in Sarajevo, resulting in the July Crisis. How Austria-Hungary responded to this assassination was by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia’s reply to the ultimatum didn’t satisfy the Austrians, afterword the two moved to a war footing. Emma - The power that the nations of Germany and Italy possessed at the beginning of the first world war was impressive as it was, but we have to take into account how quickly they had acquired it. Both of these countries, though they had deep cultural roots, were very new as official nations. Both had formed during the Franco-Prussian war barely more than forty years previous but now held power over regions stretching from Africa to east Asia. Audrey - Starting in 1892 there was an alliance between France and Russia and this was the Franco Russian Military Convention. Then in the early 1900s there were a series of agreements between Great Britain France and Russia so that they were in good terms with each other. The alliance between Great Britain France and Russia was the Triple Entente (which means agreements). Skylar - World war I or sometimes known as the Great War started on July 28th, 1914, the war started in Europe. The war was in Africa, the middle east, Pacific islands, indian ocean, China, north and south atlantic oceans, and like i said Europe. They think that this war killed about 16 million people died from direct cause of this war. Gabe - The war started basically because russia wanted to protect serbia and germany wanted to protect austria so when austria went to fight serbia russia went to fight germany Ben - America only began to fight in World War 1 in 1917 ( April 6th to be specific ) with their allies. They had alliances with Russia, Britain, and France at the time, making them a strong force at the time. Led by major General John J. Pershing, 2 million American soldiers fought despite many American citizens wanting the country to stay neutral. Other fronts of World War I: 1.Hunter- One of the many different fronts of the war was the Italian front, the italians were apart of the Triple Alliance during this time, but italy stayed out of the war in 1914 because it claimed that Austria had not been attacked so therefor italy didn’t have to support Austria. In all reality the Italians had a secret agreement with the allies, the allies said that they would give the italians some Austrian territory if they attacked Austria-Hungary. EthanOL - As soon as the war started Japan decided they wanted what the Germans had. Japan was already allied Britain so that they could attack Germany without Britain growing apart from them. They attacked Tsingtao which was a German base in China. This was the first naval/aerial assault ever. They didn’t use exactly aircraft carriers but they did carry their aircrafts. This was called the Siege of Tsingtao which took place in 1914. Ella - Serbia was a very small country with approximately 4.5 million people and an army of around 400,000 soldiers. Almost everyone who could be in the army at the time was in it but it still ended up being destroyed with 60% of the army getting killed, which decreased Serbia's population by 16%. Emma - Italy’s agreements with the Triple Alliance and the Allies were only two of a long series of strategic alliances and deals the nation made on the road to the first world war. Their entry into the Triple Alliance was the first move, which was actually a surprising one, due to the fact that Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire (another member of the triple alliance) had been enemies previously. Twenty years later, which still under this pact, they made a secret alliance with France. Twelve years after that, the Austro-Hungarian empire entered the war. Only one year later, they entered the treaty of London, an agreement with the Triple entente (england, russia, and france) to fight against their original allies, exit the triple alliance, and declare war on the Austro-Hungarian empire. 5.Skylar - Italy took part in the triple alliance in 1882 when they agreed to be apart of it, they were one of the first countries to take part in it. The whole reason that it was called the triple alliance was because there were three countries in it Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany. This was kind of a weird mix because they didn’t really like each other but still said they would protect each other if worse comes to worst. Italy was making deals with other places like france in 1902. It was kind of just a lot of back stabbing. Gabe - The Italians helped the allies by attacking austria hungary which is in the triple alliance so basically they made an alliance and were like let's help each other i mean we all don't like each other and would love to see each other destroyed so why not make an alliance really smart and then they dont even help each other its completely useless Ben - Japan played a big part in the fight for the West Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Most of the reason Japan fought was because they wanted influence in China, but even with the help of Sun Yat-sen, they didn’t have many successes. 8. Western and Eastern fronts of World War I: 1.Hunter- during this time in the war the Germans were fighting two countries, one of which during the western front was France, the Germans had thought if they were to defeat the French (Russia’s ally) in four weeks then they could have an advantage against the Russians in the Eastern front. Ethan- The Germans realized that after the Franco-Prussian War, they were going to be due for another war with France. Germany unified in advance to make sure France had a disadvantage. The humiliation was huge and Germany took Alsace and Lorraine, which were mineral rich and valuable to anyone who controlled it. Germany realized this might hurt them later because France was allied with Russia so if there was war that it’d be on 2 fronts. Ella - The western front in world war 1 was much smaller that the eastern front, but the western front could uses trenches as a defence system since they had less land to defend. The eastern front however, could not use this method due to the land being so wide and them not having enough people to dig them. Even if they were able to dig some, they wouldn't have enough and the western people could easily go around. Emma - In February of the year 1916, the battle of Verdun took place when the Germans launched an attack on the French military at the border between Germany and France. Unlike a lot of the other offensive acts in the war, this battle was not intended to result in the gain of territory for the Germans. The point of this attack was to cause the French to send so many troops, and to cause so many casualties that the French would deplete all their resources and be forced to withdraw from the war. Audrey - In WW1 the Germans were using poison gas as a weapon. Some of the poison gases are chlorine gas, which would immediately cause you to choke to death, phosgene gas, which wouldn’t cause choking and this allowed the gas to get into to lungs and there was a delayed effect, and mustard gas, another that wouldn’t cause choking but it would cause severe blistering which would take you out of the war. Ben - Germany eventually gained peace with Russia on May 3rd, 1918. Russia accomplished this by giving Germany a significant amount of land. This was done under the Bolshevik Government of Russia, which was founded in 1917 after a revolution overthrew the provisional government. Skylar- After the battle of Verdun the british and the French decide to go against a different part of the front, this time close to the Somme river in july of 1916. This battle was the first time they used tanks, it was an extremely bloody battle. 8. Blockades and American entry: Hunter- On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sunk the British ocean liner called Lusitania, ending in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people and that includes 128 Americans. The event strained diplomatic relations between Washington and Berlin, and turned public opinion on Germany. Skylar - the united states had maintained being neutral in the war up until this point, Wilson had just won presidency again because he had kept the US out of the war. Germany was getting pretty desperate so they were going to go back to their idea of unrestricted submarine warfare but they knew if they did that the US would side with their allies. In january of 1917 the Zimmerman Telegram was created by Arthur Zimmerman sent a encoded telegram to mexico, it was encoded because it had to pass through lines that the US controlled. He told them that he knows a way to slow them down. (if someone wants to go off of this that would b awesome) 3.Ethan - In April 1917 the administration had thought about it and Germany had took it too far, with their submarine warfare. President Wilson decided that war on Germany was inevitable and sent a famous message to Congress for why it needs to go to war with Germany. On April 4th Congress decided to allow war on Germany, and war pursued quickly. Now, many people were deciding for themselves why we were at war. Many public opinion were stated, some saying it was inevitable, some saying we should stay out of war. Ella - So the United States entered world war 1 for multiple reasons including them having financial ties, trade ties, and cultural ties with the British. Another reason being the British using a lot of successful propaganda. Gabe - im a take a step back to skylar so the encoded telegram was intercepted by the british and then shared with america and it said that they would help mexico take texas arizona and new mexico back from the united states if they helped the germans in the war Audrey - In November of 1914 the British declared the entire North Sea a war zone so if a ship came they would probably be destroyed. The ships especially couldn’t carry any contraband, and food was considered a contraband. So the Germans and the Austrians had to start rationing food to the point of eating only 1k calories a day. This was making the central powers weaker not only because they couldn’t get what they needed for war but people were dying and there were about 400k deaths due to starvation. Emma - In 1917, Senator George Norris issued a speech in opposition to the entry of the United States of America into the World War. In his speech he acknowledged that both England and Germany were wrong in the actions of war they had chosen to take; declaring certain areas war zones, but he did not support the entry into the war and listed several alternative actions that could have been taken. Ben - Most of the American soldiers starting arriving and began fighting on the battlefields of france on the twenty sixth of June. Britain and France also sent additional officers to help train the newly drafted American soldiers. World War I shapes the Middle East: 1.Hunter- The first world war truly shaped the middle east, but the aftermath of the war made the largest change in the region as we know it. One of the events that had changed the middle east was when Russia had staked a claim on Istanbul and waterways linking the Black seas to the Mediterranean seas, and the French claimed Syria and Cilicia in modern day Turkey. Skylar - the British wanted the help of the Arab’s because they wanted them to fight the Ottoman’s on the Palestine and Sinai fronts. So they told Hussein bin ali if he helped them that they would give him free territory, for an independent arab state and he agrees. After that he names himself king of the Hejaz in 1916. Ethan - Britain had a presence in the Middle East at the time of the end of the war. Egypt was under the protection of Britain, and when they didn’t get freedom until 1922 there was a sort of revolt. In the end the Egyptians won this slight war and obtained their freedom. At this time Britain was also protecting Kuwait and they have since the 1800s. They still did not get their freedom handed to them until 1961. Ella - In 1915, 6,500 people from the British army were sieged in Kut, after retreating from Ctesiphon by the ottoman Empire for 147 days till they were forced to surrender. Gabe - The Ibn Saud ruled the basically the other side of saudi arabia right next to Hussein bin ali and he actually goes and takes the Hejaz empire and declares himself king of the sauds in the hejaz in 1926 and this is how you get saudi arabia Emma - The British troops (made up of all the various countries that were part of the British empire, such as India and New Zealand) started their Middle Eastern campaign at the southern end of Mesopotamia, near the Persian gulf. They moved northward along the Tigris river, capturing land until they held control over the majority of what is now Iraq. Meanwhile on the other side of the land mass in Egypt, they were on the defensive side of the war for quite a while while the Ottomans attempted, and failed, to take capture Suez canal from British control. 7.Ben - After the Middle East changed, a lot of its boundaries and borders did too. They looked a lot closer to what they look like today. This happens a lot with very large wars because tons of land gets conquered, traded, or destroyed. 8. Aftermath of World War I Skylar - Woodrow Wilson gave a speech on January 8th, 1918 that is called Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points. The fourteen points were statements that Wilson gave to try to make peace with everyone and end the war. During his speech he talked about why he thought the war started and what they could do to end it with peace instead of hatred. He talked about free trade, how all conversations should be open for everyone to see, freedom of navigation, and many more things. 2.Hunter- the aftermath of this war truly was amazing, this war had changed so much of the world that we know now, for instance: WW1 had brought about the temporary political disruption of four venerable dynasties-- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Turkey. This war also brought up a massive social disruption, as millions of women entered the workforce to support men who had went to war, and to replace those who never came back. Ella - World War one ended at the end of 1918, so in 1919 they started discussing the terms of peace so they held the Paris Peace conference. Now during the peace conference the winners decide the “terms of peace” but they all had different outlooks about it (someone plz build off of me if you can if not cool tho Gabe - One of the “Terms of peace” that came out of the Paris Peace conference is the Treaty of Versailles which probably was the treaty to germany it said that germany was gonna pay for all of the allies losses they had to pay something like 60 billion in today's money and that's not including the resources they payed they also were only allowed to have 100,000 men in there army there weren't allowed to have any u boats battleships tanks basically nothing mechanized and we took lots of their territory and split and was given to the allies 5..Emma - The Treaty of Versailles had a huge effect on the German economy and government at the time. Another term of the treaty was that they were not allowed to make an alliance with Austria, due to the cultural and linguistic ties between the two. They were also occupied by the allies in the Saar region of Germany, near the French border. This area was a large coal mining area and for fifteen years, all the coal mined there got shipped to France. That still left a large portion of reparations to be paid back in currency so the government basically printed a ton of money, and tried to convert it into other currencies which resulted in serious inflation all the way into the twenties. So when that happened and they could no longer pay in money, France occupied the Ruhr region and began shipping steel and coal out of there. Ethan - WWI left many families without a parent or without a child to come home to. Many soldier died in battle and from starvation, so in turn this was one of the most bloody battles in history. The U.S. lost approximately 116,708 soldiers in war. Not to mention the prisoners of war that died from many causes like starvation and disease. For those whose remains were never found we have the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. This is a tradition that has been kept up since 1931 and have never not been guarded since then Ben - Strangely enough, World War 1 kind of helped Japan’s economy. The demand for japanese products became very large and the economy flourished for a time. This also happened similarly in America, because the American economy in the 1920’s was doing very nice. Audrey - There were approximately 16 million deaths due to WWI 8-10 million being military. About 60% of the soldiers deaths were the Entente and 40% were the Central Powers. But 6-7 million that died were civilians and out of that over a million of the civilian deaths were due to direct military action were the rest was caused by starvation and disease.
Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students. Last time on the show… Today we discuss The United States in World War I. Let’s dive in. The presidency of Woodrow Wilson - And Presidential podcast Gabe - Woodrow Wilson was the first southern president since James Polk He was in the KKK he segregated the federal government and in his 1st term the KKK had a revival he went for the democratic side and and went by the slogan he kept you out of the war which is ironic because we went into world war one in his second term.(g(h 2.-Ethan- He was the 28th president of the US. Wilson made the Federal Reserve System. Which allowed the government control over currency so that we didn’t experience a second great depression. He also tried to lower tariffs and improve worker protection. - Blake - Although Woodrow Wilson was very racist he shared a lot of the same views as Theodore Roosevelt in which he wanted to go after the big business’. 4.Ricky-As everyone here can agree, Woodrow Wilson was a racist. Skylar - Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia on December 28th, 1856. His family was extremely religious. President Woodrow Wilson was a progressive democrat. He served two terms in office from 1913 to 1921. Woodrow wanted to expose corruption, regulate economy, eliminate unethical business practice, and improve the conditions of society. Wilson campaigned for “new freedom”. He promised banking, tariff, and business reform. Elijah- President Woodrow Wilson was serving in office from 1913 to 1921. As a young boy he experienced the civil war and his mother treated the wounded Confederate soldiers. When he started to grow up he attended Princeton. As Blake said Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt shared views on big business but Teddy Roosevelt believed that some monopolies are good and Woodrow Wilson did not think this, he thought all monopolies are bad for a economy. Ben- Corrupt businessmen exist and eventually there would be a president that’s a bit fishy. But in his second term he went against child labor and liked the idea of establishing a minimum possible wage. His slogan was, “He kept us out of war.” even though world war 1 started during his presidency. Blockades, u-boats and sinking of the Lusitania Gabe - The germans had these things called u boats which were the submarines of that day. Germans also had unrestricted submarine warfare starting with the sinking of the Lusitania which had many americans on board and started us joining the war mexicans trying to take land and a few others.(hunter) 2.-Ethan- The Lusitania was also known as the RMS or Royal Mail Ship since it carried some mail. It was set to sail from New York to Great Britain. This kind of allowed Germany to take the advantage and say that they were going into active war territory. This meant that Germany would attack this ship and everyone on it. - Blake - At this early point in the war the Germans had blood on their hands, innocent blood. This made the U.S. angry of course which is how we got into the war. 4.Ricky-they sunk the Lusitania in under 18mins, which I find insane. The Titanic sunk in 2hours and 40mins.` Skylar - The British declared the entire north sea a war zone in November of 1914. They said any ship that comes in here may or may not get blown up, sunk, shot up, ect. You could not bring any contraband and if you did you would for sure get blown up, contraband included food. This was basically started the Germany and Austria-Hungary. Elijah- The submarines of the time were U boats and the german people used these U boats. The main thing that brought us into WWI was germany using unrestricted submarine warfare sinking Lusitania and the Zimmerman telegram. Ben- The Lusitania was the biggest ship in the world at the time, until being passed up by the Mauretania, then the Mauretania got passed up by the Olympic. Technology was advancing fast, and they used it for good and bad. Zimmermann Telegram Gabe - mexicans sent the zimmerman Telegram asking the germans to help them straight after the germans started sinking our boats reclaim texas new mexico and arizona which was short lived when we entered the war Woodrow(hunter) - Blake - The Zimmermann Telegram was like Gabe said a telegram sent by the Germans asking Mexico for support in return for their lost territories. The telegram was intercepted and make public to the American people to make them angry and want war. 3.-Ethan- Mexico didn’t really think they could back Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, so this deal didn’t seem so sweet to them. All it really did was make America angry. The Zimmerman telegram was kind of what brought the US into the war along with the “unrestricted submarine warfare” and the Lusitania sinking. 4.Ricky-this was basically Germany asking support from Mexico, and when America got wind of it it boosted support to go to war with germany. Elijah-The Zimmerman Telegram was a telegram from the Germans asking Mexico to help them in the war and to take down the United States and if they do so they can reclaim all the territory that they lost. Skylar - Germany was getting desperate for help. Arthur Zimmerman is the man who sent the telegraph to the Mexicans in January of 1917. This was a cry for help. Germany needed the mexicans to help slow down the US from staying out of the war, obviously because the US had a strong army and the Germans knew they were going down. 7.Ben - The telegraph was encrypted, so that any postal services in america or england, but then it was caught and decoded, then sent to america, then published for all of america to see. I think America was scared of losing their land. United States enters World War I The United States in World War I - Blake - Woodrow Wilson had originally planned to keep the U.S. out of the world war but unfortunately this changed with the Zimmermann Telegram and the use of “Unrestricted submarine warfare” was not taken lightly. Gabe - once the germans started shooting down our ships starting with the Lusitania And the mexicans wanted to fight us with the germans we had to join cause we didn't want to get destroyed by everybody 3.-Ethan- When entering the war, Wilson tried to keep from the war as much as he could, but with Germany’s increasing aggression, he had no choice but to get involved. The US officially went to war on April 6th, 1917. 1.3 million men and 20 thousand women joined up. 4.Ricky-this is going to be fun since we can finally talk about GUNS. Like the Gewehr 98 which now that I think about it was a german weapon, and the Colt ACP.45 M119 pistol, Basically this was a time where as weapons changed war. As they usually say “war never changes” but experimental weapons like the first kind of handheld machine guns were used. This war was the first and the last to world war to include chemical weapons like Ammonia and chlorine, and mustard gas, there was a reason chemical weapons were banned. And what was so weird about WW1 was all the world leaders were connected by family or friendship. After Merica’ broke diplomatic relations with Germany, they immediately, using a U-Boat, sunk the American liner Housatonic. 5.Elijah- As tensions were building with Unrestricted submarine warfare, the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram The United States had no choice but to join in the war. Wilson planned to keep the United States out of the war but these factors caused the US to join. Skylar - like they said Woodrow tried to keep the United States out of the war. The germans messed with the States too much so they had to do what they had to do and joined the war on april 6th, 1917. World War I was the deadliest conflict in human history, claiming tens of millions of deaths on both sides. Ben - Many different things made America decide to go to war, propaganda about Germany was going around and America just couldn’t handle it anymore. Many people thought it would be another painful but fairly short war, but it ended up being a long hard overall bad experience. Hunter- WW1 was the bloodiest war during that time period and also the shortest. Can you name one point in the fourteen points? Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points Gabe - Woodrow had this thing called fourteen points it was what he wanted to happen instead of wars well he died and he never got to see it happen and some of his idea didn't happen but a lot of his fourteen points were used in the United Nations. - Blake - While President Wilson made several good points in his Fourteen Points not everyone supported them like the prime minister of france George Clemenceau who said: “Mr. Wilson bores me with his Fourteen Points; why, God almighty only has Ten!”. 3.-Ethan- The Fourteen Points were Wilson’s peace terms for ending the World War. The Europeans agreed with these terms but Wilson’s Allied didn’t really agree with the “Wilson Idealism”. He said to reduce military forces and he put it there twice for emphasis. 4.Ricky-this was basically Woodrow Wilson’s Gettysburg address, it was his famous speech. It was a speech about peace, about ending this war to end all wars. 5.Elijah-The Fourteen Points was Wilson's peace terms for ending the first World War And these were used in the United Nations but many other Countries did not join these terms. Wilson died before ever getting to see this happen and used. Skylar - Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points are Abe Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation. They were basically just how Woodrow felt at peace with his words. 7.Hunter- The 14 points are all points of Woodrow Wilson's thought of peace to end WW1. Ben- With something as big as World War 1, there was something about it that didnt let it end, and the Fourteen Points understood that concept and addressed every single major problem. Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles More detail on the Treaty of Versailles and Germany The League of Nations The Treaty of Versailles - Blake - Although the League of Nations was mostly viewed as weak for failing to prevent the second world war they were able to come together to write the Treaty of Versailles which ended the first world war although this didn’t last long until Adolf Hitler came into power and broke the treaty. 2.-Ethan- The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of The Allied to make the Treaty of Versailles. During this conference they made the League of Nations which their goal was to maintain world peace. It consisted of Britain, Italy, France, US, and Japan. 3.Ricky-The Treaty of Versailles severely limited the military of Germany and made them pay a fine SOOO big it took 96 years to pay off. Of course in WW2 they disobeyed these rules. Elijah-The league of Nations were made to stop any world wars and was founded on January 10th 1920. The League was able to make the Treaty of Versailles and the peace conference which ended the First World War. Skylar - The Treaty Of Versailles was a little extreme in my opinion. The made a limit on how many soldiers Germany could have which was 100,000. As well as bullets, boats, and U-boats. Germany couldn’t form a Union with Austria either. The treaty also put all the “war guilt” on Germany which they deserved that. The rest of it was just really Extra. 6. Hunter- the paris peace conference was in 1919, also known as the Versailles peace conference, was the meeting of the allied powers after WW1 to set a peace treaty with the Axis powers. Ben - This was kind of the time where everything started to eventually end. After all the fighting, different countries declared peace, and many things were sorted out. It was a big relief to people around the world. That’s all we have time for today. Thanks for joining us in this emancipation from the box, that is learning.
Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students. Last time on the show… Today we discuss The United States in World War I. Let’s dive in. The presidency of Woodrow Wilson - And Presidential podcast Gabe - Woodrow Wilson was the first southern president since James Polk He was in the KKK he segregated the federal government and in his 1st term the KKK had a revival he went for the democratic side and and went by the slogan he kept you out of the war which is ironic because we went into world war one in his second term.(g(h 2.-Ethan- He was the 28th president of the US. Wilson made the Federal Reserve System. Which allowed the government control over currency so that we didn’t experience a second great depression. He also tried to lower tariffs and improve worker protection. - Blake - Although Woodrow Wilson was very racist he shared a lot of the same views as Theodore Roosevelt in which he wanted to go after the big business’. 4.Ricky-As everyone here can agree, Woodrow Wilson was a racist. Skylar - Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia on December 28th, 1856. His family was extremely religious. President Woodrow Wilson was a progressive democrat. He served two terms in office from 1913 to 1921. Woodrow wanted to expose corruption, regulate economy, eliminate unethical business practice, and improve the conditions of society. Wilson campaigned for “new freedom”. He promised banking, tariff, and business reform. Elijah- President Woodrow Wilson was serving in office from 1913 to 1921. As a young boy he experienced the civil war and his mother treated the wounded Confederate soldiers. When he started to grow up he attended Princeton. As Blake said Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt shared views on big business but Teddy Roosevelt believed that some monopolies are good and Woodrow Wilson did not think this, he thought all monopolies are bad for a economy. Ben- Corrupt businessmen exist and eventually there would be a president that’s a bit fishy. But in his second term he went against child labor and liked the idea of establishing a minimum possible wage. His slogan was, “He kept us out of war.” even though world war 1 started during his presidency. Blockades, u-boats and sinking of the Lusitania Gabe - The germans had these things called u boats which were the submarines of that day. Germans also had unrestricted submarine warfare starting with the sinking of the Lusitania which had many americans on board and started us joining the war mexicans trying to take land and a few others.(hunter) 2.-Ethan- The Lusitania was also known as the RMS or Royal Mail Ship since it carried some mail. It was set to sail from New York to Great Britain. This kind of allowed Germany to take the advantage and say that they were going into active war territory. This meant that Germany would attack this ship and everyone on it. - Blake - At this early point in the war the Germans had blood on their hands, innocent blood. This made the U.S. angry of course which is how we got into the war. 4.Ricky-they sunk the Lusitania in under 18mins, which I find insane. The Titanic sunk in 2hours and 40mins.` Skylar - The British declared the entire north sea a war zone in November of 1914. They said any ship that comes in here may or may not get blown up, sunk, shot up, ect. You could not bring any contraband and if you did you would for sure get blown up, contraband included food. This was basically started the Germany and Austria-Hungary. Elijah- The submarines of the time were U boats and the german people used these U boats. The main thing that brought us into WWI was germany using unrestricted submarine warfare sinking Lusitania and the Zimmerman telegram. Ben- The Lusitania was the biggest ship in the world at the time, until being passed up by the Mauretania, then the Mauretania got passed up by the Olympic. Technology was advancing fast, and they used it for good and bad. Zimmermann Telegram Gabe - mexicans sent the zimmerman Telegram asking the germans to help them straight after the germans started sinking our boats reclaim texas new mexico and arizona which was short lived when we entered the war Woodrow(hunter) - Blake - The Zimmermann Telegram was like Gabe said a telegram sent by the Germans asking Mexico for support in return for their lost territories. The telegram was intercepted and make public to the American people to make them angry and want war. 3.-Ethan- Mexico didn’t really think they could back Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, so this deal didn’t seem so sweet to them. All it really did was make America angry. The Zimmerman telegram was kind of what brought the US into the war along with the “unrestricted submarine warfare” and the Lusitania sinking. 4.Ricky-this was basically Germany asking support from Mexico, and when America got wind of it it boosted support to go to war with germany. Elijah-The Zimmerman Telegram was a telegram from the Germans asking Mexico to help them in the war and to take down the United States and if they do so they can reclaim all the territory that they lost. Skylar - Germany was getting desperate for help. Arthur Zimmerman is the man who sent the telegraph to the Mexicans in January of 1917. This was a cry for help. Germany needed the mexicans to help slow down the US from staying out of the war, obviously because the US had a strong army and the Germans knew they were going down. 7.Ben - The telegraph was encrypted, so that any postal services in america or england, but then it was caught and decoded, then sent to america, then published for all of america to see. I think America was scared of losing their land. United States enters World War I The United States in World War I - Blake - Woodrow Wilson had originally planned to keep the U.S. out of the world war but unfortunately this changed with the Zimmermann Telegram and the use of “Unrestricted submarine warfare” was not taken lightly. Gabe - once the germans started shooting down our ships starting with the Lusitania And the mexicans wanted to fight us with the germans we had to join cause we didn't want to get destroyed by everybody 3.-Ethan- When entering the war, Wilson tried to keep from the war as much as he could, but with Germany’s increasing aggression, he had no choice but to get involved. The US officially went to war on April 6th, 1917. 1.3 million men and 20 thousand women joined up. 4.Ricky-this is going to be fun since we can finally talk about GUNS. Like the Gewehr 98 which now that I think about it was a german weapon, and the Colt ACP.45 M119 pistol, Basically this was a time where as weapons changed war. As they usually say “war never changes” but experimental weapons like the first kind of handheld machine guns were used. This war was the first and the last to world war to include chemical weapons like Ammonia and chlorine, and mustard gas, there was a reason chemical weapons were banned. And what was so weird about WW1 was all the world leaders were connected by family or friendship. After Merica’ broke diplomatic relations with Germany, they immediately, using a U-Boat, sunk the American liner Housatonic. 5.Elijah- As tensions were building with Unrestricted submarine warfare, the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram The United States had no choice but to join in the war. Wilson planned to keep the United States out of the war but these factors caused the US to join. Skylar - like they said Woodrow tried to keep the United States out of the war. The germans messed with the States too much so they had to do what they had to do and joined the war on april 6th, 1917. World War I was the deadliest conflict in human history, claiming tens of millions of deaths on both sides. Ben - Many different things made America decide to go to war, propaganda about Germany was going around and America just couldn’t handle it anymore. Many people thought it would be another painful but fairly short war, but it ended up being a long hard overall bad experience. Hunter- WW1 was the bloodiest war during that time period and also the shortest. Can you name one point in the fourteen points? Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points Gabe - Woodrow had this thing called fourteen points it was what he wanted to happen instead of wars well he died and he never got to see it happen and some of his idea didn't happen but a lot of his fourteen points were used in the United Nations. - Blake - While President Wilson made several good points in his Fourteen Points not everyone supported them like the prime minister of france George Clemenceau who said: “Mr. Wilson bores me with his Fourteen Points; why, God almighty only has Ten!”. 3.-Ethan- The Fourteen Points were Wilson’s peace terms for ending the World War. The Europeans agreed with these terms but Wilson’s Allied didn’t really agree with the “Wilson Idealism”. He said to reduce military forces and he put it there twice for emphasis. 4.Ricky-this was basically Woodrow Wilson’s Gettysburg address, it was his famous speech. It was a speech about peace, about ending this war to end all wars. 5.Elijah-The Fourteen Points was Wilson's peace terms for ending the first World War And these were used in the United Nations but many other Countries did not join these terms. Wilson died before ever getting to see this happen and used. Skylar - Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points are Abe Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation. They were basically just how Woodrow felt at peace with his words. 7.Hunter- The 14 points are all points of Woodrow Wilson's thought of peace to end WW1. Ben- With something as big as World War 1, there was something about it that didnt let it end, and the Fourteen Points understood that concept and addressed every single major problem. Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles More detail on the Treaty of Versailles and Germany The League of Nations The Treaty of Versailles - Blake - Although the League of Nations was mostly viewed as weak for failing to prevent the second world war they were able to come together to write the Treaty of Versailles which ended the first world war although this didn’t last long until Adolf Hitler came into power and broke the treaty. 2.-Ethan- The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of The Allied to make the Treaty of Versailles. During this conference they made the League of Nations which their goal was to maintain world peace. It consisted of Britain, Italy, France, US, and Japan. 3.Ricky-The Treaty of Versailles severely limited the military of Germany and made them pay a fine SOOO big it took 96 years to pay off. Of course in WW2 they disobeyed these rules. Elijah-The league of Nations were made to stop any world wars and was founded on January 10th 1920. The League was able to make the Treaty of Versailles and the peace conference which ended the First World War. Skylar - The Treaty Of Versailles was a little extreme in my opinion. The made a limit on how many soldiers Germany could have which was 100,000. As well as bullets, boats, and U-boats. Germany couldn’t form a Union with Austria either. The treaty also put all the “war guilt” on Germany which they deserved that. The rest of it was just really Extra. 6. Hunter- the paris peace conference was in 1919, also known as the Versailles peace conference, was the meeting of the allied powers after WW1 to set a peace treaty with the Axis powers. Ben - This was kind of the time where everything started to eventually end. After all the fighting, different countries declared peace, and many things were sorted out. It was a big relief to people around the world. That’s all we have time for today. Thanks for joining us in this emancipation from the box, that is learning.
WWI Centennial News SPECIAL This is another special feature presentation of the WW1 Centennial News Podcast. Welcome to PART II of “In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace”. This two part special is an adaptation from a live staged event the Commission produced on the April 6, 2017 centennial of America’s entry into: “ war that changed the world”. Edward Bilous as the artistic director, and Chris Christopher as the US WW1 Centennial Commission’s executive producer pulled together an amazing group of artists, historians musician, actors, and others for a live performance staged at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City to an audience of over 3,000 attendees. For this 2-part special we have excerpted key moments from the story that unfolds, the music that was performed and the readings from a cast of amazing actors, orators, musicians and other luminaries. In Part 1 we examined the great debate in America about getting into the war, and today, in Part 2, we present how events overtook the debate and as America declared its entry into WW1.----more---- Talent Credits This podcast was adapted from the live event In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace: Centennial Commemoration of the US entry into WWI Credits for the live event include: Edward Bilous Artistic Director John Rensenhouse Narrator Michelle DiBucci Music Director Sarah Outhwaite Video Designer Carlos Murillo Script and Adaptation Greg Kalember Music Producer, Mix Engineer, Sound Design Portia Kamons Executive Artistic Producer For Virtua Creative Shelby Rose Producer, Media and Special Events For Virtua Creative Dale Morehouse Speaker Carla Noack Speaker David Paul Pre-Recorded Speaker Janith English Principal Chief of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas Sergeant Debra Kay Mooney Choctaw Nation Col. Gerald York Grandson of Sergeant Alvin C. York Deborah York Great-Granddaughter of Sergeant Alvin C. York Noble Sissle Jr. Son of Noble Sissle Featuring Musical Performances by 1st Infantry Division Band Michael Baden John Brancy Francesco Centano Billy Cliff Peter Dugan Ramona Dunlap Lisa Fisher Samantha Gossard Adam Holthus Christopher T. McLaurin Chrisi Poland Aaron Redburn Reuben Allen Matt Rombaum Alan Schwartz Yang Thou Charles Yang Alla Wijnands Bram Wijnands Cast (In Alphabetical Order) Freddy Acevedo Yetunde Felix-Ukwu Jason Francescon Khalif Gillett Emilie Karas Chelsea Kisner Christopher Lyman Marianne McKenzie Victor Raider-Wexler Artillery Master Charles B. Wood MEDIA CREDITS National World War I Museum and Memorial: TheWorldWar.org Library of Congress: LOC.gov New York Public Library: DigitalCollections.nypl.org National Archives: Archives.gov National Historic Geographic Information System: NHGIS.org State Library of New South Wales: SL.nsw.gov.au Imperial War Museums: IWM.org.uk National Museum of African American History and Culture: NMAAHC.si.edu The Sergeant York Patriotic Foundation and the York Family: SgtYork.org Australian War Memorial: AWM.gov.au National Media Museum: NationalMediaMuseum.org.uk Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archive: WoodrowWilson.org Mathers Museum of World Culture: Mathers.indiana.edu Front Page Courtesy of The New York Times Company PODCAST THEO MAYERWW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Before we get into the main part of the show - - Let me try to set it up: [SOUND EFFECT - WAYBACK MACHINE] We have gone back in time to January 1917. Late last year, in 1916, Woodrow Wilson ran for president under the slogan “He Kept us Out Of War” and “America First” and he won - by a slim margin. In Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the middle east and other areas around the world - All tied together by colonial imperialism - the war rages on! NARRATOR Not long after the election of 1916, events would unfold at a rapid pace, until the United States reached a tipping point where isolationism could no longer be an option. January 19, 1917 – Arthur Zimmerman, Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, sent a telegram to German Ambassador to Mexico, proposing an alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of US entry into the War. ZIMMERMAN "We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance... make war together, make peace together... and an understanding... that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.... You will inform the President of the above... as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain...." NARRATOR The British Admiralty, which had cracked German diplomatic cipher systems, decoded the message within hours. Seeking to influence the American government, the British provided the Americans a copy of the telegram. On the 28t h of February, President Wilson released the telegram to the press. The appearance of the news nationwide on March 1s t galvanized American support for entry into the war. January 31, 1917, Robert Lansing, Secretary of State, received a note from the German Ambassador to the United States. GERMAN AMBASSADOR A new situation has... been created which forces Germany to new decisions.... England is using her naval power for a criminal attempt to force Germany into submission by starvation. In brutal contempt of international law, the... powers led by England..., by ruthless pressure, compel neutral countries either to altogether forego every trade not agreeable to the Entente Powers, or to limit it according to their arbitrary decrees. From February 1, 1917, sea traffic will be stopped with every available weapon and without further notice.... NARRATOR This message from the German Ambassador directly contravened the German guarantee to Wilson that ended unrestricted submarine warfare following the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. Coupled with the Zimmerman telegram, Germany’s renewed aggression decisively changed American attitudes about the war. On February 3, 1917, the United States formally ended diplomatic relations with Imperial Germany. On February 25, 1917, the Cunard Line ship Laconia was struck by German Torpedoes. Floyd Gibbons, an American correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, was on board and lived to describe the scene: FLOYD GIBBONS At 10:30 p.m., there was a muffled noise. Five sharp blasts – the signal to abandon. We walked hurriedly down the corridor ... to the lounge which was amidships. We moved fast but there was no crowding and no panic. ...we looked down the slanting side of the ship and noticed ... her water line ... was a number of feet above the waves. ... the lifeboats... rested against the side of the ship.... I could see that we were going to have difficulty in the descent to the water. ‘Lower away!’ someone gave the order and we started downward ... toward the seemingly hungry... swells. The stern of the boat was down; the bow up, leaving us at an angle of about 45 degrees.... The tiers of lights dimmed slowly from white to yellow, then to red, and nothing was left but the murky mourning of the night..... The ship sank rapidly at the stern until at last its nose stood straight in the air. Then it slid silently down and out of sight.... NARRATOR Austin Y. Hoy, a Chicago machinery company executive working in London, cabled President Woodrow Wilson after the sinking of the LACONIA: AUSTIN HOY My beloved mother and sister, passengers on the LACONIA, have been foully murdered.... I call upon my government to preserve its citizens’ self-respect and save others of my countrymen from such deep grief as I now feel. I am of military age, able to fight. If my country can use me against these brutal assassins, I am at its call. If it stultifies my manhood and my nation’s by remaining passive under outrage, I shall seek a man’s chance under another flag. NARRATOR Events abroad also served to tip American opinion. The fall of the Russian Tsar's regime on March 15, 1917 resulted in a greater moral clarity for the Allied cause: the war was now a struggle of democratic nations against autocratic empires. Despite the passions aroused by the Zimmerman telegram and the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, Wilson himself had no personal desire to bring the US into conflict in Europe. Wilson told a journalist off the record: WILSON If there is any alternative, for God’s sake, let’s take it! NARRATOR March 20. Wilson confers with his cabinet. They unanimously vote for War. March 21. Wilson calls Congress into special session for April the 2n d . On the evening of April the second, 1917, President Wilson addresses a joint session of Congress asking for a Declaration of War. WILSON “While we do these momentous things, let us make very clear to all the world what our motives are. Our object, now as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice as against selfish and autocratic power. Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments. We have seen the last of neutrality. We are at the beginning of an age in which it will be insisted that the same standards of conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among nations and their governments that are observed among the individual citizens of civilized states.” NARRATOR The Congress rose to its feet and applauded enthusiastically. Cheering crowds lined the streets as Wilson departed from the Capitol. As author Byron Farwell wrote: FARWELL QUOTE It was the greatest speech of Wilson’s life. At about 10:00, when the president had returned to the White House, he and his wife had dinner with friends, after which Wilson wandered into the empty cabinet room. His secretary, Joseph Tumulty, found him there: ‘Think what they were applauding,’ he said to Tumulty. ‘My message today was a message of death for our young men. How strange it seems to applaud that.’ He put his head down on the table in the Cabinet Room, and sobbed.’ NARRATOR Still, in the face of aggression, there were voices of opposition. Arkansas Senator George Norris: SENATOR NORRIS Belligerency would benefit only the class of people who will be made prosperous should we become entangled in the present war, who have already made millions..., and who will make hundreds of millions more if we get into the war. To whom does the war bring prosperity? Not to the soldier. Not to the broken hearted widow. Not to the mother who weeps at the death of her brave boy.... I feel that we are about to put the dollar sign on the American Flag.” NARRATOR The Senate passed the War Resolution with only three Republicans and three Democrats opposed. The House voted 373 for, with 50 opposed. Jeanette Rankin, the first woman to serve in Congress, and the lone female Representative, voted against the resolution. The approved Declaration of War was sent to President Wilson on April 6, 1917. At 1pm that day he signed: “Approved 6 April, 1917, Woodrow Wilson.” Tolling of the bells 19 gun canon salute DEBORAH YORK As the country mobilized, we leave you with the voices of two soldiers: PERSHING Major General John J. Pershing to President Woodrow Wilson, April 10, 1917: “Dear Mr. President: As an officer of the army, may I not extend to you, as Commander-in-Chief of the armies, my sincere congratulations upon your soul-stirring patriotic address to Congress on April 2d. Your strong stand for the right will be an inspiration to humanity everywhere, but especially to the citizens of the Republic. It arouses in the breast of every soldier feelings of the deepest admiration for their leader. I am exultant that my life has been spent as a soldier, in camp and field, that I may now the more worthily and more intelligently serve my country and you. With great respect, Your obedient servant, JOHN J. PERSHING Major General, U.S. Army DEBORAH YORK And from the diary of Sergeant York serialized in Liberty magazine in 1927: SERGEANT YORK I had no time to bother much about a lot of foreigners quarrelling and killing each other over in Europe. I just wanted to be left alone to live in peace and love. I wasn’t planning my life any other way. ... I figured that if some people in the Wolf River Valley were quarrelling... it wasn’t any of my business to go and interfere, and Europe was much further away.... I never dreamed we’d go over there to fight. So I didn’t pay much attention to it. I didn’t let it bother me until I received from the post office a little red card telling me to register for the draft. That’s how the war came to me, in the midst of all my peace and happiness and dreams, which I felt all along were too good to be true, and just couldn’t last.” THEO MAYER In the meantime, the popular music of the time begins to address the American soldier, his image and his place in the world. IF HE CAN FIGHT LIKE HE CAN LOVE, GOOD NIGHT, GERMANY! If he can fight like he can love, Oh what a soldier boy he’ll be! If he’s just have as good in the trench As he was in the park or on a bench, Then ev’ry Hun had better run And find a great big linden tree I know he’ll be a hero ‘over there’ ‘Cause he’s a bear in any Morris chair And if he fights like he can love Why, then it’s goodnight, Germany! Verse 2 Ev’ry single day all the papers say, Mary’s beau is, oh, so brave With his little gun, chasing ev’ry Hun He has taught them to behave Little Mary proudly shakes her head, And says, “Do you remember what I said?” Chorus If he can fight like he can love, Oh what a soldier boy he’ll be! If he’s just have as good in the trench As he was in the park or on a bench, Then ev’ry Hun had better run And find a great big linden tree I know he’ll be a hero ‘over there’ ‘Cause he’s a bear in any Morris chair And if he fights like he can love Why, then it’s goodnight, Germany! ANNOUNCER I Have A Rendezvous With Death (POEM: No Music or Sound) I have a rendezvous with Death At some disputed barricade, When Spring comes back with rustling shade And apple-blossoms fill the air— I have a rendezvous with Death When Spring brings back blue days and fair. It may be he shall take my hand And lead me into his dark land And close my eyes and quench my breath— It may be I shall pass him still. I have a rendezvous with Death On some scarred slope of battered hill, When Spring comes round again this year And the first meadow-flowers appear. God knows ‘twere better to be deep Pillowed in silk and scented down, Where love throbs out in blissful sleep, Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath, Where hushed awakenings are dear... But I’ve a rendezvous with Death At midnight in some flaming town, When Spring trips north again this year, And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous. THEO MAYER And so America goes to war and takes her place on the world stage. Nothing would be same again as the country heads into the most rapid and profound transformation of her young existence. World War 1 Centennial news is here to tell you the story - We will explore WW1 Centennial News THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week. And we will explore WW1 Centennial News NOW - what is happening today with the centennial commemoration of the war that changed the world. And so it begins [MUSIC] That was Part 2 of our special feature presentation of “In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace” our 2-part special of America’s reluctant entry into World War 1. The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1. Our programs are to-- inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; Our podcast and these specials are a part of that endeavor We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms; We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country; and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC. If you like the work we are doing, please support it with a tax deductible donation at ww1cc.org/donate - all lower case Or if you are on your smartphone text the word: WW1 to 41444. that's the letters ww the number 1 texted to 41444. Any amount is appreciated. We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support. The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn on iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News. Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial. Thanks for listening to this special presentation of WW1 Centennial News… A full list of the many talented people who contributed to this production is in the podcast notes. [OVER THERE] So long.
As several guests on this podcast have told us, sports have been fundamentally connected with the major developments of modern history: urbanization, class conflict, imperialism, political repression, globalization. The history of bicycle racing brings in another key ingredient of the modern age: technology. The sport began only with the invention of a machine, and its history, from the mid-1800s to today, has been linked to the constant adaptation of that machine. Andrew Ritchie documents the first decades of this history in his book Quest for Speed: A History of Early Bicycle Racing 1868-1903 (Cycle Publishing, 2011). As he explains in our interview, an important part of the story is the evolution of the bicycle, from early wood-and-steel models that rattled their riders, through the high-wheel bikes that we typically associate with 19th-century cycling, to the more familiar bicycles of the 1890s, with chain-driven rear wheels and pneumatic tires. An important point Andrew makes is that technological development and changes in competition were always linked. Riders, mechanics, designers, and manufacturers worked in concert, always seeking a better and, above all, faster bicycle. Andrew does discuss the people of early cycling as well as the machines. We talk about two figures who gained international stardom as champion cyclists, Arthur Zimmerman and Major Taylor, the African-American rider whom Andrew profiled in a previous book. We also discuss what sets cyclists apart. In the 1800s riders had emotional attachments to their bicycles, they tended to hang out in bike shops, and they stood out on the roads in their strange clothes. In short, they were not much different from today’s cyclists–with the exception of those nifty handlebar moustaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As several guests on this podcast have told us, sports have been fundamentally connected with the major developments of modern history: urbanization, class conflict, imperialism, political repression, globalization. The history of bicycle racing brings in another key ingredient of the modern age: technology. The sport began only with the invention of a machine, and its history, from the mid-1800s to today, has been linked to the constant adaptation of that machine. Andrew Ritchie documents the first decades of this history in his book Quest for Speed: A History of Early Bicycle Racing 1868-1903 (Cycle Publishing, 2011). As he explains in our interview, an important part of the story is the evolution of the bicycle, from early wood-and-steel models that rattled their riders, through the high-wheel bikes that we typically associate with 19th-century cycling, to the more familiar bicycles of the 1890s, with chain-driven rear wheels and pneumatic tires. An important point Andrew makes is that technological development and changes in competition were always linked. Riders, mechanics, designers, and manufacturers worked in concert, always seeking a better and, above all, faster bicycle. Andrew does discuss the people of early cycling as well as the machines. We talk about two figures who gained international stardom as champion cyclists, Arthur Zimmerman and Major Taylor, the African-American rider whom Andrew profiled in a previous book. We also discuss what sets cyclists apart. In the 1800s riders had emotional attachments to their bicycles, they tended to hang out in bike shops, and they stood out on the roads in their strange clothes. In short, they were not much different from today’s cyclists–with the exception of those nifty handlebar moustaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As several guests on this podcast have told us, sports have been fundamentally connected with the major developments of modern history: urbanization, class conflict, imperialism, political repression, globalization. The history of bicycle racing brings in another key ingredient of the modern age: technology. The sport began only with the invention of a machine, and its history, from the mid-1800s to today, has been linked to the constant adaptation of that machine. Andrew Ritchie documents the first decades of this history in his book Quest for Speed: A History of Early Bicycle Racing 1868-1903 (Cycle Publishing, 2011). As he explains in our interview, an important part of the story is the evolution of the bicycle, from early wood-and-steel models that rattled their riders, through the high-wheel bikes that we typically associate with 19th-century cycling, to the more familiar bicycles of the 1890s, with chain-driven rear wheels and pneumatic tires. An important point Andrew makes is that technological development and changes in competition were always linked. Riders, mechanics, designers, and manufacturers worked in concert, always seeking a better and, above all, faster bicycle. Andrew does discuss the people of early cycling as well as the machines. We talk about two figures who gained international stardom as champion cyclists, Arthur Zimmerman and Major Taylor, the African-American rider whom Andrew profiled in a previous book. We also discuss what sets cyclists apart. In the 1800s riders had emotional attachments to their bicycles, they tended to hang out in bike shops, and they stood out on the roads in their strange clothes. In short, they were not much different from today’s cyclists–with the exception of those nifty handlebar moustaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As several guests on this podcast have told us, sports have been fundamentally connected with the major developments of modern history: urbanization, class conflict, imperialism, political repression, globalization. The history of bicycle racing brings in another key ingredient of the modern age: technology. The sport began only with the invention of a machine, and its history, from the mid-1800s to today, has been linked to the constant adaptation of that machine. Andrew Ritchie documents the first decades of this history in his book Quest for Speed: A History of Early Bicycle Racing 1868-1903 (Cycle Publishing, 2011). As he explains in our interview, an important part of the story is the evolution of the bicycle, from early wood-and-steel models that rattled their riders, through the high-wheel bikes that we typically associate with 19th-century cycling, to the more familiar bicycles of the 1890s, with chain-driven rear wheels and pneumatic tires. An important point Andrew makes is that technological development and changes in competition were always linked. Riders, mechanics, designers, and manufacturers worked in concert, always seeking a better and, above all, faster bicycle. Andrew does discuss the people of early cycling as well as the machines. We talk about two figures who gained international stardom as champion cyclists, Arthur Zimmerman and Major Taylor, the African-American rider whom Andrew profiled in a previous book. We also discuss what sets cyclists apart. In the 1800s riders had emotional attachments to their bicycles, they tended to hang out in bike shops, and they stood out on the roads in their strange clothes. In short, they were not much different from today’s cyclists–with the exception of those nifty handlebar moustaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices