World War I Podcast

In this latest episode of the World War I Podcast, we are joined by Lillian Pfluke, a retired U.S. Army major and a member of the pioneering first class of women to graduate from West Point in 1980. After her military career, she spent ten years working for the American Battle Monuments Commission as the Private Memorials Administrator of the European Region before founding American War Memorials...

In the history of the United States, 31 of 45 presidents have served in the military, with two dozen of them serving during wartime. Yet only one president was a combat veteran of World War I: Harry S. Truman. The war shaped an entire generation of leaders, and Truman often said his service profoundly influenced his life and leadership. To explore Truman’s World War I service and its impact, the W...

In 1917, with Paul von Lettow‑Vorbeck’s forces fighting a desperate guerrilla campaign in East Africa and supplies running dangerously low, the German Navy proposed an almost unbelievable solution. They would send a single airship from Bulgaria on a nonstop, one‑way mission across the Mediterranean, over enemy territory, and deep into the African interior. It was one of the most daring and least‑k...

The First World War is often talked about as a global event that had a tremendous impact on everything, but how did the nations, organizations, and people involved in the war actually “frame” or understand the conflict they were fighting? That's the question at the heart of Framing the First World War: How Divergent Views Shaped a Global Conflict , a recently published collection of essays th...

World War I historiography is heavily focused on the Western Front, and the memoirs of soldiers of the Central Powers—especially for English language audiences—are often rare or inaccessible.  A Tale of Two Fronts: A German Soldier’s Journey through World War I helps fill this gap. Written by Hans Schiller, who enlisted in the Imperial German Army at age seventeen, the memoir covers his service pr...

Arthur MacArthur III is less well known than his younger brother General Douglas MacArthur and his father, the Civil War hero Arthur MacArthur Jr., but his military career was also quite consequential and full. From the Spanish-American War to his untimely death in 1923, he distinguished himself as a very brave, resourceful, and energetic officer. Unlike his father and brother, however, he did not...

General Douglas MacArthur is arguably the most decorated American military officer in American history. For a career that spanned five conflicts and about 50 years of active duty, it is an impressive record. His service in World War I accounts for nearly 20% of his 100+ decorations, and many military historians view the combination and number of his U.S. and international honors from 1917–1918 as...

From massive national memorials to simple plaques in tiny villages, the need to remember and try to make sense of World War I was universal. Though World War I memorials stand across the U.S. it wasn’t until 2021 that a national World War I Memorial was created in Washington, D.C. To explore the significance of the National World War I Memorial and its place in history, the World War I Podcast hos...

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the release of The Sound of Music , an enormously successful Hollywood film with fans all over the world. As with any story Hollywood translates to the silver screen, the film is a mix of fact and fiction. What is not fiction, however, is that the leading male protagonist, Captain Georg von Trapp, had served in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and was a decorated vetera...

Edward Mandell House, better known as Colonel House, was a pivotal figure in American politics and diplomacy during World War I, serving as President Woodrow Wilson’s closest advisor and confidant from 1913 to 1919. A wealthy Texan, House was a skilled political operator who shunned public office but wielded immense influence behind the scenes. His role during World War I was particularly signific...

Edward Mandell House, better known as Colonel House, was a pivotal figure in American politics and diplomacy during World War I, serving as President Woodrow Wilson’s closest advisor and confidant from 1913 to 1919. A wealthy Texan, House was a skilled political operator who shunned public office but wielded immense influence behind the scenes. His role during World War I was particularly signific...

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, all 48 states played a role in war mobilization and made unique contributions shaped by their histories, their politics, their natural resources and industries, and their military manpower. Previous episodes have explored the experiences of eastern, southern, and midwestern states. In this latest episode, we shift west to California, a stat...

John J. Pershing and Douglas MacArthur are both towering figures in American military history—Pershing as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I, and MacArthur as a key leader in World War II and the Korean War. In terms of age, they were separated by about 20 years, but they were both First Captains at West Point, both served as U.S. Army Chief of Staff, and both...

There are 125 WWI recipients of the Medal of Honor. One of those recipients was Private Thomas Croft Neibaur of the 167th Infantry Regiment, 42nd “Rainbow” Division who received the award for heroism at the Cote de Chatillon in 1918. Neibaur was the first Mormon and the first soldier from Idaho to receive the Medal of Honor. His actions led General John J. Pershing to name him amongst the “Immorta...

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, all 48 states played a role in war mobilization and made unique contributions that reflected their histories, their politics, their natural resources and industries, and their military manpower. Kansas was a midwestern state that provided approximately 80,000 troops and, if not for his premature death, may also have provided its adopted son...

As stalemate ensued on the Western Front in the fall of 1914, the French Army began providing a daily wine ration for its soldiers stationed there. As the war went on, the ration went from about ¼ litre to about a bottle per soldier, per day. Armies throughout history have relied on psychotropic drugs to strategically shape the behavior of those fighting, but in the case of World War I, the French...

When the United States declared war in April 1917, the 48 states that made up the nation at that time played an important role in mobilization – both in terms of manpower and in terms of the home front. Every state made a contribution that reflected its own unique history, politics, natural resources, level of industrialization, and its national guard, volunteers, and draftees. For Mississippi in...

Kiffin Rockwell believed that America owed France a debt for its support during the American Revolutionary War. He was 21 years old when World War I began, and he immediately sailed to France to volunteer to fight. He initially joined the French Foreign Legion, and then joined the Escadrille Americaine (later renamed the Lafayette Escadrille). He was credited with being the first American in the E...

Between 1914-1917, communications technology, and the way to secure or intercept this kind of traffic, progressed dramatically. When the United States entered WWI in April 1917, it had to quickly catch up in these areas. Remarkably, the Americans made considerable progress by 1918. This success was partly due to Parker Hitt, an innovative Army officer who designed modifications for machine guns bu...

When the United States declared war in April 1917, it was unprepared to actually fight a war in Europe. The regular army was small and American industry needed time to produce war materials on a massive scale. It also needed time to train and transport troops. States would play an important role in mobilization – both in terms of manpower and in terms of the resources and industry. The 48 states t...

Like many leaders during WWII, Adolf Hitler served in World War I. It was an important part of his identity, and, prior to his rise to power in Germany, he even went to court to defend his service record. His detractors claimed he was a “rear area hog.” They argued he had dodged service in the Austro-Hungarian army and then spent WWI in the German army in the relative safety of his regimental HQ....

In 1918, German secret agent, Lothar Witzke, entered the United States via the southern border. His mission was to conduct a campaign of terror and sabotage. This included the destruction of American factories making war materials, the assassination of American officials, and fomenting racial unrest. To explore this little-known chapter in WWI history, the World War I Podcast hosted Bill Mills, au...

The North Sea was one of the most relevant naval theatres of the war. It was also home to important fishing grounds. By 1914 a combination of technology, markets, and demand was leading to overfishing in the region. World War I reversed this, but it was a temporary respite.  To discuss the short- and long-term impact of World War I on the North Sea, the World War I Podcast hosted Dr. Ingo Heidbrin...

How does World War I poetry help us understand the complexity of the experience of the war? Why was poetry so important then? Why does the poetry of World War I continue to have such resonance? To answer these questions, the World War I Podcast hosted two subject matter experts: Dr. Connie Ruzich, Professor of English at Robert Morris University and editor of International Poetry of the First Worl...

When most people think of World War I on the Western Front, they probably think of trenches. Trench systems were present along most of the 475 miles from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. It wasn’t just one straight continuous line, however. The system had many layers that supported the daily life and movement of millions of soldiers. If laid end to end, the trench systems would have stretche...