Questions tagged [world-war-one]
Questions on World War I, events that caused it, strategy and tactics employed by the battling sides and the consequences of this war.
330
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Can anyone help identify the country, rank, and unit this WWI uniform is from?
I am looking to ID country, rank, and unit of this picture.
I have already tried googling the collar insignia with no luck
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1answer
91 views
Is this photo of Gavrilo Princip or Nedeljko Čabrinović?
It seems most websites say this is Gavrilo Princip who shot Franz Ferdinand, but some say it is Nedeljko Čabrinović who threw the bomb at him. I was wondering if anyone knew for sure?
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2answers
245 views
How did an advancing force walk during WW1?
I am searching for any noticeable orders, doctrine or any piece of information about how an advancing force should be organized. I am interested in the scope 1914-1918, on European and Middle-East ...
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1answer
161 views
What kind of rifle used this shell case?
Please, anyone able to tell me what kind of shell is it and what mean this symbol on the bottom ? Is it from 1917?
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0answers
86 views
Who was the British liaison officer shunned by French colleagues in 1918 France?
I seem to recall reading that during the German offensive of March 1918, the British retreat led to many Frenchmen suspecting that Britain was about to abandon them.
Most particularly, I'm sure I ...
2
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2answers
2k views
Did the western Allies and Russia try to cooperate in World War I as they did in World War II?
America's General Eisenhower referred to it as "cross-ruffing." Coincidentally or otherwise, the timing of Operation Torch came close to the Russian counterattack at Stalingrad, and Operation Husky ...
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1answer
95 views
What uniform is this man wearing (probably Austro-Hungarian circa 1900)?
Trying to identify time period, soldier rank and war for this ancestor who live 1876-1918. Probably served in Austria Hungarian war. He was a Croat. It appears that the uniform is dark navy?
6
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2answers
245 views
Was the Russian Black Sea fleet strong enough to help with land operations on the southern shore in World War I?
The Russian Black Sea Fleet was stronger than the Turkish Black Sea fleet for most of the 19th century. But the successful flight of two German ships to the Black Sea greatly strengthened the Turkish ...
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0answers
61 views
Can anyone identify this early 20th century european costume/uniform?
Can anyone identify this costume/uniform for me? I am wondering if anyone recognises it or could connect it to any particular country or conflict. We found it in an album belonging to a great aunt who ...
16
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3answers
5k views
Can anyone identify the regiment and rank from this WWI photograph?
I am trying to identify the person in this WWI era photograph. I believe it may be my great great uncle John Hunt Marshall born Dec 29 1893 in Motherwell, Scotland. He graduated with a BSc from the ...
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0answers
62 views
Did the British Cabinet agree, at first, to send their expeditionary force to Amiens in August 1914?
I was reading War by Timetable by A.J.P. Taylor, in which he presents his interpretation of how the elaborate timetables prepared by various governments as "contingency plans" took on a life of their ...
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2answers
8k views
Why did the German army execute so few soldiers in World War I compared to most other armies?
According to Alexander Watson's Ring of Steel and other sources during the whole of the First World War the German army only executed 48 of its soldiers, compared to over 300 in the British and 600-...
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1answer
127 views
Need to identify a European uniform from around 1900
This is my great grandfather...from somewhere in eastern Europe...family from Istria.
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1answer
236 views
Were WW1 trenches always in a devastated landscape?
I’ve wondered was the Western front always just mud and devastation or were a lot of green fields and woods still intact most of the time?
3
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0answers
66 views
Was the internment camp Thalerhof the first concentration camp in Europe?
During World War I, Austrohungarian authorities ran a so-called internment camp in Thalerhof (close to Graz in modern Austria). According to Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The first 2,000 prisoners at ...
33
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1answer
9k views
Why did Bayer lose aspirin and heroin trademarks under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles?
As read in the article Heroin by Wikipedia:
Bayer lost some of its trademark rights to heroin (as well as aspirin) under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles following the German defeat in World War I. 83 ...
2
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1answer
96 views
Are there any good histories of industrial production during WW1?
I have been reading recently about US industrial production during World War 2, and keep finding passing references to legacies of the war production effort in World War 1. I would like to get a more ...
5
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1answer
302 views
Have any spies ever managed to keep their identity secret from their handlers?
Having just started reading up on spies throughout history, I've just realized a new risk I hadn't thought of before, namely that once you've started spying you're at risk of being blackmailed into ...
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3answers
330 views
In comparison to today's tanks, how powerful were various WW1 artillery pieces?
This is a two-part question:
Which, if any, WW1 artillery pieces would be able to damage or destroy a modern tank presuming it got a direct hit. That is - what can today's armour NOT protect against ...
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0answers
62 views
What collar badge did the 36th Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery in WW1 wear?
My Great-Grandfather fought with the 36th Battery CFA of the 9th Brigade during at least a portion of WW1. He was in three other units as well, I'm trying to collect the collar badges for each unit he ...
3
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2answers
239 views
Why did Germany request compensation after the Agadir (2nd Moroccan) crisis?
The way I learned it, France sent troops to Morocco to suppress revolts there on the request of the Sultan. Germany saw it as France trying to take over Morocco and sent a gunboat to Agadir. Their ...
23
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3answers
6k views
During World War 1, were any policies in place to handle large scale troop mutiny?
From what I understand, the rank and file didn't really want to be there after the fighting got started (this could be incorrect). During the Christmas Truce, both sides stopped fighting and ...
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0answers
106 views
Can someone identify this uniform and cap badge?
Could someone please tell me what this uniform and cap badge are ? My grandfather told me he was a stretcher-bearer in the Hampshire Regiment but neither look like anything I have researched, I truly ...
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1answer
431 views
Was there a bribery attempt by the UK to get the Ottomans to switch sides in World War I?
While perusing Wikipedia article on Gallipoli Campaign, I saw an intriguing statement:
an attempt by the British to bribe the Ottomans to join the Allied
side ... failed.
Wikipedia citing an ...
0
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1answer
117 views
Help for identifying a shell
After a few hours of search, I can't identify this shell. I know it's a 75 mm shell, from one of the WW (probably WWI, but can't guarantee it), found in France, but that's about it. Could be from any ...
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2answers
264 views
Does anyone know anything about this poem
My near 80 year old mother remembers having this poem recited to her by her mother as a young girl. She remembers a great deal but there are some gaps. Is anyone able to place it in context or ...
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0answers
166 views
Can anyone help identify this World War One uniform?
I have this photograph of my grandfather in uniform - taken in Seaford, Sussex, England, some time after 1914. Can anyone tell me anything about this uniform? He eventually joined 525 coy. 62nd ...
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1answer
237 views
Were there US troops on the WW1 eastern front?
I would like to know more about the first world war, especially
about the involvement of the USA on the eastern front. Were there
any US troops in eastern front present, if so how many?
Thanks in ...
2
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1answer
163 views
Can you help me identify the rank and patch on this Royal Italian Army uniform?
Can you help me identify the rank and patch on this uniform on the far right? It's from around 1910. Thank you very much.
2
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2answers
292 views
Did some chemical weapons from the military end up in private hands after WWI?
It is a common, well-documented knowledge, that chemical weapons were widely used during the Great War. It is also quite common knowledge, that soldiers like to take "souvenirs" from the battlefield - ...
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1answer
667 views
In the early 1900s, how would an American returning from, say, Europe prove he was American and not just lying to avoid Ellis Island?
Apparently, international travelers didn't need any papers to travel (before WW1), at least in USA and most parts of Europe. So how did a person 'prove' their nationality?
EDITED IN OP'S COMMENT
I'...
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3answers
775 views
In World War 1, why were the Australian and Canadian troops so good?
I'm reading a book about the first world war, and makes it clear that the Canadian and Australian troops made quite a name for themselves. They acquitted themselves very well in many of the actions ...
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1answer
439 views
Where did Wilson state that the US would have to force access to markets with violence?
US President Woodrow Wilson stated openly before the First World War:
"Diplomacy and, if need be, violence must open the way to the (foreign) markets."
His central argument was ...
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1answer
362 views
Can anyone identify this woman’s uniform?
Found this photo in a box of family pictures from England. Most photos were prior to WW1
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1answer
68 views
What was regicide conspiracy and what was the role of Djordje Gencic in it? [closed]
I'm reading the book The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clarke, and it says that the interior minister during the rule of Alexander in Serbia (late 1890s), was involved in regicide conspiracy. However I ...
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0answers
123 views
Was Fakhri Pasha really nicknamed “Tiger of the Desert” by the British?
It is mentioned in multiple places (eg. in "With Lawrence in Arabia" by L.J. Thomas, in this article, and even in the Wikipedia page about him) that Fakhri Pasha (Fahreddin Paşa), the commander of the ...
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1answer
406 views
Why did German U-boats not sink American ships carrying soldiers during WW1?
During WW1, the Germans used U-boats to blockade the British. When they started using unrestricted submarine warfare the US joined the war. Why didn't the Germans sink American ships bringing US ...
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5answers
9k views
Is there any evidence to support the claim that the United States was “suckered into WW1” by Zionists, made by Benjamin Freedman in his 1961 speech?
In the comments to another question another user of History:SE made a remarkable, if unbelievable, claim:
Actually, Germany was shocked when the US declared war and entered on the side of Great ...
2
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1answer
272 views
Why Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is so popular in Russian?
Recently I have seen a documentary film from "Star Media" (this is Russian film) called "The first world war". Up to this moment, I thought that the February Revolution had happened, because there was ...
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4answers
3k views
Why did WWI include Japan?
WWI mainly developed in Europe. It only included the USA because Germans attacked a US ship. What did Japan have to do with Europe?
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3answers
6k views
A German immigrant ancestor has a “Registration Affidavit of Alien Enemy” on file. What does that mean exactly?
While researching genealogy, I discovered that one of my ancestors had a "Registration Affidavit of Alien Enemy" document on file. It is dated 1 January 1918 and includes his fingerprints, immigration ...
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1answer
204 views
Found a bullet shell with 'Winchester 30-06 SPRG' on it, how old is it? [closed]
The shell is a dark brown.. I don't know much about guns but anyone know anything?
4
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1answer
267 views
Austrian brass shell case (Berndorf 1910 R)
I would like to know which cannon could have fired such a shell and what does the R stand for? Was it fired in WWI?
The dimensions are as follows: length 58 cm, width at the base 9.5 cm, and width ...
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1answer
176 views
Identifying rising sun pin WW1 or WWII
Can anyone tell me if this is WW1 or WWII and what is the significance of it please. It has what looks like 99t on the back. What is that for.
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1answer
110 views
Help identifying this WW1 badge
Can anyone help identifying this badge:
The back reads: Pte G E Thornton from R'dents T'morel and district on his return from France. 1919
3
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2answers
819 views
Was Woodrow Wilson really a Liberal?
In a related question Ben Crowell asked, Was World War I a war of liberals against authoritarians? in that discussion, Woodrow Wilson was called a liberal. I have always believed, this has become a ...
33
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6answers
7k views
Was World War I a war of liberals against authoritarians?
An essay by Robert Kagan in the Washington Post, March 14, 2019, argues for rethinking the big theme of 20th-century history as a struggle between liberalism and authoritarianism, and for an ...
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1answer
102 views
What is meant by “state people” in this context? (Governments of new Balkan states post-WWI)
I'm reading The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, but since my background is science I find the history a little hard to follow. What is the meaning of state people in the following quote?
...
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3answers
601 views
Why didn't Spain and Portugal become industrial powerhouses in the 20th century?
Although Spain experienced a gruesome civil war, neither Spain nor Portugal participated in either the first or the second world wars. Despite their losses of millions of people, widespread ...
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2answers
862 views
Were railway guns ever critical in any battle during WWI and WWII?
Note: this is a question about railway - mounted artillery, NOT about armored trains (which were more akin to tanks-on-rails and had much smaller guns)
The idea behind railway gun is quite sound: a ...
