The First World War (1914-1918)

Articles and analysis of the Great War.

Movie Review: War Horse

by Scott Manning December 26, 2011
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Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is a different type of war movie that focuses on animals instead of people. The following are some thoughts with no plot spoilers. The most important aspect is the main character–the horse. Although there are people in the movie, the horse gets the most screen time. The movie works hard to [...]

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Finding Douglas Haig in Edinburgh Castle

by Scott Manning November 28, 2011
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On hilltop towering over much of Edinburgh, Scotland, is the city’s castle. The location is rich with military history, as the Scots and English fought over the castle and destroyed it on several occasions. Today, the castle acts as a large museum covering a wide range of Scottish history. Within it is the National War [...]

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Luxembourg’s Golden Lady, a World War I Monument

by Scott Manning November 11, 2011
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Today is Armistice Day. In America, we refer to it as Veteran’s Day and honor the living. We have since 1954. After World War II (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953), it was difficult for Americans to honor veterans only from one war. However, many in Europe still continue with their flavor of Armistice Day [...]

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Scotland’s Monuments to Her Fallen Sons in the Great War

by Scott Manning August 18, 2011
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While my wife and I were in Scotland recently, we were enamored with tales of Picts, Vikings, Highlanders, and Jacobites, but we could not help but also notice the seemingly endless World War I monuments strung throughout virtually every village in Scotland. Even as far north as the Orkney Islands, I saw several monuments in [...]

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Churchill’s Efforts to Feed Germany after the Great War

by Scott Manning February 23, 2010
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Reprinted by permission of Finest Hour, Number 145, Winter 2009-10, The Churchill Centre and Museum at the Cabinet War Rooms, London (www.winstonchurchill.org). Text copyright © Scott Manning 2010. With America’s entry into the First World War in 1917, the Allies finally had enough ships and manpower to implement a full naval blockade on Germany. The [...]

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Treaty of London, 1839: The Complete Text

by Scott Manning March 8, 2009
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The 1839 Treaty of London was the document cited by Britain when they presented Germany with an ultimatum not to invade Belgium on August 3, 1914. I have found several websites which quote the relevant portions of the treaty, but I could not find a website that had the treaty in its entirety. The following [...]

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Buchanan is Wrong. Churchill had No “Starvation Blockade”

by Scott Manning January 18, 2008
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While reading Patrick J. Buchanan’s new book Churchill, Hitler, and “The Unnecessary War”, I realized that a better title would have been Twisted Highlights from the World Wars that Make Churchill Look the Most Incompetent and Sadistic. While not all of Buchanan’s highlights are twisted, he tends to leave out just enough information to force [...]

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World War I: Troop Statistics

by Scott Manning January 4, 2007
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The following is a breakdown of the number of troops that fought, died, and were wounded in World War I. The number of civilians killed have been counted as well. This article is only a quick analysis of man power in the first World War. It does not cover other important logistics such as supplies, [...]

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