Our Boys in French Blue: Missouri Flyboys in the Lafayette Escadrille

Dr. Jessica Cannon will present the next exciting installment in the Great War Series on April 23 at 6:00 pm in Twomey Auditorium (Wood 100).  Focusing on Missouri’s connections to the Lafayette Escadrille, the talk will cover new research on two local men who joined the war effort in 1914 and talked their way past a suspicious French government and into the ranks of the aviation service.  The talk includes the war experiences of the escadrille, some context for early aviation, and the wild post-war adventures of Higginsville native Bert Hall.  

Advertisement from the Boston Post, 15 June 1918.

"The Hun in the Heartland"

Our next presentation in the Great War Series will be by Sarah Craig on March 24, at 7:00 pm in Twomey Auditorium.  Based on research for her Master's Thesis in the Department of History and Anthropology, "The Hun in the Heartland: Anti-German Sentiment in Missouri During World War I" will focus on local experiences and reactions to World War I.

Join us and discover how three German communities in Missouri--Cole Camp, Concordia, and Hermann--survived the strains of anti-German sentiment during World War I.  By analyzing the local newspapers in these communities from 1912-1919 we are able to gain a sense of how German-Americans in Missouri viewed themselves and their patriotism before, during, and after the Great War, as well as how external forces influenced changes in their communities.

December 2 Student Research Panel

Our last event of the fall semester is an undergraduate student research panel on December 2 at 6:00 pm in Twomey Auditorium.  Please come support our history students, who will be presenting research they have completed this fall in the Writing in the Social Sciences class.  Each student will speak for roughly 15 minutes, to be followed with a question-and-answer session.  There will be four students participating, and they will speak to a range of World War I-era topics:

Jordan Lockwood is a Senior majoring in Social Studies Education; he will present on Belgium's experiences during World War I.  Although existing international agreements recognized Belgium as a neutral nation, Germany's war plans dictated a quick defeat of France in order to avoid fighting a two-front war against France and Russia at the same time.  Standing in the way of that plan was Belgium, since the main route of invasion to capture Paris and bypass French defenses was through Belgium.  Mr. Lockwood will discuss Belgian experiences during the German invasion and occupation, how those experiences influenced Great Britain's decision to enter the war, and how Belgium fared at Versailles in the peace talks at the end of the war.

Michael Gawlick is a Junior working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  His research focuses on France during the war, showing how the influx of colonial soldiers and immigrant workers to French industry helped sustain the French war effort.  Moreover, the development of French weapons--like the 75mm gun and the Renault tank--allowed the French, with the assistance of the allies, to sustain their nation throughout the long war despite suffering significant losses in men and materiel.

Marty Kankey is a Senior majoring in Social Studies Education.  Ms. Kankey's research examines the roles of women in the allied cause, including those who served in the Navy as "Yeomanettes," those that went to Europe to serve as nurses and ambulance drivers, as well as women who participated in the war effort on the home front by planting victory gardens, producing equipment, and assisting with Red Cross and Liberty Loan drives.

Chad Dangler is a Senior majoring in History with a minor in Anthropology.  His project focuses on the Gallipoli Campaign and the British decision to open another front in Turkey near the Dardanelles Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea (and ultimately the Mediterranean Sea).  This straight was a vital connection for Russia, Britain's ally, as it represented the only warm-water port for moving goods into or out of Russia.  The region was also important to British long-term interests in the Middle East and protecting the Suez Canal and British territory in Egypt.

We hope to see you on December 2 at 6:00 pm to hear our students present their research!

The Dangers of the Battlefield...One Hundred Years Later

 By the late fall of 1914--basically around this time 100 years ago--the final flanking maneuvers in the race to the North Sea were solidifying a line of trenches from the Belgian Coast to Switzerland.  Stretching some 440 miles, the tactical and strategic goals of every subsequent campaign to regain (or alternately to hold) territory along the trenches of the Western Front would demand the use of artillery to try to dislodge or destroy enemy fortifications.  The demand for artillery shells was insatiable; for most of 1914 and early 1915 neither side could produce shells in sufficient quantity (in the millions) to prevent shortages on the front.  In the haste to ramp up production of this critical war materiel, everything from miscalculating the quantity of powder to poor-quality chemicals, fuses, or metal ultimately resulted in about a quarter of all artillery shells failing to detonate when fired.

Moving forward in time to the present, undetonated shells still represent a constant danger for farmers and individuals working, or simply walking, in and around the battlefields and military posts of World War I.  And those shells are still taking lives.

While it may be difficult to grasp the dangers of these shells individually, since we tend to think of them inadvertently going off one or two at a time, let's pause for a second to talk about the Battle of Messines that began on 7 June 1917.  British soldiers labored over eighteen months to dig 21 mine shafts across no-man's land and under German positions along the Messines Ridge.  Each shaft was filled with thousands of pounds of explosives (the largest containing some 41 tons), with the plan to detonate all the mines at 3:10 am just prior to a massed infantry assault (comprising nine divisions) and a creeping artillery barrage to provide cover for the advance.  Only 19 mines were detonated, but they killed some 10,000 men almost instantly and allowed the British assault to achieve its initial tactical objectives within three hours.  So what about the other two mines?

The British told Belgian authorities that with all the German counter-mining going on, and the devastation caused by the massive explosion of the other mines, that they were no longer certain where the two missing tunnels (and the explosives in them) were located.  One was found on 17 June 1955 near Le Pelerin when lightning struck nearby electrical pylons (erected in the 1950s) and set off the explosives in the ground beneath it.  The other mine is still under the Belgian countryside somewhere south of Ypres....

A recent article about the dangers of unexploded ordnance along the Ypres front highlights the ongoing concern for how to safely locate and remove these explosives and serves as a good reminder for our next talk on November 6.  Please come out to Twomey Auditorium on Nov. 6 at 6:00 pm to learn about efforts to preserve the battlefields, deal with unexploded shells, and address the public history questions and civic responsibilities that surround efforts to commemorate the First World War.

One of craters produced by the Messines mines. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Nov. 6: Public History, Preservation, and Commemoration Efforts in Europe and the U.S.

Tonight's talk by Dr. Tenbus was a great success, and we were pleased to see around 100 people in attendance.  Thank you for coming out!

Our next talk will be at 6:00 pm on November 6 in Twomey Auditorium--please note the time shift as this differs from previous talks.

Dr. Abbie Grubb, a professor of history at San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas, will be joining us to present "Poppies on Parade: The Preservation and Commemoration of WWI Sites on the Centennial of the Great War."  Her talk will have a public history focus: she will examine the ongoing efforts to preserve WWI battlefields in Europe and offer a comparative analysis of commemoration efforts in the United States.  She will also address some of the obstacles to preservation efforts for the battlefields, including unexploded ordnance, urban development, and competing visions for interpretation.  Undergraduate and graduate students considering careers in public history are especially encouraged to attend.

Understanding the Modern Middle East

Thank you to everyone who attended the talk by Dr. Steve Trout this past week; we learned a great deal about the imagery and uses of parades to both create and shape civic rituals and commemoration.  For those interested in learning a little more about my fellow Demon Deacon Laurence Stallings, check out this article by his daughter featured in Wake Forest Magazine in 2012.

Our next talk will be on October 22 at 7:00 pm, and features a focus on the lesser-known aspects of the war in the Middle East.  Although often downplayed in the rush to explain the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand  and the origins of the war as a consequence of European entangling alliances, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire is essential to the story of the First World War.  In particular, diplomatic controversies between France and Germany over African colonies and two Balkan Wars in 1912-1913 were direct consequences of the collapse of the empire and are often seen as precursors to the World War.  Dr. Tenbus will explore these tensions by examining the Arab Revolt against the Turks, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, and other decisions made by Europe during and in the aftermath of the First World War, decisions that in turn shaped much of subsequent twentieth-century strife in the Middle East.  We hope to see you in Twomey Auditorium (Wood Hall 100) for the event!

The first public lecture of the fall semester will be held September 9, 2014, at 7:00 pm in Twomey Auditorium (Wood Building room 100).  Dr. Dan Crews will present "World War I and the Mexican Revolution," which will detail American political and military policies towards Mexico in the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Dr. Crews describes his talk:

Historians often use labels to identify periods of time that they consider to have an underlying theme that permeates all aspects of life.  One such label is the Age of Imperialism, 1870-1918.  During this era practically the entire world was divided among the European Powers, the United States, and Japan into formal colonies or informal protectorates and recognized spheres of influence.  Massive foreign investment in Mexico fueled dramatic economic growth that exacerbated social inequality and led to the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920.  The most deadly period of that revolution occurred during World War I as the Great Powers shifted their support from one faction to another.  President Woodrow Wilson's policies to 'guide' the Mexican Revolution and turn Mexico into a quasi-protectorate failed repeatedly as Mexican leaders balanced U.S. influence with that of Great Britain and Imperial Germany.  This lecture will explain how, in the midst of revolutionary chaos, Mexico retained its complete sovereignty from a neighbor that was indisputably the greatest power on Earth at the end of the Age of  Imperialism.

We hope to see you on September 9 for another installment of the Great War History Lecture Series at UCM!

Music Tribute at the Kauffman Center August 17

On Sunday August 17 at 4:00 pm you can visit the spectacular Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center in Kansas City and hear a musical program focused on the Great War.  Developed in partnership with the National World War I Museum, this performance will feature patriotic and period music, readings from "doughboy" letters written to loved ones, and the opportunity to hear organist Jan Kraybill play the Casavant Organ.  If you have never been to a performance at the Kauffman Center, this is an excellent opportunity to see a world-class musical performance and facility.  Additional information and tickets can be found at the link below.

http://www.kauffmancenter.org/2014/07/07/8444/

Those Terrible Huns!

Only one week until Dr. Celia Kingsbury, author of For Home and Country: World War I Propaganda on the Home Front, discusses "'The Hun is at the Gate': The Power of World War I Propaganda" in Twomey Auditorium (Wood 100) March 12 at 7:00 pm.  We hope to see you there, and check back soon to see our fall line-up of events! 

"The Hun is at the Gate" on March 12!

Thank you to everyone who came out last night for the first lecture in our series on World War I.  We had around 65 people in attendance, and we heard a great mix of perspectives on the origins of the war--including how Queen Victoria was the grandmother of most of the leading figures on all sides!

We hope you can also attend our second talk, "The Hun is at the Gate": The Power of World War I Propaganda, which will be on March 12, 2014, at 7:00 pm in Twomey Auditorium (Wood Hall 100).  Dr. Celia Kingsbury, author of For Home and Country: World War I Propaganda on the Homefront (2010) will share her research and perspectives with us.  Anyone who has been through the National World War I Museum in Kansas City will remember the wall of colorful propaganda posters featured in their displays, so join us to learn how images and ideology were used to mobilize millions of people!

Image Credit: Dr. Celia Kingsbury

Origins of the Great War

Our first event, a panel discussion on the origins of the Great War, will be held February 17, 2014, at 7:00 pm in Elliot Student Union 238 on the main campus of the University of Central Missouri.  Historians Dr. Micah Alpaugh, Dr. Carol Heming, and Dr. Eric Tenbus will speak on the French, German, and British perspectives respectively.  While we often hear the phrase "entangling alliances" as a shorthand explanation for the causes of the war, allow our experts to help unravel the complexities of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European politics.  We hope to see you there!