World War One is not on the radar of many Americans. In many ways the Great War ends the cultural optimism and colonialism of the nineteenth century. America emerges as a true super-power. The Great War marks the dawn of the modern age. If I have piqued your interest, here are a few suggested titles readers of the Riddleblog may enjoy. With a couple of exceptions, my choices deal with geopolitical consequences of the war, not with battles, tactics, or weaponry.

This superbly written book appears on most World War One “recommended reading” lists for good reason. Tuchman turns the complex troop movements of the German Schleiffen Plan into page-turning high drama. One of my all-time favorites: Barbara Tuchman -- "The Guns of August"

With the aid of the German foreign office, Kaiser Wilhelm II concocted a hair-brained plan to coax Mexico into invading the US along the southern border, in exchange for a return of former Mexican territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Brits uncovered the plot in the form of the Zimmerman Telegram and turned it over to us. The extent of German treachery pushed a reluctant Woodrow Wilson closer to a declaration of War. Tuchman’s book is marvelous. Barbara Tuchman -- "The Zimmermann Telegram"

There is a long-standing debate over how the major powers of Europe so quickly followed their treaties and alliances into a full-fledged war, not long after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo in June of 1914. Two months later, all the great European powers were at war with each other. Clark wrestles with the question, “which nation is primarily responsible for the war and why did the `trip-wire’ of the alliance system fail to keep the peace?” There are lessons here for us about the current alliance system. Compelling and well-written. Christopher Clark -- "The Sleepwalkers"

The irony here is palpable. The Christian nations of “Christendom” fought a savage war with one another, each claiming to possess God’s blessing because their nation was fulfilling the will of God. Anglican Britain was allied with Roman Catholic France and Italy, and Protestant America. Lutheran Germany allied itself with the Roman/Orthodox hodgepodge of states known as Austria-Hungary to fight against the Russian Orthodox Czar and the Russian nation. Clerics in every nation whispered claims about the will of God in their respective leader’s ears. Others whipped up public support of war aims. The Turkish-led genocide in Armenia is also fruit of the Great War—an event with overtly religious grounds and implications. Philip Jenkins -- "The Great and Holy War"

If you’ve ever watched Lawrence of Arabia and wondered who was who in the Ottoman-Arabic world, this will help. It is a well-written and compelling book. Who were the Ottomans and how did their empire become known as the “sick man of Europe?” The fall of the Ottomans left the Middle East in a shambles from which it still has not recovered. Rogan -- "The Fall of the Ottomans -- The Great War in the Middle East"

How did Zionism take root in the UK? Who was Chaim Weizmann? What roles did men like Lloyd-George and T. E. Lawrence play in shaping the Middle East? How did Arthur Balfour succeed in pulling off one of the most significant and unlikely treaties in a climate rife with Antisemitism resulting in a Jewish homeland in Palestine? What was the Sykes-Picot Treaty and how did it shape the modern Middle East? It is easy for us to lose sight of what it meant to the Muslim world when a British General, Allenby, led British soldiers into Jerusalem for the first time in centuries. This is a well-written and fascinating book. Schneer -- "The Balfour Declaration -- Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict"

For those interested in Victorian history and the background to World War One, you will enjoy this fascinating book from Miranda Carter on three remarkable first cousins and grandchildren of Queen Victoria. George Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Cousins and the Road to World War I. How did three first cousins (King George, Czar Nicholas, and Kaiser Wilhelm) bring the three great European nations they led from apparent peace and prosperity into the Great War with its unprecedented death and mass destruction. Carter describes the way in which both the unique personalities of each, along with events beyond their control (especially in the Baltic), brought about this horrific cataclysm.

Why did Wilhelm choose to wage war on England and Russia and his royal first cousins who led them. Carter’s narrative asserts that while Victoria was alive, she was able to keep all three vastly different personalities in check (along with a host of other Europeans royals related to her in one way or another). But Victoria could not live forever. Kaiser Wilhelm was the aggressor in the Great War. Carter describes how Wilhelm’s anglophilia gave way over time to an aggressive German nationalism. Wilhelm coveted a navy as powerful as Britain’s, he wanted a greater share of the colonial pie, and he came to resent his cousin George. Nicholas was a self-isolated milquetoast of a man, who did little as his nation careened toward a horrible war and a bloody Bolshevik Revolution in which he and his family would perish. King George presided over a colonial empire at the end of an industrial revolution which left England with serious social ills and growing resentment of the crown.

As one reviewer put it, this is “history at its most entertaining, full of scathing and often witty descriptions of the follies and tragedies of royalty, and the way in which the three royal cousins’ lives, despite the deep social divide between the royals and ordinary people, became intertwined with the changes and the dangers confronting the major European powers in the early years of the 20th century. It is a splendid picture, splendidly narrated.” I agree.

The Meuse–Argonne offensive contributed significantly to the end of World War One. The American army, known as the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), played a major role in the final allied offensive of the Great War (the so-called “Hundred Days” offensive), which encompassed most of the Western Front. The battle was fought over forty-seven days from September 18, 1918, until the final armistice which ended the war on November 11, 1918. The AEF primarily operated near the city of Verdun—the eastern region of the larger offensive—pushing northwest toward the important rail-head at Sedan in German occupied France.

The Meuse-Argonne offensive was both the largest and costliest battle in American history. A total of 1.2 million American soldiers were involved, with 26,777 confirmed dead. Most of the American dead were killed in the early phases of the battle, due to poor American tactics and inexperience in modern combat. But the AEF improved greatly as the battle unfolded. Some of the losses during the offensive can be attributed to the Spanish flu epidemic then sweeping through the armies of both sides. There were over 350,000 casualties on both sides during the final offensive (primarily British, French, American, and German), of which Meuse-Argonne was major part.

By way of comparison, at the Battle of Gettysburg (the biggest battle on American soil) there were just under 200,000 soldiers present (on both sides), with killed in action (KIA) numbering under 8000 during the battle—more certainly died of wounds and sickness later. The Battle of the Bulge (which, at its peak) involved about 700,000 American soldiers, with just under 20,000 KIA. D-Day (June 6, 1944) involved about 400,000 American soldiers and sailors, with some 4400 confirmed dead. By all accounts, the Meuse-Argonne offensive dwarfs all American military engagements, before and after—yet few of us have heard of it, much less know anything about it.

The AEF was lead by General of the Armies, John J. Pershing, the single highest ranked commanding officer in American history. George Washington was given the same title with seniority in 1976 as part of the American bicentennial—but Pershing held it while in command. Pershing, who first fought in the Spanish-American War, was best known at the time for chasing down Pancho Villa in Mexico (1916). Once he was named General of the Armies and chosen to lead the AEF, Pershing refused to allow newly arriving American soldiers to be fed piecemeal into the the ranks of British and French armies as replacements for their depleted forces. Pershing would command the AEF independently, but operate in close co-ordination with the French and British armies, much to their dismay. Initially, Pershing utilized frontal assaults on well-defended German positions which produced high casualties and little success, but eventually the AEF adopted better tactics and gained significant ground. Perhaps Pershing’s greatest legacy is that while serving as the General of the Armies, he was a mentor to the officer corps which later became so successful in World War Two, including: George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, George Patton, and Douglas MacArthur.

There are several well-known events associated with the Meuse-Argonne offensive. One is the “Lost Battalion” composed of four companies of the 77th Infantry, who found themselves cut off in the Argonne Forest, surrounded by the Germans, and despite taking heavy causalities and diminishing supplies, held out for nearly one week, disrupting a German counter-attack. Seven Medals of Honor were awarded to survivors.

On September 27th, 1918, an artillery captain from Missouri, Harry S. Truman, took the initiative and ordered his battery to fire on Germans he observed unlimbering their artillery in preparation to fire upon advancing American soldiers. Truman’s guns destroyed the German battery before they could fire, no doubt saving many American lives.

Another is the heroics of Sergeant Alvin C. York, who led an attack on a German machine gun nest. He killed 25 German soldiers, single-handedly captured another 132, as well as taking 35 German machine guns into AEF custody. When a superior commented to York, that “you’ve captured the whole German army,” York replied, “no sir, only 132.”

By all accounts, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive was a very important if costly step in the development of the American Army. It is a shame that so many American lives were lost and so little remains in the common and cultural memory of their sacrifice.

Edward Lengel recounts this horrible battle—costliest in American History. Edward Lengel -- To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive (paperback)