340 Results

Survey Articles (Thematic)

Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning
By Manfred Hettling, Tino Schölz
In the modern era, new forms of mourning and meaning-making for fallen soldiers …
Thematic
Children and Youth
By Andrew Donson
Mass conscription recast relationships in families, raised minors’ potential as …
Thematic
Civilian Morale
By Matteo Ermacora
This article deals with civilian morale during the First World War. Between 1915…
Thematic
Controversy: War Culture
By Pierre Purseigle
Cultural approaches to the Great War have played a key part in the renewal of Fi…
Thematic
Controversy: War-related Changes in Gender Relations: The Issue of Women’s Citizenship
By Birgitta Bader-Zaar
The idea that World War I was a watershed in gender relations has pervaded both …
Thematic
Food and Nutrition
By Emmanuelle Cronier
During the First World War, food became a major issue for military and civilian …
Thematic
Health, Disease, Mortality; Demographic Effects
By Doina Anca Cretu
The rapid spread of epidemics ravaged military personnel and civilians in and ou…
Thematic
Hospitals
By Alina Enzensberger
Hospitals framed and configured the convalescence of wounded and sick soldiers d…
Thematic
International Labour Organization
By Anita Ziegerhofer
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, establishing both the Leagu…
Thematic
Labor
By Steven E. Rowe
Across the major belligerent powers, industrial production and the mobilization …
Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes
By James Thompson
This article compares the history of labour movements during the war across a ra…
Thematic
Migration and Mobility
By Marlou Schrover
There is an ongoing debate among historians whether the First World War did in f…
Thematic
Moral Norms and Values
By Gearóid Barry
Change and continuity marked belligerent societies’ norms and values during the …
Thematic
Organization of War Economies
By Matthias Blum, Jari Eloranta, Pavel Osinsky
The First World War was a global conflict that caught most of the participants i…
Thematic
Property Rights and Economic Nationalism
By Daniela L. Caglioti
This article explores the policies adopted and implemented against enemy propert…
Thematic
Raw Materials
By Pierre Chancerel
Raw materials were vital during the First World War. Due to the armaments produc…
Thematic
Red Cross
By Cédric Cotter
National Red Cross societies played a very important role in the First World War…
Thematic
Religious Mobilization and Popular Belief
By Patrick J. Houlihan
From the cradle to the grave, popular religion formed a necessary and vital, if …
Thematic
Rural Society
By Matteo Ermacora
The paper describes the impact of war on peasantry and its mobilisation in the w…
Thematic
Schools and Universities
By Andrew Donson
The military service of teachers and the mobilization of schoolchildren for volu…
Thematic
Science and Technology
By Jeffrey Johnson
Wartime science and technology developed in the context of the Second Industrial…
Thematic
Sea Transport and Supply
By Michael B. Miller
Allied capacity at sea to sustain global transport and supply determined their a…
Thematic
Sexuality, Sexual Relations, Homosexuality
By Jason Crouthamel
This article provides an international overview of the history of sexuality in t…
Thematic
Social Conflict
By Claire Morelon
This article deals with the nature of social conflict during the war. The length…
Thematic
Social Costs of War
By Kimberly A. Redding
This article explores how the anticipation, reality, and memory of sacrifice inf…
Thematic
Staging War. Theatre 1914-1918
By Eva Krivanec
From 1914 to 1918, theatres in all major European cities staged plays – comedies…
Thematic
State, Civil Society and Relief Organizations for War
By Branden Little
A vast array of initiatives designed to counteract the destructiveness of the Fi…
Thematic
The Churches
By Patrick J. Houlihan
Reflecting current historiography, this article focuses primarily on Christian c…
Thematic
The Everyday as Involved in War
By Tammy M. Proctor
This essay examines how the "everyday" functions in war, not only for those on t…
Thematic
The Military at Home
By Odile Roynette
Regardless of whether it was based on volunteer enlistment or conscription, mass…
Thematic
Transportation and Logistics
By Ian M. Brown
The Great War witnessed mass armies battling with modern, quick-firing weapons s…
Thematic
Urban Societies and Cities
By Andrew Lees
Cities — with their comparatively large and dense but also vulnerable population…
Thematic
Venereal Diseases
By Journey Steward, Nancy M. Wingfield
This essay traces belligerent policies toward venereal disease (VD) on the fight…
Thematic
War Finance
By Nicholas Mulder
The Great War required war-making states to mobilize and sustain the financial r…
Thematic
War Finance and Monetary Consequences: The German Case Revisited
By Gerd Hardach
There are in the literature on the economic history of the Great War different a…
Thematic
War Letters: Communication between Front and Home Front
By Martha Hanna
In nations where literacy was well-established by 1914, letter-writing was criti…
Thematic
Wartime Emotions: Honour, Shame, and the Ecstasy of Sacrifice
By Ute Frevert
Through investigating the pivotal role of honour in private and public matters, …
Thematic
Women’s Mobilization for War
By Susan R. Grayzel
This article explores women’s economic, social, and political responses to the F…

Regional Thematic Articles

Regional Thematic
African Labour in Europe (Africa)
By Richard Fogarty
Between 1914 and 1918, between 150,000 and 200,000 Africans traveled to Europe t…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Africa)
By Meshack Owino
This article examines bereavement and mourning practices among African families …
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Belgium)
By Laurence van Ypersele
World War I claimed the lives of approximately 60,000 Belgian civilians and sold…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning, Commemoration and Cult of the Fallen (France)
By Rémi Dalisson, Elise Julien
War victims left a huge vacuum both for their kin and society, which showed sign…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Germany)
By Silke Fehlemann
Bereavement was a central element of Germany’s experience in World War One. The …
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Great Britain)
By Patricia Jalland
This article provides a synthesis of research on bereavement and mourning in Bri…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (New Zealand)
By Rachel Patrick
This article examines bereavement and mourning in New Zealand during the First W…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Ottoman Empire/ Middle East)
By Pheroze Unwalla
This article explores bereavement and mourning in the post-war Middle East with …
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Russian Empire)
By Svetlana Malysheva
This paper shows the transformation and subsequent preservation of Russian funer…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (South East Europe)
By Olga Manojlovic Pintar
The Great War impacted the lives of almost every family in South East Europe. Un…
Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (USA)
By Richard Allen Hulver
This article explains the ways that the United States mourned and remembered its…
Regional Thematic
Children and Childhood (France)
By Manon Pignot
The Great War was unique in that it provoked an immediate, massive effort to mob…
Regional Thematic
Children and War (Italy)
By Antonio Gibelli
In Italy, as in all the belligerent countries, the First World War fully involve…
Regional Thematic
Children and Youth: Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Nazan Maksudyan
Ottoman children were not simply passive victims or casualties; they were engage…
Regional Thematic
Civilian and Military Power (Newfoundland)
By Melvin Baker
A government-appointed civilian organization, the Newfoundland Patriotic Associa…
Regional Thematic
Colonial Society (Indochina)
By Pierre Brocheux
When World War I broke out, the military conquest of the countries located betwe…
Regional Thematic
Disease and Public Health (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Melanie Schulze-Tanielian
From 1914-1918 infectious diseases, such as typhus, recurrent fever, dysentery, …
Regional Thematic
Disease and Public Health (Portugal)
By Rita Garnel
In recent years, the number of studies on the Portuguese First Republican experi…
Regional Thematic
Economies and Home Front (Union of South Africa)
By Bill Nasson
This article provides a succinct overview of the impact of the war on the econom…
Regional Thematic
Exile and Migration (Spain)
By Inmaculada Cordero Olivero
This paper analyzes population movements to and from Spain during World War One,…
Regional Thematic
Exile and Migration (Sweden)
By Karin Kvist Geverts
Migration to and from Sweden has always occurred, but since emigration was large…
Regional Thematic
Exile and Migration (Switzerland)
By Anja Huber
This article analyses Swiss migration policy and Switzerland’s role as a country…
Regional Thematic
Exile and Migration (The Netherlands)
By Marlou Schrover
About a million Belgian civilians fled to the Netherlands at the beginning of th…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Africa)
By Anne Samson, Melvin E. Page
The mobile nature of the war in Africa meant supplying the forces with food was …
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Australia)
By Judith Smart
Food grown and produced in Australia during World War I was used to provision th…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Austria-Hungary)
By Ernst Langthaler
Food became a scarce – and thus decisive – resource for the Habsburg Empire’s wa…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Belgium)
By Antoon Vrints
The First World War had a severe impact on the food supply in occupied Belgium. …
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (East Central Europe)
By Andrea Griffante
The German occupation of the north-western territories of the tsarist empire was…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (France)
By Stéphane Le Bras, Emmanuelle Cronier
In times of war, food becomes a major concern in military and civilian matters. …
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Germany)
By Belinda Davis
“Manmade” food shortages arose early in the war on the front line and especially…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Indochina)
By Erica J. Peters
The diet of most people in Indochina during World War I was influenced more by c…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Italy)
By Maria Concetta Dentoni
During the First World War, the Italian government was unable to establish a rea…
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Melanie Schulze-Tanielian
This article examines the central role of food management in the Ottoman Empire …
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Portugal)
By Maria Fernanda Rollo, Ana Paula Pires
During the Great War consumers emerged as a new demanding group within European …
Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Russian Empire)
By Iaroslav Golubinov
Food and nutrition became a crucial problem in wartime Russia. This problem may …
Regional Thematic
French Canada and the War (Canada)
By Mélanie Morin-Pelletier
In 1917, with tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers killed and wounded, the end…
Regional Thematic
Governments, Parliaments and Parties, Labour, Labour Movements and Strikes (Union of South Africa)
By Wessel Pretorius Visser
In South Africa the period between 1914 and 1918 was one of intense political an…
Regional Thematic
Health and Medicine (India)
By Samiksha Sehrawat
Initially, medical arrangements for Indian troops in France and England were poo…
Regional Thematic
Humanitarianism (Denmark)
By Nils Arne Sørensen
During the war and immediate post-war years, Danish individuals and institutions…
Regional Thematic
Humanitarianism (Norway)
By Eldrid Mageli
Compared to Sweden and Denmark, the humanitarian contribution by the Norwegian R…
Regional Thematic
Humanitarianism (Spain)
By Maximiliano Fuentes Codera
Despite Spain’s official position of neutrality during the First World War, Span…
Regional Thematic
Humanitarianism (Sweden)
By Lina Sturfelt
This article offers an overview of Swedish transnational humanitarianism from 19…
Regional Thematic
Humanitarianism (The Netherlands)
By Leo van Bergen
During the First World War, the neutral Dutch were involved in humanitarian ende…
Regional Thematic
Indochinese Workers in France (Indochina)
By Kimloan Vu-Hill
About 49,000 Vietnamese workers went to France during World War I. Although thei…
Regional Thematic
International Committee of the Red Cross
By Daniel Palmieri, Irène Herrmann
This article seeks to analyze how the International Committee of the Red Cross (…
Regional Thematic
Labor (Germany)
By Thomas Welskopp
The German Reich fell short of integrating representatives of the workers into i…
Regional Thematic
Labour (Belgium)
By Dirk Luyten
The standard of living of Belgian workers declined in the First World War as a c…
Regional Thematic
Labour (China)
By Guoqi Xu
This essay studies Chinese workers on the Western Front during the First World W…
Regional Thematic
Labour (France)
By Pierre Chancerel
French mobilization during the First World War created new industrial needs and …
Regional Thematic
Labour (India)
By Radhika Singha
Of the 1.4 million Indians recruited for the First World War, some 563,369 were …
Regional Thematic
Labour, Labour Movements and Strikes (Ottoman Empire/ Middle East)
By Yiğit Akin, Elizabeth Thompson
As in other belligerent societies, the Great War forced fundamental change in th…
Regional Thematic
Labour, Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Austria-Hungary)
By Jakub Beneš
The First World War was a period of repression and severe privation in Austria-H…
Regional Thematic
Labour, Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Chris Wrigley
The wartime demand for labour enhanced its economic and political strength. Indu…
Regional Thematic
Labour, Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Italy)
By Matteo Ermacora
This article analyzes changes provoked by the war within the world of industrial…
Regional Thematic
Labour, Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Switzerland)
By Christian Koller
This article analyses the development of the Swiss labour movement and working-c…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements and Strikes (East Central Europe)
By Paweł Brudek
During the First World War, revolutionary changes occurred in the labour movemen…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements and Strikes, Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (France)
By Galit Haddad
This article examines the institutional shake-up of the French labour movement d…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements and Strikes, Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Germany)
By Klaus Weinhauer
The First World War and the subsequent years saw a plethora of strikes, protests…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Australia)
By Nathan Wise
The First World War caused great upheavals within the Australian labour movement…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Belgium)
By Antoon Vrints
The First World War had a decisive, but paradoxical impact on the development of…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Canada)
By Brad St. Croix
Canadian labour’s position at the beginning of the First World War was weak in r…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Latin America)
By Stefan Rinke
Latin America experienced massive social unrest during the war years. The disast…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Portugal)
By Joana Dias Pereira
This article focuses on the interaction between the development of industrial so…
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Russian Empire)
By Gleb J. Albert
This article outlines the development of the labour movement in Russia from the …
Regional Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (USA)
By Paul Michel Taillon
Wartime mobilization in the United States involved supportive federal government…
Regional Thematic
Labour (Portugal)
By Ana Carina Gerardo da Silva Azevedo
This article describes the main characteristics of Portuguese production structu…
Regional Thematic
Labour (Russian Empire)
By Michael S. Melancon
This essay surveys the issue of Russian labor during the First World War. It sum…
Regional Thematic
Migration (Norway)
By Eirik Brazier
The outbreak of war in 1914 resulted in an unprecedented influx of foreign citiz…
Regional Thematic
Minorities in Germany (Denmark)
By Hans Schultz Hansen
The Danish minority in North Schleswig in northern Germany (Sønderjylland in Dan…
Regional Thematic
Minorities (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Hans-Lukas Kieser
The Ottoman Empire was the most religiously diverse empire in Europe and Asia. M…
Regional Thematic
Nationalities (Austria-Hungary)
By Rok Stergar
Recent research has questioned the view that that the population of Austria-Hung…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Africa)
By Karin Pallaver
This article provides a brief overview of the contribution of African economies …
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies and War Finance (South East Europe)
By Jelena Rafailović
This article presents the main characteristics of organization and functioning o…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Australia)
By Peter Yule
The First World War was a major negative shock for the Australian economy. Austr…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Austria-Hungary)
By Felix Butschek
This article describes the structure and development of the Austro-Hungarian war…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Belgium)
By Dirk Luyten
As it became clear that the war would last a long time, the German occupying adm…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (France)
By Jean-Luc Mastin
In France, a mixed economy was gradually set up during the war due to multiple f…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Germany)
By Hans-Peter Ullmann
This article examines the transformation from a peace- to wartime economy in the…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Christopher Phillips
The First World War had a profound and longstanding effect upon the British econ…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies: Industrial Mobilization (Italy)
By Piero Di Girolamo
Industrial mobilisation in Italy during the first World War took on particular c…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Graham Pitts
This article describes the Ottoman WWI war economy in light of its similarities …
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Portugal)
By Ana Paula Pires, Maria Fernanda Rollo
This article seeks to analyze the organization of Portugal’s wartime economy. It…
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Russian Empire)
By Peter Gatrell
The multiple demands of protracted warfare subjected the entire economic system …
Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (USA)
By Erika Cornelius Smith
Before the beginning of World War I in Europe, the US enjoyed a sizeable industr…
Regional Thematic
Private Life (France)
By Clémentine Vidal-Naquet
The war radically disrupted the private lives of French families who were practi…
Regional Thematic
Prostitution (Ottoman Empire)
By Çiğdem Oğuz
This article focuses on prostitution on the Ottoman home front and the research …
Regional Thematic
Religion (Australia)
By Daniel Reynaud
Christian churches in Australia were largely supportive of the war effort, seein…
Regional Thematic
Religion (Portugal)
By Maria Lúcia de Brito Moura
World War One represented a turning point in the relationship between churches a…
Regional Thematic
Religious Missionaries and the Colonial State (Indochina)
By Charles Keith
The Great War helped to ease the Church-state tensions that had shaped French po…
Regional Thematic
Religious Mobilization and Popular Belief (Italy)
By Maria Paiano
This article summarizes the state of knowledge about the role of religions durin…
Regional Thematic
Responses to the War (India)
By Santanu Das
Responses to the war in British India (comprising today’s India, Pakistan, Bangl…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Africa)
By Melvin E. Page
Although many scientific innovations and technologies came to the continent with…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Australia)
By Eric Endacott
Australia made a limited contribution to the fields of science and technology du…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Austria-Hungary)
By Andreas Gottsmann
Thorough research has been carried out only on some subfields within the history…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Belgium)
By Kenneth Bertrams
The invasion and subsequent occupation of most of Belgian territory paralyzed th…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Canada)
By Andrew Iarocci
Canada’s overseas military forces fought in the Great War under British Army com…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Germany)
By Angela Schwarz
During the war years contemporaries already coined phrases like "machine warfare…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Matthew Ford
This article considers the challenges faced by Britain’s armies, engineers, scie…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Italy)
By Andrea Scartabellati, Felicita Ratti
This article analyzes the events which occurred in the Italian scientific world …
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Japan)
By Yoshiyuki Kikuchi
Despite its image as a “European” war, the First World War exerted a tremendous …
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Elizabeth Williams
Successfully deploying advances in technology and science was crucial to gaining…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Portugal)
By José Luís Assis
This article focuses on the Portuguese war-related science and technology develo…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Russian Empire)
By Scott W. Palmer
Although Russia made considerable progress in the decades preceding 1914, the on…
Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (USA)
By Charles E. Heller
The United States entered the First World War unprepared to deploy its army on c…
Regional Thematic
Sepoy Letters (India)
By David Omissi
Indian soldiers were sent to Europe in 1914, and some of them were to serve ther…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Australia)
By Martin Crotty
Despite the rhetoric at the war’s outbreak of how Australia would stand united b…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Austria-Hungary)
By Maureen Healy, Dana Bronson, Musa Jemal
This essay traces the experience on the plural home fronts of the Habsburg Empir…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Lois Bibbings
This article considers social conflict and protest within the United Kingdom dur…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Indochina)
By Patrice Morlat
Vietnamese resistance to French colonial rule had begun before the war and conti…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Italy)
By Roberto Bianchi
In the years 1914-1918, Italy was the scene of periodic waves of protest against…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Japan)
By Andrew Gordon
Social protest surged in Japan during World War I. Labor strikes, union organizi…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (New Zealand)
By David Grant
New Zealand was a very loyal British dominion. At the outbreak of the First Worl…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Portugal)
By Joana Dias Pereira
This article analyses the evolution of the repertoire of collective action durin…
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Russian Empire)
By Michael S. Melancon
This essay analyzes social conflict in the Russian Empire during the Great War. …
Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (USA)
By Lon Strauss
The United States Congress passed the Espionage Act on 15 June 1917. The Act all…
Regional Thematic
Social Movements (Latin America)
By Stefan Rinke
The workers were the primary instigators of social strife in Latin America durin…
Regional Thematic
Subjectivity and Emotions (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Jessica Meyer
This article assesses the place of shell shock in the subjective experience of B…
Regional Thematic
Swiss Companies in World War One (Switzerland)
By Roman Rossfeld
This article describes the business development and the opportunities and risks …
Regional Thematic
The Church (Spain)
By José-Leonardo Ruiz Sánchez
The Spanish church identified with Pope Benedict XV’s efforts in favour of neutr…
Regional Thematic
The Home Front (Newfoundland)
By Terry Bishop Stirling
The social, political, and economic significance of Newfoundland’s dominant indu…
Regional Thematic
Veterans' Associations (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Emma Hanna
No British government had ever formed or provided for an army of the size requir…
Regional Thematic
War and Colonial Finance (Africa)
By Karin Pallaver
This article provides a brief overview of the financial contribution of the Afri…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Australia)
By Jatinder Mann
Throughout the First World War, there were significant new developments in the C…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Austria-Hungary)
By Ágnes Pogány
The article presents a new estimate of the war costs and an overview of war fina…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Belgium)
By Dirk Luyten
The Belgian monetary system evolved dramatically during World War I. The Société…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (France)
By Patrice Baubeau
Though it entered war with an already important public debt, France managed its …
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Germany)
By Stephen Gross
German finance policy during the First World War has been described as ineffecti…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Martin Horn
While Britain financed the war successfully doing so exacted a toll. To meet war…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Italy)
By Fabio Degli Esposti
Setting out from the fundamental variables of the Italian economy and finances o…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Japan)
By Yuichiro Sakamoto
The majority of Japan’s direct war expenditures during World War I were spent fr…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Ottoman Empire)
By Ozan Ozavci
From a financial point of view, the Ottoman entry into World War I was both impo…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Portugal)
By Luciano Amaral, Álvaro da Silva
Portugal financed the extraordinary expenditures of the First World War in the s…
Regional Thematic
War Finance (Russian Empire)
By Steven G. Marks
World War I was financially ruinous for the Russian government. Its decision to …
Regional Thematic
War Letters (Italy)
By Carlo Stiaccini
Despite the high rates of illiteracy in Italy on the eve of the war, the conflic…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Economies (Denmark)
By Jan Pedersen
From 1914 to 1918, moving from peak to trough, Danish GDP per capita dropped by …
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Economies (Japan)
By Michael Schiltz
Although the military and geopolitical relevance of World War I to Japan must be…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Economies (Spain)
By Andrés Sánchez Picón, José Joaquín García Gómez
This article focuses on the impact of the First World War on the economy of neut…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Economies (Sweden)
By Henric Häggqvist
World War I had devastating effects on many European economies. Even a neutral c…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Economies (Switzerland)
By Tobias Straumann
Though Switzerland was not conquered, its economy was strongly affected by the F…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Economies (The Netherlands)
By Hein A. M. Klemann
Mutual dependence between the Dutch economy and Western German industrial centre…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Societies (Denmark)
By Annette Østergaard Schultz
The pivotal policy aspect for the Danish government during the First World War w…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Societies (Norway)
By Eirik Brazier
This article focuses on the short- and long-term impact of the First World War o…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Societies (Spain)
By Miguel Angel Martorell Linares
A certain consensus exists in Spanish historiography regarding the First World W…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Societies (Sweden)
By Lina Sturfelt
The First World War and its aftermath had a profound and enduring impact on Swed…
Regional Thematic
Wartime and Post-war Societies (The Netherlands)
By Conny Kristel
The Dutch were not just passive bystanders of the war. They reflected on the nat…
Regional Thematic
Women, Gender, Social Movements (Switzerland)
By Elisabeth Joris
This article explores the war’s impact on women’s economic and legal status in S…
Regional Thematic
Women’s Mobilisation for War (Australia)
By Rae Frances
Australian women, although 20,000 kilometres away from the major war zones, were…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilisation for War (Canada)
By Sarah Glassford
Canadian women responded to and experienced the Great War in ways ranging from p…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilisation for War (Germany)
By Matthew Stibbe
This article argues that the mobilisation of women in the German empire between …
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Belgium)
By Eliane Gubin, Els Flour, Marie Kympers
Belgium experienced the war in an exceptional position: it never issued a declar…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (France)
By Peggy Bette
In France, the mobilisation of women followed two parallel movements. One of the…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Lucy Noakes
This article briefly surveys the impact of the First World War on the lives of B…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (India)
By Santanu Das
This article recovers the wartime experiences, writings, and songs of women from…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Italy)
By Stefania Bartoloni
The departure of millions of men for the front created unprecedented areas of ac…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Newfoundland)
By Terry Bishop Stirling
During the First World War, Newfoundland women provided comforts and nursing ser…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (New Zealand)
By Kate Hunter
New Zealand women became enmeshed in the Great War from its outset. Appealed to …
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Ottoman Empire/ Middle East)
By Nicole van Os
The Ottoman mobilization of manpower in August 1914 not only involved men being …
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Portugal)
By Maria Alice Samara
The participation of Portugal in the First World War opened up a very important …
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Russian Empire)
By Laurie Stoff
As a total war, the First World War precipitated the involvement of thousands of…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (South East Europe)
By Božica Mladenović
This article presents the role of women in South East Europe during World War I …
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (USA)
By Kimberly Jensen
Many American women claimed a more complete female citizenship through voluntary…

Encyclopedic Entries

Entry
Addams, Jane
By Kathi Badertscher
Jane Addams co-founded Hull House, the most famous of America’s 400 social settl…
Entry
Alsace-Lorraine
By Elizabeth Vlossak
Alsace-Lorraine was a border region located between the Rhine River and the Vosg…
Entry
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
By Nazan Maksudyan
This article focuses on the function of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul du…
Entry
Austro-Hungarian Enemy Aliens (USA)
By Nicole M. Phelps
Austrian and Hungarian citizens working in war-related industries were exempt fr…
Entry
Ballin, Albert
By Tobias Brinkmann
Albert Ballin, chief executive of the Hamburg-America Line, was one of Imperial …
Entry
Baruch, Bernard Mannes
By Gates Brown
At the beginning of World War I, Bernard Baruch was one of the most famous Wall …
Entry
Belarus
By Andrei Zamoiski
The Great War was a severe trial for Belarus and its population. It ruined the l…
Entry
Besant, Annie
By Maria Framke
Annie Besant (1847-1933) was a British supporter of Indian nationalism. During W…
Entry
Bishops and Chaplains (Italy)
By Sante Lesti
Italian bishops and chaplains played a central role in making sense of the war b…
Entry
Brändström, Elsa
By Lena Radauer
Elsa Brändström was the only neutral representative to work amongst prisoners of…
Entry
Brazil
By Frederik Schulze
Brazil was the only South American country that participated actively in the Fir…
Entry
Brittain, Vera
By Carol Acton
Vera Brittain’s memoir Testament of Youth, and her wartime diary published in 19…
Entry
Brussels
By Chantal Kesteloot
The Belgian capital was spared the anguish of combat, but the city suffered four…
Entry
Bureau of Investigation
By William H. Thomas, Jr.
During the First World War, the Bureau of Investigation, a division of the U.S. …
Entry
Caesar Affair
By Tylor Brand
In late 1916, the Armenian and Syrian Relief Committee arranged for supplies to …
Entry
Carrier Pigeons (Portugal)
By João Moreira Tavares
Since ancient times, carrier pigeons have been used successfully in various arme…
Entry
Cavell, Edith Louisa
By Katie Pickles
Edith Cavell was an English nursing matron executed by the Germans in Brussels o…
Entry
Charost, Alexis-Armand
By James E. Connolly
Alexis-Armand Charost was bishop of Lille and a key notable during the occupatio…
Entry
Chetniks
By Dmitar Tasić
Chetnik is a common name for a member of the auxiliary or paramilitary units us…
Entry
Chinese Workers in Russia
By Olga Alexeeva
During the war, the Tsarist government imported large groups of Chinese to the R…
Entry
Church of England
By Stuart Bell
In a conflict characterized as a Holy War between “right” and “might”, the suppo…
Entry
Coffee
By Dorothee Wierling
Before World War I, coffee had become a popular drink in countries in the northe…
Entry
Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation
By Michaël Amara
The Comité national de Secours et d’Alimentation (National Committee for Relief …
Entry
Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB)
By Branden Little
From 1914 to 1919, the Commission for Relief in Belgium directed an innovative a…
Entry
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
By Dimitris Kamouzis
The persecution committed during the Great War by the Committee of Union and Pro…
Entry
Emigration (Portugal)
By Yvette Santos
This article analyzes the characteristics of Portuguese emigration to France and…
Entry
Emigration (Russian Empire)
By Siobhan Peeling
The First World War, the Russian revolutions of February and October 1917, and t…
Entry
Ethiopia
By Jakob Zollmann
Before the war, Ethiopia had many diplomatic connections with European states an…
Entry
Feminist Pacifism
By Annika Wilmers
A minority section of the women’s movements opposed World War I and organized th…
Entry
Fosdick, Raymond B.
By Joseph W. Ryan
Raymond Blaine Fosdick served as the Chairman for the Commission on Training Cam…
Entry
German Immigrants (Brazil)
By Frederik Schulze
German-speaking elites in Brazil were traditionally in contact with German colon…
Entry
Germanophobia (Great Britain)
By Panikos Panayi
During the First World War Britain became gripped with a Germanophobic hatred in…
Entry
Haber, Fritz
By Susanne Kiewitz
Haber was one of the most important German chemists. He won the Nobel Prize in C…
Entry
Hirschfeld, Magnus
By Norman Domeier
Magnus Hirschfeld was one of the most important sexual scientists and reformers …
Entry
Hoff, Heinrich Leonhard Emanuel von
By Mustafa Gençer
This article is about the career of Heinrich Leonhard Emanuel von Hoff under the…
Entry
House of Morgan
By Kathryn Kemp
An international banking and brokerage house, J. P. Morgan & Company came to wor…
Entry
Hoyek, Elias
By Youssef Mouawad
Elias Hoyek was Patriarch of Antioch for the Maronites. He is considered to be o…
Entry
Influenza Pandemic (Switzerland)
By Patrick Kury
The Spanish flu, the heaviest influenza pandemic in history, coincided with the …
Entry
Intimate Relations between Occupiers and Occupied (Belgium and France)
By Emmanuel Debruyne
During the invasion and occupation of 1914-1918, German soldiers had sexual rela…
Entry
Islam in Austria-Hungary
By Edin Hajdarpasic
During the First World War, mobilizing Muslim soldiers and Islamic institutions …
Entry
Karavangelis, Germanos
By Nikos Sigalas
Germanos Karavangelis was the most radical proponent of Greek nationalism among …
Entry
Kiel Mutiny
By Mark Jones
The sailors’ mutiny in Kiel quickly escalated into an open rebellion against the…
Entry
La Courtine, Mutiny of
By Jamie H. Cockfield
This article details the mutiny of two Russian brigades sent to France in World …
Entry
Landesstreik (Switzerland)
By Bernard Degen
From 12 to 14 November 1918, a national general strike took place in Switzerland…
Entry
Lascar
By Florian Stadtler, Rozina Visram
Lascar seamen and other sailors from the British Empire were deployed on vessels…
Entry
Lemberg
By Claudia Reichl-Ham
In World War I Lemberg (German: Lemberg, Ukrainian: Lviv, Polish: Lwów) played a…
Entry
Marraines de Guerre
By Clémentine Vidal-Naquet
The institution of wartime pen pals to assist isolated soldiers who were unable …
Entry
Masculinities
By Sonja Levsen
The First World War represents the apex of the ideal of the male warrior hero. B…
Entry
Mercier, Désiré Joseph
By Luc Courtois
After his pastoral letter Patriotisme et endurance, which had a worldwide impact…
Entry
Militarized Workers (Italy)
By Martina Salvante
In 1915 the Italian government created an agency called Mobilitazione Industrial…
Entry
Near East Relief
By Tylor Brand
Near East Relief was formed in 1915 to address the catastrophic humanitarian con…
Entry
Netherlands Overseas Trust (NOT)
By Samuël Kruizinga
During the First World War, the Netherlands Oversea Trust Company acted as a cle…
Entry
Nicaragua
By Dennis Arias Mora
Nicaragua’s experience during the First World War was influenced by the geopolit…
Entry
Nitrate
By Manuel Bastias Saavedra
Until 1914 natural nitrates were the most important source for the production of…
Entry
Nurses
By Christian Chevandier
The First World War transformed the nursing profession. The necessity to treat l…
Entry
Occupation of Luxembourg
By Richard Seiwerath
The violation of Luxembourg’s neutrality started with the invasion on 1 August 1…
Entry
Oltener Aktionskomitee
By Bernard Degen
The Oltener Aktionskomitee was elected in February 1918 by the committee of the …
Entry
Olympic Games 1916
By Ansgar Molzberger
In 1912, the 1916 Olympic Games were awarded to Berlin. In consultation with the…
Entry
Olympic Games 1920
By Karla Vanraepenbusch
The 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium were the first instalment of the Game…
Entry
Orphans (Italy)
By Giuseppe Ferraro
This article focuses on the efforts of the Italian government and certain instit…
Entry
Patriotic Distance
By Sophie De Schaepdrijver
Civilians under military occupation in World War One found their existences seve…
Entry
Petroleum
By Oliver Gliech
In World War I, the mobility of troops was of major strategic importance. New tr…
Entry
Pirenne, Henri
By Geneviève Warland
Accused of refusing to collaborate with the German authorities, the Belgian hist…
Entry
Pope Benedict XV
By John Pollard
Much of the reign of Pope Benedict XV was dominated by the First World War. Pope…
Entry
Practice of Sports
By Ansgar Molzberger
During World War I, sport competitions became very popular amongst the soldiers …
Entry
Prostitution
By Journey Steward
Prostitution was considered among the most important societal problems facing ci…
Entry
Provincial Capitals (Japan)
By Louise Young
Though of minimal significance for Japan militarily, the Great War helped stimul…
Entry
Public Kitchens (Germany)
By Jenny Sprenger-Seyffarth
During the first half of the war, many German cities tried to solve local food s…
Entry
Railways (Russian Empire)
By Roland Cvetkovski
Vast land area, sparse population density, inconsistent tsarist policy, and unde…
Entry
Rationing (USA)
By Robert Shafer
One of the central problems nations faced during the war was procuring necessary…
Entry
Rear Area on the Western Front
By Larissa Wegner
The rear area was the space behind the front, linking the operational zone with …
Entry
Red Crescent (Hilal-i Ahmer)
By Esther Möller
The Red Crescent is one of two symbols of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movemen…
Entry
Refugees (Austria-Hungary)
By Francesco Frizzera
During World War I, about 1.1 million refugees sought refuge in the interior of …
Entry
Refugees (Belgium)
By Michaël Amara
In Belgium, the outbreak of the First World War and subsequent German invasion c…
Entry
Refugees (France)
By Philippe Nivet
During World War I, about 2 million French citizens had to leave their homes, du…
Entry
Refugees (Russian Empire)
By Siobhan Peeling
German and Austrian advances in 1914 and 1915, together with policies of the Rus…
Entry
Rolland, Romain
By Josepha Laroche
A pacifist writer, Romain Rolland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1…
Entry
Rubber
By Oliver Gliech
During World War I, motor vehicles took on a key role as transport facilities fo…
Entry
Said Nursi
By Abdürrahim Özer
Said Nursi was a prominent Kurdish intellectual. He fervently supported constitu…
Entry
Shells Crisis of 1915
By Hew Strachan
In 1914, quick-firing field artillery could fire more shells than domestic indus…
Entry
Smoking and Cigarette Consumption
By Michael Reeve
During the First World War, governments, civilians and soldiers alike prized smo…
Entry
Solvay, Ernest
By Kenneth Bertrams
Industrial tycoon and philanthropist Ernest Solvay transformed the chemical indu…
Entry
Sombart, Werner
By Erik Grimmer-Solem
Werner Sombart was a German political economist and pioneering sociologist who b…
Entry
Spy Fever 1914
By Sebastian Bischoff
Spy Fever describes an anxiety or paranoia that enemy spies might be active with…
Entry
Suffragettes
By William Murphy
This article briefly introduces the suffragettes and their campaign, reflecting …
Entry
Syrian Protestant College
By Tylor Brand
The Syrian Protestant College (after 1920, the American University of Beirut) wa…
Entry
The Battle of the Somme (film)
By Nicholas Hiley
Battle of the Somme was a feature-length British documentary film, released in …
Entry
The Soldier's Sister
By Charalampos Minasidis
Greece’s Long Great War witnessed the mobilization of its young women as caretak…
Entry
Union of Zemstvos and Towns
By Siobhan Peeling
The Unions of Zemstvos and of Towns mobilised local self-government bodies and p…
Entry
University of Ghent
By Christine Van Everbroeck
During the war, the Germans created a Flemish university in Ghent. By doing so, …
Entry
Volunteer Ambulance Services (USA)
By Patrick Gregory
While the United States remained a neutral power up to April 1917, American volu…
Entry
War and Comics (Italy)
By Roberto Bianchi
Comics played a very important role in the total mobilization in Italy. Firstly …
Entry
War Archives (Austria-Hungary)
By Christoph Tepperberg
The War Archives (Kriegsarchiv), centre of the official historiography of the Im…
Entry
War Bonds
By Steffen Bruendel
The governments of all belligerent countries issued special loans to finance the…
Entry
War Industries Board
By Benjamin R. Beede
Like the other warring nations, the United States had to organize its industries…
Entry
War Industry Committees
By Siobhan Peeling
War Industry Committees were an attempt by Russian industrialists to mobilise th…
Entry
War Press Office (Austria-Hungary)
By Christoph Tepperberg
The War Press Office, or Kriegspressequartier (KPQ) was the central propaganda i…
Entry
War Profiteers
By François Bouloc
As a long-lasting industrial war, the Great War led to the realization of consid…
Entry
War Toys
By Sonja Levsen
In the First World War, war toys were regarded as a means to strengthen children…
Entry
War Widows
By Peggy Bette
One third of the 9.7 million soldiers killed or declared missing during the Grea…
Entry
Weber, Alfred
By Eberhard Demm
As an adviser in the imperial office of the treasury (1916-1918), the Heidelberg…
Entry
Witkop, Philipp
By Manfred Hettling
Witkop was professor of German literature at the University of Freiburg. He was …
Entry
Züblin-Spiller, Else
By Elisabeth Joris
In the context of the Swiss organisation Schweizer Verband Soldatenwohl Else Spi…

See Also

Regional
Afghanistan
By Hugh Beattie
Since 1905 Britain had paid the Afghan ruler, Amir Habibullah, a subsidy and had…
Regional
Albania
By Isa Blumi
Though largely understudied to date, the regions in the western Balkans inhabite…
Regional
Australia
By Joan Beaumont
The impact of the First World War on Australia was so profound that its memory d…
Regional
Austria-Hungary
By Pieter M. Judson
The article surveys the social and military history of Austria-Hungary during th…
Regional
Baltic States and Finland
By Klaus Richter
This article presents a survey of the First World War in the region of today’s s…
Regional
Belgium
By Sophie De Schaepdrijver
Belgium, a neutral state, was forced into the First World War by a German ultima…
Regional
Bulgaria
By Richard C. Hall
From 1912 to 1918 Bulgaria engaged in a prolonged conflict that began in victory…
Regional
Burma
By Michael W. Charney
Burma’s participation in World War I was limited mainly to the provision of troo…
Regional
Canada
By J. L. Granatstein
The Dominion of Canada automatically went to war in August 1914 when Britain did…
Regional
China
By Klaus Mühlhahn
This article discusses China’s role in the First World War with a focus on the c…
Regional
Denmark
By Nils Arne Sørensen
With its economy highly reliant on Great Britain, Germany and other European nat…
Regional
Egypt
By Christopher S. Rose
Egypt played an important role in World War I. Although it saw limited combat op…
Regional
France
By Nicolas Beaupré
To study France during the “Great War” – as it was called as early as 1914 – inv…
Regional
Germany
By Gerhard Hirschfeld
When war broke out, in light of increasingly inflexible constellations and allia…
Regional
Great Britain
By Stephen Badsey
Great Britain was with its Empire the most powerful of the major belligerents, t…
Regional
Ireland
By Richard S. Grayson
Ireland’s war experience cannot be separated from Irish politics. Indeed, the st…
Regional
Latin America
By Stefan Rinke, Karina Kriegesmann
When the First World War broke out in Europe, Latin Americans of all social stra…
Regional
Luxembourg
By Benoît Majerus, Charel Roemer
Despite its neutrality, Luxembourg was occupied in August 1914, mainly for its s…
Regional
Naval Blockade (of Germany)
By Alan Kramer
Blockades, part of economic warfare, had been employed throughout history. The A…
Regional
Newfoundland
By James K. Hiller, Mike O'Brien
Newfoundland entered the Great War with great enthusiasm, but was unprepared for…
Regional
New Zealand
By Kate Hunter
New Zealand was the British Dominion furthest from the conflict in Europe, the M…
Regional
Northern Africa
By Thomas Patrick DeGeorges
The Ottoman and European colonial contexts are the necessary background for unde…
Regional
Norway
By Karl Erik Haug
Norway managed to stay neutral during the First World War, but the war still cre…
Regional
Ottoman Empire/Middle East
By Yücel Yanıkdağ
During the Great War, the Ottoman Empire fought on several major and minor front…
Regional
Persia/Iran
By Touraj Atabaki
The outbreak of the First World War coincided with a period in Persian history w…
Regional
Poland
By Piotr Szlanta
This paper presents the process of building an independent Polish state during t…
Regional
Portugal
By Maria Fernanda Rollo, Ana Paula Pires, Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
Portugal’s participation in the First World War was depicted by its supporters a…
Regional
Romania
By Harald Heppner, Rudolf Gräf
World War I afforded the first opportunity for modern Romania to participate in …
Regional
Russian Empire
By Joshua A. Sanborn
The Russian Empire entered the war in order to preserve its Great Power status, …
Regional
Serbia
By Mile Bjelajac
A short synthesis on Serbia's role and experience in the Great War encompasses s…
Regional
Siam
By Stefan Hell
Siam (Thailand) declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary in mid-1917. In 1918…
Regional
Southern Africa
By William Kelleher Storey
The people of Southern Africa experienced the First World War as a continuation …
Regional
Spain
By Javier Ponce
This article examines Spain’s neutrality during the Great War, highlighting fact…
Regional
Sweden
By Sofi Qvarnström
For Sweden, the impact of the war was twofold. On the one hand, it was a test to…
Regional
Switzerland
By Jakob Tanner
As a neutral country, Switzerland was not involved in the devastating military c…
Regional
Union of South Africa
By Timothy J. Stapleton
In 1914, the Union of South Africa was four years old; its military only two. Br…
Regional
United States of America
By Jennifer D. Keene
The American debate over neutrality ended when Woodrow Wilson decided in April 1…

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