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Whytfyjrd -> RE: WW1 Trivia (7/12/2007 1:12:49 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort
Here are a couple for ya as well:
1. Name the passenger liner that was sunk, creating US backlash against Germany
2. What was the missive that sparked US entry into the war?
3. Tanks were a British invention, but what famous leader was mainly in charge of developing them? (bonus points for his position at the time)
4. Name the weapon type that caused the majority of casualties (i.e. poison gas, maxim gun, artillery, etc.)
5. T/F Russia was a participant during the negotiations of the Versailles treaty
If you get these, you would do well on my final exam. [:D]
SoM
1. RMS Lusitania, torpedoed by a U-Boat off the coast of Ireland in 1915. Lots of eye-witnesses. Bad pub for the Germans
2. Zimmerman Telegram --- a message from Germany to its Ambassador in Mexico, intercepted by the Brits, proposing that Mexico regain territories it lost in the US-Mexico War of 1846-48 (and subsequent treaties) as part of an alliance agreement.
3. Churchill --- the "tank" was developed while he was still First Lord of the Admiralty ... in US parlance, Secretary of the Navy (side note: FDR was Asst. Scty of Navy at this time in the US). Tanks were actually first deployed after Churchill had been dismissed as Admiralty Lord: he was blamed for the perceived failures of the Gallipoli Campaign (1915). He then actually served on the Western Front as an Asst. Battalion Commander for ~ 6 months (narrowly missing death when he was away from his dugout when it received a direct hit), before being recalled into Lloyd George's Government as Minister of Munitions in 1916.
4. Artillery ... though MGs in general were a close 2nd or leader (statistics were hard to determine, as the aftermath of battles were strongly "affected" by ongoing bombardments) ... except that in this case, the question said "Maxim Gun," so Arty is correct, IMO. In any case, recent scholarship since the mid-1980s have muddied the waters considerably: previously, MGs were said to have been the prime killer/wounder, but that belief may have been influenced more by "personal remembrances" than by a "forensic" look at the available evidence ... which has recently been unearthed from contemporary Medical Officers' reports.
5. False --- after the Bolsheviks (Lenin and Co.) had seized power, they withdrew Russia from the war in 1918 (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). The Allies intervened in the Russian Civil War (1917-1921 +/-) in 1918, on the grounds that Russia had abrogated its International Treaty obligations. There was no question of the Russians participating in the Versailles negotiations.
Regarding questions #4 and #5 in the original topic post ...
quote:
ORIGINAL: vipers
--- snip ...
(4) Duirng the war who was US President and who was Prime Minister of the UK?
(5) Origin of the term Doughboy.
... snip ---
Re: 4. Wilson is correct, as far as the US part goes. But for the UK, Herbert Henry Asquith was PM until 1916. David Lloyd George succeeded him for the remainder of the war.
Re: 5. Depending on your sources, this was US "Old Army" slang for an Infantryman since the US Civil War or the Mexican-American War. It had something to do with bread or biscuits served-to/prepared-for the troops.
According to numerous historians, the advent and aftermath of WW1 dramatically altered the course of world history: geo-politically of course, but also militarily, socially, culturally, etc., etc. I first became interested in the period after reading the extremely lucid and readable book, Guns of August, by Barbara Tuchman (1962). I was 11-years old at the time: since then, Ive read a couple dozen or so more books on all aspects of that period. It is very rich historical ground.
For those video-inclined, PBS produced a fantastic 4-part series called The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century. Rent it or buy it if you undertake one historical excursion into that period.
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