World War I

If there had been Academy Awards in the mid-1920s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s The Big Parade produced by Irving Thalberg, directed by King Vidor, and starring John Gilbert and Renée Adorée, would have swept the prizes.

The Blockbuster World War I Film that Brought Home the Traumatic Impact of War

The blockbuster silent film <em>The Big Parade</em> is among the first to explore the psychological trauma of war

William James Aylward depicted a soldier looking down at the grave of his bunk mate in His Bunkie..

This Riveting Art From the Front Lines of World War I Has Gone Largely Unseen for Decades

During WWI, the War Department sent American artists to Europe. The Smithsonian recently digitized the captivating artwork

Siegfried Sassoon

These Diaries, of Poet Siegfried Sassoon, Capture the Chaos of WWI

Siegfried Sassoon's poems captured life in the trenches of WWI

The art installation "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" marking the anniversary of the World War One is seen at the Tower of London July 28, 2014.

For WWI Anniversary, the Tower of London Has Become Surrounded by a Sea of Poppies

888,246 red ceramic flowers encircle the landmark structure in remembrance of fallen soldiers

A Royal Naval Air Service Bristol Scout D during a reconnaissance mission over the Western Front, February 1916. One of the first British single-seat fighter aircraft, the Bristol D was developed primarily for scouting. It was fast and maneuverable. The aircraft above was based on the HMS Vindex, a Royal Navy seaplane carrier operating in the North Sea.

World War I Special Report

Remembering the Great War and how we're still living through its legacy today

Teamwork Builds Ships, ca. 1918, William Dodge Stevens

The Posters That Sold World War I to the American Public

A vehemently isolationist nation needed enticement to join the European war effort. These advertisements were part of the campaign to do just that

In Hot Springs, North Carolina, residents of an alien internment camp active from 1917 to 1918 built an authentic German village. They used tobacco tins to construct the church at the end of the lane.

The U.S. Confiscated Half a Billion Dollars in Private Property During WWI

America's home front was the site of interment, deportation, and vast property seizure

Parisian taxis assemble before being dispatched to the front.

A Fleet of Taxis Did Not Really Save Paris From the Germans During World War I

The myth of the Battle of the Marne has persisted, but what exactly happened in the first major conflict of the war?

The Middle East’s austere terrain lured Lawrence: “The abstraction of the desert landscape,” he wrote in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “cleansed me.”

The True Story of Lawrence of Arabia

His daring raids in World War I made him a legend. But in the Middle East today, the desert warrior’s legacy is written in sand

British soldiers enter Baghdad in 1919.

The Disintegration of the Iraqi State Has Its Roots in World War I

Created by European powers, the nation of Iraq may be buckling under the pressure of trying to unite three distinct ethnic groups

Noon mass at Saint Vincent de Paul's Church on D-Day.

Photos From the Hours After Americans Heard About the D-Day Invasion

Black and white photos from the Library of Congress show New Yorkers rallying, praying, on June 6, 1944

Europe’s Landscape Is Still Scarred by World War I

Photographs of the abandoned battlefields reveal the trenches’ scars still run deep

Help Transcribe Diaries From World War I

WWI diaries are some of the most requested documents in the National Archives, but until now they've only been available on paper

The Grand Fleet, 1916. This sketch was made by Muirhead Bone, who, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defence "became the first official war artist in 1916"

The British Employed Official War Painters in Both World Wars

Between 1939 and 1945 the War Artists Advisory Committee purchased about 6,000 pieces of art from over 400 artists

Dazzle camouflage distorts perception by pairing contrasting patterns.

Predators May Use a Bit of the Old Razzle Dazzle to Snag Prey

The bright colors and harsh angles of dazzle camouflage confounds locusts, suggesting that predators who sport the abstract patterns can hunt more easily

On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland and nearly 1,200 lives were lost.

8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania

For one reason or another, these lucky souls never boarded the doomed ship whose sinking launched America's involvement in WWI

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Unmanned Drones Have Been Around Since World War I

They have recently been the subject of a lot of scrutiny, but the American military first began developing similar aerial vehicles during World War I

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Document Deep Dive: What Did the Zimmermann Telegram Say?

See how British cryptologists cracked the coded message that propelled the United States into World War I

The British pigeon known as Crisp VC brought back news of the sinking of an armed trawler by a German U boat and the heroic death of her captain, Thomas Crisp, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Closing the Pigeon Gap

During the First World War, Allied birds outperformed their rivals and saved thousands of lives–all thanks to the efforts of one London pigeon fancier

Riflemen Andrew and Grigg (center)—British troops from London—during the Christmas Truce with Saxons of the 104th and 106th Regiments of the Imperial German Army.

The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce

It has become a great legend of World War I. But what really happened when British and German troops emerged from their trenches that Christmas Day?

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