Connection Across Time

As a country that always seems to have our hands in every other country's business (see Libya), I think that there is a lot to be learned from World War I on we deal with foreign conflict. The Treaty of Versailles failed miserably because the defeated country did not get to have a say in the terms of the treaty. Germany was not at the Congress of Versailles. The way the allied powers handled peace terms after World War I is a perfect example of what not to do. The terms of a treaty should be decided based on what is best suitable for creating a lasting peace, not what can best serve the defeated country proper revenge. The reasoning for this is that it sets the country up to come back with another war e.g. Nazi Germany, World War II.

Spotlight On: Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was caused largely by the social turmoil in Europe created by World War I. The war itself was fought from January 27 to May 15, 1918 between two groups who became known as the "reds" and the "whites." The Reds, who were backed by Bolshevik Russia, were Social Democrats, led by the People's Deputation of Finland. The whites, who received assistance from the German Empire, were the nonsocialist force. However, tensions had been growing in and around Finland for years before world War I. One of the most dividing factors was the Bolshevik takeover in Russia.

The Bolshevik takeover in Novemeber 1917 brought emotions in Finland to a boiling point. On one side of the spectrum, there were the middle classes, who feared radical socialism, suspecting that it would destroy their way of life. Works, however, were inspired by the revolution and embodied this spirit with the Finnish Worker's general strike of November 14. For fourty-eight hours, workers controlled the state. Some of the most radical strikers even proposed a full seizure of power. During the two days of striking, there were numerous armed clashes between White Guards and Red Guards.

Following the genral strike, it was clear that the White Guards had an upper hand in the fighting due to weapon shipments from Germany. As a result, a government with heavy middle-class influence was established under the leadership of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, and on Decmber 6, 1917, Finland declared itself an independent state. Before the war, Finland had been a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. Svinhufvud's government demonstrated that it would have zero tolerance for socialist influencinf by making the Whote Guard a state security force. The atmosphere of poltiocal violence, class tensions, and mistrust ws so strong in Finland buy January 1918, that civil war was inevitable.

Despite having nearly twice the army size of the Whites, the Reds faced a number of disadvantages throughout the war that would lead to them losing in the end. The Reds had poor leadership, training, and equipment, as well as food shortages. The Whites had professional leadership and this was one of the reasons they won the war. Mannerheim, who was the official military leader of the whites, was an experienced soldier who understood large scale operations. His strategic judgement guided the whites almost flawlessly. Some of the decisive battles were fought at Tampere, Viipuri, and Helnski, all of which were won by a combined White and German force.

The civil war was clearly  one of the most catastrophic events in FInnish history. Over 37,000 people were killed, but only one fourth of these deaths occured on the battlefield. The rest came as a result of executions detention camps created during poltical terror campaigns. The war divided society so much that there was even argument over what to call the it. Whites wanted it to be called a "War for Independence," while the Reds insisted that it was a civil war. Following the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, the Finnish people retained their independence, and slowly, Finland was reunited through poltical compromise, though the socialism question remained relevant in Finland up through the Cold War.

US Event: National Park Service

Since 1872 the United States National Park System has grown from a single, public reservation called Yellowstone National Park to embrace over 450 natural, historical, recreational, and cultural areas throughout the United States, its territories, and island possessions. On August 25, 1916, Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act, which created the US Federal Agency know as the National Park Service. It manages all national parks and monuments. The government recognized a need for an agency to oversee the growing system of national parks that had been increasing ever since the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century. A better system of management was thus implemented. Meanwhile, countries around the world were doing similar things, realizing that their national parks needed better management. From 1914 to 1920, conservationists in New Zealand began
to take notice of the damage that non-native free-roaming goats, who had been released into Tongariro National Park in the early twentieth century, were causing to the ecosystem of Mt. Egmont. This horrified scientists who thought parks should be sanctuaries for native plants and animals. The idea that national parks should protect New Zealand species caught on, prompting conservationists to lobby for two more parks and finally the National Parks Act in 1952.

US Event: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

On March 3, 1915, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was founded to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautic research in the United States. By the early 1920s, it had adopted the new and more ambitious mission of promoting military and civilian aviation through applied research that looked beyond current needs. NACA researchers used their collection of wind tunnels, engine test stands, and flight test facilities to pursue their mission. Commercial and military clients were also permitted to use these facilities for their own research on a contract basis. By 1938, what began as a ten person committee with a budget of $5,000 per person had developed into a group of 426 researchers encouraged not only to complete formal assignments, but to pursue unauthorized "bootleg" research. The result was a number of breakthroughs and inventions that are still in use in aviation today. These include, but are not limited to, NACA engine cowl, NACA airfoil, and the "area rule" for supersonic aircraft. NACA also claims credit for having the first plane to break the sound barrier. The NACA project was significant because it provided a model for other European countries that would conduct similar research during World War II. Also, NACA airfoils are still used on planes that take off all over the world.


In 1958, the committee was dissolved. Its personnel and facilities were transferred to the newly created National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). This decision was made in oder to keep up with the Soviet Union during the space race.

"It is of great urgency and importance to our country both from consideration of our prestige as a nation as well as military necessity that this challenge (referring to Sputnik) be met by an energetic program of research and development for the conquest of space

It is accordingly proposed that the scientific research be the responsibility of a national civilian agency working in close cooperation with the applied research and development groups required for weapon systems development by the military.
The pattern to be followed is that already developed by the NACA and the military services...


The NACA is capable, by rapid extension and expansion of its effort, of providing leadership in space technology." -Dr. Hugh Dryden, 1958,NASA Deputy Administrator

Art: Over There

This is Over There, a popular song written in 1917 by George M. Cohan along with a famous recording by Nora Bayes. The lyrics of the song epitomize the patriotic spirit that existed in America during the first world war. This patriotic spirit was created largely by the "total war" effort that the United States' government had been pushing. The enthusiasm of American citizens about the war was great because it boosted the economy and helped the military when people bought war bonds. In 1936, Cohan was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this song and others.

Chorus lyrics:

Over there, over there,

Send the word, send the word over there

That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming

The drums rum-tumming everywhere.

So prepare, say a prayer,

Send the word, send the word to beware -

We'll be over, we're coming over,

And we won't come back till it's over, over there.

Art: A Taube

This is A Taube by English painter Christopher R.W. Nevinson. During the Great War, aircraft became an instrument of war for the first time. One of the things planes were used for during World War I was bombings. Often, these aerial bombing raids would be carried out against not just military targets, but civilian targets. The Taube was one of the earliest bombing planes developed by Germany, and it was used to drop bombs right on top of population centers. With this painting, Nevinson denounces the German airforce - the Taube and its attacks against civilian populations - even though such attacks were more often carried out by airships such as the Zeppelin, and allied planes carried out bombing raids against German towns just as frequently. Perhaps the artist is trying to make a statement against war, due to the cruel consequences it brings about.

Art: La mitrailleuse en action

This is La mitrailleuse en action (The Machine Gun in Action) by French artist Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. This work clearly makes a statement about the changing ways in which battles were being fought. Now, wars were not only based on the numbers and skill of the soldiers that countries had, but the quality and quantity of the machinery that could be produced by the countries. One of these pieces of machinery that proved to be so important in the war was the machine gun. With countries producing more and more advanced technologies to fight wars, battles became not so much man fighting man as machine fighting machine. The man became less important as the machine he was operating became more important. The artist expresses this idea in his work by reducing the man in the painting to simple geometric shapes.