World War I

3 posts tagged with this keyword.

President Woodrow Wilson addressing Congress to ask for a declaration of war on Germany, 2 April 1917.

He Kept Us Out of War

Apr 6, 2026 By Andy Barca

On 6 April 1917, the US declared war on Germany. Wilson had been re-elected five months earlier on a promise of neutrality. He won. Then he changed his mind. The 20th century was shaped in that gap.

WWI soldiers in a trench

The Man Who Fought With a Chequebook

Mar 30, 2026 By Andy Barca

Edward Stettinius dropped out of school at sixteen, ground his way through a decade of failed ventures, and eventually ran the Diamond Match Company. Then the Allies hired J.P. Morgan to buy for the First World War, and Morgan hired him.

Anton von Werner's painting of the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles on 18 January 1871.

Forty-Eight Years in the Hall of Mirrors

Jan 18, 2026 By Andy Barca

On 18 January 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. On 18 January 1919, the Paris Peace Conference opened in the same city. Between those two dates lived the full arc of German power — born in a defeated enemy's palace, ended in the same city by men determined to make sure it never happened again.