America: The Great War 1914-1916 (America, Great Crises In Our History Told by it's Makers Book 11)

This volume deals with the first half of the Great War, 1914-16. To help you
understand the war’s origins, you'll read letters and telegrams between Emperor
Franz Josef, Kaiser Wilhelm, the Czar of Russia and the King of England. They're
followed by an eye-witness report of Germany's ultimatum to Belgium, and
accounts of critical events by Winston Churchill, Georges Clemenceau, Sir Edward
Grey and Brand Whitlock, the American Minister to Belgium. There are accounts of
the battles of Mons, Ypres, and Verdun; reports of naval conflicts at the
Falklands and Jutland; Marshal Joffre's review of the Marne campaign; Admiral
Graf von Spee's account of a sea fight near Chile; and Lord Kitchener's report
of the Gallipoli disaster. The sinking of the Lusitania is described by an
American survivor and a German U-boat commander, the execution of Edith Cavell
by a British chaplain who witnessed it. Finally comes the Memorandum approved by
President Wilson proposing American intervention in the war.


Introduction To The Series

"After you've heard two eyewitness accounts of an auto accident, you begin to
worry about history." This observation, attributed to the comedian Henny
Youngman, summarizes the dilemma you face when you want to find out what really
happened in the past. When you read a history book, the "facts" are actually the
author's own interpretation, often colored by a conscious or unconscious wish to
have you share a particular point of view. You're one step (or many steps)
removed from the original source material.

That's why the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States compiled this 12-
volume collection of writings of people who actually witnessed the key events in
American history - the actual actors in the events or contemporary observers of
them. Past historians have spent decades locating, studying and consulting vast
amounts of material such as this. This meticulously chosen selection brings you
the essence of history as originally recorded by those who participated in it.

You'll be reading mostly eye-witness accounts, by people contemporary with the
events they describe, including many significant historical figures themselves.
So you can make your own assessments, draw your own conclusions and gain an
understanding of past events undistorted by the prejudices, assumptions and
selectivity of professional historians. In some instances where there aren't
reliable or easily accessible eye-witness accounts, the compilers have chosen
extracts from objective, authoritative historians of past generations such as
Francis Parkman whose judgements have stood the test of time. Through these
accounts, your knowledge of American history will be immeasurably greater, your
understanding of the key events in the building of the nation immensely
increased.

Founded in 1899, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to foster camaderie among United States
veterans of overseas conflicts, from the Spanish-American War to Iraq and
Afghanistan, and to ensure that they receive due respect and entitlements for
the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of the nation. With
this mission, the VFW has a natural desire to encourage a broad understanding
and appreciation of American history, and this essential collection of
historical documents makes a huge contribution to that aim.

This reissue was scanned, formatted and converted to e-book format
with the permission and encouragement of the VFW, to make
the series more accessible to a wider public. The VFW receives 50% of all
royalty revenue from these e-books. This book is about 300 print pages.