NPR American Chronicles: World War I

Famously referred to by US president Woodrow Wilson as “the war to end all wars,” the first world war eclipsed all previous wars with its scale of destruction. With over twenty-seven nations involved, the battle-field horrors and political outcomes of the first truly global military conflict had repercussions that are still felt today.

NPR presents a vivid portrait of what most experts consider the first modern war, including profiles of America’s flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, unlikely savior of war-torn Belgium Herbert Hoover, and the last surviving doughboy Frank Buckles.


Contents:Introduction by Rachel MartinWashington’s World War I MemorialStumbling Into World War I, Like Sleepwalkers1913 Leads a Tour of the World a Century AgoA Race Against Time to Find WWI’s Last DoughboysThe Human Toll of the War To End All WarsNational World War I MuseumFrank Buckles: Last U.S. Veteran of World War IBelgian Exhibit Honors Hoover’s WWI EffortChristmas TruceBattle of the River AisneWWI Poetry: The Words of WarGround War: Winston RochetLast Post: Final Thoughts from Britain’s WWI VetsDiary Provides Black Soldier’s View of WWIBattle of the SommeFrance Pays Tribute to Early U.S. Fighter PilotsThomas Sopwith, Plane Designer“Fast Eddie” RickenbackerRobert K. Massie’s Castles of SteelVeterans Day Journey Ends Near WWI TrenchesNew Clues in Lusitania’s SinkingGermany’s Last WWI DebtArtists’ Masks Hid Wounds of WWI SoldiersWWI Munitions Still Live Beneath Western Front11th Month, 11th Day, 11th HourThe Middle East and the West: WWI and BeyondThe Bonus Army: How a Protest Led to the GI BillThe Savage Peace of 1919, Relevant TodayPete Seeger on His Uncle, Alan Seeger