World War I: Biographies

200 Pages·2001·10.425 MB·English

by  Sara Pendergast

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World War I
Biographies
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World War I
Biographies
Tom Pendergast
and Sara Pendergast
Christine Slovey,Editor
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s Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast
e
Staff
i
h
Christine Slovey, U•X•L Senior Editor
p Julie L. Carnagie, U•X•L Contributing Editor
a Carol DeKane Nagel, U•X•L Managing Editor
r Tom Romig, U•X•L Publisher
g
Pamela A.E. Galbreath, Senior Art Director (Page design)
o Jennifer Wahi, Art Director (Cover design)
Bi Shalice Shah-Caldwell, Permissions Associate (Images)
Robyn Young, Imaging and Multimedia Content Editor

: Pamela A. Reed, Imaging Coordinator
I
Robert Duncan, Imaging Specialist
r
a Rita Wimberly, Senior Buyer
W Evi Seoud, Assistant Manager, Composition Purchasing and Electronic Prepress
Linda Mahoney, LM Design, Typesetting

d Cover Photos: Woodrow Wilson and Manfred von Richthofen reproduced by
l permission of AP/Wide World Photos, Inc.
r
o
W
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pendergast, Tom.
World War I biographies / Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: A collection of thirty biographies of world figures who played
important roles in World War I, including Mata Hari, T.E. Lawrence, and
Alvin C. York.
ISBN 0-7876-5477-9
1. World War, 1914-1918—Biography—Dictionaries—-Juvenile literature. [1.
World War, 1914-1918—Biography. 2. Soldiers.] I. Title: World War One biogra-
phies. II. Title: World War 1 biographies. III. Pendergast, Sara. IV. Title.
D522.7 .P37 2001
940.3'092'2--dc21 2001053162
This publication is a creative work copyrighted by U•X•L and fully protected
by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret,
unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The editors of this work have
added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more
of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression,
arrangement, and classification of the information. All rights to this publica-
tion will be vigorously defended.
Copyright © 2002
U•X•L, an imprint of the Gale Group
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in
any form.
ISBN 0-7876-5477-9
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Reader’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
World War I Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Words to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Sarah Aaronsohn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
William “Billy” Avery Bishop . . . . . . . . . . 13
Edith Cavell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
George Creel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Edith Cavell.Reproduced
Alexandra Fyodorovna . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 by permission of Archive
Franz Ferdinand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Photos, Inc.
Ferdinand Foch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Douglas Haig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Jean Jaurès . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Käthe Kollwitz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Fritz Kreisler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
T. E. Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Vladimir Lenin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Erich Ludendorff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
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Mata Hari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Wilfred Owen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
John Joseph Pershing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Henri-Philippe Pétain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Manfred von Richthofen . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Eddie Rickenbacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Alan Seeger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Richard Stumpf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Helen Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Wilhelm II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Antigas precaution sign.
Woodrow Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Reproduced by permission
Alvin C. York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
of Hulton Getty/Archive
Photos, Inc.
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
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Reader’s Guide
World War I was truly one of the most tragic events of the
twentieth century. The war began over a terrorist act in
the provinces of the fading Austro-Hungarian Empire and
could have been avoided if Germany, Russia, and France had-
n’t felt compelled to obey secret treaties they had signed years
before. Those secret treaties turned a small conflict into one
that involved every major country in Europe and eventually
many other nations from around the world. In the course of
just over four years of war, nearly ten million soldiers and civil-
ians lost their lives; billions of dollars were spent on killing
machines—guns, tanks, submarines—and the economies of
most of the warring countries were severely disrupted; and two
great empires—the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the
Ottoman Empire—collapsed in defeat.
At the end of this terrible conflict, little had changed.
Ethnic conflicts in the Balkan region continued to pit neigh-
bor against neighbor. Attempts to create an international orga-
nization that would ensure world peace collapsed when the
United States withdrew its support. Germany, though
defeated, remained at odds with its rivals, France and England,
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and military leaders within Germany longed to avenge their
defeat. Within twenty years of the end of World War I, these
simmering tensions sparked another war, World War II, which
returned death and destruction to the continent of Europe and
to battlefields all over the world.
World War I: Biographies contains essays on twenty-
eight people who were involved in the war. While the volume
covers several of the important generals and politicians—such
as John Joseph Pershing and Woodrow Wilson—it also features
people who played more minor roles—like Wilfred Owen, a
poet and soldier, and Helen Thomas, a soldier’s wife who wrote
about the war. Together these entries offer students a range of
perspectives by which to understand the terrible conflict
known as World War I.
Additional Features
World War I: Biographies contain sidebars to highlight
interesting information and more than sixty black-and-white
illustrations that help to enliven the text. Each entry con-
cludes with a list of sources—including Web sites—for addi-
tional study. A timeline, a glossary, and a subject index also are
included in World War I: Biographies.
World War I Reference Library
World War I: Biographies is only one component of a
three-part World War I Reference Library. The other two titles
in this set are:
• World War I: Almanac (one volume) covers the war in
twelve thematic chapters, each geared toward offering an
understanding of a single element of the conflict, from the
underlying causes of the war to the many battles fought on
the various fronts to the anguished attempt to establish
world peace at the war’s end.
• World War I: Primary Sources(one volume) offers thirty-
three full or excerpted documents from the World War I
era. Included are Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”
speech; excerpts from Ernest Hemingway’s novel Farewell
to Arms;poems from leading war poets such as Alan Seeger
and Rupert Brooke; and the “Dual Alliance” secret treaty
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between Germany and Austria-Hungary. A sampling of
propaganda posters and numerous first-person accounts
from soldiers at the front are also presented.
• A cumulative index of all three titles in the World War I
Reference Library is also available.
Dedication
To our children, Conrad and Louisa.
Special Thanks
We’d like to thank several people who have con-
tributed to the creation of this book. We could ask for no bet-
ter editor than Christine Slovey at U • X • L, who saw this book
through most of its creation and always helped make our job
easier. Dick Hetland—chair of the social studies department
and teacher of twentieth-century American history at Sno-
homish High School in Snohomish, Washington—offered
invaluable advice on how to shape the content of this book to
fit the needs of students. Several writers contributed signifi-
cantly to this volume: Tina Gianoulis, who can make any topic
interesting; Edward Moran, who is truly gifted at digging up
obscure information; and Sheldon Goldfarb.
There are many others who contributed to this book
without even knowing it. They are the historians and scholars
who contributed their skills to writing books and articles on
one of the most tragic events in human history. Their names
can be found in the bibliographies of every chapter, and our
debt to them is great.
Suggestions
We welcome any comments on the World War I: Biogra-
phies.Please write: Editors, World War I: Biographies,U • X • L,
Gale Group, 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, Michigan,
48331-3535; call toll-free: 800-877-4253; or fax to: 248-699-
8097; or send e-mail via www.galegroup.com.
Reader’s Guide ix
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World War I: Timeline
June 28, 1914 Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and his
wife Sophie are assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in
Sarajevo, leading to World War I.
July 31, 1914 French political leader and journalist Jean Jau-
rèsis assassinated because of his antiwar position.
August 16, 1914 German quartermaster general Erich Luden-
dorff single-handedly takes the Belgian fortress at
Liège and rallies German troops, earning himself the
nickname “The Hero of Liège.” Franz Ferdinand and
his wife Sophie.Hulton
October 29–November 22, 1914 During the First Battle of
Getty/Archive Photos, Inc.
Ypres, British general Douglas Haig becomes com-
mander of the British forces.
October 12, 1915 British nurse Edith Cavellis executed by a
German firing squad because of her involvement with
the resistance movement in Belgium.
1916 British soldier T. E. Lawrenceaids Arab leader Husayn
ibn ‘Al¯ı in a revolt against the Ottoman Turks.
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