A Centennial & Remembrance
of "The Great War"
A century ago the world witnessed the beginning of "the war to end all wars,"
a global conflict of unprecedented scale and devastation.
In the interests of commemorating this historic period, we have prepared this guide to educational resources for your exploration.
In the interests of commemorating this historic period, we have prepared this guide to educational resources for your exploration.
World War I ("The Great War") - Introductions & Overviews
- The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century
- Includes an introduction to World War I, a glossary, timeline, maps and battles, and more. From PBS.
- Milestones
- Topics include: From the U.S. State Department.
- World War I (registration required)
- Students and teachers can apply for free access to this informative and attractive website, which covers World War I in a variety of ways: through essays, primary sources (e.g. the Treaty of Versailles, recruiting posters), a timeline, a glossary of terms (featuring World War I-related people, places, organizations, and events), multimedia and interactive features, resources for teachers, and more. From the The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
- World War I
- Topics include: Treaty of Saint-Germain, Pact of London, Treaty of Versailles, Battle of Belleau Wood, Algeciras Conference, Treaties of Rapallo, Lausanne Conference, Treaty of Neuilly, League of Nations, Gallipoli Campaign. From How Stuff Works.
- World War I by the Numbers
- A statistical infographic from The History Channel.
Biographies
- Biography in Context
- Biographies and full text articles. Available to members of Thrall.
- World War I Biographical Dictionary
- From the World War I Document Archive.
Centennial Commemoration of the War
- A 100-Year Legacy of World War I: The Great War
- Select the date range options ("Before 1910", "After 1924", "Current 2014") to see how countries and national boundaries existed before and after World War I. From The New York Times.
- World War I Centenary
- Explore World War I through a variety of topical features, including World War I A-Z (videos from Archduke Franz Ferdinand to Zeppelin), What Happened on This Day in 1914, Joseph Lee: The Forgotten War Poet, Tragedy of Torpedoed War Ships, How World War I Changed Your World, and more. From BBC.
- World War I Centenary: 100 Years, 100 Legacies
- "The Wall Street Journal has selected 100 legacies from World War I that continue to shape our lives today."
Databases & Encyclopedias (available to members of Thrall)
- American Decades: Primary Sources (Volume 2: 1910-1919)
- Browse documents, works, and speeches of the time before and through World War I. Each primary source is embedded in an entry that includes information on its historical background and significance.
- Literature Criticism Online
- Includes articles and information on World War I era authors and literary works, including Rupert Brooke (famous for his 1914 sonnets), Wilfred Owen (who wrote one of the most famous war poems of all time, "Dulce et Decorum Est"), Ford Maddox Ford, Virginia Woolf, among others whose works were heavily influenced by World War I events (e.g. T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Ezra Pound, Aldous Huxley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, W. Somerset Maugham, H. G. Wells).
- Historical New York Times
- "Every issue in the Historical Newspapers: The New York Times database is reproduced in cover to cover full page images." Locate articles about or written during World War I.
- Music Online
- Listen to World War I era singers, bands, and songs.
Playlist available:- Please click here to see a sample playlist of World War I era music.
To log in, please type Ramapo Catskill Library System in the Search by Institution Name search box. After you select the Ramapo Catskill Library System option, please enter your Thrall library card barcode number (without spaces) in the Library Card Login box that will appear.
- Please click here to see a sample playlist of World War I era music.
- Salem History
- Explore the history of World War I and more. After logging in, you can either search for a person or topic or select the Browse option (from the top menu) to browse by topic (e.g. Military History, which includes World War I as a subtopic). There's also "Great Events from History: The Twentieth Century, 1901-1940," which lets you explore various events and developments during and after the War.
- World Book Encyclopedia
- Try both their new timelines (search for World War I) as well as their Research Center.
Documents, eBooks, & Records
- Europeana 1914-1918: Untold Stories & Official Histories of World War I
- "Explore stories, films and historical material about World War I and contribute your own family history. Europeana 1914-1918 mixes resources from libraries and archives across the globe with memories and memorabilia from families throughout Europe."
- The First World War
- From the UK's National Archives. Scroll down their page for a list of their online collections. Some World War I records are not yet online.
- The Library of Congress: A Guide to World War I Materials
- " This guide compiles links to World War I resources throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, this guide provides links to external Web sites focusing on World War I and a bibliography containing selections for both general and younger readers."
- The National Archives: World War I Records
- Topics include: World War I Draft Registration Cards, World War I Dead, World War I Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimages, Sawtelle Disabled Veterans Home Case Files, and more.
- Newspaper Pictorials: World War I
- Search or browse by date. "The images in this collection track American sentiment about the war in Europe, week by week, before and after the United States became involved. Events of the war are detailed alongside society news and advertisements touting products of the day, creating a pictorial record of both the war effort and life at home. The collection includes an illustrated history of World War I selected from newspaper rotogravure sections that graphically documents the people, places, and events important to the war." From the Library of Congress.
- Remembering World War I
- "This website connects historical documents with technology in an effort to inform and educate others about New York's role during World War I." From the New York State Archives.
- From Yale Law School's Avalon Project (digital texts):
- World War I Bookshelf
- Numerous books/writings about or authored during World War I. eBooks (electronic books / texts) from Project Gutenberg.
Some sample titles include:
- A Treasury of War Poetry: British and American Poems of the World War 1914-1917
- Poems of the Great War
- Why We Are at War: Messages to the Congress January to April 1917 by Wilson
- World War I Declarations
- Dates of war declarations and related digitized texts / newspapers. From the Library of Congress.
- World War I Document Archive
- "The intention is to present in one location both primary and relevant secondary documents between 1890-1930." Includes, among many other documents and speeches, President Woodrow Wilson's:
- World War I Pamphlets
- Scroll down their page to explore by topic or to browse all pamphlets. Includes homeland propaganda, military campaigns, the changing role of women, and more. Their note states: "While the assembled collection spans the entire war, the publications date from 1912 - 1931 with the bulk of the materials concentrated from 1914 - 1919." From the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
For Students and Teachers
- The Great War: Lesson Plans
- From PBS. See also their Great War Bookshelf for a title list of suggested readings.
- World War I (1914 - 1919)
- Includes: Overview, Summary of Events, Key People & Terms, Summary and Analysis, Study Questions and Essay Topics, and more. From SparkNotes. See also Woodrow Wilson - World War I: 1917-1919.
- United States Entry into World War I: A Documentary Chronology of World War I
- Lesson plan and related questions / activities. From EDSITEment! / National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
- Universal Class (for members of Thrall)
- After logging in and creating a free account, you can sign up for either the "World War I" or "World War I & II" course, which you can find by clicking the Course Catalog (at the top of their page) and then clicking History. These courses appear on page two of the History section.
Library Items (Books and Videos)
- Books, videos, and other items in the library system catalog:
Multimedia & Online Exhibits (Photographs, Audio, Videos)
- American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election
- From the Library of Congress. Technical note: there are two "listen to this recording" links on each page. The RealAudio link requires the free Real Player, while the "wav" link should work in most browsers.
- National World War I Museum:
-
- Images
- Browse or search.
- Online Exhibitions
- Exhibits includes War Fare ("addresses an often overlooked aspect of the war: food."), Home Before the Leaves Fall (which covers Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination, the July Crisis, and start of Great War through multimedia), Harmonies of the Homefront ("how the music of the Great War era acted as a unifying force by supporting patriotic engagement with the war effort at home and rallying the troops abroad"), Road to War ("pivotal world events that led to World War I"), and World War I All-Stars ("the important role of sports in the lives of servicemen during the First World War").
- Panoramic Photographs
- Over 300 photos from the Library of Congress.
- Photos of the Great War
- From the World War I Document Archive.
- World War I
- Videos from The History Channel.
- World War I
- Audio and videos from the United Kingdom's National Archives.
- World War I Images
- Photographs from the New York State Archives
- World War I Posters
- From the Library of Congress.
- YouTube: World War I Videos
- World War I footage, documentaries, and more.
Time Lines
- Chief Events of the War Timeline: 1914-1919
- From the Library of Congress.
- The Great War: Timeline
- From PBS. Select date ranges at the top of their pages.
- Interactive WWI Timeline
- From the World War I National Museum.
- World War I (1914-1918)
- From InfoPlease.
- World War One Timeline
- From BBC.
Veterans, Honored Soldiers, & Casualties of the War
- Experiencing War (World War I: The Great War): Stories from the Veterans History Project
- From the Library of Congress.
- Medal of Honor Recipients
- From the U.S. Army.
- Navy Medal of Honor Recipients
- From the U.S. Navy.
- Roll of Honor: Citizens of the State of New York Who Died While in the service of the United States During the World War
- From the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center.
- History of Veterans Day
- Originally known as Armistice Day. From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Image source: USS New York
Please call Thrall's Reference Department at 341-5461
or our use our free Internet reference service
to ask librarians for more information on any topic.
Thrall patrons are also encouraged to explore
our many free databases and encyclopedias.
Special Coverage Center
Copyright © 2006-2014 Middletown Thrall Library
Disclaimer
or our use our free Internet reference service
to ask librarians for more information on any topic.
Thrall patrons are also encouraged to explore
our many free databases and encyclopedias.
Special Coverage Center
Copyright © 2006-2014 Middletown Thrall Library
Disclaimer