And involve you in conversations with top world war i historians as we learn about the history of the u. S. Role in the war and its impact. As we open the program, we are joined by the president and ceo of the National World war i museum and memorial matthew nayler. Matt nayler, you have resources in telling the story of world war i, why is it important for people in 2017 to know this story . I dont know you can think of the last 100 years particularly in the United States without understanding the impact of world war i. And thats true of countries across the globe. Im an australian and an american, as well, and for australia it is the defining moment rather than a moment of victory defining a national psyche, for australia its a defeat. It defines who australians are and thats true of so many other places. It had such a profound impact on the reconstruction of world relationships, of how countries were formed and so on, that its essential for our understanding of our current age. In about ten minutes we will be going to telephone calls. This is an interactive program. We know many of you are either professional or amateur historians in our audience and we would love to have you as part of our conversation. Well put our phone numbers and twitter handle on the screen as we talk here with matt naler and well get into the things youre most interested in about world war i. So give us a snapshot, please n 1917 as the u. S. Is considering this momentous decision. What preceded it. How many countries were involved in the conflict at that point . How many combatants . The remarkable thing about world war i, all of the inhabitant continent of the world were swept up into that. About 34 countries then, but those now would be more than 100 if we define how all of those countries, because of the nature of empires that there were so many countries that were swept up into that. In such a brief period of time from all over the globe those countries swept up and then shipped off to europe. For example, in a 1. 8 million indian troops serving. Japanese escorting australians into europe. In africa, because of colonialism, countries there that were then providing resources and providing labor for the war. It really was truly a global war leading up to the u. S. Engagement already. Weve probably all learned in our history books that it was the assassination of arch Duke Ferdinand that started the war, but why was that the but it sounds like there was a lot of tinder that that match struck. So what was going on . It was a tinderbox that was there and that it struck, it seems to me there is a multiplicity of things, and a rise in nationalism among those. The sense of local ethnic identity was growing in a way in which it hadnt previously been, under the oppression of empire and peoples sense of selfidentity was so important so that is rubbing. Changes in Energy Sources then are having a profound impact on economic relationships. The alliances which are being formed and are being secretly formed as well then is creating tensions. There was also a view amongst some that somehow war could be cleansing. The idea that winning an idea of survival of the fittest extended beyond just what we would think about it of animals to even societies that somehow the fittest really need to demonstrate their success and so there was this idea that war might even be cleansing and so these things come together and the rise of workers movements and so many of those then were setting the tinderbox with that match being struck set the world aflame. By the time the war was over how many people were involved . 70 million is the number of combatants . How many people died in world war i. Its hard to make that true estimate, isnt it . We would say that there are at least 9 million combatant deaths. Its reasonable to say that perhaps 60 million were killed and then theres the impact of the flu, as well which certainly is not a result of the war, but certainly is exacerbated because of that, but do you ever really know . Nobody expected deaths at this sort of scale. So how do you count when the deaths are happening particularly earlier on in the war at the rate at which they are and societies are not anticipated and theyre not set up to count those sorts of deaths. So now lets move specifically to the United States. This country was out and we were not involved and there were pressures on the president wood row wilson, especially from the rival Theodore Roosevelt to get involved and set the stage for us about the u. S. Entry. He wasnt involved and certainly it wasnt involved in a variety of ways and albeit remaining politically neutral. Economically, the u. S. Was benefiting from the war in a whole variety of ways and manufacturing munitions, providing loans. Which side were we providing them for . Particularly for the allies and then also the United States is a country of immigrants. Theres at least 10 million german immigrants, for example in the United States. Firstgeneration immigrants and so the debate is a difficult debate, and because its not clear cut. If youre a firstgeneration immigrant and why would you go to fight against your people, as it were . So a very difficult debate that the country participated in for a long time. Its to listen to music, for example, is i think really profound. Over there is the sound that we most associated with in world war i and i didnt raise my son to be a soldier, and a poignant song that tells the story of the other side, as it were. Throughout society there was quite a debate that said ought we do this, ought we go. And what happened to bring us into the war . A variety of things and there were and the lucitania which is one people point towards and the submarine warfare in generally and the risk that that presented to the british, for example, and then to the United States which had a profound bearing upon that. People point to it as being an important factor that helped persuade some that it was timely where the mexicans were being invited to attack against the United States and then seeking to introduce the japanese. Perhaps that was the straw that broke the camels back and the stage was well set. I think its interesting that Woodrow Wilson ran on the campaign he kept us out of the war and hes inaugurated in march and we know that in april 2nd he delivers his address to Congress Asking for the declaration of war which is the proclamation signed on the 6th of april. The first influx of troops in to the western front in france happened almost a yearplus later. Why did it take so long . How do you equip an army and grow an army of that size . I guess, that was the struggle. Albeit, however, very quickly because prior they had a Standing Army of 100,000 and scaled it at an extraordinary rate. One of the things we have at the museum is to serve an army that turned out to be 4 million, 4. 5 or so. How many undershirts . How many socks, shoes . Let alone the training required . It was a massive, massive effort and yet it was done in a short time and then with what led to the biggest battles in American Military history. Extraordinary effort by the United States and everybody. This was not something thats relegated just to the armed forces. It was a total war, a true, full effort by people right across the United States. Factory workers, farmhands, volunteers, people necessarily got behind this in order to be able to quit the troops and you made the point that it forever changed the United States, how so . I think there are a number of ways in which that happened and certainly contributed to the Suffrage Movement and womens rights. It had a profound impetus and impact on civil rights issues. The experience of africanamerican soldiers in the war and then their experience of returning back to a segregated country. Economically, the place of the United States is enormously impacted by the war. Though the war benefited the u. S. Economically prayer to 1917, but coming out of the war, the u. S. Was really on a different footing financially that had a profound bearing. Theres a leadership role that the u. S. Sought after the war which certainly, albeit it seems to me was somewhat diminished because of the unwillingness of the u. S. To support the league of nations and certainly the u. S. Leadership position, those substantially changed it and led to the american century. Were going to talk about the creation of this museum. Its time now for our phone calls and the first one comes from marvin watching us from minnesota. Welcome to the world war i Memorial Museum and our discussion about world war i. Thank you. Hello . Yes, sir. Were listening. Whats your question . Oh, the i really have no question, but i had said earlier i am of 80 years of age, and i talked to one of the men that was in that war. His name was john sockton, and he was from tackle, north dakota, and he marched in that 47 days, and he told me about it and how shiny his helmet was and everything, what they went through. I guess my question would be what motivated these people or these military soldiers to keep going like that . Thank you very much. Weve having a little bit of trouble with your audio. This is an 80yearold man who remembers talking to a soldier who participated in the 47day campaign. His question was what motivated them to fight . I cant speak specifically to that. I think he would be better situated to do that. More generally, my grandfather served in world war i. He served in france, and there was a deep sense of, i think, of commitment to values and were deeply shared at the time they had a profound bearing on peoples desire to sacrifice and to serve in world war i which was a in the united kingdom, for example, the pals brigade are an example where whole villages and whole towns would sign up together and the men altogether would sign a poll and cricket teams or soccer teams would sign up together to serve in the war because that was the thing that needed to happen. Enormous sacrifice by people. Because the consequence of pals brigades as they were in the same division, for example, the same brigade and then they were wiped out and whole villages of young men altogether would be killed, hence the way in which people would recruit and drafted change and the way people were assigned change, but there was certainly a desire to serve in a way which really motivated people such as my grandfather. Speaking of motivation, the story of this memorial is one of motivation by people who had been combatants and supporters in the war. Tell our audience how it got started. 1919, soon after the armistice of the campaign, they came together and said let us do something with kansas city and within a short period of time they organized the people of the city and the community of about 250,000 to fund raise, 2. 5 million in ten days. 83,000 people participated in that. That would be 40 million. In todays terms in ten days. Wow and the allied commanders served from belgium, uk, italy, france and the United States came here in 1921 together with about 100,000 people and dedicated the hilltop here and the land 26 acres overlooking the city and in an International Design competition, mcgonigle was successful in winning the design. And president coolidge came back and 150,000 people said to be the largest crowd that the community that our president had ever spoken to. I think its an extraordinary story of grassroots support, of crowd source funding to pay for what turned out to pay for an extraordinarily dramatic memorial. Two very important decisions made at the time. The first was to create a memorial of scale, which this is. 217foot tower. These two fantastic exhibit holes, sphinx, and a freeze on the north side and really a large memorial and then the second significant decision was to collect globally. So in 1920 the Association Began collecting archival materials and threedimensional objects from the war from all belligerents and all sides and have continued to do so for the last 90 years. In the 60s and 70s in the 80s there was some deferred maintenance issues that caught up with the memorial and that wasnt uncommon in city structures in other cities as well and the people responded to that and congressman cleaver was mayor cleaver at the time, he made it a priority of his mayorship to restore the memorial which at that point had been closed. Ali gates, a local businessman, he was a chair of the parks and Recreation Commission was assigned to move on this. So through a variety of activities again, at the city, the people voted about 68 with sales tax for about 18 months and private philanthropy together raised 100 million locally to restore the memorial and in the process carve in its understructure a museum which is fitting of the collection that had been then in the collective for so many years. Ralph applebaum and associates, one of the foremost designers in the u. S. Then designed the main gallery and opened in 06 with a congressional designation as the National World war i museum and 2014 designated the memorial as the National World war i memorial and we are proud to carry both of those designations as the National World war i and memorial. We are going to learn in a minute from you who comes today and its an appropriate time to see some of your exhibits. My colleague is with the chief curator here to see some of what youve got on display. Yes. We are here in front of an exhibit of posters and doran cart will explain why the u. S. Government made propaganda posters in world war i . Well, the first reason was, as soon as the war started, there was a committee on Public Information formed by the president , and they wanted to control all information that was given out to the american public, and it was all censored and it all had to be approved by this committee and posters were the true advertising medium of the day because it could be produced colorfully, they could be produced in mass quantity which they wanted to cover the country with them and they also could be used for about a third of your population that couldnt read. So their images then impressed upon the viewer what the government wanted you to understand, and so they were really propaganda, but they were also social directives. They wanted you to save food. They wanted you to give money to the government for the war effort, and they wanted you to become part of the war and it really was, at the beginning of the war it really was a struggle. People think that everyone in the United States was rah, rah, lets go to war, and it didnt occur that way. So the committee on Public Information used the posters which were the social media of the day as their beating drum. They couldnt have big bands every place so they had posters and this was an important part of their effort. Where would people see these posters . Well, they would see the recruiting posters, of course, in the places where they were recruiting men and women for service into the war. They would be plastered on barns, they would be in cafes. They would be in libraries and they would be anywhere where people gathered and where someone could pass by and see this and they would impress their importance on them. The ones where they were talking about raising more food would be primarily in the rural areas where they wanted people to give more money and tended to be more in the urban areas. Lets take a look at the uncle sam poster. This is particularly special. Tell us about it. Of course, the uncle sam is probably the most recognized american poster from world war i, and it was done by a man with an appropriate name for the patriotic fervor of the time and his name was James Montgomery flag, and he was given the commission. He was a volunteer to paint an image of uncle sam based on a famous british poster of lord kichner basically wanting the viewer to enlist. When he was getting ready to paint the original, he had hired a model. The model didnt show up and so flag had to get it done in one day, and so he used himself. He looked in the mirror and painted himself as uncle sam. So the iconic image that we have of uncle sam which has been around since the 1820s became James Montgomery flags face. And this particular poster is original . Yes, all of the materials on exhibit at the museum are original and the posters are a major part of our collection. We have thousands of them in the collection from all of the nations who used them during the war. And do you know exactly where this one came from . Well, actually we do. The museum started collecting in 1920 and one of the first checks there was a local fellow in kansas city, and he was in new york and he had a lot of these posters for sale at brynn tanos bookstore, and he purchased a lot of them and gave them to the museum as part of the collection. There are also several on the wall that are for liberty loans. What was a liberty loan . A liberty loan came about fairly quickly at the start of the war, and it was really to get people to give cash to support the war effort and then they were promised a return on their investment, probably seven years after the war, and so it really was considered a loan to the government and then it would help pay for their liberty. They used the word liberty a lot for their advertising efforts and it was really created by the secretary of the treasury, mcado who happened to be the president s soninlaw. Thank you very much. Well talk to you again soon. Thank you, susan. We are back live with matthew nayler, president and ceo of the National World war i museum. American history tv is marking the to 100th anniversary and theyre marking the entry into the war of the whole nation. Were taking your telephone calls and learning about the war history as its captured in this national museum. Well take another telephone call. Holmes is watching us in greenpoint, new york. Youre on. Welcome to American History tv. Thank you. I want to thank the program, cspan3 for illuminating me on my