Elizabeth Elsbach and Pof Don Zillman had the pleasure of writing 1200 pages in two volumes titled Living the World War: A Weekly Exploration of the American Experience in WWI. Their goal was to recreate each week between October 1, 1916 and March 5, 1919 from the records of the New York Times and the Congressional Record (the debates on the floors of the US Senate and the House of Representatives). Their mission was to ask readers to imagine how they would have reacted "if they didn't know what was coming next." The week of January 12-18, 1919 (two months after the Armistice) included the start of the Versailles Peace Conference, continuing riots in Germany, the passage of the Prohibition Amendment, and further follow up after the unexpected death (at age 61) of Teddy Roosevelt on January 6.
Prof Don Zillman speaks to W-G Rotary
during Rotary Night Out at Mister Bagel
on January 15, 2018
They then considered how the entire war experience directly affected almost every American (by contrast with our last 18 years of war in the Middle East). World War I saw: 1) the military draft used to build an Army of 4 million 2) the first major use of the federal income tax 3) government regulation of such essential matters as food, energy, and transportation 4) the worst flu epidemic of the century (Spanish Flu) with impact on both military and civilian life 5) restrictions on speech and publications that were critical of conduct of the War and 6) other important matters like the prohibition of liquor and the granting of the vote to women ("suffrage").
Don finally looked briefly at 2019 contrasted with 1919 in such matters as America's emergence as a world leader, America's attitude to the military, and the workings of Congress and the executive branch. We closed with the sobering reminder that in addition to over 50,000 American combat deaths (a very small number compared to France, Russia, Britain, and Germany), 26 members of the 65th Congress died during their two-year term. Don is persuaded that overwork and stress played a considerable role.
The book(s) should be in most Libraries and can be purchased (often at discount prices) thru Amazon and other online outlets.
Steve Rand, Jack Kivus, Christine Johnson, Carlo Giraualo,
Bruce Saundes, Deb Shangraw, Kathi Perkins,
and Donald Zillman