A The Great War as viewed by Leaders and Officers

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World War I WebQuest
What is it like to be in a conflict as a Leader or Officer?

A Nation's Leaders, Generals and Admirals all some things in common:

to inspire their charges
to remind us who the true enemy is
to order young men and women into battle, while they, themelves, most often, remain on the 'sidelines'

The leaders of the governments and the generals of the soldiers often were not on the front lines of the war, but had to make the decisions that could send tens of thousands to battle.

Instructions:

Your task is to follow each of the following pairs of links. After visiting each set of sites, your team should:

discuss what it was like to be a government's leader or an officer during World War I.
go to your team's worksheet and write down an understanding or truth, based on the set #1 workstation/internet sites that you just visitied [see below]. If you need a worksheet, click here.
then proceed to the next pair of sites of materials and repeat steps 1 and 2
When you have visited, discussed and written down your understandings from the 3 sets of websites and/or other work stations that you visited, you will then complete the last section of your worksheet that answers the question "What was it like to be a leader or an officer during this conflict?".

Remember, in the next stage [Stage 2] of this WebQuest, each member of your team will be sharing your team's response with a larger group of participants. Make sure your understanding and analysis will help this larger group understand the essential question better.

Remember - your entire team will be assessed on what you write down and turn in!

Be sure to use your BACK button to keep returning to this page!

Visit these sites:

Set #1: the political leaders

James Watson Gerard

Former American Ambassador to Germany

Click on 'Loyalty', then follow the directions below.

Senator Warren G. Harding

the surpassing war of all times has involved us and found us utterly unprepared

Click on 'The Republic must awaken', then follow the directions below.

(if you have sound, turn it up for this page, then click on the audio selection)
Scroll to the bottom of each of the pages to read the text of the speech.

Set #2: the military officers

General John Joseph Pershing
Commander, American Expeditionary Forces

A patriotic appeal to all Americans recorded on the battlefield in France

Click on 'From the battlefields of France', then follow the directions below.

General Leonard Wood,

"...in time of peace,....in time of war..."

Click on 'Theodore Roosevelt', then follow the directions below.

(if you have sound, turn it up for this page, then click on the audio selection)
Scroll to the bottom of each of the pages to read the text of the speech.

Set #3:

Samuel Gompers,
head of American Federation of Labor

"Labor's Service to Freedom"

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise

"What are we fighting for? My answer to mothers and fathers is..."

Click on 'What are we fighting for', then follow the directions below.

(if you have sound, turn it up for this page, then click on the audio selection)
Scroll to the bottom of each of the pages to read the text of the speech.

Bibliography:

pershing.gif: "The Doughboy Center-First Army: inspection.gif." The Doughboy Center: The Story of the American Expeditionary Force; The Great War Society. 1998. WWI: Trenches on the Web. 8 January 2000. <http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/ghq1arm.htm>.
Gerard: Cosmas, G.A (ed.). "Voices of WWI: James Gerard". American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I . 19 October 1998. The American Memory: Library of Congress. 28 December 1999. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@band(Gerard++James)>.
Senator Harding: Cosmas, G.A (ed.). "Voices of WWI: Senator Warren G. Harding ". American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I . 19 October 1998. The American Memory: Library of Congress. 28 December 1999. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@band(Harding++Warren)>.
General Pershing: Cosmas, G.A (ed.). "Voices of WWI: General Pershing". American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I . 19 October 1998. The American Memory: Library of Congress. 28 December 1999. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@band(Pershing)>.
General Wood: Cosmas, G.A (ed.). "Voices of WWI: General Wood". American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I . 19 October 1998. The American Memory: Library of Congress. 28 December 1999. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@band(Wood++Leonard)>.
Samuel Gompers: Cosmas, G.A (ed.). "Voices of WWI: Samuel Gompers ". American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I . 19 October 1998. The American Memory: Library of Congress. 28 December 1999. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@band(Gompers++Samuel)>.
Rabbi Wise: Cosmas, G.A (ed.). "Voices of WWI: Rabbi Stephen S. Wise ". American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I . 19 October 1998. The American Memory: Library of Congress. 28 December 1999. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@band(Wise++Stephen)>.

Send questions or feedback to Barry Sovel

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last updated 4 December, 2001