WWI Key Figures by Taylor Denston

John Joseph Pershing

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:08:06 UTC

Key Facts

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:08:38 UTC

#1. The name John Pershing most likely elicited fear and loathing, not admiration.

#2. According to historian Geoffrey Perret, Pershing had been an avid practitioner of hazing as an upperclassman before graduating in 1886.

Picture

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:10:41 UTC

One of the most dashing men ever to wear the uniform, John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing was the most accomplished and celebrated American soldier of the early 20th century.

Why is he important?

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:15:54 UTC

Pershing had to build an army almost from scratch, organizing, training, and supplying an inexperienced force that eventually numbered two million. Then, he had to fight a war on two fronts: one against the Germans, the other against his Allies, who sought to fill their depleted ranks with his fresh troops.

Link

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:16:53 UTC

Arthur Zimmermann

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:21:07 UTC

Photo

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:22:53 UTC

Key Facts

denst37 — 2023-12-11 19:24:47 UTC

#1. After a career in the consular service, Zimmermann won transfer to the diplomatic branch in 1901.

#2. German foreign secretary during part of World War I.

Why is he important?

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:48:58 UTC

Arthur Zimmermann was the German foreign secretary during World War I from 1914 to mid-1917. He is best remembered for the Zimmermann Telegram that led to U.S. involvement in World War I.

Link

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:50:29 UTC

Woodrow Wilson

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:51:47 UTC

Photo

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:53:00 UTC

Key Facts

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:54:47 UTC

#1. In 1917 he proclaimed American entrance into World War I a crusade to make the world “safe for democracy.”

#2. Wilson advanced rapidly as a conservative young professor of political science and became president of Princeton in 1902.

Why is he important?

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:56:48 UTC

Woodrow Wilson, a leader of the Progressive Movement, was the 28th President of the United States (1913-1921). After a policy of neutrality at the outbreak of World War I, Wilson led America into war in order to “make the world safe for democracy.”

Link

denst37 — 2023-12-18 19:57:26 UTC

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:02:15 UTC

Photo

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:03:02 UTC

Key Facts

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:04:10 UTC

#1. In 1900, Ferdinand gave up his children's rights to the throne in order to marry a lady-in-waiting.

#2. While in power, he attempted to restore Austro-Russian relations while maintaining an alliance with Germany.

Why is he important?

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:04:46 UTC

Franz Ferdinand's assassination on June 28, 1914, at the hand of a Serbian terrorist group the "Black Hand," led to the beginning of World War I.

Link

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:05:13 UTC

Vladimir Lenin

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:06:00 UTC

Photo

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:06:34 UTC

Key Facts

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:08:06 UTC

#1. He was the founder of the organization known as Comintern

#2. Lenin must for good or ill be regarded as the century’s most significant political leader.

Why is he important?

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:09:06 UTC

He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia, and later the Soviet Union, became a one-party socialist state governed by the Communist Party.

Link

denst37 — 2023-12-18 20:09:29 UTC