The National World War I Museum In Kansas City

World War I National Historic Landmark

The Liberty Memorial, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a memorial to the soldiers who died in World War I. It houses The National World War I Museum, as designated by the United States Congress in 2004. Groundbreaking commenced November 1, 1921 and was completed and dedicated on November 11, 1926. On September 21, 2006, it was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Kansas City as Viewed from the Memorial

The National World War I Museum uses its comprehensive, world-class historical collections and exhibitions to inspire its efforts in the areas of exhibition, education, research, and interpretation. The state-of-the-art exhibits are truly astounding. The museum collections and exhibitions tell more than an American story. They cover the entire war from the first shots in1914 to the last attempts at peace in 1919. All the nations involved, reflecting both the battlefield and the home front, are represented. Ascending to the top of the great tower, Jerry enjoyed a spectacular view of Kansas City on a perfect-weather day.

The War

French Tank

Doughboys in the Trenches

World War I was a global war centered in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until the start of World War II in 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter. It involved all the world's great powers, which were first assembled in two opposing alliances. It was largely a war between France-Russia-Great Britain against Germany-Austria-Hungary. These alliances expanded as more nations, including the United States (1917-1918) entered the war. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of enormous increases in lethality of weapons, thanks to new technology, without corresponding improvements in protection or mobility. The primary tactic was trench warfare, but air to air combat also occurred for the first time. Over 116,000 U.S. troops died in the war. It was the sixth-deadliest conflict in world history.

World War I Ambulance

Great Athletes of the WW I Era Honored Here

President Woodrow Wilson

The president who led the nation through the hard years of World War I was Woodrow Wilson. He was a brilliant student and teacher as well as a statesman. He had been a college professor, President of Princeton University, and the author of books on American government. He had also been Governor of New Jersey. Woodrow Wilson worked out his political beliefs in the classroom. Then he entered politics to put his theories of government into practice.

The United States built an army of 4 million men by conscription, sent 2 million men overseas to France, and united the entire population behind the war effort. A vast propaganda machine was created under the title of the Committee on Public Information. The words of President Wilson reached the German people by radio for the first time in history. Leaflets were scattered from airplanes, shot from guns and rockets, and smuggled behind the enemy lines. Wilson said that this was a "war to end war." He spoke of "peace without victory" and without revenge. On Jan. 8, 1918, he announced his Fourteen Points as the basis for a peace settlement. They were more than peace terms; they were terms for a better world.

President Woodrow Wilson

The war came to an end on Nov. 11, 1918. The German proposals for peace came in the midst of the congressional elections. Wilson appealed to the people to support his policies by returning a Democratic majority to both houses. The party was defeated, however, and with a Republican majority in control, Wilson was no longer able to lead the Congress. The peace as agreed upon in June 1919 contained many of his ideas. His greatest success was in writing into the Versailles Treaty the Covenant (constitution) of the League of Nations. On July 10, 1919, he laid it before a hostile Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge and a "little group of willful men," as Wilson called them. They were opposed to the League of Nations, but Wilson refused to compromise his dream. In search of popular support that would overwhelm the Senate, he toured the country in defense of the League. Exhausted, he collapsed in Pueblo, Colorado late in September. A stroke left him paralyzed. The Republicans took control of the White House in 1920 with Warren G. Harding as President. He turned out to be one of our worst presidents. Woodrow Wilson, on the other hand, is generally ranked by historians just below Harry Truman in terms of presidential competence. The League of Nations functioned until the mid 1930s and served as the foundation for the United Nations.