WWI

We hear many historical references to the World Wars. But what was the world's perspective?

Not only was WWI the first World War  but it was the first man made war of the twentieth century

During this time the Allies (Russia, France and Britain)  opposed the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey). WWI began July 28, 1914 and ended November 11, 1918- whose death rate was at NINE million.

Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary

One of the initial conflicts that lead into  WWI was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austria-Hungry throne, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip (from the Black hand insurgency). Austria-Hungary seized their heir's assassination in order to control the Serbia and destroy the nationalist movement that Princip was a part of.  Seribia had ties with Russia and pulled Germany into its conflict.
Military and diplomatic leaders from Serbia, Russia, and Germany saw war as the method to regain their honor.
The war quickly advanced as new methods were being developed for mass warfare like; the usage of gasses, heavy artillery and Arial warfare.
Video-WWI:firsts

Trench warfare was also developed during this time. The allies created front line trenches which were used for shooting and attacking  The front line trenches were followed up by the support trenches where men and supplies used to support the front liners were kept. The reserve trenches contained emergency supplies and men if the front line should fail. All three trenches were connected by communication trenches which primarily was used for sending messages.

I've a Little Wet Home in a Trench I've a little wet home in a trench Where the rainstorms continually drench, There's a dead cow close by With her feet in towards the sky And she gives off a terrible stench. Underneath, in the place of a floor, There's a mass of wet mud and some straw, But with shells dropping there, There's no place to compare, With my little wet home in the trench.

Folklore song which originated from life in the trenches. Sung to the tune of My Little Grey Home in the West.

Cuba

Cuba presentation on scribd.
Cuba

Explosion of the Battleship Maine at Havana

"Muckracker" John Spargo

John Spargo 

The Progressive Era marked a change  in many different aspects of American Society that had become normalized since the industrial revolution. John Spargo was born on January 31, 1876 in Cornwal England. Spargo was self-taught and was enrolled in two courses provided by the Oxford Extension Program from 1894 to 1895. In 1895 he worked with his father: Thomas Spargo, on the Barry Docks South in Wales as a Stonemason (person who creates buildings or structures from stones). 

By 1896 he had created the first local Hyndman’s Social Democratic Federation (SDF) assuming membership role of the National Executive Committee , he was part of the Barry Trades and Labor Council  while becoming editor of the Barry Herald. John Spargo and his wife Prudence Spargo arrived in America in 1901.  He joined the Socialist labor party (SLP) and took on the roe of editor in the Socialist Magazine the Comrade. The New York SLP joined with the Social Democratic Party of American in order to create the Socialist Party of America (SPA). He helped create the Rand School of Social Science and was the co-founder of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS). 

Spargo was an advocate for Children's Rights, in his works The Bitter Cry of the Children (1905), Underfed School Children (1906), and The Common Sense of the Milk Question (1908) he stressed his opinions that children need to be fed through state-funded programs. But more importantly that children should not be forced to work in horrible and unsanitary conditions.

Some of John Spargo's Works

John Spargo, The Bitter Cry of Children (New York: Macmillan, 1906), 163-165.John Spargo Excerpt: The Bitter Cry of Chidren

 John Spargo, Karl Marx (1910). Biography on Karl Marx

John Spargo, Applied Socialism (1912). Applied Soicalism

John Spargo, The Psychology of Bolshevism (1919). The Psychology of Bolhevism