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Atlantic City Remembers...
World War I
Presented by the Atlantic City Free Public Library
of the Armistice
Commemorating the 100th Anniversary
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The Great War differed from all ancient wars in the immense power of the combatants and their fearful agencies of destruction...
Winston Churchill
The World Crisis, 1911-1918
Europe and large parts of Asia and Africa became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran…
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European empires formed alliances
The Allies:
The Central Powers:
Britain, France, Russia, the United States and other countries
Germany, Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungry and other countries
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1914
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire led to the war.
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July 1914
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August 1914
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It was the first war to use modern weapons...
○ heavy artillery
○ mustard gas
○ tanks
○ grenades used in trench warfare
○ flamethrowers
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1915 - 1916
The United States remains neutral.
America struggles with its identity in world politics.
Editorial cartoonist William Allen Rogers comments on American neutrality
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1917
German U-Boats began to sink American ships and Germany encouraged Mexico to invade the United States. German torpedoes sank the passenger ship SS Lusitania off the coast of Ireland.
Among the dead were 128 United States citizens.
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"It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance."
President Woodrow Wilson, Address to Congress
April 2, 1917
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April 3, 1917
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April 6, 1917
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The United States of America enters the War!
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Recruitment posters encouraged men to enlist in the armed forces
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2.8 million were drafted and served in the war
The United States raised its army primarily through a draft.
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The first men drafted in Atlantic City and Atlantic County
Locations of Atlantic City Draftees
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The United States must finance the war via war bonds
Atlantic City purchases more than $2,200,000 in war bonds in 1918.
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The War spreads around the globe to include more than 100 countries.
○ Africa (Togoland in West Africa)
○ The Middle East (The Gallipoli Campaign)
○ Asia (German port of Tsingtao)
○ Latin America (Central American Intrigue and the Falkland Islands)
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Military Forces around the world
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War on the ground
Trench warfare was a result of modern weapons including the machine gun, tanks and artillery.
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The Morris Guards of Atlantic City
Formed in 1887, members of the guard requested to serve as a separate unit.
The request was denied due to the establishment of the draft.
A total of 105 members served
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War in the air
Early warplanes and Zeppelins were used for reconnaissance.
Later in the war, pilots engaged in dogfights .
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Atlantic City International Airport, a joint civil-military airport, is a base for the New Jersey Air National Guard's 177th Fighter Wing.
The 177th Fighter Wing traces its roots to the 119th Aero Squadron established in 1917, a training unit stationed at Hampton Field (today’s Langley AFB), VA.
They flew Curtiss JN-4 Jenny’s as part of the Army Air Service
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War at Sea
Dreadnought battleships meet in the North Sea at Jutland
German U-boats sink thousands of Allied merchant vessels.
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German U-Boats sank 5,500 Allied and Merchant ships and thousands of warships.
Near the coast of New Jersey, the SS Carolina was one of six vessels sunk on a single day by the German submarine U-151.
June 2, 1918
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A life boat made it to the coast of Atlantic City
After 44 hours at sea, lifeboat No. 5 drifted into the waves off the shore of Atlantic City.
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Women filled manufacturing and agricultural position and worked in munitions factories.
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Women also provided support on the front lines as nurses, doctors, drivers and translators.
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July 5, 1917
On the Western Front, the American Expeditionary Forces, a formation of the United States Army, was established under the command of General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing.
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Summer 1918
American “doughboys” passing through village of Clermont to take up position in the Argonne regions.
Often called “Doughboys” the American troops fought along with French, British, Canadian and Australian units to attack German positions.
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September to October 1918
It was the largest and deadliest battle in United States military history.
General Pershing's troops launched an attack along the Meuse River and into northern France's Argonne Forest.
More than 600,000 American and French troops forced their way through strong German defenses.
This battle was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive which brought the war to an end.
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November 11, 1918
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The Treaty of Versailles officially ending the war was signed on June 28, 1919, six months after the armistice.
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More than 3,400 from New Jersey die in service.
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was around 40 million.
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Atlantic City mourns the loss of 45 residents
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Atlantic City resident Kenneth B Hawkins served and died in World War I.
"...this post was named in his memory, he being the only colored man from this city to die in active service."
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American Legion Kenneth B Hawkins Post 61 was established on August 13, 1920 and housed in the West Side All Wars Memorial building.
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Poppies grew on the battlefields of Belgium.
They became a symbol of remembrance of those killed in the war.
John McCrae, In Flanders Fields (1915)
Between the crosses, row on row...
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
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Atlantic City Remembers...
Atlantic City’s World War I Monument was built in the early 1920s...
dedicated in honor of those that served in the Armed Forces in the Great War.
The names around the exterior frieze of the monument refer to the World War I battles in which Atlantic City men fought. It also includes the shields of the Army, Navy, Aviation and the Marines.
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Atlantic City’s World War I Monument is located at the intersection of Ventnor and Albany Avenues.
Renowned New York City architects Carrère and Hastings designed the monument in 1907. The project was delayed by the start of World War I.
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Liberty in Distress
The statue in the interior of the monument was installed in 1929. It is a nine-foot bronze representation entitled “Liberty in Distress”
The statue represents victory in war, but with sorrow and suffering.
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Veterans Day: November 11, 2018
On Veterans Day we honor the men and women who are serving or who have served in the armed forces of the United States.
"To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service, and with gratitude for the victory..."
Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the World War 1 Amistice
President Woodrow Wilson, November 11, 1919.
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“This Monument Was Erected In 1922 By The City Of Atlantic City In Honor Of Those Of Her Citizens Who Served The World War 1917-1918.”
Inscription on the interior of the monument
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Atlantic City Remembers...World War I
Exhibit Team: Maureen Sherr Frank, Jackie Morillo, Heather Perez and Robert Rynkiewicz
Produced by The Atlantic City Free Public Library
Joomla is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) for publishing web content.
A Service of the City of Atlantic City
Photos: The Atlantic City Library Heritage Collections, The Library of Congress, New Jersey State Archives, New Jersey State Library’s War History Bureau, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., iStock by Getty images, The 177th Fighter Wing.
November 2018
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Winston ChurchillThe World Crisis, 1911-1918Europe and large parts of Asia and Africa became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran…
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire led to the war.
Editorial cartoonist William Allen Rogers comments on American neutrality
German U-Boats began to sink American ships and Germany encouraged Mexico to invade the United States. German torpedoes sank the passenger ship SS Lusitania off the coast of Ireland.
Among the dead were 128 United States citizens.
April 2, 1917
The United States of America enters the War!
The United States raised its army primarily through a draft.
The first men drafted in Atlantic City and Atlantic County
Locations of Atlantic City Draftees
Atlantic City purchases more than $2,200,000 in war bonds in 1918.
The War spreads around the globe to include more than 100 countries.○ Africa (Togoland in West Africa)○ The Middle East (The Gallipoli Campaign)○ Asia (German port of Tsingtao)○ Latin America (Central American Intrigue and the Falkland Islands)
The 177th Fighter Wing traces its roots to the 119th Aero Squadron established in 1917, a training unit stationed at Hampton Field (today’s Langley AFB), VA.They flew Curtiss JN-4 Jenny’s as part of the Army Air Service
June 2, 1918
After 44 hours at sea, lifeboat No. 5 drifted into the waves off the shore of Atlantic City.
On the Western Front, the American Expeditionary Forces, a formation of the United States Army, was established under the command of General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing.
American “doughboys” passing through village of Clermont to take up position in the Argonne regions.Often called “Doughboys” the American troops fought along with French, British, Canadian and Australian units to attack German positions.
More than 600,000 American and French troops forced their way through strong German defenses.This battle was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive which brought the war to an end.
More than 3,400 from New Jersey die in service.The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was around 40 million.
"...this post was named in his memory, he being the only colored man from this city to die in active service."
The names around the exterior frieze of the monument refer to the World War I battles in which Atlantic City men fought. It also includes the shields of the Army, Navy, Aviation and the Marines.
The statue represents victory in war, but with sorrow and suffering.
