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Why do you collect the WWI era?


rustbucket
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I'm curious why those of you that, like me, have a fascination with WW1, are attracted to it.

For me, it is the strange blend of old and new. On one hand you have mounted troops, horse drawn artillery, lancers, and communications by pigeon and signal flag, On the other you have the intoduction of machine guns, aircraft, chemical warfare, and tanks.

 

Also, I think the uniforms, especially the wool ones with bullion SSI's are really compelling and artistic in their own way.

I was just curoius why others may feel drwan to this particuar conflict.

Regards,

Steve

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I like that for the first real time, the world came together for a common purpose. granted, it is more difficult than that, but it shows the dawn of a newer global era where everyone is involved in one form or another, and one side or another. It was the western worlds first real opportunity to interact with each other, and yet we reverted back to our most savage of states. something to be said for mankind as a whole, just using WW1 as a diagram for humanity in general i think. I also like that it was the first major event that established the US as a world power and gave us the opportunity to be something different on the worlds stage. that was a VERY big step for us. im also interested in the development of warfare like you said. the mixture of technology and tactics made it such a war that we will never see again, and it was that mixture of horses and tanks, carrier pigeons and advanced gasses, all of that, which changed warfare forever. everything about it is interesting, and though its not my forte at all, I appreciate and understand its appeal.

 

and yes, the uniforms were sharp too :)

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dan_the_hun84

In 1914, 19th century tactics slammed head first into the tools of the industrial age and warfare was forever changed. While one can argue the merits and justification for other wars, WW1 was truly one that was pointless, wholesale slaughter caused by the alliances and old rivalries/ethnic tensions within dying empires. From a historical technical perspective, yes, very interesting time period indeed.

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I chose it for the same reasons stated here. I just have an attraction to the weapons, uniforms and gear as they are some of the best looking.

Mike

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The National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City begins its exhibit with a short film (15 minutes or so) explaining the dynamics of what was happening in the world at that time that ended in the catastrophe of war.

 

It weaves together the story of expanding empires, industrialization, nationalism, mass communications and media, universal suffrage, socialism, and other massive forces in the world's societies, all being presided over by a moribound elite.

 

That one movie speaks volumes, and sets the tone for exhibit. A second movie at the mid point explains the US entry into the war.

 

The period is fascinating, and will no doubt be revisted during the centenial celebrations of the next 4 years.

 

To understand what I am talking about, all one has to do is read Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" which still stands today as one of the best summaries of the period.

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To understand what I am talking about, all one has to do is read Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" which still stands today as one of the best summaries of the period.

 

If you can make it through the book without dozing off, GWB is right, its a great reference.

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I agree completely with the original post.

 

...the blending of 19th and 20th Century technologies.....

 

...and the first good movie film of doughboys in the field....seeing footage from 1917 is incredible when you think about it.

 

...add to that that I have always been interested in trench warfare and fortifications.....from Vicksburg, Petersburg, etc. in the US Civil War....to WW1.

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GWB, after reading the resposes above, I was going to post about the intro movie at the WW1 museum here in KC but you beat me to it. The short film really does a superb job of sumarizing the political and ethnic tensions leading up to the war. I'm very fortunate to live 30 minutes away from the museum.

Thanks to all who shared their thoughts.

 

Steve

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One aspect of WW1 that has always interested me was the entanglement of alliances that pulled all of the main European powers into the war. It all starting with the Archduke of Austria being assassinated and everyone coming to each of their sworn allies defense. WW1 also saw carnage on an industrial scale for the first time. Ironically it was supposed to be the war to end all wars but would soon spawn another and even greater conflict.

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I agree with all the above comments concerning "The War To End All Wars" or "Great War". But for me it was a forgotten subject of interest from my childhood and in my retirement from the army 2006 I wanted to learn more about my great Uncle's service, which due to being gassed in the war allowed him to escape working in the Coal Mines of Edwardsville Pennsylvania. I again found my long forgotten fascination with the "Lost Battalion", after reading New Lost Battalion Book "Finding the Lost Battalion Beyond the rumors, myths and legends of America's famous WWI Epic" By Robert J. Laplander, I took up the subject again and quickly followed up with The AEF Way of War: The American Army and Combat in World War I By Mark Ethan Grotelueschen and have not been able to leave the subject alone. I find the 2nd Division with its mix of Regular Army and Marines the most fascinating. My biggest takeaway from this is that isolationism and lack of preparedness and objectivity about ones tactics and techniques only cause more loss of blood and treasure on the battlefields; it seems that we as a nation have yet to grasp that concept as evidenced by our strategic failure in dealing with Islamic Fundamentalist. I do not intend to take this discussion about current events but one cannot ignore the comparison with the first world war of the last century and the first one of this time period. Regards, John

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Aside from the reasons above, I also find the perhaps naïve sense of confidence you see in most of the pictures of the era fascinating. If they only knew what would be wrought in the years to follow.

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As a kid I knew tons of WW1 vets, but it didn't interest me much. Then I visited Belleau Woods and the director gave me a tour of the grounds. It opened my eyes to just how interesting that war was.

 

But the real reason more people are not into it is that to date there has been no real decent movie about it.

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I agree there has not been a movie that captures the period at least for the current generation or newer generation of collector,s. I do communicate with some British collectors and there is anticipation for the 100 year anniversary of the start. Yes for the British the war started in 1914. The island nation made huge sacrifices and paid a high price for victory.

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I have multiple reasons why I am interested.

 

I think the uniforms, equipment, and fortificaitons are very interesting and unique.

 

The fact that many American boys at the time (like my great grandfather) had hardly explored their own country, let alone their own state so back then it was HUGE to go to another country

 

I also am interested in it because my great grandfather served in the 4th Infantry Division

 

However the biggest thing for me is the bravery. Everytime they went over the top the men knew what would happen, they knew in their minds the carnage that was going to erupt, they knew if they were lucky enough to get to the German trench they'd be fighting hand to hand, they knew that they could get tangled in barbed wire and shot to pieces. It took guts and valor to be there let alone survive. The idea that my great grandfather took part in trench raids, the fact he fought in a german trench with a bayonet just blows me away. The biggest thing is that HUNDREDS of men did the same has him, and they went home and carried on with their lives, to only send their sons off to fight the Nazis, to see their grandsons get sent off to Korea and Vietnam, and maybe see their great grandsons that would go to Iraq and Afghanistan. They raised the men and women that fought in our wars, they knew what war, sacrifice, and duty is. They passed on what it meant to struggle to countless generations.

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Although I do not collect WWI, my brother has an extensive collection with painted helmets, field gear and jackets with various types of patches. The two things that fascinates me about WW1 militaria are the painted helmets and the hand made patches. Each one is unique and in many ways a work of art. Since I have necked my collecting down to 1 WW2 Bn, I have a hard time controlling my desire to start collecting WW1 stuff as well. Since I have to pool resources to be effective in my area of interest, I sadly have not started WW1 helmets and patches. I hate going to his house and looking at the stuff, because I get the urge to branch out into WW1!

 

Love the camo, love the myriad of different patches!

 

oz

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My Grandfather was in WW1 (US Army, field artillery), but he passed long before I was born. That said, my parents told me about various relatives in 'the great war,' and for me, it's a clash of modern v/s old. Civil War tactics (and to a degree, uniforms) with machine guns, tanks and airplanes.

Sort of the same appeal that "steampunk" has to the public, I believe.

I have also visited Ypres, and that really was an eye-opener. Seeing stacks of unexploded rounds in ditches everywhere, and knowing the town was a 4-year meatgrinder that NOBODY from any other time period could beat for horrors on a battlefield (not in modern times, anyway), there's a haunting quality to the era, I think. A real slap in the face to the world, which sadly didn't get the lesson fully as they had to have another go a generation later...

I don't collect WW1 ever since I decided to limit myself to WW2 (and a very limited side collection of Desert Storm), but I've always had a real affinity for the time period.

 

 

But the real reason more people are not into it is that to date there has been no real decent movie about it.

 

Truer words have never been written on this forum!

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I agree with what has been said above about the blend of old and new technologies and ideas. Also, I have a family connection.

In researching immigrants from my Southern Italian ancestral village, I found more than 100 of these men served in the US forces during WWI. Upon further study, I found that I am related to 12 of them. If you look at my signature line, you'll see them listed. They are all distant cousins; although my grandparents knew maybe 4 or 5 of these men, I, too, cannot stop researching. They are all gone now, but I have contacted some of their close relatives and have gotten some interesting information on them.

 

I don't collect (other than WW1 unit histories and books), but I am steeped in research; now I'm writing a book on the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It's coming along well; Geoff at Golden Arrow Research found the Field Messages for the 26th and they are a treasure trove.

Pete

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My grandfather was a Marine in WW1. We know very little about what he did as he rarely talked about it. As a kid when I asked him he said he cleaned latrines, but later I learned he just said that to get us to quit asking, One of my cousins said he was a tailor, but I didn't know if Marines actually had tailors. Another said he was in France. My son did some research and found some records of him being in training camp, but no mention of what unit he was in. He gave me several of his medals when I was about eight years old and I lost them all- what a terrible shame.

 

He was so skinny that they would not let him join, so he went to the store and ate two bunches of bananas and went back to weigh in. He was still underweight but they let him in for at least the effort of gaining five pounds in about an hour :)

 

At least so the legend goes..........

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The responses above mirror many of my attractions to the Great War. The conflict is one of the key watershed moments in human history. Displaying how far we had advanced and showing our species' recklessness in using those advancements in a war that had lasting ramifications that are present to this day. War became industrialized, mechanical, and impersonal. It set the tone for the twentieth century. 50 years prior, a soldier could fire 3-5 shots a minute. The same soldier could fire hundreds of rounds a minute during WW1. War on an industrial scale.

 

For me, collecting field gear allows me to physically connect with the brave souls that went through that hell and get a tiny glimpse to the tools/equipment they used to survive it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For me the First World War is the Last War. The world on a whole was ignorant of the forces that it was about to unleash. Chivalry and Honor were formost in many people's minds. The casulties this war would produce were unheard of. To most countries War was still a game. It all started from the act of one man and it altered the face of the world. The technology was in some ways crude we hadn't been in the air in planes but for a decade and now they dropped bombs and had machine guns. The Germans rode to war with battle lances on Horseback as if they were Knights. American boys from who hadn't ever been 20 miles from home were now all over the world. Calmly talking about France, England Germany,Russia, Japan and Africa. The one of a kind patches and painted art are fascinating to me. It was to be the War to End all Wars. And when it was all over Mother Nature intervened and the Great Flu Epidemic arrived challenging an alreadly stressed and stretched world. To me it is an ever fascinating time period.

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These are all great reasons to be interested in WWI. And, having seen the WWI movie at Liberty Memorial Museum in KC I agree it is a wonderful interpretation of what has been said here.

 

Myself, I too knew a lot of WWI veterans when I was a kid. They are all gone now. My Uncle Cyrus fought in WWI and was gassed and lost an eye to counter battery fire as an Artilleryman. After the war he kept his gas mask as a reminder and he had a Government insurance card that stated he was paid the grand sum of $250 for the loss of his eye. I gave some of his stuff to Liberty Memorial years ago.

 

Reasons are varried for why we are interested in this war to end all wars. I believe that as long as we remember these veterans they are not gone.

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