Poster by Gerrit A. Beneker (1882-1934), ca. 1918. Beneker’s passion was to create art that would inspire and provide honor to the workingman. As such, he had no interest in painting portraits of pretty women, which were so often seen on magazine covers of the day. (Taken from his biography written by his granddaughter Katrina Beneker, August 2003.)
If you have followed my Facebook posts, you already know that I have taken a keen interest in the causes and effects on the entire world as a result of World War I or the Great War as it was originally called. One hundred years ago yesterday, the German war machine invaded Belgium on its way to take care of archrival France.
Barbara W. Tuchman wrote a noted introduction to the Great War in her Pulitzer Prize winning The Guns of August. It was the first such book I read, followed by twenty-five or thirty more. I watched videos, listened to on-line lectures and have even presented papers regarding the years from 1914 to November 11, 1918. Knowledge of the war became a serious interest of mine in 2012.
My father a World War II veteran died in late June 2012. I had cared for him for about three years and when he died, I found myself needing a new project, a new interest, and a new goal. I was not ready to take on WWII, but his father had served in the Great War with wonderful stories of his months in the occupation of the Alsace-Lorraine region between Germany and France. Originally part of France, the German government claimed the region as part of their victory in 1870 of the Franco-Prussian War. In 1918 France regained their former territory.
So I began to learn all I could about the times, the kings, the people, and why on earth the United States became involved. I will admit World War I is a complex, convoluted, and critical piece of world history.
Because so many of the European countries claimed ownership of vast colonies the war involved nations on all continents except Antarctica. Great Britain had Canada, Australia, India, Singapore, parts of the Middle East and Africa to say the least.
Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States from 1912 to 1920. He was determined to keep our nation out of war until a telegram from the German War Department to the German ambassador in Mexico revealed plans to invade the United States. The revelation set the mechanisms of war to work here. By summer of 1918 the United States military was active in the war.
Newspapers back home carried numerous articles on the front page every day, even the small, rural papers. Money was raised to support the war. Men were recruited. Opponents to the war protested, some even found themselves in prisons.
Since 2014 I have posted short items from newspapers in this area. At first there was little news, but when the U. S. readied for war, there were a plethora of war news. Posters, slogans, wheatless recipes, Red Cross campaigns for money all became a new way of life.
I had a secret wish for one of those posters, the real thing not a replica ordered online. Last week my husband brought in a 26” x 38” framed and signed poster with the slogan “Sure We’ll Finish the Job.” It wasn’t my birthday or our anniversary or Christmas. It was simply something he knew I would treasure. And I do.