1920

Articles from 1920

Deporting the Reds (American Legion Weekly, 1920)

In this 1920 American Legion Weekly article the mojo of the Red Scare (1917 to 1920) is fully intact and beautifully encapsulated by W.L. Whittlesey who condemned the U.S. Government for ever having allowed large numbers of socialist immigrants to enter the country and spread their discontent throughout the fruited plane. On the other hand, the writer was grateful that the government was finally tending to the matter of deporting them in large numbers and doing so with every means available.

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Ludendorff’s Apology (The Nation, 1920)

A second and far more thorough book review of My Story, by German General Erich von Ludendorff (1865 – 1937).

When the bitterness of these days has passed, historians will very likely classify Ludendorff as first among the military geniuses of his time. But his ‘own story’ will have importance principally because of certain sidelights it casts upon his motives and psychology.


A shorter review of Ludendorff’s memoir can be read here.


Read about Ludendorff’s collusion with Hitler…

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General Von Ludendorff Defends Himself (The Dial Magazine, 1920)

Attached is a review of Von Ludendorff’s memoir entitled My Own Story as it appeared in a much admired journal of the arts.

‘Ludendorff’s Own Story’ by Erich Friedrich Von Ludendorff gives a G.H.Q. view of the war from August 1914 to November 1918. It has a certain quality of forthrightness which makes its fallacies and mistakes apparent to the reader even when they escape the author. Ludendorff’s thesis is that the war was lost because the the army at home had not another Ludendorff to direct it…


In 1920 the representatives from the victorious nations who convened at Versailles demanded that Kaiser Wilhelm, General Ludendorff and an assortment of various other big shots be handed over for trial – click here to read about it.


A longer review of Ludendorff’s memoir from The Nation can be read here.

Click here to read about Ludendorff’s association with Hitler.

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A Review of Grand Admiral Von Tirpitz Memoir (The Dial Magazine, 1920)

The well respected arts journal, THE DIAL, published a very brief notice reviewing the post-war memoir, My Memoirs, by Admiral Alfred Von Tirpitz (1849-1930). The Dial reviewer found the Von Tirpitz’ memoir interesting as a psychological study:

My Memoirs, by Grand Admiral von Tirpitz is one of those elaborate vindications which carry the authentic conviction of guilt…If Germany was really, as the Grand Admiral estimates, a sheep in wolf’s clothing, a few more memoirs like this will leave no regret about her fate.


Read an article about the many faults of the German Navy during the Second World War…

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Recalling Two of the War’s Blunders (The English Review, 1920)

Added to the growing pile of reviews that attempted to sort out all the various explanations as to why the war went so badly for practically all the nations involved was this 1920 article that presented a clear description of the 1914 drive on Paris as well as the disaster that was the Gallipoli campaign.


The books reviewed were penned by two of the war’s principal players: The March on Paris by General Alexander Von Kluck (1846-1934) and Gallipoli Diary by General Sir Ian Hamilton (1853-1957).


The story of the German onrush and it’s memorable check can now be pieced together with accuracy. It tallies with the account of General Sir Frederick Maurice. We now know that the Germans failed through want of General Staff control, through inadequate intelligence, above all, through striking at two fronts at the same time.

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‘Father Duffy Tells What Happened” (The Home Sector, 1920)

In this article, the famous chaplain of the 165th Infantry (formerly the NY Fighting 69th) Father Francis Duffy (1874 – 1932) describes how the regiment was ripped to shreds in two offensives – hinting all the while that somebody blundered:

Since 1915 no commanders in the older armies would dream of opposing too strongly wired and entrenched positions [with] the naked breast of their infantry. They take care that the wire, or part of it at least, is knocked down by artillery or laid flat by tanks before they ask unprotected riflemen to [breach the line]. When the wire is deep and still intact and strongly defended, the infantry can do little but hang their bodies upon it.


More about Father Duffy can be read here…

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Siegfried Sassoon on the Soldier Poets (Vanity Fair, 1920)

The following five page article was written by the World War I poet, Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), in an

attempt to give a rough outline of what the British poets did in the Great War, making every allowance for the fact that they were writing under great difficulty….


Sassoon gave a thorough going-over of every war poet that he admired, naming at least twenty. It is a wonderful and revealing read for all those who have come to admire the poets of the First World War and Sigfried Sassoon in particular.


Click here to read additional articles about W.W. I poetry.

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A Glossary of Terms for Movie Fans (Vanity Fair, 1920)

During the summer of 1920, Photoplay Magazine ran this glossary of movie terms with cartoons by Ralph Barton and doggerel verses by Howard Dietz.


With new technology came new terms that seemed odd to the ear (it should be remembered that this new technology did not involve the use of one’s ear at all); words to be added to the nation’s vocabulary were fade-out, shooting, box-office and location.


To shoot a scene is nothing new-
Directors should be shot at, too

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When The Doughboys Returned To France (Home Sector, 1920)

Despite its almost unanimous vows testified to by countless rounded phrases in trenches and billets, a good share of the A.E.F. is returning to France. It is almost chasing its own tail in the effort to get back, for it was only a few weeks ago that newspapers everywhere said that the last of the A.E.F. was home. And before the rear guard of the A.E.F. was aboard boats headed westward, the vanguard of the returning A.E.F. was pouring back into France through every port.

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The Invention of the Car was Revolutionary (Vanity Fair Magazine, 1920)

As early as 1920, the number of automobiles was quickly growing throughout the Western world. In this very brief article, a journalist lays out how rapidly life was changing in the United States as a result of the horseless carriage.

The village smithy is no more. In the place of that interesting relic of a bygone day, there stands a substantial concrete building marked ‘Garage’…

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