World War I Podcast

In 1915, as World War I reshaped global politics and strained international ties, two world’s fairs opened in the United States with the bold promise of celebrating cooperation, innovation, and peace. Yet behind the grand pavilions and idealized “avenues of nations,” the war was already altering who could participate, how the fairs presented themselves, and what they ultimately came to represent. The fairs of 1915 - one in San Francisco, the other in San Diego - became unexpected reflections of a world in crisis, revealing the tensions between global aspiration and wartime reality. To learn more, the World War I podcast spoke with researcher Hunter McPherson, whose work offers deeper insight into the 1915 fairs and their wartime context.

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Many leaders during World War II were shaped by their service in World War I. Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King was no exception. During World War II, King held the unprecedented dual role of Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations. As the U.S. Navy’s senior operational leader, King directed U.S. Navy planning, operations, and administration during that war. But what do we know about his World War I service? And how did those early experiences influence his leadership and strategic vision decades later? To help explore these questions, the World War I Podcast hosted Dr. David Kohnen, author of King's Navy: Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King and the Rise of American Sea Power, 1897–1947. 

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On Monday, July 13, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial hosted a virtual event featuring Adin Dobkin, author of Sprinting Through No Man’s Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France. 

Just months after the end of World War I, cyclists raced across a devastated France - navigating ruined roads, shattered infrastructure, and the deep scars of war. This grueling Tour became a powerful symbol of rebirth - for both the sport and for France. Dobkin explored this pivotal Tour and its connection to French nationalism and nationhood in the post-war period. 

MacArthur Memorial website: www.macarthurmemorial.org 

MacArthur Committee Information: MacArthur Membership Committee

Adin Dobkin also discussed this topic as a guest on the World War I Podcast back in 2022. Listen to that episode HERE.

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In this latest episode of the World War I Podcast, we are joined by Lillian Pfluke, a retired U.S. Army major and a member of the pioneering first class of women to graduate from West Point in 1980. After her military career, she spent ten years working for the American Battle Monuments Commission as the Private Memorials Administrator of the European Region before founding American War Memorials Overseas, an organization dedicated to identifying and preserving the thousands of U.S. war memorials found around the world. In this conversation, we discussed the many private World War I memorials overseas, what they commemorate, and why they continue to matter more than a century later. 

Learn more about American War Memorials Overseas.

Links to photos of memorials discussed: 

WWI Medal of Honor awardee in Montenegro: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=1379&MemID=1812

Dudley Tucker: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=155&MemID=235

Aviation Training Center Monument with 171 training accident death: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=614&MemID=897&keyword=paudy

Is-sur-Tille: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=227&MemID=350&keyword=is+sur+tille

Murville link:  https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=483&MemID=750 

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In the history of the United States, 31 of 45 presidents have served in the military, with two dozen of them serving during wartime. Yet only one president was a combat veteran of World War I: Harry S. Truman. The war shaped an entire generation of leaders, and Truman often said his service profoundly influenced his life and leadership. To explore Truman’s World War I service and its impact, the World War I Podcast hosted Mark Adams, Director of the Truman Presidential Library and Museum. 

To listen to a presentation by Mark Adams about President Truman's relief of General MacArthur in 1951, please visit the MacArthur Memorial Podcast.

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In 1917, with Paul von Lettow‑Vorbeck’s forces fighting a desperate guerrilla campaign in East Africa and supplies running dangerously low, the German Navy proposed an almost unbelievable solution. They would send a single airship from Bulgaria on a nonstop, one‑way mission across the Mediterranean, over enemy territory, and deep into the African interior. It was one of the most daring and least‑known operations of World War I. 

To explore the story of the Africa Ship, the World War I Podcast hosted historian and author Dominic Etzold, author of The Africa Ship: Ludwig Blockholt, Zeppelin L 59, and the Most Daring Rescue Mission of World War I. 

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The First World War is often talked about as a global event that had a tremendous impact on everything, but how did the nations, organizations, and people involved in the war actually “frame” or understand the conflict they were fighting? That's the question at the heart of Framing the First World War: How Divergent Views Shaped a Global Conflict, a recently published collection of essays that draws on diverse fields and methods to shed just a little more light on a war that remains incompletely understood. To discuss some of these “frames” of understanding, the World War I podcast hosted the editors of Framing the First World War: Dr. Michael P.M. Finch, Dr. Aimée Fox, and Dr. David G. Morgan-Owen. 

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World War I historiography is heavily focused on the Western Front, and the memoirs of soldiers of the Central Powers—especially for English language audiences—are often rare or inaccessible. 

A Tale of Two Fronts: A German Soldier’s Journey through World War I helps fill this gap. Written by Hans Schiller, who enlisted in the Imperial German Army at age seventeen, the memoir covers his service primarily on the Eastern Front, his experiences in the war’s final months in the West, and his postwar fighting with the Freikorps until May 1920.

To discuss these experiences and his perspective of the war, the World War I Podcast hosted his granddaughter, Karin Wagner, and the editors of his memoir, Dr. Gregory Loving and Dr. Frederic Krome. 

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Arthur MacArthur III is less well known than his younger brother General Douglas MacArthur and his father, the Civil War hero Arthur MacArthur Jr., but his military career was also quite consequential and full. From the Spanish-American War to his untimely death in 1923, he distinguished himself as a very brave, resourceful, and energetic officer. Unlike his father and brother, however, he did not serve in the US Army. Instead, he served in the US Navy.  

Historian Jeff Acosta joined the World War I podcast to share what is known about Arthur's World War I service.

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General Douglas MacArthur is arguably the most decorated American military officer in American history. For a career that spanned five conflicts and about 50 years of active duty, it is an impressive record. His service in World War I accounts for nearly 20% of his 100+ decorations, and many military historians view the combination and number of his U.S. and international honors from 1917–1918 as truly unique. To discuss these World War I awards, the World War I Podcast hosted Sherman Fleek, a military historian and former command historian at West Point who has published on General Douglas MacArthur and the history of the US Military Academy.

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