The History of US Psychological Operations: World War One

In part one, we reviewed the basic definition of Psychological Operations and its relations to standard propaganda. Psychological Operations is actually a relatively modern concept but had roots long before the advent of the 20th century. The United States government and military, with a few exceptions, did not effectively utilize propaganda or public relations during […]

Anzac Day: Remembering Gallipoli

April 25, 1915 — Allied forces in WWI land on six beaches on the Gallipoli peninsula of the Ottoman Empire, including troops from France, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. There, Turkish forces lay in wait and set up a fierce resistance to the landing parties. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) were located […]

Chlorine gas: A weapon of WWI

Chemical weapons have dominated the headlines recently — two Russians were exposed to the Novichok nerve agent in the UK, sparking an international incident; the airstrikes in Syria were spawned from reports of a chemical attack on civilians. In Douma, Syria, the specifics aren’t exactly known about the agents used, but most sources say it […]

Early March in WWI: Influenza begins to rip through troops worldwide

When people think of the loss of life in a war, they generally think of soldiers sustaining traumatic injuries. However, conditions on the battlefield are anything but healthy, and disease has often inflicted serious casualties on forces that scramble through months of jungle mountains, or scrape through muddy trenches for weeks on end, and sometimes […]