Events includes a color guard ser olympian and historical background on world war i by old dominion history professor maw are a hammitts. This is about 20 minutes. Good morning. Welcome to the me moirl. If you are new to our fair city, welcome to norfolk and welcome to the heart of hamptons roads. Its my extreme honor and privilege to be the director here. I want to welcome you to the world war with i centennial symposium this november 14 and 15, 2014. Macarthur memorial is in its 50th year. We were dedicated in april of 1964. Our higgins is to preserve and interpret the life and times of General Macarthur. To answer the challenge from the speech to the class at west point, look toward the future yet not neglect the past. Its in that spirit that we are here today. This marks the memorial of the world war from 2014 to 2019. There is a lot more coming as we mark the centennial over the next few years. For those of you not familiar with this facility, this is the Visitor Center with the gift shop and changing exhibit gallery. The dome building right out the back is where the General Macarthur and his wife jean are buried. You have time to ignore the great treasures in the stories we tell there. At this time i would like to thank our oh partners who helped put on this symposium. We cant do what we do and get done what we want to get done without enthusiastic partners like this. I would like to thank the city of norfolk, Douglas Macarthur foundation, southern bank, the Hampton Roads naval museum and the Naval Historical Foundation who helped put this together and get us here today. [ applause ] we have a couple of housekeeping items to pass along. First of all, if you could, like i have done, turn off or silence your cell phones. They will go off at the wrong time. Particularly if you are coming tomorrow, keep your programs. We have limited extra supply. If you could hang on to the bana badge, wear this. Many local downtown dining establishments give you discounts if you are wearing one of these. Keep it handy. It will save you some money. Last but not least, keep in mind we are on cspan. They will be recording today. For those of you here tomorrow they will be live all day. During the q a sessions wait for the microphone to reach you. When you get to the microphone, speak into it, much like i am here. Hold it close to your mouth. I think that takes care of the housekeeping. Please rise for the National Anthem and the colors. u present the colors. Please be seated. In case youre wondering where the cadets came from they are High School Cadets from the Oak Ridge Military Academy in greensboro, north carolina. They came for the 50th and supported this. At this time because i know you didnt come to hear me talk all the time. I would like to bring up dr. Hammitts who will start us for the day. A professor of history at old oh dominion, a scholar of modern europe specializing in the history of modern italy, the jrn adriatic provinces and successor states. Her most recent book this the fame of italy received the 2013 charles e. Smith award from the european section of the Southern Historical association for the best book on european history. Ladies and gentlemen, dr. Hammitts. [ applause ] if i get away from the mic, give me a holler. I wanted to start by welcoming you quickly and to thank the macarthur memorial for the splendid partnership, the opportunity they have given us to partner with them. Special thanks particularly to Amanda Williams and laura ore for their hard work in putting this together and thousands of hails this entailed. Being asked to introduce world war 1 in 20 minutes is no small feat. Im going to ask your forebearance while i give you glimpses of world war i and put dots in a pointalist pointing of world war i that will let my colleagues and others fill in over the next two days. Im sorry. So i wanted to start with one of the things that many of us actually know or have heard about the great war which is john mcraes poem, in flanders field the poppies blow between the crosses row on row. That mark our oh place and in the sky, the larks still bravely singing fly. Scarcely heard amid the guns below. I should have had somebody else do this for me because i didnt do it. Okay. Good. The war is remembered for its total mobilization and for its total destruction. The poem was written after the second battle in april to may 1915. Its the first massive use of poison gas on the western front. 100,000 plus casualties. In the war just to give you an overview, while the figures are actually disputed, 65 million mobilized. 8. 5 million killed. 21 million wounded, near 8 million prisoners are missing. 37 million total casualties. It produced a profound disillusionment of europe that a europe that plunged recklessly and thoughtlessly into catastrophe, into an abyss recognized only in retrospect and after thor war. And found in the haunting melodies of the music that was playing when you came in. Barba ba barbers adagio for strings. A Young American composer who remembered the carnage of the First World War and foresaw it in the rise of the seeds of fascism for the second. Reminded of Douglas Macarthur is defeating the defeating the fascist powers. Particularly in the grave disappointments of the war and the grave disappointments of the peace. Indeed, although we tend to focus on world war ii, too, as a society. Here as my grandmother stood with her brothers and her older sister, one brother born in poland. The other three born in new jersey to immigrant parents. Here they posed for a picture in 1917, waving american flags in celebration of having won an award for their familys Victory Garden in new jersey. How do they feel about world war i. What did they remember in their 90s in the picture next to it . What precisely was my grandmother saying to me when seeing the twin towers hit by planes on 9 11 she simply would live to see a third world war. What was the resonance for her . What did it mean for me and what should it mean for all of us. Or is the connection to the First World War fortunatelied as in letters to the grandmother of my friend and colleague jane merit who occupied the office next to me. Letters written by a friend serving in the Expeditionary Forces in france. Riding home from the front lines this the trenches of war and during the occupation after the peace. In relationships and memories recorded in correspondence that we now keep tied neatly in ribbons long preserved in shoe boxes, scored at the top of the closet or in an attic. Or is it the memory of the war preserved in memorials which surround us. The better known sites like the park in norfolk where 20 bronze letters are strewn across the pavement as if ploun by the wind. They remind us of the universality of the war experience and at the same time of the uniqueness of each conflict. In the letter from frances tracy, Second Lieutenant in infantry who died in september 1918 in france, hoping as conveyed in a letter to his wife we may all do our duty completely and live to tell those whom we love how we did it. Or in the letter from lieutenant t. Quincy sharp mills of the Rainbow Division who never ceased. Literally covered with blossoms. Its the simple plaque most of us walk by without ever noticing in the 1400 block. How many people have been to gent and never seen this. Its a tree thats dedicated to the sun sons of norfolk who died in the world war. Remembered in the words of sigourney ares poem. Leaving the shiny glory of the living dead. Or should we seek causes of the catastrophe rather than its memory. The descent of europe that claimed millions of lives. Was it embedded in alliances. A complicated network of intrigue and espionage. Are they to be found in aggression of young germany, the fears of a humiliated france. Or this the imperial designs of arrogant european powers so intent on extending reach across the globe they became blinded by folly. In the chaos of the collapsing european empires. The russian empire. Shattering at high pitched National Voices or the confusion of ethnic identification if lands that had no clear affiliation nor seemingly a need of oh one. The descent into worldwide destruction. Where were these lives claimed in the trench riddled western front in the mud and mire of the eastern front. In the Limestone Hills of the austro italian front or on the rugged ball can front. How can we remember and understand the impacts of war. The lost generation warned by stein and hemingway. The casualty rates unbelievable casualty rates. 35. 8 from the british. We talk about the british and the lost generation. 7 73 . 90 casualty rate for austria hungary. How can we comprehend destruction in the lands along the front where 90 of all structures were reported destroyed after the war. Its only through glimpses that various scholars of all of these that we can come to understand the war, that we can come to understand how the picture of europe, visions of europe and european powers, reputations, aspirations, foibles, strengths and weaknesses led to the First World War in this cartoon on the eve of the First World War. V÷ wed like to tell you about other American History tv programs. Join us at 6 00 p. M. And 10 00 p. M. Eastern for a special look at the civil war. Well bring you to the battlefields. Well bring you the latest historical forums on the subject. Thats programs on the civil war saturdays at 6 00 and 10 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan3. Here is a look at some of the programs you will find Christmas Day on the cspan networks. Holiday festivities start at 10 00 p. M. Eastern with the lighting of the National Christmas tree, followed by the White House Christmas decorations with First Lady Michelle Obama and the lighting of the capital christmas tree. After 12 30 p. M. Former governor jeb bush on the bill of rights and the founding fathers. On American History tv on cspan 3 at 8 00 a. M. Eastern the fall of the berlin wall with cspan footage of president george bush and bob dole with speeches from president s johnx1e kennedy and ronald reagan. At noon fashion ex pert s on first ladys fashion choices and how they represented the styles at the time in which they lived. And tom brokaw on more than 50 years of reporting on world events this Christmas Day on the cspan networks. For a complete schedule go to cspan. Org. American history tv visited the macarthur he moirl in Norfolk Virginia hosting a symposium marking the world war 1 centennial. Author katrine clay talks about royal cousins george v of ing gland, kaiser will hem. Of germany and nicholas ii, of russia on the eve of the First World War with and how itir impacted the coming global conflict. This is about 50 minutes. Ne2b