History That Doesn't Suck

“The circumstances under which we are spending this particular Christmas are unusual.”

This is the story of the Christmases of World War I.

Germans and British troops, singing carols together. French and German troops, kicking, playing sports and exchanging treats. It may not last, but for a brief moment–for Christmas of 1914–these opposing armies refuse the orders of their superiors as they temporarily “beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruninghooks.”

In the years ahead, the United States’ forces have their own Christmas celebrations “over there.” In 1917, New York’s Harlem Rattlers, or Hellfighters, sing and celebrate as they travel to France. In 1918, all ranks of the AEF–be they doughboys or Hello Girls–celebrate a post-armistice Christmas. We’ll catch a speech by the president and a Christmas Bash at Black Jack Pershing’s headquarters where George Patton eats way too much plum pudding. And then, we’ll say goodbye to Black Jack. With a loving Christmas connection years down the road, it’s time to lay him to rest with his beloved doughboys in Arlington.
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“A Peace which cannot be defended in the name of justice before the whole world would continually call forth fresh resistance”

This is the story of peacemaking in 1919–a fraught peacemaking.

With the Armistice signed, some 30 nations (led by the major Allied Powers) are gathering in Paris, France, to deliberate on the terms they’ll give to Germany. But the conference is beset with conflicting views. Not only do these various nations and other unofficial representatives have conflicting views, but the three most powerful Allies–France, the UK, and the US, a.ka., The Big Three–aren't always on the same page. That’s especially true of the American President Woodrow Wilson, who’s pushing hard for his 14 points, particularly, for the creation of his League of Nations; he’s clashing with France’s Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau who’s far more interested in ensuring France’s security against German aggression than any idealistic (or as he sees it, unrealistic) notions of a world at perpetual peace.

Filled with shouting matches, disagreements, and voices from across the globe, this Conference will create a League of Nations. It will also redraw some of the map of Europe, lay the foundation for a new map of the Middle East, and lay severe penalties on Germany's shoulders. They’re trying their best–but are they creating a better world? Or laying the seeds of future conflicts? And will the US Senate approve this Treaty of Versailles? We shall see.
 
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 “The German delegation has come to receive the proposals of the Allied Powers looking to an armistice.”

This is the story of guns falling silent across war-ravaged fronts–the story of the Great War’s armistice between Germany and the Allied Powers.

Sailors are mutinying. Soldiers are breaking. A revolution–possibly a Bolshevist revolution–is knocking on the Second Reich’s door. German leaders are coming to accept a painful reality: they can’t carry on this war. They look to the merciful words of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points as they seek an armistice.

But as the German delegation sits down with Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch in his ornate train carriage at a secluded location within the Compiègne Forest, they find the hardened General is not there to negotiate. He presents a difficult pill to swallow. With little alternative, the German delegation moves forward. The fighting will come to a stop when the clock strikes 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
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“If I can but reach that bridge,” thought Ichabod, “I am safe.”

This is the story of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his ride home after an evening spent trying to woo Katrina Van Tassel at a party hosted by her father at their idyllic farm in rural New York. It’s a terrifying ride–perhaps as deadly as Ichabod’s pursuer is headless. For this third HTDS Halloween special, we “rewind” to one of the oldest ghost stories in American lore: Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”  

Starting with a headless Germanic tale, we’ll hear some of the literary history behind the stories of headless riders on horseback; get a brief bio on this year’s featured author; and then … we’ll see if we can reach that covered bridge before it’s too late.
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Professor Greg Jackson sits down with legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns about his latest film The American Buffalo which has a two-part premiere in the US on PBS beginning Monday, Oct. 16, 2023.  
Some refer to Ken Burns as a historian, but he would be quick to tell you that he considers himself a storyteller.
His latest documentary The American Buffalo is a sort of biography of the American bison, or the buffalo as they are more commonly known. The fact is, we would only know of buffaloes from history books if it weren’t for a collective effort to save this species from the brink of extinction in the late 19th century. It’s a remarkable story of how conservationists and hunters alike pulled together to repair some of what had been pulled apart by unchecked slaughter and displacement of wildlife and indigenous peoples. 

HTDS listeners will recognize some of the historical context surrounding this tale from our episodes on the Indian Wars, the Transcontinental Railroad and Teddy Roosevelt.
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