59 pages • 1 hour read
As Bright As Heaven
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Background
Historical Context: World War I, the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, and Prohibition
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, and substance use.
World War I, also called the Great War, began in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His death ignited international tensions that were building among European powers. Austria-Hungary joined forces with Germany and declared war on Serbia, blaming Serbia for the assassination. In response, Russia, Belgium, France, and Great Britain formed an alliance known as the Allied Powers. Though fought mostly in Europe, the sites of conflict expanded as the Ottoman Empire joined Austria-Hungary and Germany to form the Central Powers. When the Russian Revolution led Russia to withdraw from the war in 1917, the Allies struggled to keep German forces from advancing across Europe.
US President Woodrow Wilson initially kept the US neutral, but, in response to American loss of life from the sinking of Allied ships by German submarines called U-boats, the United States joined the Allied Powers in 1917. Mounting military losses and internal unrest caused the Central Powers to surrender one by one: the Ottoman Empire in October 1918; Austria-Hungary on November 4; and the German Empire on November 11, 1918, when it signed an armistice agreement.
