The Great War in Local & National News

In the early twentieth century, newspapers were the main source of information about the world, nation and locale for most people in the United States. Many of the famous national newspapers published today were founded by the late 1800s, such as The New York Times. Locally, The Pocatello Tribune provided snippets of area news mixed with national headlines. The First World War was no exception when it came to how the news was covered, particularly in times of national crisis, such as those that preceded the outbreak of war in 1914.

When the Great War broke out in 1914, it was viewed as a European conflict by most citizens of the United States of America. The July Crisis started on June 28, 1914, in Serbia with the assassination of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungry and his wife.  The New York Times published an extensive article that implicated that such an assassination was inevitable due to the political climate in this region of the world.[1] This article placed the blamed for this assassination on the Austrians for their abuse of the Serbs and other nationalities in the region.[2]  On the other hand, roughly a month later, The Pocatello Tribune had only a small picture announcing the assassination with the caption, “The Latest Tragedy in Austria’s Royal Family.”[3]  It is worth noting that the events of the July Crisis were viewed as important enough for coverage by the Pocatello Tribune even through these events were occurring on another continent.[4]  Austria-Hungary used their previous frustration with Serbia along with this event as an excuse for declaring war on Serbia. The complex web of alliances and military strategies in Europe pulled many of the powerful European nations into this conflict.  The events of the July Crisis happened so swiftly that the newspapers of the day have a hard time keeping up with the events and their possible implications. Both The New York Times and the Pocatello Tribune published articles on the declarations of war and the military movements of the European powers involved in the Great War.[5] The manner of reporting and type of stories published by the newspapers during this time period indicated that the newspapers viewed the war as a minor event to most Americans. They mainly dealt with the business concerns affecting the local people or citizens of the United States.  Americans seemed to be more worried about how this war would affect their business relationships and trade agreements with Europe than the tragedies caused by warfare. The earliest references to possible business changes came just after the July Crisis as the Pocatello Tribunal and The New York Times took notice of increased wheat shipments to European countries.[6] The Pocatello Tribune even had an ad that boasted that a company was selling tires at “before war prices.”[7] How the news was covered indicates that even a neutral country like the United States was feeling the economic pressures brought on by this European conflict.

The New York Times, 1 March 1917

In 1917 Americans appeared confident that their government would remain neutral during the remainder of the Great War.  However, on January 19th a telegram was intercepted by Great Britain written by Germany’s Secretary of State, Zimmermann, to their ambassador in Mexico.[8] In this telegram, the German ambassador to Mexico was instructed to attempt to convince the Mexican government to join the German’s alliance in the war and invaded their neighbor, the United States.[9] Great Britain decided to inform the United States government of this telegram near the end of February.[10] After receiving this intelligence from England it became evident that President Woodrow Wilson had given up his peace crusade.[11] When the American press finally published the Zimmermann Telegram on 1 March 1917, the public was outraged that a foreign power would consider taking these kind of action against a neutral country[12]. Both the Pocatello Tribune and the New York Times wrote articles concerning the military recruitment frenzy and inquiries regarding this telegram that occurred following this revelation.[13] The resulting political debate would last for the next month until the United States Congress would declare war on Germany and her allies on April 6, 1917.[14] In many instances, the local and national news coverage was similar in nature.  However, at times the national news opted for more extensive coverage.

– Jacqueline Ellis

[1] The New York Times, “Austria to Blame, Says Prof. Pupin”, June 29, 1914.

[2] Ibid

[3]  Ibid

[4]  Pocatello Tribune, July 23, 1914.

[5] The New York Times, “Text of Austria-Hungary’s Declaration of War”, July 29, 1914; Pocatello Tribune, “European Situation causes Great Powers to Marshal Forces”, July 30, 1914.

[6] Pocatello Tribune, “Wheat Now Going Out”, Aug. 21, 1914; The New York Times, “Trade Must Solve Problem of Ocean”, Aug. 10, 1914, web.

[7] Pocatello Tribune, “Tries at Before-War Prices”, September. 1, 1914.

[8] “World War I; 1917: Zimmermann Telegram published in United States”, web.

[9] Ibid

[10] “The Zimmermann Telegram,” The National Archives.

[11] Pocatello Tribune, “President Asks Congress Full Use Army and Navy”, Fed. 26, 1917.

[12] The New York Times, “Germany Seeks an Alliance against US; Asks Japan and Mexico to Join Her; Full Text of Her Proposal Made Public”, March 1, 1917.

[13] Pocatello Tribune, “Enlisted Men Have a Chance for Commissions”, March 7, 1917; The New York Times, “Lansing Says Ritter has Done No Wrong:…Zimmermann Tells of Peace Offer”, March 2, 1917.

[14] “Topics in Chronicling America – The Zimmermann Telegram”.