Friday
TODAY’S NEWS
Index
Page 1-2: article on the Battle of
the Somme
Page 2: opinion: contribution to
the L
Page 2-3: Interview with Vladimir
Lenin
Page 3: Article about the battle of
Verdun
Page 3: information about
propaganda
Page 4: Interview with U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson
Page 5: Political Decision: Why the
US entered the war and why the
wars were / are being fought
Page 5-6: Article: Countries with
the greatest reason for war and
analysis of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty
Page 6: Nationalism among the
participating countries
Page 7: Result of the end of the
war and the political decision: 14
points
Page 8: affect on the people
Page 8: details on the Bolsheviks
and their creation
Ava Fidalgo
September 20, 1940
Latest news | Weekly
Battle of the Somme
Of the two battles, the first battle of the
Somme had a larger number of casualties
than the second battle of the Somme. This
battle was the deadliest day in British
military History. Of the 57,470 casualties,
19,240 men had been killed. The first day of the Somme
was incredibly tragic and the lives lost will never be
forgotten. This battle lasted from July 1st 1916, to
November 13th, 1916. The appalling massacre of the first
day later transformed into a metaphor for futile and
indiscriminate slaughter. There were almost as many
casualties as British forces suffered when the Allies lost
the battle for France during World War II.
Prior to the attack, the Allies launched a week-long
heavy artillery bombardment using about 1.75 million
shells. The morning of July 1st, 11 divisions of the British
Army began advancing to the north of the Somme.
German machine gun and rifle fire took down thousands
of the attaching British troops many of which were caught
in no man’s land. Over the following two weeks, the
British launched multiple small attacks on the German
line putting increasing pressure on the Germans. This
forced them to draw some weapons and soldiers from
Verdun (more about Verdun is listed in the article above).
Towards the end of August new commanders came in to
lead Germany. They built a new defense line behind the
Somme front.
In September, tanks joined the battle. This was the
first appearance of tanks in battle. The British sustained an
additional 29,00 casualties and as October began, the
Allies made their final advance of the mid-November,
attacking the German positions in Ancre River Valley. The
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What happened to the
Lusitania and which country
was really to blame?
The Lusitania was
traveling near the Irish coast
when it was torpedoed by the
German’s. Of more than 1,900
passengers and crew members,
1,100 passed away, including
120 Americans. This was 2
years before the U.S. would
formally enter the war. It was
Germany’s idea to torpedo the
ship because they wanted to
relinquish Britain’s
ammunition. It is said that the
Lusitania was carrying about
173 tons of munitions for
Britain which is Germany’s way
of justifying the attack.
Germany’s accusations
are later debunked. Although
things have spread that the
Lusitania’s intent was to harm
innocent civilians, later
investigation shows no
explosives on the ship. This is
in turn Germany’s fault because
of false accusations and
irrational acting. This killed
many innocent lives even
though the purpose was to save
innocent civilians, how ironic.
There is no doubt that Germany
is to blame for the sinking of
the Lusitania despite their
intentions supposedly being
good.
Ava Fidalgo
September 20, 1940
offensive came to a halt on November 18, ending the
battle of attrition of the Somme. Some extra
information includes the fact that most of the men who
fought volunteers as well as this battle is remembered
as the epitome of the brutal and seemingly senseless
carnage that characterized trench warfare during World
War I.
Interview with Vladimir Lenin
For today, I, Ava Fidalgo, interview Russian revolutionary
Vladimir Lenin and he will give his opinion on what he did for
Russia and how he influenced the rest of the world.
Interviewer: For today’s interview, I, Ava Fidalgo
am interviewing Russian Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin
and he will be expressing his opinions on what he has
done for Russia and how he impacted the rest of the
World. It is a great honor to have you here Mr. Lenin,
how about we get into some questions if that is alright
with you?
Lenin: Please, call me Lenin, and yes, I am here to
answer questions after all.
Interviewer: Great let us begin. Succeeding your
exile, how did your views change on how you wanted to
rule, if they changed at all?
Lenin: My exile certainly altered the way I did
things but not in a drastic way. I kept my ideals in that
the people were still a major priority to me and I knew
then that I needed to work harder to gain more power
and for Russia to become stronger.
Interviewer: Who do you take as inspiration for
your ruling style?
Lenin: I developed some beliefs along the lines of
revolutionary socialism from Karl Marx and his
readings. I like to think that if wiser, successful leaders
have advice to give, it is best to listen.
Interviewer: What was it like to be chosen as the
New leader of Russia at the All Russia
Congress of Soviets meeting? Did you
see it coming?
Lenin: In a way yes, I did see it
coming because I had been working so
hard and it is true that hard work does
pay off. I was ecstatic to run the
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Russian government my way and creating a better life for the people of Russia has been a dream
come true.
Interviewer: Some people believe that Joseph Stalin had more realistic ideals than you
did especially with his 5-year-plans. What is your take on the matter?
Lenin: Well, I do not agree much with Stalin but his plans do seem promising. I still
believe that my ideals are superior to his and to others and I will stick to governing for the
people, for the most part.
Interviewer: So, going off of what you said in staying true to your ways, has anything
changed since the negotiation of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany?
Lenin: Well it definitely decreased the fighting and helped multiple countries come to a
peaceful agreement. I would say no it did not affect the way I governed things but it did indeed
alter the relations between the Soviet Union and the Central Powers.
Interviewer: And there it is folks. Thank you so, so much for answering these must know
questions.
Lenin: I had a great time, many thanks for the chance to talk about how and why I
choose to govern Russia.

Must know: The Battle of Verdun

The battle of Verdun began on February 21st, 1916. The French repulsed a major German
offensive in one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War I ending on December 18th,
1916. French casualties consisted of 400,00 and German casualties were about 300,000. These
deaths consisted of innocent bystanders as well as soldiers. An immense amount of shells were
shipped to the front lines, about 2.5 million to be specific. Artillery caused an estimated 70
percent of the casualties and the war shed the blood of many.
Due to a lack of secure railways and constant bombardments from enemies, the French had to
rely on a lone, 20-foot-wide road to supply their stand at Verdun. This seems to be quite the
disadvantage and possibly one of the leading reasons as to why the casualties were so high,
protection was limited. Germany’s preparations for the Battle involved one of World War I’s
largest buildups of men and equipment. The amount of ammunition used in this war had more
than any engagement in history at this time. After ten long months of shelling, the city of Verdun
was left in shambles and resulted in the complete destruction of nearby towns. These town
consisted of Beaumont, Bezonvaux, Cumiéres, Douaumont, Fleury, Haumont, Louvemont,
Ornes, and Vaux. Rumbles from the barrage were heard as far as 100 miles away. This battle
caused great deterioration of the city of Verdun and the city will never be the same again.

Propoganda
Propaganda posters have been distributed around the
world to manipulate civilians. Often times these posters
tried to get you to volunteer for the war or to get women
to get jobs in factories while the men were at war. Some
posters were supposed to scare people into remaining
silent and not disclosing important information because
"we don't know who the enemy is".
Ava Fidalgo 3
 Friday
Interviewer: I’m Ava
Fidalgo here with an
interview for News Today.
Today I have with me
Woodrow Wilson, the
current President of the
United States of America.
Pres: Hello all, I am
pleased to be here
Interviewer: We’re
glad to have you and with
that, let us move onto some
questions. To start, when
many citizens of the U.S. felt
the pressure of propaganda
and began to worry about
the need for involving the
U.S. into World War I, how
did you react?
Pres: Well originally,
I was shocked a bit and
somewhat frustrated that the
propaganda would be
worrying the citizens of the
U.S. I then quickly collected
my thoughts and had a good
talk to decide how to
proceed. We decided what
was best was to shut down
all rumors and try our best to
calm everyone.
Interviewer: And did
this tactic work?
President: Yes, in
fact most of our citizens
came to their senses
although some are still a
wry.
Interviewer: So,
when did it become clear
Ava Fidalgo
Interview with Woodrow Wilson
that your military needed to
become involved with the
war?
President: There was
no exact time or reason but
for the safety of our citizens,
we had to do something.
Interviewer: When
you conducted the 14 points,
did you ever imagine not
being in agreement with
other countries and their
views?
President: There is
always doubt and curiosity
of whether or not a certain
action will have the reaction
that is wanted but honestly,
no. This document would
offer peace and confirmation
that war needed to end and
some ways that life would
turn into.
Interviewer: Does
your involvement have
anything to do with the
Zimmermann telegram?
President:
Somewhat yes because that
telegram is really what made
the threat real. In order to
protect the land and the
people we had to proceed
with plan b which was to
join the war and fight for our
nation.
Interviewer: When
you say ‘we’, do you mean
yourself and the United
September 20, 1940
States government or the
citizens as well?
President: It started
with the government coming
up with a plan and then
began the involvement of the
people.
Interviewer: But
when you mean involvement,
you mean forceful
involvement, correct?
Because of your small army
a lottery needed to be
conducted for a larger force.
President: Yes, that
is correct and those troops
came in to training and were
ready to protect their nation.
Interviewer: Thank
you for the clarifications as
most other countries were
unsure about the details. I
would like to thank you for
coming and it was a pleasure
to meet you. We wish you
safe travels.
President: Thank
you for having me and
allowing me to clear the air
on some topics.
Interviewer: You
heard it here first, this is how
United States President
Woodrow Wilson addresses
his actions on behalf of the
United States government
and the people.
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Friday September 20, 1940

Political Decision: Why the US entered the war and why the wars were /
are being fought

When World War I first began in 1914,
United States President Woodrow
Wilson pledged neutrality for the U.S. in
which they wanted no part in the war.
When several U.S. ships were damaged
or sunk by German mines on their way
to their trading partner, Britain, tensions
rose. In February 1915, Germany
announced unrestricted Submarine
warfare and on May 7th, the British-own
Lusitania ocean liner was torpedoed and
the U.S. became enraged. After constant
submerging of ships and more between
the states and Germany, April 2nd is the
day President Wilson appeared before
Congress and called for a declaration of
war against Germany.
The political decision of the U.S.
joining World War I was to help keep
their people safe despite threats and to
stand up for their country after all of the
violence towards it. June 26th was the
first of 14,000 U.S. infantry troops to
land in France and begin combat
training. Although the United States was
not incredibly prepared supplies and
training wise, they still joined in with
full force. This decision was a bit
reckless to be frank because the U.S.
should have been preparing for the worst
since the beginning but it is best to not
dwell on what did not happen. When the
war finally ended on November 11th,
1918, more than two million American
soldiers had served and some 50,000 of
them had lost their lives.
The wars were being fought for a
number of reasons. To start, a few
countries found pride in protecting their
nation and defeating as many other
competitors as they could. Other
countries, like the United States was
mostly forced into joining the war and
almost had the decision made for them.
They joined to put an end to the violence
against their once neutral nation.
Additionally, a select few countries had
alliances with fighting countries. This
meant that some nations were dragged
into the war because they needed to
show their trust for the allied countries.

Countries with the greatest reason for war and analysis of the Brest-
Litovsk Treaty
The treaty of Brest-Litovsk was created on March 3rd, 1918, in the city of Brest-Litovsk.
Russia had signed a treaty with the Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria to
end their participation in World War I. Russia and the central powers had a hard time determining
a peace agreement and Trotsky felt the central power’s demands were too harsh and this
unacceptable. After a ceased fire in December of the year prior, fighting briefly resumed in
February leading both sides to realize negotiations must resume because at this rate, the fighting
would severely damage the already weakened armies. Once the treaty was signed, Russia
recognized the independence of Ukraine, Georgia, and Finland. Russia gave up Poland and the
Baltic stated of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to Germany and Austria-Hungary and ceded Kars,
Ardahan and Batum to Turkey.

Ava Fidalgo 5
Friday September 20, 1940

Total loses consisted of about 1 million square miles of Russia’s former territory and
around one third its population. Vladimir Lenin famously stated, “That abyss of defeat,
dismemberment, enslavement, and humiliation” as a reaction to the Treaty. The treaty was meant
to resolve the fighting in an attempt to aide some countries on their road to independence. To
sum it all, the treaty did work positively in the fact that multiple countries were, so to speak,
liberated. Lenin did not find the agreement ideal and genuinely hated it but as other leaders saw
it, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was necessary for war to end and for peace to begin to spread.
Out of all of the countries involved, the country with the greatest causes and reasons to
go to war was the United States of America. Although the U.S. did not join the
war until a year before it ending, its involvement helped the settlement of
World War I. The U.S. declared themselves as a neutral party but we’re slightly
forced into joining the war because of threats and damage to their country and
property. If the U.S.A. was not antagonized through the German government,
their original plan to stay neutral and not involve themselves in the war would
have been stuck to.

Nationalism among the participating countries

Nationalism is pride in one’s country or nation, hence the name. Someone who shows
support for their nation and even the exclusion of other nations would make them a nationalist.
One reason some countries went to war was because of their nationalism. Countries such as
Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany showed nationalism during their time of war. The
country that shows the most nationalism was Germany. Germany showed nationalism through
ethic nationalism which states that the nation exists first, and the state created around it, is to
serve it. The Nazi party was a nationalist party that took control of many people’s lives. Despite
deeply understanding the severity of what was going on, Nazi supporters continually supported
the Nazi party and their country of Germany through nationalism.
Nationalism is one of the causes that countries went to war but not the leading cause for
most. Some countries were forced to join the wars because of public or secret alliances. If a
country had an alliance with a fighting country, they must join the war to show their support,
earn trust, and to keep up their end of the alliance bargain. There was also the possibility of
economical and territorial gain. The fighting could lead to the takeover of land and wealth which
was promising. Even so, some countries fought for revenge or vengeance for their country.
Nationalism was a large factor was to why some countries like Germany chose or were forced
into war, but many other reasons contributed as well.

Ava Fidalgo 6
Friday
Result of the end of the war and the political decision: 14 points
Certain battle within the war
ended through agreements made
between a set number of countries. On
the other hand, some countries simply
battled until they could not and we’re
ultimately taken over. In World War II,
the war finished six years and one day
post Germany’s invasion of Poland.
Following the Battle of the Bulge and
Germany’s repel against two fronts,
Germany finally surrenders. The
firebombing of Dresden and some other
German cities killed tens of thousands
of civilians and as they closed in on the
capital, allied troops discovered the
horror of the Holocaust. The troops
liberated concentration camps but
found out Adolf Hitler had committed
suicide. He was the driving force
behind the fighting throughout World
War II and by him being stripped of his
power and dying, the war could finally
end.
Backtracking to World War I,
most believe that U.S.A.’s President
Woodrow Wilson ultimately ended or
helped the ending of World War I. The
Fourteen Points were created and
presented through a speech by Wilson
on January 8th, 1918. His proposal
called for the Allies to det unselfish
peace terms with the then vanquished
Central powers of WWI. These peace
terms included freedom of the seas, the
restoration of conquered territories
during the war, and the right to national
self-determinations for further steps
Ava Fidalgo
September 20, 1940


toward freedom. To be exact, the
Fourteen Points were fourteen
strategies to ensure national security
and hopefully, world peace. It is
evident that each part of the world is
not exactly totally in peace with
themselves or other countries, but the
Fourteen Points did greatly help
achieve the end of the first world war.
Wilson was said to have
foreseen the international relations that
could only become more important to
American security and global
commerce. He advocated the idea of
equal trade conditions, arms and
weapons reductions, and national
sovereignty for former colonies of
Europe’s ever weakening empires.
Wilson’s purpose in delivering this
proposition was to present practical
alternatives to the traditional notion of
an international balance of power that
would be preserved by the alliances
among nations. Wilson had hoped to
keep a conflict-ridden Russia in the war
on the allied side but this effort was
met with failure as the Bolsheviks
sought peace with the Central powers
at the end of 1917, shortly after taking
power after the Russian Revolution.
When the speech traveled worldwide
and was translated for all to hear and
understands, Germany and Austria-
Hungary contributed to their decision
to agree to an armistice in November of
1918.
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Friday
Affect on the people

Depending on where someone
lived, their leaders treated them differently.
If a country was in the middle of battle, a
leader could determine fighting grounds
and possible evacuation of its people. For
example, within its 6-year duration, World
War II generated the highest human death
tool of any war with a total amount of 70
million people. That is equal to about 4%
of the worlds’ population that became
deceased throughout the fighting. The
major impact on the people were the deaths
and casualties that affected everyone.
Many soldiers and bystanders suffered
from post-traumatic stress disorder, or
PTSD, which affected them negatively for
the rest of their lives. Citizens and soldiers
lost very important people in their lives and
watched as the world erupted in disaster
causes by fighting and an ever-declining
economy.
Furthermore, trade routes were
taken over and since most countries were
fighting with one another, trade stopped.
This meant that some countries were not
making money from selling their goods
and some countries were suffering due to
lack of import of goods, some of which
were necessities. In World War I,
ownership of stocks and bonds from other
countries shrank dramatically. Germans
were not even allowed to involve
themselves in trade on the London Stock
exchange for years after the war had ended.
Post-World War II, many countries saw
devastation both economically and
physically. A system of free trade was
created among states to maximize the
possibilities of voluntary exchange and
overall wealth. This was to create powerful
inducements to peace meaning the
problems with trade did not all end terribly.
Ava Fidalgo
September 20, 1940
In Germany, the people’s economy
failed greatly. The industrial output fell by
over forty percent between 1914 and 1918.
Many times, machinery was run by ill
trained people because of the effect the war
had on training new employees and the
violence that was seen everywhere.
Millions of working men had been killed in
the war which is why jobs needed to be
filled quickly with anyone who was willing
to take it. Over in France, World War II
was nearly a total war. France’s
infrastructure and economy were ruined
and its cities destroyed. Innocent people
were killed in crossfires as well as terrifies
recruits. Even then, the French that had
survived the German occupation had little
to eat and often less money. The people
suffered all over the world during each
World War and for a long time after.
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks were a
revolutionary party that started out as a
radical faction of the Social Democrats.
They formed after a split from the
Menshevik faction because of an issue of
party membership and organization. This
group was led by Vladimir Lenin and his
theories of revolution. The Bolsheviks
carried out the overthrowing of the
Provisional Government and went on to
govern the New Soviet republic.
Lenin criticized the broad
membership of the Social Democrats and
rallied against the party’s democratic
decision-making processes. Lenin called
for the creation of the Bolsheviks where its
membership would be restricted and
decisions would be made by an intellectual
elite. This party would then become the
vanguard of the revolution and lead the
way towards socialism.
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Ava Fidalgo 9