Casement, Sir Roger (September 1, 1864, Kingstown, now Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin – August 3, 1916, London [executed]), Irish nationalist. An Irish Protestant, Casement was a British diplomat, and served as consul in a number of African countries under European colonial rule, as well as in Brazil; he became famous for revealing the brutal behavior of the colonial rulers in the Congo Free State. At the same time, he identified increasingly with radical nationalist politics in Ireland. In July 1914 he went to the United States and worked for Clan na Gael, an Irish-American organization …

Malvy, Louis-Jean (December 1, 1875, Figeac [Département Lot] – June 9, 1949, Paris), French politician. A radical socialist (and member of the French National Assembly from 1906), and a friend of Joseph Caillaux, Malvy was interior minister from the outbreak of the First World War until August 31, 1917, having already held that office in René Viviani’s prewar administration. He frequently demonstrated his trust in the patriotism of the labor movement, for example when, in August 1914, he refused …

Barbarians In all warring societies, the topic of the Barbarians played a central role. In this war, it seemed to hinge upon nothing less than the survival, and the critical importance of humankind. Thus, there developed a script that depicted the war as a conflict between one’s own, idealized nation and a demonized enemy. “Civilization” was thereby commonly juxtaposed against “Barbarity.” This dualism was a powerful concept for two reasons. First, the nation-states of the 19th century were defined through a cultural construct that defined one’s own natio…

Reims Northern French city located in the Département of the Marne. Even before the war, Reims had been an important memorial site. Its cathedral, a French Gothic gem begun in the 13th century, was the coronation site of kings, including the crowning of Charles VII in the presence of Joan of Arc in 1429. During September 4–12, 1914, the German Second Army occupied the city without its being destroyed. When the Germans withdrew from Reims, they took several citizens hostage, for here as elsewhere, the Germans feared the imagined attacks of Francs Tireurs (snipers). The front line stabiliz…