Universities and the Great War : Britain, France, and the United States of America, 1914-1931

Abstract

This thesis analyses the contribution of universities and university academics to the prosecution of the First World War in Britain, France, and the United States of America. It takes three primary case studies - the University of Cambridge, the University of Paris, and Columbia University-to highlight the processes which emerged during the conflict. These changed warfare forever. This dynamic necessitated the mobilization of specialist knowledge to war related problems, a development which meant that the university became completely invested in the prosecution of the First World War. The thesis argues that this phenomenon was experienced in similar ways in the three countries considered.