the country. we visit the president woodrow wilson house in washington, d.c. home to the th president and his wife edith after they left the white house. a wilson house exhibit features a brown university collection of world war i paintings and other artworks. they helped to shape public over the three years america remained neutral in the conflict. 1917, president wilson led the nation in what was hoped to wars. war to end all >> welcome to the president woodrow wilson house here in washington, d.c. finished in 1916 and was the home to which president and mrs. wilson moved day they left the white house on march 4, 1921. them live here the rest of their lives for president wilson that was to be three more 1924, butied early in his widow lived until 1961 in front seat had a

really in american history during that entire time. here, we have on a large number of gifts of state that were given to president and wilson, one reason that we have so many of these gifts from other countries is because of role that president wilson played in ending world war i. 100 years ago this -- this month, right now, out and d war i broke president wilson faced two tremendous crises in his life. of war in outbreak europe, which began on august 2 belgium, ny invaded violating belgium's neutrality nations then other to declare war against each other and really begin the war. later, his r days wife ellen wilson died as first lady in the white house. suffered from a kidney ailment called brights disease that today is curable but in her time was fatal. president wilson faced a nation

a world that was very different than ours today. the united states had become the largest global economy by 1900. but was not thought of as a diplomatic or military power. in fact, in 1914, the united largest armye 12th in the world, sharing that greece and h both erbia, all three-countries had numbers numbers 2,000 men. y the end of world war i in 1918, the united states had 4 fullyn men in uniform and 2 million of them were in europe. remarkable to think in that assemblede of time we such an army and able to transport half of it to the europe, a ds of decisive influence in the conflict. the war, the t of americans were troubled and confused about america's role. ought to get e involved. they were an obvious minority. there were many who thought we

it all.t be involved a and president wilson staked out from the beginning a position of neutrality. hoped that the united states could play a role in okering a peace, serving as mediator, and when his wife was deathbed, he was writing to te signing a letter germany and george v in great the in offering to mediate dispute between the two of them. the remarkable to see personal turmoil wilson was embroiled in. we have an exhibition of world art on display this summer through august 10 here at the woodrow wilson house in washington. it's timely to have this. and it's poignant for us to have sort.hibition of this we talk about world war i and study it know that there were 17 million to 18 million people kill in that conflict. tragedy of proportions, really, as yet unexperienced by

humanity. engines of the industrial revolution were turned horribly destructions of cities and he death of combatants were very efficient in what they did. see world war i as on a huge scale and yet the tragedies were quite individual. and i look at the exhibition ownstairs and i see the individual cases of combatants or those tending to them and see tragedy of the war on a human scale, a personal scale. thing to emarkable take from the exhibition. one of the images there that i telling, most touching, is one called good-bye old man. it shows world war i soldier cradling in his arms the head of his horse, who's been wounded. the rtist conveys that

horse is dying, the great affection, the alliance between the soldier and his animal. images are from the first part of the war when the european.were all so it's likely that this horse came from the farm with the soldier into war. they probably knew each other for years. shells see the artillery exploding nearby probably one of whom had injured the horse. hat captured the tragedy of world war i for that soldier and that time. one of the reasons i'm articularly glad to have this exhibition here at this time. manager andssociate curator at the president woodrow wilson house. gallery.o our today we have an exhibition for

years of world war i, the european offenses from 1914 to 1916. this is derived from the ann s.k. brown military collection at brown university library. the exhibit consists of 32 drawings, prints, and water this collection. here we have a map that ighlights some of the battles between 1914 and 1916. of eeps, the tle battle of the zone. he exhibition features artists of different nationalities. so it's a truly visual of the war from multiple perspectives. this s truly unique about exhibition is the images that ou see are drawn from the pencil themselves as well as from the illustrative press. modernism and abstract art were gaining popularity in what rly 20th century, you'll see here is more images

representational art that's more similar to those of the 19th century. because of this, a lot of this has been overshadowed by he official artisans who accompanied the troops to the front. the illustrative press, these got the most public exposure in particularly among europeans but a couple reached america and no doubt influenced public opinion. i want to speak a little bit bout the ann s.k. brown military collection. s. brown started collecting artifacts in the 1930s. and she amassed an extensive military prints, manuscripts, maps, all relating to wars. ms. brown donated her xpensive collection to brown university's lineback rare.

remains there today as a art and artifacts. let's look at the toy soldiers she started collecting. ere we have lead toy soldiers depicting some of -- depicting different nationalities that world war i. we had the italians up in front, he french soldiers in the middle, and then german cavalry as well as german officers. ms. brown started collecting toy honeymoon to r europe in the 1930s. were made se figures in the hyde factory in dresden, germany. world tory was bombed in war ii and no longer exists. she amassed the collection of 5,000 toy soldiers of which you see a small representative.

ranging from ancient egypt to s.e 1950 that's now go and see some of her print works. here we have the first example prints works and ann brown's collection. the french artist frank elam. he was well known for depicting particularly in racing scenes. color, the artisans captured a drab british convoy moved slowly on the red dirt road. this is noteworthy for the of the horses and the covered wagons which is 19th century the battle. we had a telegraph that seems to to 20th century technology. one of my favorite pieces of exhibition. representative of many of the want to convey, most otably, the juxtaposition of the 19th century strategy

century 20th technology. in a mage appeared pictorial newspaper in november 1917. seems almost to be a metaphor for the entire war itself. mountain men seem to disappear into oblivion. many people associate the poppy with the tragedy of world war i, 1914 to 1918. in poppy was immortalized john mcray's poem, "ann field."'s he was a medical officer in the canadian army. one of his dear friends fell in 1915.apes in he was on the back of an andlance when he looked out saw a cemetery covered in poppies. prompted him to write about

it in the war. you'll see people in the britain commonwealth. most were the soldier themselves on the front, those sent by newspapers, or professional studio artists. a an example of an visited the ver front. 1/5 picts men of the gloucester regiment walking through the town. the town has been destroyed by the fighting. in fact, the entire town had to rebuilt in the 1920s. germancture we see three cavalrymen sitting on upturned cards. playing

their horses await battle in the background. feeling is quite sobering as these men and their horses await their turn in battle. in the n horses died effort. this depicts a station. is waiting ow in side. along with many wounded soldier soldiers. little is known about the artist. it's likely he was a soldier or illustrative press. during this time, photography hasn't totally eclipsed the newspapers.in so many were sending people to depict what they were seeing as sending o photographers.

in the bottom right-hand corner, small motif that reminds us of "good-bye old troops see wagons and leading him behind. here a unique print unlike others in exhibition as it eally concentrates on the spirituality of the war. many people that would have been images were seeking consolation for what was going on at the front. here we have a priest who you can still see is a soldier. he has his spurs on and clearly putting the robe over his uniform. has other soldiers makeshift him in a altar with a cross and handles here. preparing to e receive communion.

in the background we see hundreds of other soldiers that that seem oh bloifs you to what's going on. an imaginary scene and frankly unrealistic of what was going on on the front. this is a lithograph by the griffenhagen.t, again, this was a native image that was deemed unsuitable for wouldn't have and as as much public exposure other propaganda pieces in this exhibition. here we have a british medical wounded ttending to a soldier. blood descriptions down, but he his rifle.hes

this artist was interested in perspective. he had been depicting british naval battles, but with the he ntion of the aircraft, became intrigued with aerial warfare. ascend in a hot air balloon so he could know the natural curvature of the landscape. aerial s depicted an view of eapes. on the gold mat replicate what was on the original wooden frame. it gives you a sense of space. this is a battle that was fought on the north see seay in 1916. we have boarry cornwall on the hms chester. see that cornwall's comrades have fallen in battle, however, for ined recognition staying at his post awaiting

aroundeven as those fell him. this image was used as patriotismto inspire and other englishmen. only t, cornwall, who's 16 1/2 years old, received the victoria cross. this is one of the few works in his collection that focuses on an individual who we know their inspired heroism among other soldiers and civilians. here we have french troops -- french colonial troops from africa overpowering german soldiers. we see the river mine in the background. lso note that this is in a fan shape, which is unique. this artist was well known for art deco fashions.

work.s is atypical of his the battle of marm fought in 1914, stopped r, the german offensive into france. the french hasn't forgotten that germans annex outslashed la in the franco persian war in 1870 to 1871. uncle hand si because he was a children's illustrator produced many anti-german propaganda pieces like this one. we have a french soldier german border and leaving german soldiers out of away from his hometown of komar. this scene depicts a german then potentially the kaiser and prince along with troops approaching the

bed of a french or belgian woman. is a metaphor for belgium.of atrocities of german reached europe and america. in fact, england ordered the bryce commission to investigate the alleged atrocities. this was drawn by a war orrespondent known as sand during world war i. posters and he published albums in 1916 and 1918. french soldiers awaiting their turn in line to soup.e rations were a big problem in the trenches and the dugouts. many soldiers suffer from starvation. there were -- there were

requently times of food shortages. here we see the artist has only soldiers butof the we see the outlines of many oldiers that could have been a metaphor for the numerous mouths that needed to be fed. while many of the images in this hand-to-hand pict i'mat and specific battles, taken by this drawing by antawn cescman, an austrian artist. i'm amazed at the level of etail that he was able to convey in such a small work. depicts a young soldier who closes his eyes for a few minutes. the battlefield. he's found a natural shelter or own with his bay younet. because of the fighting that was austrians wtz in

the alps, staying warm was a concern. we see this soldier has a small best t and he's done his to cover his entire body. we see he's got large fur boots to keep his feet warm. this image was probably created austrian newspaper or magazine. and would have received public poeksz euro. drawing have an ink from the same austrian artist. t's a soldier accepting a mug of water from a woman. simple drawing reminds us to civilians had the role play in the war effort. the is the only image in exhibition to be done by a turkish artist. turkey did join the pow nurse

the great war. mostly in the middle east. charicature shows a turkish oldier smiling at his austrian ally as he cuts down a miniature russian enemy. multiple russians are in line to be cut down. this is another one of my in the images exhibition. and it was done by the swiss artist. really get a sense of the 9th century versus the 20th century. ere we see cavalry men mounted on their horses and pass a house.ated they all seem to be heading in the direction of these three planes. has been shot down. erhaps the other two are hovering over their kettle.

this juxtaposes the 19th century century nd 20th warfare. the mounted cavalry could have been a scene from the previous war. like the civil but the depiction of the airplanes that makes this a 20th century war. hand-to-hand combat reminds us of previous wars. depiction astimate we see the expressions on each of the soldiers' faces. the artist was a popular children's cartoonist. this particular group of the french army helped to break the warfare in trench their native region of the french al ups. title called las diables which translates to the blue devils. scene.s another poignant the italian artist.

t was the same artist who drew "good-bye old man" which we saw earlier. this was a funny depiction. we see a german officer staring at a small boy and his mother. away, the boy turns around and sticks his tongue out at the german officer. title is called "the strongest" which is kind of a play on words. strongest? is it the german soldier? or is it the little belgian or french boy? to end the stalemate on the western front, the british tanks in the soma offensive in 1916. first ching depicts the tank. unfortunately, many suffered putanical fail yufr or were out of action by enemy fire. owever, this image foreshadows the type of technology that wars.be used in future

the british artist, pierce, and entered the war zone. for four days, he was able to move about the war zone without trouble. so this depicts an eyewitness account. as he was driving, he often stopped to depict the scenes hat were unfolding before his eyes. this depicts the british naval ostad on as the town of was about to fall on october of 1914. nly the second month of the war. here we see british soldiers as civilians side-by-side. they were refugees. this image reminds us that not die did many soldiers during the war, but many ivilians were displaced due to the fighting. women and children bringing only what they could

carry and we get a sense of their faces.n here we have three french the dutch f war by artist rain makers. as is particularly notable the artists had the most public exposure in america. of his images were and then he america also published depictions after americans entered the war in 1917. barbed wire. his epitomizes boredom and hopelessness and december pyre so prevail ant in the camps. one source, 8 million men surrendered in the war. 2.5 million were held captive by the germans. along with the average american, wilson would have learned information about the

war through similar images to ones in this exhibit. they may have swayed his opinion one way or the other. >> you can watch this or other programs any acts time by visiting our website, c-span.org/history. watching american history tv, 48 hours of programming on american history every weekend on c-span 3. follow us on twitter at c-span for information on our schedule, upcoming programs, and to keep up with the latest history news. each week "real america" brings to tell films to help the story of the 20th century.

>> at the national gallery of rt to welcome a distinguished visitor. president and mrs. kennedy pay which to the first pub lick appearance of mona lisa, he lay nahr dodi vinci painting. the president expresses the gratification of the nation. >> mr. minister, we in the grateful for are this loan from the leading power in the world france. in view of the recent meeting at nassau, i must note further that this painting has been kept on careful french control. set on his nce even own commander in chief. i want to make it clear grateful as we are for this painting,