host: john mosier. guest: they hold colonial struggle, the colonial thing is very complicated, but the british basically were very concerned about german commercial competition. when you look at british travelers who went to that part of turkey and iraq and persia, one of the things that come at the dome was the german businessmen are just eating our lunch -- one of the things they commented on was the german businessmen are just eating our lunch. went, the people running the chancellery were a bunch of intellectuals who promptly knew better and they did a lot worse. i think the caller is quite right. , butlso with the french the french and the british were wrangling about colonial affairs because the french were very expansionist in africa and were running into british spheres of influence. was a real nervous point for the russians because the german development there was very threatening to them. i don't think there was any particular -- there was nothing nefarious about it. it was like the north atla

john mosier, let me begin with you. and as you look at the genesis of the war, what happened in 1914 and why did it take three or four years before the u.s. got involved? >> well to answer the second part first, the u.s. was involved in supplying munitions, particularly to the french, as early as october 1914. the german attache in berlin used to show the american more correspondence american-made shells he had sitting on his desk in 1950. why did we get involved? that's a very cupcake question. basically -- complicated question. basically, the british did a wonderful propaganda job on the united states to persuade us to get involved in the war. mark. was an easy germans andon the he was a real anglophile. he was anxious to help them. the british have made a secret arrangement with the french general staff to come to their aid in basically almost any circumstance. they basically gave the french a blank check, and that backfired. the image i always use about alliances,l these it's like one of the science fiction movies w

joining us is john mosier, the author of the book "the myth of the great war." "warichael kazin, his book against war." thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. john mosier, let me begin with you in the travel to the battlefields of world war i. what struck you? what did you see? guest: the first thing i saw is the american cemeteries are absolutely fantastic. they are really gorgeous. the german cemeteries are very nice, well maintained, organized. the french cemeteries when i first started going there were a total disaster. they were in fact neglected and overrun. is battlefield sites, there one that is totally still intact that you can go see. a lot of her down in the argonne argonne, ifd the you don't mind the possibility of getting blown up by an unexploded shell. host: how likely is that? guest: people are still getting blown up. that is because people see a up, andell and bring it of course it is a mustard gas shell. host: what surprises me is how many people died in world war i, the bloodiest war in world history. can you explain? guest: i'm not sure

host: john mosier, you have been there. what is your impression? guest: the cemetery? , itfirst time i saw it totally blew my mind. the chapel is like something you the pope would have had in the renaissance. it is incredibly well done. but the monuments that are equally fantastic, the one down south is very impressive, columns and the whole terrain is done in contrasting stones, marble. i asked one of the --undskeepers there, host: we just saw all of those tombstones in unison. it is a remarkable site. guest: yes. here is the deal. the french military cemeteries are way bigger. 14,000, 15,000. guest: many with french ties. guest: the problem was that many times in the french cemeteries, whereas in the american cemetery you see one person for each 3, 4, the french, you see sometimes they only have a piece of the guy's name that they have placed out. upsked the french guy come were there any french monuments? he said, no. the only monument we would hold in france would be a scaffold on which we could hang the government. [laughter] guest: that pretty much sums up the fr

host: john mosier is the author of "the myth of the great war," and michael kazin is the author of "war against war." you said there were a lot of foreign language newspapers in the u.s. a lot of german immigrants who came to the u.s. in the 1880's and 1890's now involved in a battle with cousins and relatives and friends and former neighbors. guest: it was not easy. when the war begins, german-american associations, which were big, dr. by the money of the brewers association pushed very hard for a total embargo on all american commerce with anybody in the war, which was going to help the germans more than the allies. after the lusitania is to repeat of in the spring of 1915, that becomes very difficult for germans to talk about because most americans are siding with the british and the french and the russians. they don't necessarily want to get into the war, but they don't want to support the germans. the german-american associations go quiet. they try to avoid the war as much as possible. there are a few, a magazine called fatherland, which continues to support the kaiser and the germ

one, starting at 7:30 a.m., live with your calls on washington journal, joining the discussion, john mosier, author of the myth of the great war and mike olkayson, author of the american fight for peace, 1914 to 1918, and at 11:00 a.m. we are live for a wreath laying and then former president bush will be presented with a liberty medal. watch live on cspan-3. you can find programming on world war one and the centennial all day long. >>> i thought about the forgotten presidents before i began the book but then it occurred to me that there might be something that all of these presidents have in common. >> this week on q & a, university of north carolina professors talk about bill bull's impeachment. >> he knew that members of congress were looking for him to make mistakes and then he made those mistakes and testified under oath in a way which was false, he made his impeachment almost inevitable >>> next on legislatures in history, we continue our focus on world war one with

with guests, loyola university professor john mosier and georgetown university history professor michael kasin on c-span, live coverage of president trump and first lady at world war i ceremonies in paris. then at 11:00, the wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknowns live from arlington national cemetery. and our live veterans day coverage continues at 5:00 p.m. eastern with the liberty awards honoring former president george w. bush and laura bush on american history tv on c-span3 at 9:00 a.m. eastern historians narrate the 1921 silent film documenting the journey of a world war i soldier's remains from france to arlington national cemetery. at 6:00 p.m., we visit the news american cemetery in northeastern france. the final resting place for over 14,000 american soldiers. and at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the reair of president trump at the world war i ceremonies in paris. sunday, veterans day, on c-span and american history tv on c-span3. >> as your primary source for campaign 2018, we brought you candidate debates and the most competitive races only on c-span, over 160 races from acro