Looking back on World War I
Friday lecture series features historian Callahan on World War I
12:01 p.m., Sept. 25, 2014--In July 1914 an assassination in the Balkans set off the great European war that had been predicted for 50 years. It was expected to be short and decisive. It was neither.
When the guns finally fell silent in 1918, 15 million people were dead. Four empires had collapsed and two victor nations had sustained mortal wounds. The European social and political order had been upended.
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In the non-European world the nationalism that would transform the globe during the rest of the 20th century had begun to stir. The United States had begun its march to global power. And the seeds of a new and far more terrible war had been planted.
A series of nine lectures by Raymond Callahan, University of Delaware professor emeritus of history, will explore what happened and why, both on the battlefield and the home front. The lectures will also consider the long-term consequences of the war, which shaped the remainder of the 20th century.
The lectures take place on nine Friday afternoons beginning Oct. 3 in Room 108 Arsht Hall, 2700 Pennsylvania Avenue, in Wilmington, and are open to the public.
The series will run Oct. 3-Dec. 5 (there will be no lecture Nov. 28), from 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Callahan taught at UD for 38 years and served as director of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program and as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He held the John F. Morrison Chair of Military History at the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
An expert on military history, Callahan has authored five books, most recently Churchill and His Generals. He has a doctorate and master’s degree from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
The lecture series is sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware in Wilmington, a membership organization for adults 50 and over to exchange ideas, take classes, teach, and travel in the company of their peers.
The program is a learning cooperative whose members are its students, planners, instructors, committee members and facilitators. UD offers Osher lifelong learning programs in Wilmington, Dover, Lewes and Ocean View.
The lectures are free and open to the public — no registration is required. For more information, call 302-573-4486.