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137-736: Prior to World War I , the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) saw some success in unionizing oil workers in Oklahoma . In April 1917 the United States entered World War I while the Oklahoma Legislature was out of session. Governor Robert L. Williams used the war as justification for the creation of the State Council of Defense and local county councils of defense to oversee the state during

274-511: A Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand , heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible, and declared war on 28 July. After Russia mobilised in Serbia's defence, Germany declared war on Russia and France , who had an alliance . The United Kingdom entered after Germany invaded Belgium , whose neutrality it guaranteed, and

411-630: A blue-water navy was vital for global power projection; Tirpitz had his books translated into German, while Wilhelm made them required reading for his advisors and senior military personnel. However, it was also an emotional decision, driven by Wilhelm's simultaneous admiration for the Royal Navy and desire to surpass it. Bismarck thought that the British would not interfere in Europe, as long as its maritime supremacy remained secure, but his dismissal in 1890 led to

548-583: A grenade at the Archduke's car and injured two of his aides. The other assassins were also unsuccessful. An hour later, as Ferdinand was returning from visiting the injured officers in hospital, his car took a wrong turn into a street where Gavrilo Princip was standing. He fired two pistol shots, fatally wounding Ferdinand and his wife Sophie . According to historian Zbyněk Zeman , in Vienna "the event almost failed to make any impression whatsoever. On 28 and 29 June,

685-536: A guerrilla warfare campaign and only surrendered two weeks after the armistice took effect in Europe. Before the war, Germany had attempted to use Indian nationalism and pan-Islamism to its advantage, a policy continued post-1914 by instigating uprisings in India , while the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition urged Afghanistan to join the war on the side of Central Powers. However, contrary to British fears of

822-611: A vigilance committee focusing on labor: one author writes, "Tulsa business men organized the 'Knights of Liberty' to serve as their shock troops." Over the course of the year, the local Tulsa Daily World had focused on the supposed German control of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) union. On November 9, 1917, the Knights of Liberty perpetrated the Tulsa Outrage . That day, eleven I.W.W. members were convicted of vagrancy or failure to own liberty bonds . While being taken to

959-511: A "thoroughly organized group of men". In April, they painted a Bemidji shop-owner's store yellow, telling him he had 30 days to leave town. Later that year in September, several Duluth men including Finnish American dockworker Olli Kinkkonen renounced their citizenship to avoid fighting in World War I. The Knights of Liberty threatened the men; the letter was published in the local news. Kinkkonen

1096-408: A change in policy and an Anglo-German naval arms race began. Despite the vast sums spent by Tirpitz, the launch of HMS  Dreadnought in 1906 gave the British a technological advantage. Ultimately, the race diverted huge resources into creating a German navy large enough to antagonise Britain, but not defeat it; in 1911, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg acknowledged defeat, leading to

1233-592: A direct threat. The 1908–1909 Bosnian Crisis began when Austria annexed the former Ottoman territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina , which it had occupied since 1878. Timed to coincide with the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, this unilateral action was denounced by the European powers, but accepted as there was no consensus on how to resolve the situation. Some historians see this as

1370-419: A few days...kill'em just as you would kill any other kind of snake. Don't scotch 'em; kill'em. And kill'em dead. It is no time to waste money on trials and continuances and things like that." At the conclusion of the trial the 11 arrested IWW members were convicted of either vagrancy or failure to own a Liberty Bond (the second of which was not a crime). Frank Ryan, another IWW member who had testified at trial,

1507-604: A few newspapers such as the Evening Post and St. Louis Post-Dispatch condemning the event. Criticism was directed towards the Knights of Liberty for not doing enough. After Olli Kinkkonen's death in Minnesota, the governor stated he would not tolerate mob violence and offered a $ 500 reward for information. The Nation argued that he should have taken stronger action to stop the Knights: "$ 10,000 would not have been too much to check

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1644-467: A gap between the German armies as they closed on Paris. The French army, reinforced by the British expeditionary corps, seized this opportunity to counter-attack and pushed the German army 40 to 80 km back. Both armies were then so exhausted that no decisive move could be implemented, so they settled in trenches, with the vain hope of breaking through as soon as they could build local superiority. In 1911,

1781-695: A historical fiction mystery set in Oklahoma during World War I. A similar organization called the Patriotic Knights of Liberty is part of the fiction novel Murder at Wrigley Field . A fictionalized account of Olli Kinkkonen's life, including his murder by the Knights of Liberty, is featured in the novel Suomalaiset : People of the Marsh and in a poem in Approaching the Gate: Poems . The name Knights of Liberty

1918-449: A language professor at Northland College from Germany, was suspected by the Knights of Liberty of being a German agent. They kidnapped, tarred and feathered him. He described the attack as well-organized; the Knights referred to their treatment of him as "lenient". The case was not investigated. Weeks later, suspected pro-German bartender Adolph Anton was abducted, stripped, tarred and feathered. He and his wife claimed to recognize two of

2055-411: A number of violent incidents, including abductions, beatings, tarring and feathering cases, and lynchings in 1917 and 1918. The Knights of Liberty claimed responsibility for a number of these incidents and threats. These included actions directed at those suspected of pro-German sentiment , as well as labor activists , pacifists , and " slackers " (similar to the later term draft dodgers ) around

2192-562: A plan "by which the men are to be given a hearing tomorrow evening, remanded to jail, and later some businessmen are to escort the men to the City limits and make them leave, with a warning not to return." The trial began in front of Judge T. D. Evans on November 8 with the prosecutor largely ignoring the charge of vagrancy and instead asking the defendants about their loyalty to the government and support for Liberty Loans . The IWW members were represented by Chas. A. Richards. On Friday, November 9,

2329-540: A possibility. This was accentuated by British and Russian support for France against Germany during the 1911 Agadir Crisis . German economic and industrial strength continued to expand rapidly post-1871. Backed by Wilhelm II, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz sought to use this growth to build an Imperial German Navy , that could compete with the British Royal Navy . This policy was based on the work of US naval author Alfred Thayer Mahan , who argued that possession of

2466-451: A pro-German or even a German spy", urging "sincere...but...misguided patriots" to aid law enforcement against disloyalty in more appropriate ways. Governor Emanuel L. Philipp requested the public's help "to aid me in the suppression of the spirit of lawlessness which has been promoted under the guise of Loyalty"; however, local citizens were uncooperative. Upon investigating the first two attacks, state Attorney General Spencer Haven found

2603-799: A revolt in India, the outbreak of the war saw a reduction in nationalist activity. Leaders from the Indian National Congress and other groups believed support for the British war effort would hasten Indian Home Rule , a promise allegedly made explicit in 1917 by Edwin Montagu , the Secretary of State for India . In 1914, the British Indian Army was larger than the British Army itself, and between 1914 and 1918 an estimated 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa, and

2740-472: A reward for information but no further action was taken. In April 1919, the Knights of Liberty claimed in an Ely newspaper that they were still active around the country. At the beginning of World War I, Wisconsin – with its many German residents and first-generation German immigrants – had a lower level of support for war against the Germans, leading it to be called the "Traitor State". Organizations including

2877-570: A secluded location in San Jose where the men tied him to a tree and tarred and feathered him. Koetzer was chained to a cannon. The Knights of Liberty were said to have also hanged a man named Henry Steinmoltz and taken him away in a vehicle, though the Secret Service and police later described the Steinmoltz incident as a hoax. The Knights of Liberty then sent anonymous letters describing their acts to

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3014-504: A significant escalation, ending any chance of Austria cooperating with Russia in the Balkans, while also damaging diplomatic relations between Serbia and Italy. Tensions increased after the 1911–1912 Italo-Turkish War demonstrated Ottoman weakness and led to the formation of the Balkan League , an alliance of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro , and Greece . The League quickly overran most of

3151-712: A town of 380, in April 1916. In California, they claimed 82 members in the San Jose area, as well as branches in a number of other cities in the state, in May 1918. In November 1918, they claimed a membership of 75,000 in Minnesota and over 2,000,000 nationwide, significantly higher than the 250,000 to 300,000 members of the American Protective League . They claimed 800 members in Ashland, Wisconsin, in January 1919. Local media covered

3288-471: A war on two fronts; the Schlieffen Plan envisaged using 80% of the army to defeat France, then switching to Russia. Since this required them to move quickly, mobilization orders were issued that afternoon. Once the German ultimatum to Russia expired on the morning of 1 August, the two countries were at war. At a meeting on 29 July, the British cabinet had narrowly decided its obligations to Belgium under

3425-402: A weak Ottoman government, rather than an ambitious Slav power like Bulgaria . Russia had ambitions in northeastern Anatolia while its clients had overlapping claims in the Balkans. These competing interests divided Russian policy-makers and added to regional instability. Austrian statesmen viewed the Balkans as essential for the continued existence of their Empire and saw Serbian expansion as

3562-451: A whole, the Somme offensive led to an estimated 420,000 British casualties, along with 200,000 French and 500,000 Germans. The diseases that emerged in the trenches were a major killer on both sides. The living conditions led to disease and infection, such as trench foot , lice , typhus , trench fever , and the ' Spanish flu '. At the start of the war, German cruisers were scattered across

3699-525: Is an effort ever made to punish the individuals concerned. In fact, as a rule, it has the complete backing of public opinion..." Though Wilson would later denounce mob violence in July 1918, a response described as slow and "muted", actions aimed at the disloyal continued; many believed in an obligation to assist the nation through patriotic vigilance and coercion. The Knights of Liberty's threats to local residents were published in newspapers: “You have reached

3836-503: Is known, however, that from 1908 to 1913, military spending by the six major European powers increased by over 50% in real terms. The years before 1914 were marked by a series of crises in the Balkans, as other powers sought to benefit from the Ottoman decline. While Pan-Slavic and Orthodox Russia considered itself the protector of Serbia and other Slav states, they preferred the strategically vital Bosporus straits to be controlled by

3973-558: The Schutzkorps was established, and carried out the persecution of Serbs. The assassination initiated the July Crisis, a month of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain. Believing that Serbian intelligence helped organise Franz Ferdinand's murder, Austrian officials wanted to use the opportunity to end their interference in Bosnia and saw war as

4110-626: The World War . In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War." Contemporary Europeans also referred to it as " the war to end war " and it was also described as "the war to end all wars" due to their perception of its unparalleled scale, devastation, and loss of life. The first recorded use of

4247-665: The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of New Britain , then part of German New Guinea . On 28 October, the German cruiser SMS  Emden sank the Russian cruiser Zhemchug in the Battle of Penang . Japan declared war on Germany before seizing territories in the Pacific, which later became the South Seas Mandate , as well as German Treaty ports on

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4384-706: The Rüstungswende or 'armaments turning point', when he switched expenditure from the navy to the army. This decision was not driven by a reduction in political tensions but by German concern over Russia's quick recovery from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and subsequent 1905 Russian Revolution . Economic reforms led to a significant post-1908 expansion of railways and transportation infrastructure, particularly in its western border regions. Since Germany and Austria-Hungary relied on faster mobilisation to compensate for their numerical inferiority compared to Russia,

4521-584: The Tulsa Daily World published an editorial entitled "Get Out the Hemp" which wrote: "Any man who attempts to stop the [oil] supply for one-hundredth part of a second is a traitor and ought to be shot!... If the I.W.W. or its twin brother, the Oil Workers union, gets busy in your neighborhood, kindly take occasion to decrease the supply of hemp. Knowledge of how to tie a knot that will stick might come in handy in

4658-641: The Tulsa Police Department blamed the IWW for the bombing based on testimony from private investigators hired by Carter Oil Company and the Tulsa Daily World publicly blamed the union for planning a "reign of terror" in the state. Federal investigators who had infiltrated the Tulsa IWW found they were "doing nothing or planning nothing directed against the Government" and that there was "no talk of violence." After

4795-784: The United States entered the war on the Allied side following Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare against Atlantic shipping. Later that year, the Bolsheviks seized power in the Russian October Revolution , and Soviet Russia signed an armistice with the Central Powers in December, followed by a separate peace in March 1918. That month, Germany launched an offensive in

4932-699: The Wisconsin Loyalty Legion and Council of Defense took action to intimidate residents. The Knights of Liberty claimed responsibility for a series of tarring and feathering attacks in the Ashland area between the spring and fall of 1918, stating, "We have no purpose to do injustice to any man, but we do feel that any treasonable and seditious acts, or utterances, demand prompt punishment. These cases must not be allowed to run indefinitely, without anything being done. We want action and we want it now." In March 1918, E. A. Schimler (sometimes spelled Schimmel),

5069-448: The anti-German sentiment behind the attacks by referencing the ongoing war effort. The Knights of Liberty would go on to be involved in two other attacks in the city before fading away. On October 11, 1918, the group marched in uniform through Tulsa as a "Liberty Loan slackerism warning." The group would disband shortly after when member S. L. Miller shot and killed a Tulsa waiter for "disloyal statements" and three weeks later organized

5206-480: The hydrophone and depth charges were introduced, destroyers could potentially successfully attack a submerged submarine. Convoys slowed the flow of supplies since ships had to wait as convoys were assembled; the solution was an extensive program of building new freighters. Troopships were too fast for the submarines and did not travel the North Atlantic in convoys. The U-boats sunk more than 5,000 Allied ships, at

5343-687: The tank . After the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, Allied and German forces unsuccessfully tried to outflank each other, a series of manoeuvres later known as the " Race to the Sea ". By the end of 1914, the opposing forces confronted each other along an uninterrupted line of entrenched positions from the Channel to the Swiss border. Since the Germans were normally able to choose where to stand, they generally held

5480-588: The 1839 Treaty of London did not require it to oppose a German invasion with military force; however, Prime Minister Asquith and his senior Cabinet ministers were already committed to supporting France, the Royal Navy had been mobilised, and public opinion was strongly in favour of intervention. On 31 July, Britain sent notes to Germany and France, asking them to respect Belgian neutrality; France pledged to do so, but Germany did not reply. Aware of German plans to attack through Belgium, French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre asked his government for permission to cross

5617-548: The 1879 Dual Alliance , which became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. For Bismarck, the purpose of these agreements was to isolate France by ensuring the three Empires resolve any disputes between themselves. In 1887, Bismarck set up the Reinsurance Treaty , a secret agreement between Germany and Russia to remain neutral if either were attacked by France or Austria-Hungary. For Bismarck, peace with Russia

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5754-441: The 1913 Treaty of London , which had created an independent Albania while enlarging the territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. However, disputes between the victors sparked the 33-day Second Balkan War , when Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913; it was defeated, losing most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece, and Southern Dobruja to Romania. The result was that even countries which benefited from

5891-568: The 1917 Tulsa Outrage in Oklahoma, the 1918 lynching of Olli Kinkkonen in Minnesota, and a spree of 1918 tarring and feathering events in Wisconsin and California. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on the German Empire, entering into World War I . Needing additional manpower to ensure the nation's security domestically and appealing to Americans' sense of volunteerism and "vigilante tradition", President Woodrow Wilson authorized

6028-556: The Austrians and Serbs clashed at the battles of the Cer and Kolubara ; over the next two weeks, Austrian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses. As a result, Austria had to keep sizeable forces on the Serbian front, weakening their efforts against Russia. Serbia's victory against Austria-Hungary in the 1914 invasion has been called one of the major upset victories of the twentieth century. In 1915,

6165-642: The Austrians briefly occupied the Serbian capital, Belgrade . A Serbian counter-attack in the Battle of Kolubara succeeded in driving them from the country by the end of 1914. For the first 10 months of 1915, Austria-Hungary used most of its military reserves to fight Italy. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats scored a coup by persuading Bulgaria to join the attack on Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian provinces of Slovenia , Croatia and Bosnia provided troops for Austria-Hungary. Montenegro allied itself with Serbia. Bulgaria declared war on Serbia on 14 October 1915 and joined in

6302-547: The Balkan Wars, such as Serbia and Greece, felt cheated of their "rightful gains", while for Austria it demonstrated the apparent indifference with which other powers viewed their concerns, including Germany. This complex mix of resentment, nationalism and insecurity helps explain why the pre-1914 Balkans became known as the " powder keg of Europe ". On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria , heir presumptive to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria , visited Sarajevo ,

6439-404: The Central Powers. However, the pro-German King Constantine I dismissed the pro-Allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos before the Allied expeditionary force arrived. The Macedonian front was at first mostly static. French and Serbian forces retook limited areas of Macedonia by recapturing Bitola on 19 November 1916 following the costly Monastir offensive , which brought stabilisation of

6576-625: The Chinese Shandong peninsula at Tsingtao . After Vienna refused to withdraw its cruiser SMS  Kaiserin Elisabeth from Tsingtao, Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary, and the ship was sunk in November 1914. Within a few months, Allied forces had seized all German territories in the Pacific, leaving only isolated commerce raiders and a few holdouts in New Guinea. Some of the first clashes of

6713-548: The German High Seas Fleet was confined to port. German U-boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The United States launched a protest, and Germany changed its rules of engagement. After the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Lusitania in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners, while Britain armed its merchant ships, placing them beyond

6850-465: The German Army increased in size from 1908 to 1914, he changed the allocation of forces between the two wings to 70:30. He also considered Dutch neutrality essential for German trade and cancelled the incursion into the Netherlands, which meant any delays in Belgium threatened the viability of the plan. Historian Richard Holmes argues that these changes meant the right wing was not strong enough to achieve decisive success. The initial German advance in

6987-462: The German right wing would sweep through the Netherlands and Belgium , then swing south, encircling Paris and trapping the French army against the Swiss border. The plan's creator, Alfred von Schlieffen , head of the German General Staff from 1891 to 1906, estimated that this would take six weeks, after which the German army would transfer to the East and defeat the Russians. The plan was substantially modified by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke

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7124-426: The Germans bled heavily as well, with anywhere from 700,000 to 975,000 casualties between the two combatants. Verdun became a symbol of French determination and self-sacrifice. The Battle of the Somme was an Anglo-French offensive from July to November 1916. The opening day on 1 July 1916 was the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army , which suffered 57,500 casualties, including 19,200 dead. As

7261-412: The IWW members before delivering them to the Knights of Liberty . Shortly after leaving, the convoy was seized by the Knights of Liberty. The Knights of Liberty abducted the men at gunpoint and drove them to a deserted location west of town. The men were then, one by one, bound to a tree, whipped, then tarred and feathered . "After each one was whipped another man applied the tar with a large brush, from

7398-418: The Klan's secretive and violent nature or if the organizations were actually related. Some writers have referred to the Knights of Liberty as a "suspected branch" of the Klan, while others have called the KKK a "different franchise from the Knights perhaps, but with overlapping membership and a similar propensity for showy and sadistic violence." Some scholars have linked the Knights to the KKK participation in

7535-419: The Knights of Liberty's cases of flogging and tarring-and-feathering around the country as a concept from Tulsa and mostly justified. Writer and political activist Max Eastman called the group "cowardly masked upper-class mobs". A more recent (1981) book calls the Knights of Liberty "some of the worst vigilante groups in the Midwest and in California". The Knights of Liberty feature in All Men Fear Me ,

7672-428: The Knights of Liberty's relationship to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) has been debated. KKK member and Tulsa community leader W. Tate Brady was identified as having led the group's initial attack on Industrial Workers of the World members in 1917. Contemporaneously described as a "modern Ku Klux Klan", "Klu Klux Clan [sic] organization", and "'Ku-Klux' of Oklahomans", it is unclear whether such terms were comparisons to

7809-565: The Middle East. In all, 140,000 soldiers served on the Western Front and nearly 700,000 in the Middle East, with 47,746 killed and 65,126 wounded. The suffering engendered by the war, as well as the failure of the British government to grant self-government to India afterward, bred disillusionment, resulting in the campaign for full independence led by Mahatma Gandhi . Pre-war military tactics that had emphasised open warfare and individual riflemen proved obsolete when confronted with conditions prevailing in 1914. Technological advances allowed

7946-545: The Ottomans joined the Central Powers in November. Germany's strategy in 1914 was to quickly defeat France, then to transfer its forces to the east, but its advance was halted in September , and by the end of the year the Western Front consisted of a continuous line of trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. The Eastern Front was more dynamic, but neither side gained a decisive advantage, despite costly offensives. Italy , Bulgaria , Romania , Greece and others joined in from 1915 onward. In April 1917,

8083-449: The Ottomans' territory in the Balkans during the 1912–1913 First Balkan War , much to the surprise of outside observers. The Serbian capture of ports on the Adriatic resulted in partial Austrian mobilisation, starting on 21 November 1912, including units along the Russian border in Galicia . The Russian government decided not to mobilise in response, unprepared to precipitate a war. The Great Powers sought to re-assert control through

8220-423: The Red Cross's work and the government. He was abducted after giving some men directions to a fishing stream. They were said to have "acted in a business-like manner" as they drove him to a secluded area where he was stripped, tarred and feathered. In October that year, John Oestrych, a farmer, was tarred and feathered for failing to buy liberty bonds. One scholar notes the strength of anti-German sentiment at

8357-549: The Russian Stavka agreed with the French to attack Germany within fifteen days of mobilisation, ten days before the Germans had anticipated, although it meant the two Russian armies that entered East Prussia on 17 August did so without many of their support elements. By the end of 1914, German troops held strong defensive positions inside France, controlled the bulk of France's domestic coalfields, and inflicted 230,000 more casualties than it lost itself. However, communications problems and questionable command decisions cost Germany

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8494-429: The Serbian retreat toward the Adriatic coast in the Battle of Mojkovac on 6–7 January 1916, but ultimately the Austrians also conquered Montenegro. The surviving Serbian soldiers were evacuated to Greece. After the conquest, Serbia was divided between Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. In late 1915, a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece to offer assistance and to pressure its government to declare war against

8631-465: The Tulsa Knights of Liberty were considering re-forming in order to fight car theft. The organization announced its presence in Minnesota in March 1918, when it began sending threats signed "The Knights of Liberty, Minnesota Division" to two suspected pro-German residents. At the time they were estimated to have 500 members in Duluth . There, their first victim – Gustaf Landin, a Swedish American photographer – had previously made negative comments about

8768-407: The Tulsa Outrage in a generally positive tone, calling it "a party, a real American party" and referring to the Knights of Liberty as "patriotic". One Kansas City, Missouri man wrote an ode to the Knights of Liberty following the event, which was published in newspapers. The National Civil Liberties Bureau wrote in 1918 that the general response to the Tulsa Outrage was overwhelmingly positive, with

8905-455: The West was very successful. By the end of August, the Allied left, which included the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), was in full retreat , and the French offensive in Alsace-Lorraine was a disastrous failure, with casualties exceeding 260,000. German planning provided broad strategic instructions while allowing army commanders considerable freedom in carrying them out at the front, but von Kluck used this freedom to disobey orders, opening

9042-496: The World . On August 2, 1917, the Green Corn Rebellion uprising led to an increase in anti-socialist and anti-union sentiment in the state. After an explosion at the home of J. Edgar Pew, the vice-president of Carter Oil Company, on October 29, 1917, the TCCD announced the creation of a 150-man Home Guard . The TCCD would later call the Home Guard its "right arm of power". The Home Guard attracted influential members including Eugene Lorton and W. Tate Brady . Carter Oil Company and

9179-430: The Younger . Under Schlieffen, 85% of German forces in the west were assigned to the right wing, with the remainder holding along the frontier. By keeping his left-wing deliberately weak, he hoped to lure the French into an offensive into the "lost provinces" of Alsace-Lorraine , which was the strategy envisaged by their Plan XVII . However, Moltke grew concerned that the French might push too hard on his left flank and as

9316-446: The aggressor, German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg delayed the commencement of war preparations until 31 July. That afternoon, the Russian government were handed a note requiring them to "cease all war measures against Germany and Austria-Hungary" within 12 hours. A further German demand for neutrality was refused by the French who ordered general mobilization but delayed declaring war. The German General Staff had long assumed they faced

9453-407: The attack by the Austro-Hungarian army under Mackensen's army of 250,000 that was already underway. Serbia was conquered in a little more than a month, as the Central Powers, now including Bulgaria, sent in 600,000 troops in total. The Serbian army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into northern Albania . The Serbs suffered defeat in the Battle of Kosovo . Montenegro covered

9590-519: The attack. The Knights of Liberty was a short-lived organization. Known members in Tulsa were suspected to include former Tulsa Police Chief Ed Lucas, other Tulsa Police officers such as George Blaine and H. H. Townsend, City Attorney John Meserve, and W. Tate Brady . Other Knights of Liberty groups sprung up around the country shortly afterwards. Deputy US Marshal John Moran denounced the attack, saying, "I am opposed to that kind of business and I tried to get them not to do it. You would be surprised at

9727-464: The attempt to create a northern Ku-Klux." The "tardiness" and "spirit" of the governor's response has been described as leading one Minnesota journalist to write in an editorial, "The governor has made the discovery that there is a law against dragging a man out of his home and beating him up and subjecting him to all kinds of indignities.... Mobs have been doing – free and unmolested – so many Hun stunts in this state that we had almost come to believe that

9864-770: The beating of an alleged adulterer . World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War , was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers . Fighting took place mainly in Europe and the Middle East , as well as in parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific , and in Europe

10001-535: The best way of achieving this. However, the Foreign Ministry had no solid proof of Serbian involvement. On 23   July, Austria delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, listing ten demands made intentionally unacceptable to provide an excuse for starting hostilities. Serbia ordered general mobilization on 25   July, but accepted all the terms, except for those empowering Austrian representatives to suppress "subversive elements" inside Serbia, and take part in

10138-439: The blame for the continuing violence on local newspapers' lack of condemnation; Ashland newspaper editor John C. Chapple was called "one of the ultra-reactionaries of the state". The mayor of Ashland criticized the Knights' methods, writing in an open letter that "pro-Germanism has nothing to do with it. It is simply a question of whether law or anarchy is to prevail in Ashland" and "[t]he victim of mob outrage may or may not be

10275-602: The bombing, the Tulsa Daily World escalated its rhetoric, writing that the solution was "a wholesale application of concentration camps. Or, what is hemp worth now, the long foot?" On November 5, the Tulsa Police Department raided the IWW headquarters in Tulsa, arresting 11 men for vagrancy . On November 6, Home Guard member W. Tate Brady assaulted E. L. Fox, the owner of the building the Tulsa IWW rented for their headquarters. By November 7, federal agents had heard rumors of

10412-532: The border and pre-empt such a move. To avoid violating Belgian neutrality, he was told any advance could come only after a German invasion. Instead, the French cabinet ordered its Army to withdraw 10 km behind the German frontier, to avoid provoking war. On 2 August, Germany occupied Luxembourg and exchanged fire with French units when German patrols entered French territory; on 3   August, they declared war on France and demanded free passage across Belgium, which

10549-583: The campaign saw the first use of anti-aircraft warfare after an Austrian plane was shot down with ground-to-air fire, as well as the first medical evacuation by the Serbian army. Upon mobilisation, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan , 80% of the German Army was located on the Western Front, with the remainder acting as a screening force in the East. Rather than a direct attack across their shared frontier,

10686-636: The capital of the recently annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina . Cvjetko Popović , Gavrilo Princip , Nedeljko Čabrinović , Trifko Grabež , Vaso Čubrilović ( Bosnian Serbs ) and Muhamed Mehmedbašić (from the Bosniaks community), from the movement known as Young Bosnia , took up positions along the Archduke's motorcade route, to assassinate him. Supplied with arms by extremists within the Serbian Black Hand intelligence organisation, they hoped his death would free Bosnia from Austrian rule. Čabrinović threw

10823-466: The chance of a decisive outcome, while it had failed to achieve the primary objective of avoiding a long, two-front war. As was apparent to several German leaders, this amounted to a strategic defeat; shortly after the First Battle of the Marne , Crown Prince Wilhelm told an American reporter "We have lost the war. It will go on for a long time but lost it is already." On 30 August 1914, New Zealand occupied German Samoa (now Samoa ). On 11 September,

10960-490: The city with his wife after his arrest. The other was reportedly arrested again later after not leaving the city. The prosecuting attorney, Tulsa City Attorney John Meserve, would later join the TCCD in December 1917 as their "prosecuting attorney". The Tulsa Daily World approved and encouraged the incident. The Tulsa Democrat ran the headline "General Approval Is Given." Harlows Weekly , another Oklahoma newspaper, justified

11097-591: The constitution of the United States... Tarring or feathering or mob violence is not in the spirit of the American constitution." The Provost Marshal Guard offered the assistance of 50 men to the police chief to combat the Knights of Liberty, and the US Marshal requested the ability to appoint more deputy marshals in 12 to 20 California cities. The Knights of Liberty were said to have 160 members in Leonardville, Kansas ,

11234-464: The cost of 199 submarines. World War I also saw the first use of aircraft carriers in combat, with HMS  Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a successful raid against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in July 1918, as well as blimps for antisubmarine patrol. Faced with Russia in the east, Austria-Hungary could spare only one-third of its army to attack Serbia. After suffering heavy losses,

11371-645: The country and other Knights of Liberty groups formed shortly afterwards. In 2001, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 called the incident "an important step along the road to the race riot." In March 1918, ten cars of masked men belonging to the Knights of Liberty kidnapped two farmers, Henry Huffman and O. F. Westbrook, in Altus, Oklahoma . The two were said to have supported German aims, not purchased liberty bonds, and "openly had cursed

11508-466: The country. The Knights of Liberty's actions were covered in a number of US newspapers as well as abroad. The organization's membership and aims were described in 1918 by one newspaper: ...its members are almost wholly business and professional men of high standing, men who beyond the draft age and unfitted by years or physical condition to join the military forces of the nation, are determined to do their bit by suppressing disloyalty and seeing to it that

11645-475: The county jail along with six others who had been arrested, they were abducted by forty to fifty men – led by KKK member and Tulsa founder W. Tate Brady and police chief Ed Lucas – wearing black robes and masks calling themselves the Knights of Liberty. The seventeen men were taken to a deserted area where they were stripped and each bound to a tree, whipped, and tarred and feathered. Chased off with guns through barbed wire, they were turned away by local farmers "in

11782-513: The creation of new independent states, including Poland , Finland , the Baltic states , Czechoslovakia , and Yugoslavia . The League of Nations was established to maintain world peace, but its failure to manage instability during the interwar period contributed to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Before World War II , the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply

11919-449: The creation of strong defensive systems largely impervious to massed infantry advances, such as barbed wire , machine guns and above all far more powerful artillery , which dominated the battlefield and made crossing open ground extremely difficult. Both sides struggled to develop tactics for breaching entrenched positions without heavy casualties. In time, technology enabled the production of new offensive weapons, such as gas warfare and

12056-946: The crowds listened to music and drank wine, as if nothing had happened." Nevertheless, the impact of the murder of the heir to the throne was significant, and has been described by historian Christopher Clark as a "9/11 effect, a terrorist event charged with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna". Austro-Hungarian authorities encouraged subsequent anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo . Violent actions against ethnic Serbs were also organised outside Sarajevo, in other cities in Austro-Hungarian-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs, 700 to 2,200 of whom died in prison. A further 460 Serbs were sentenced to death. A predominantly Bosniak special militia known as

12193-510: The end of the road. If you say one more word, even in a whisper, or lift one finger, against this country or her allies, you are a marked man. If the law cannot reach you, we can—AND WE WILL! ... While our boys are fighting for us in France you are fighting against us at home. Aided by German gold, you have been continually at work, poisoning the minds of the ignorant, seeking to hinder the raising of government funds, discouraging enlistments, obstructing

12330-526: The event, none spoke up on the identities of the men involved. He requested police protection and later moved away to Saint Paul . The Knights of Liberty drove a German man, Emil Kunze, out of town in June after he heard them planning to tar and feather him. He requested police protection but ended up leaving his job and moving away. The next month, Martin Johnson, a farmer, was said to have made statements against

12467-671: The expansion of the French colonial empire . In 1873, Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors , which included Austria-Hungary , Russia and Germany. After the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War , the League was dissolved due to Austrian concerns over the expansion of Russian influence in the Balkans , an area they considered to be of vital strategic interest. Germany and Austria-Hungary then formed

12604-421: The fact that your health and peace will best be conserved by either getting in strong and doing your full duty or looking for other localities. WE HAVE STOOD ALL WE WILL STAND! The incident of Monday night will be repeated as often as necessary to make our country 100 per cent patriotic. In behalf of the boys who are dying over there, we are The Knights of Liberty The organization initially started in 1917 as

12741-400: The first time on the Western Front. Several types of gas soon became widely used by both sides and though it never proved a decisive, battle-winning weapon, it became one of the most feared and best-remembered horrors of the war. In February 1916, the Germans attacked French defensive positions at the Battle of Verdun , lasting until December 1916. Casualties were greater for the French, but

12878-455: The founding of the semi-official American Protective League that year. Other similar organizations sprang up, including the Knights of Liberty, National Security League , Boy Spies of America , Sedition Slammers , American Rights League , American Defense League , and Anti-Yellow-Dog League . These organizations, encouraged by local, state, and federal government, had a goal of targeting those they considered disloyal. The extent of

13015-586: The front. Serbian and French troops finally made a breakthrough in September 1918 in the Vardar offensive , after most German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been withdrawn. The Bulgarians were defeated at the Battle of Dobro Pole , and by 25 September British and French troops had crossed the border into Bulgaria proper as the Bulgarian army collapsed. Bulgaria capitulated four days later, on 29 September 1918. The German high command responded by despatching troops to hold

13152-526: The globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping . These were systematically hunted down by the Royal Navy, though not before causing considerable damage. One of the most successful was the SMS ; Emden , part of the German East Asia Squadron stationed at Qingdao , which seized or sank 15 merchantmen, a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. Most of the squadron

13289-465: The government". They were stripped, whipped, tarred and feathered, and forced to kiss the American flag. They were told to leave the county. A newspaper report stated that the Knights of Liberty in southwest Oklahoma had over 500 members and that "more tarring and feathering activities are expected." Making a connection between the Knights of Liberty and the Ku Klux Klan , one newspaper headline regarding

13426-486: The head to the seat," wrote the Tulsa branch secretary. "Then a brute smeared feathers over and rubbed them in… After they had satisfied themselves that our bodies were well abused, our clothing was thrown into a pile, gasoline poured on it, and a match applied. By the light of our earthly possessions, we were ordered to leave Tulsa, and leave running and never come back." Tulsa Daily World editor and Tulsa County Council of Defense member Glenn Conlin witnessed and reported on

13563-534: The high ground, while their trenches tended to be better built; those constructed by the French and English were initially considered "temporary", only needed until an offensive would destroy the German defences. Both sides tried to break the stalemate using scientific and technological advances. On 22 April 1915, at the Second Battle of Ypres , the Germans (violating the Hague Convention ) used chlorine gas for

13700-436: The incident read "Ku Klux Klans Are Busy", while another read "Modern Ku Klux to Chastise Slackers". In Tulsa in April 1918, the Knights of Liberty kidnapped, stripped, whipped, and tarred and feathered John Kubecka, a German American. He was said to have made derogatory statements about the government. In Durant , the Knights of Liberty abducted "Red" Scott, a man held in the city jail for vagrancy , in May that year. He

13837-467: The investigation and trial of Serbians linked to the assassination. Claiming this amounted to rejection, Austria broke off diplomatic relations and ordered partial mobilisation the next day; on 28 July, they declared war on Serbia and began shelling Belgrade . Russia ordered general mobilization in support of Serbia on 30 July. Anxious to ensure backing from the SPD political opposition by presenting Russia as

13974-528: The later 1921 Tulsa race massacre , which has in turn, been questioned by others. In 1949, a member of one KKK offshoot told the Saturday Evening Post regarding such groups, "They go under all sorts of names. Some of them—like the Knights of Liberty and the Seventy-Sixers—don't even have the word Klan in their title. But they ain't a thing but old Ku Kluxes." Criticism of the war effort led to

14111-429: The line, but these forces were too weak to re-establish a front. Knights of Liberty (vigilante group) The Knights of Liberty (sometimes Liberty Knights , Loyalty Knights , or Knights of Loyalty ) was an American volunteer nationalist secret society and vigilance committee active circa 1917–1918, claiming responsibility for violence against perceived disloyalty during World War I. They are known for

14248-445: The men; the cases were dismissed – a decision cheered by local spectators – and he moved to Indiana. In May, German-born tax assessor William Landraint was not reappointed to his position after being accused of disloyalty. Abducted outside a hotel by about 50 Knights of Liberty, he had a bag placed over his head and was strangled. Landraint was then taken away, stripped, handcuffed, tarred and feathered. Though many people witnessed

14385-579: The merciful work of the Red Cross, striving to spread disaffection and unrest among our loyal working people; and in countless other devious, subtle and stealthy ways carrying out the orders of your imperial master, the German kaiser. ... You have sold your soul to the Prussian devil, but perhaps you still have your common sense. If so you will take this warning in deadly earnest. If you don’t believe we mean what we say, try us, and you will find that what we applied to

14522-412: The mob was a new form of law and order enforcement." One newspaper reacted with sarcasm: ...Germany has grossly mistreated Belgium, committing revolting brutalities there. To prove this, let us put on masks, call ourselves "Knights of Liberty," capture a man with a German name and, after forcing him to kiss the flag, hang him on a tree till he is dead. The Oil & Gas Journal in 1918 referred to

14659-418: The name of the outraged women and children of Belgium". The men returned to Tulsa to find threatening signs posted around the city signed by the "Vigilance Committee". Acting with state and local government support, prominent community members were among the mob. The local newspaper stated no effort was made to determine who the forty to fifty men were. Articles about the event were widely published throughout

14796-513: The nation shall not be assailed from within. Particularly in the spring of 1918, anti-German sentiment grew significantly as Americans heard of the happenings on the Western Front . A Council of National Defense representative for the Midwest commented, "All over this part of the country men are being tarred and feathered and some are being lynched.... These cases do not get into the newspapers nor

14933-460: The ocean, even to neutral ships. Since there was limited response to this tactic, Germany expected a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare. The Battle of Jutland in May/June 1916 was the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war, and one of the largest in history. The clash was indecisive, though the Germans inflicted more damage than they received; thereafter the bulk of

15070-429: The police and federal officials. The city manager decried the Knights' vigilante methods; they called a local newspaper, warning he "had better go easy" and "The Knights of Liberty have more applications for membership than we can handle. We soon will be ready to come out in the open and then Manager Reed and everyone will be agreeably surprised at the class of men who compose its membership." No actions were taken against

15207-636: The police and the typewriter used to produce the letters was eventually found. Officials promised to stop the Knights; the Department of Justice was said by J. M. Inman to have asked them and other similar groups to disband. The San Francisco chief of police stated that the city would not tolerate the Knights of Liberty nor mob rule. Major General John F. Morrison spoke harshly against the organization, urging citizens to use legal means of addressing disloyalty: "If any American citizens are so anxious to display their loyalty, let them display it by standing loyally by

15344-463: The police officers who allowed Koetzer to be taken. Several San Jose men requested to stay in the jail for their safety due to the threats against them by the Knights of Liberty; one was later hospitalized "in a state of nervous collapse". One Swiss German man was tied to the tree outside the courthouse in San Rafael and another man threatened. Because the crowd sympathized with the Knights, no action

15481-568: The prominent men in town who were in this mob." Some national media responded with criticism of the attack including the New York Evening Post , Louisville Post-Dispatch , Minneapolis News and St. Louis Post-Dispatch . After the attack, the Tulsa Home Guard denied involvement in the attack, but would not say none of its members participated. Two victims who did not leave the city were rearrested four and six weeks later. One left

15618-733: The protection of the " cruiser rules ", which demanded warning and movement of crews to "a place of safety" (a standard that lifeboats did not meet). Finally, in early 1917, Germany adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare , realising the Americans would eventually enter the war. Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the United States could transport a large army overseas, but, after initial successes, eventually failed to do so. The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships began travelling in convoys , escorted by destroyers . This tactic made it difficult for U-boats to find targets, which significantly lessened losses; after

15755-403: The sale of liberty bonds and "governmental things in general". He was lured from home under the pretense of photographing a wedding party, then driven to a deserted area. Landin's clothes were torn off; he was whipped, tarred and feathered. He was made to kiss the American flag and his life threatened. He was told to warn the other men they had previously threatened. The group was described as being

15892-464: The state's most aggressive and powerful county council, was formed July 11, 1917. Its inaugural members were J. Burr Gibbons, Robert M. McFarlin , Glenn Condon, H. C. "Harry" Tyrrell, and Lilah Denton Lindsey . Glenn Condon was named managing editor of the Tulsa Daily World months earlier in March 1917 and began publishing "increasingly bloody-minded editorials" against the Industrial Workers of

16029-464: The term First World War was in September 1914 by German biologist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel who stated, "There is no doubt that the course and character of the feared 'European War' ... will become the first world war in the full sense of the word." For much of the 19th century, the major European powers maintained a tenuous balance of power , known as the Concert of Europe . After 1848, this

16166-682: The threat posed by the closing of this gap was more important than competing with the Royal Navy. After Germany expanded its standing army by 170,000 troops in 1913, France extended compulsory military service from two to three years; similar measures were taken by the Balkan powers and Italy, which led to increased expenditure by the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary. Absolute figures are difficult to calculate due to differences in categorising expenditure since they often omit civilian infrastructure projects like railways which had logistical importance and military use. It

16303-572: The time leading to a lack of coverage and condemnation. Another comments that the string of events was notably not covered in the Milwaukee Journal 's statewide news columns. He states it was "certainly not a coincidence" that the tarring and feathering events took place in Ashland as it was the meeting place for a number of members of the Republican Loyalty Union Party . William T. Evjue from The Capital Times placed some of

16440-470: The town's citizens "proud" and "generally satisfied". He described the Knights of Liberty as "a secret organization, presumably composed of many of Ashland's leading citizens who are absolutely loyal and determined there shall be absolutely no disloyalty in their city." In May 1918, the Knights of Liberty took action in California. George Koetzer was abducted 50 members of the Knights of Liberty and brought to

16577-487: The traitor—was mild compared to what will happen to you. Warning! To all Pro-German sympathizers, slackers and knockers against Liberty Bonds and other War Measures: While our brave boys are falling in France and facing a hundred million Huns far over the ocean, we, The Knights of Liberty Of Oklahoma and Texas, feel that we would be cowards, curs and traitors to allow sneering and unpatriotic citizens to live among us without being punished. We therefore call your attention to

16714-627: The war ended with the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . The Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 imposed settlements on the defeated powers, most notably the Treaty of Versailles , by which Germany lost significant territories, was disarmed, and was required to pay large war reparations to the Allies. The dissolution of the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires redrew national boundaries and resulted in

16851-581: The war involved British, French, and German colonial forces in Africa. On 6–7 August, French and British troops invaded the German protectorates of Togoland and Kamerun . On 10 August, German forces in South-West Africa attacked South Africa; sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the rest of the war. The German colonial forces in German East Africa , led by Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , fought

16988-438: The war. Williams personally appointed members to these councils. Since the councils in Oklahoma were created without the approval of the state Legislature, they lacked legal authority and were extralegal . The Councils of Defense relied on public opinion in order to maintain legitimacy. In practice, this meant the councils frequently targeted local enemies with violence and intimidation. The Tulsa County Council of Defense (TCCD),

17125-418: The west , which despite initial successes left the German Army exhausted and demoralised. A successful Allied counter-offensive from August 1918 caused a collapse of the German front line. By early November, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary had each signed armistices with the Allies, leaving Germany isolated. Facing a revolution at home , Kaiser Wilhelm   II abdicated on 9 November, and

17262-432: Was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic. The causes of World War I included the rise of Germany and decline of the Ottoman Empire , which disturbed the long-standing balance of power in Europe, as well as economic competition between nations triggered by industrialisation and imperialism . Growing tensions between the great powers and in the Balkans reached a breaking point on 28 June 1914, when

17399-722: Was a portrait of Allied commander General Foch . On September 20, 1918, the Knights of Liberty began to repeatedly threaten Julius Hüssy, the editor of Oklahoma Vorwärts , a German-language weekly newspaper. He was threatened with mob violence if he did not stop publishing the newspaper by October 4. On October 17, fifty men, some of whom were well-known community members or in public service, showed up and threatened him in person, causing him to shutter his newspaper after 18 years. Two or three dozen black-clad and masked Knights of Liberty appeared in Tulsa in October 1918 to warn citizens to purchase liberty bonds. An October 1919 article stated

17536-479: Was abducted from his boarding house, tarred and feathered, and lynched in a Duluth park. His body was discovered two weeks later and declared a suicide due to humiliation. Stating the act was a warning to other slackers , the Knights of Liberty took responsibility. Other local newspapers and the Nonpartisan League decried the official explanation and lack of investigation into the event. The governor offered

17673-426: Was also arrested at the end of trial along with other suspected IWW members in attendance. After sentencing, the police had arrested a total of 17 men. Some sources indicate that each individual was charged a $ 100 fine, while others question whether the fine was enforced or legitimate. Shortly after midnight, the men were loaded into three police cars by three officers and six other men. It was reported that police beat

17810-521: Was beaten and "[converted] to giving gospel " by the "accommodating Knights", while their "proselytizing" had a "wholesome", " salutory " impact on several others. In another event in Enid, a laundry wagon driver thought he had seen a portrait of the Kaiser on the wall of an old woman's home, leading him to notify the county clerk. The clerk in turn informed the Knights of Liberty, who went to her home to discover it

17947-403: Was challenged by Britain's withdrawal into so-called splendid isolation , the decline of the Ottoman Empire , New Imperialism , and the rise of Prussia under Otto von Bismarck . Victory in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War allowed Bismarck to consolidate a German Empire . Post-1871, the primary aim of French policy was to avenge this defeat, but by the early 1890s, this had switched to

18084-423: Was characterised by trench warfare ; the widespread use of artillery , machine guns, and chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of tanks and aircraft . World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in history , resulting in an estimated 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded , plus some 10 million civilian dead from causes including genocide . The movement of large numbers of people

18221-654: Was refused. Early on the morning of 4   August, the Germans invaded, and Albert I of Belgium called for assistance under the Treaty of London . Britain sent Germany an ultimatum demanding they withdraw from Belgium; when this expired at midnight, without a response, the two empires were at war. Germany promised to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but interpretations of what this meant differed. Previously tested deployment plans had been replaced early in 1914, but those had never been tested in exercises. Austro-Hungarian leaders believed Germany would cover its northern flank against Russia. Beginning on 12 August,

18358-659: Was returning to Germany when it sank two British armoured cruisers at the Battle of Coronel in November 1914, before being virtually destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December. The SMS Dresden escaped with a few auxiliaries, but after the Battle of Más a Tierra , these too were either destroyed or interned. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain began a naval blockade of Germany . This proved effective in cutting off vital supplies, though it violated accepted international law. Britain also mined international waters which closed off entire sections of

18495-568: Was taken by the sheriff. Later that month, a Red Cross fundraiser in San Jose featured, "dressed in their robes of mystery, robes of the Ku Klux Klan...the 'Knights of Liberty' band", playing patriotic music. The Knights of Liberty announced further action, sending threats to dozens of San Franciscans, businessmen in Visalia, and people in Northern California. Their threats were decried by

18632-759: Was the foundation of German foreign policy but in 1890, he was forced to retire by Wilhelm II . The latter was persuaded not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty by his new Chancellor , Leo von Caprivi . This gave France an opening to agree the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, which was then followed by the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain. The Triple Entente was completed by the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention . While not formal alliances, by settling long-standing colonial disputes in Asia and Africa, British support for France or Russia in any future conflict became

18769-535: Was tied to a tree and flogged, with a threat signed by the Knights of Liberty posted above his head, stating, "This is a convict, loafer and thug. Loafers, disloyalists and crooks cannot stay in Durant. Every 'vag' not at work in twenty-four hours will be dealt with severely." An Enid newspaper framed several June 1918 occurrences in positive, religious terms: "as a result of their evangelistic propaganda", an Austrian American farmer who had not purchased any liberty bonds

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