Latter-day Saints at war: The Church during World War I. Ep. 188

In July of 1914, the world was thrown into a global conflict that would come to be known as the first World War. At the time, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had, for the most part, been safely hunkered down in Utah for the last 70 years, keeping to themselves as much as possible. So when destruction seemed to threaten the entire world, how did the Latter-day Saints respond? Let’s find out.

Video transcript: https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-and-beliefs/living-the-gospel/latter-day-saints-at-war-the-church-during-wwi/

— “Mormons and Germany, 1914-1933: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Germany and its Relationship With the German Governments from World War I to the Rise of Hitler,” by Jeffrey L. Anderson (BYU Thesis): https://bit.ly/3CJeIE9
— “The Influence of the First World War on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” by James I. Mangum (BYU Thesis): https://bit.ly/3CIrhPJ
— “Joseph F. Smith and the First World War: Eventual Support and Latter-day Saint Chaplains,” by Kenneth Alford (BYU Studies): https://bit.ly/3VLyQOj
— “World War I,” via the Church’s website: https://bit.ly/3EEF6l9
— World War I diary of Private June B. Sharp: https://bit.ly/3VgJoVH
— “The Truth About the Mormons” WWI British handbill: https://bit.ly/3yAwIPN
— Timeline of declarations of war (during WWI), via the Library of Congress: https://bit.ly/3SVe0ua
— “World War I,” via the Encyclopedia Britannica: https://bit.ly/3rTNFkm
— “World War I,” via the Utah History Encyclopedia: https://bit.ly/3TpV1Ik
— “BYU and the Great War,” via BYU Magazine: https://bit.ly/3DkmSEv

Notes:

— When the war broke out in 1914, there were only two stakes of the Church outside of the United States. One in Cardston, Canada, and one in Juarez, Mexico.

— “At the beginning of the war, approximately 85 percent of all Church members were located in the United States with 65 percent of the Mormon population living in Utah.” Source: In “Out of Obscurity: The LDS Church in the Twentieth Century,” pg. 110. Essay by Robert C. Freeman, titled, “Latter-day Saints in the World Wars.”

— Future apostles Hugh B. Brown (Canadian) and Delbert Stapley also served during WWI.

— After the war, the Church sent aid to the long-isolated Saints in Germany.

— When the United States entered the war, Brigham Young University hosted a “Student Army Training Corps.” The Maeser building was used for military housing for a time. The Brimhall building “was constructed for the purpose of providing intensive vocational training for the Student Army Training Corps during World War I.” Sources: https://bit.ly/3DkmSEv / https://bit.ly/3TofEEZ

— This is probably more a note for myself than anyone else: In the video, I mention that about 25,000 Latter-day Saints served in the U.S. military. That information is coming from “Saints at War: World War I,” by Freeman and Skinner, pg. 53, which states: “Approximately twenty-five thousand Latter-day Saints served in the American forces, and of that number, approximately seven hundred died.” After this sentence in the book, the authors cite “Utah History Encyclopedia,” by Allan Kent Powell. Under “World War I” in that book (available online) we read, “Approximately 21,000 Utahns saw military service; of these, 665 died and 864 were wounded. Of the 665 deaths, 219 were killed on the battlefield or died from wounds received in action; 32 died of accidental causes; the remaining 414 died from disease and illness.”

The 4,000 difference between 25,000 and 21,000 is probably explainable via the fact that the 21,000 count is only from Utah. Granted, not all Utahns would have been Latter-day Saints, but at the same time, not all Latter-day Saints were in Utah. The 25,000 estimate probably makes more sense when Latter-day Saint enlistees from Idaho, California, Arizona, etc. are included in the count.

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