Back in 1914:
Henry Ford, unlike his current day counterparts, recognized that a well-paid workforce made for better workforce-and more consumers. So wages were doubled from $2.40/9-hr day to $5.00/8-hr day.
George Reeves, the actor who would play Superman in the 1950’s was born. So too was Nicolas de Staël, a French-Russian painter.
In France, in 1914, the leadership of France rested with President Raymond Poincare and Prime Minister Rene Viviani. In1914 she was the second largest colonial power in the World and the largest in Africa. She had, on paper anyway, the largest Army in Europe. France was allied with Britain and Russia as part of the Triple Entente. In January 1914 the French Army had 47 divisions (777,000 French and 46,000 colonial troops) in 21 regional corps, with attached cavalry and field-artillery units. Most these troops were deployed inside France with the bulk along the eastern frontier as part of Plan 17. France also had the ability to muster a further 2.9 million men during a crisis-and did so in the summer of 1914. France was itching to get back Alsace and Lorraine, territories they lost in 1870-and regarded as “French”.