The Lessons of War

William Van der Kloot examines the experiences of seven future national leaders during the World War I. Adolf Hitler served on the Western Front for four years; Charles de Gaulle was bayoneted and captured at Verdun; Benito Mussolini was so badly wounded that he was discharged as a hero; Gustav Mannerheim was a cavalry commander who fought on the Eastern Front; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk commanded a division at the Battle of Gallipoli; Harold Macmillan was wounded at Loos and again at the Somme; and