Christopher Capozzola

Former Fellow, "The Living Legacy of the First World War"

Christopher Capozzola is associate professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and co-curator of ""The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I,"" a traveling exhibition about American civilians in Europe during and after the First World War.

He has published articles and essays in American Quarterly, Diplomatic History, Georgetown Law Journal, and the Journal of American History as well as in popular periodicals including The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Politico, and the Washington Post. He is currently writing a history of U.S. Congressional efforts in the 1930s to investigate the influence of the defense industry on American foreign policy during World War I.

Featured Work

L to R: Tanisha Fazal, Chris Capozzola, Katherine Akey, Charles Sorrie, and Seiko Mimaki. CREDIT: Billy Pickett

NOV 19, 2018 Transcript

The Living Legacy of the First World War

Five Fellows from "The Living Legacy of the First World War" project present their work. Their talks cover the history of war-induced psychological trauma and ...

First gun fired at Naval Weapons Station Dahlgren, Virginia, 1918. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_tractor-mounted_gun_in_1918.jpg">U.S. Navy/Public Domain</a>

MAY 8, 2018 Podcast

The Living Legacy of WWI: Merchants of Death? The Politics of Defense Contracting, with Christopher Capozzola

In the 1930s during the run-up to WWII, many argued that arms manufacturers and bankers--"merchants of death"--had conspired to manipulate the U.S. ...