The term ‘war brides’ originally referred to women who quickly married before their husbands left for military service. By the end of the Great War, war brides took on the entirely new meaning of international women marrying American soldiers serving overseas.
Intercultural unions between American soldiers and local woman were not a new phenomenon, with the first marriages occurring during the Spanish-American War 20 years prior. However, with thousands of marriages, World War I was the first war with formal regulations enacted to control these relationships.
There is no exact number on the number of World War I war European brides married to American soldiers. Research shows that between thousands to tens of thousands immigrated to the United States after World War I as war brides from Belgium, England, Ireland, France, Russia, Italy and Germany.
Take a look at these amazing vintage photos to see military weddings during the First World War.
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