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World War I
File:WW1 TitlePicture For Wikipedia Article.jpg Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV Tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks and a Sopwith Camel biplane
Date 1914–1918 Location Africa, Atlantic, Europe, Indian Ocean, Middle East, Pacific Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others	Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire
Casualties and losses
Military dead: 5 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total of dead: 8 million	Military dead: 4 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total dead: 7 million Spanish Flu 60million deaths

The First World War, known also as the Great War, The War to End All Wars and World War I (abbreviated WWI) after 1939, was a world conflict, raging from August 1914 to the final Armistice on November 11, 1918. The Allied Powers (led by the British Empire, France, Russia until March 1918, and the United States after 1917), defeated the Central Powers (led by the German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire). The war caused the disintegration of four empires (Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman, and Russian) as well as radical change in the European and Middle Eastern maps. The Allied powers before 1917 are sometimes referred to as the Triple Entente, and the Central Powers are sometimes referred to as the Triple Alliance.

Overview

Much of the fighting in World War I took place along the Western Front, embodied within a system of opposing manned trenches and fortifications (separated by a “No man's land”) running from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland. On the Eastern Front, the two sides battled on just as great a scale, but the vast eastern plains and limited rail network prevented a trench warfare stalemate from developing. Hostilities were also prosecuted by fighting on and under the sea and — for the first time — from the air. More than 9 million soldiers died on the various battlefields, and nearly that many more in the participating countries' home fronts on account of food shortages and genocide committed under the cover of various civil wars and internal conflicts.

Summary of the overview

Ultimately, World War I created a decisive break with the old world order that had emerged after the Napoleonic Wars, which was modified by the mid-19th century’s nationalistic revolutions. The results of World War I would be important factors in the development of World War II approximately 20 years later.

Causes

Main article: Causes of World War I

File:Sarajevo Attentat.jpg

The assassination in Sarajevo; this event proved to be the spark for a wide-ranging war in Europe

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, in Sarajevo. Gavrilo Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group whose aims included the unification of the South Slavs and independence from Austria (see also: the Black Hand). The assassination in Sarajevo set into motion a series of fast-moving events that escalated into a full-scale war. However, the reasons behind the conflict are multiple and complex. Historians and political scientists have grappled with this question for nearly a century without reaching a consensus.

Sole responsibility of Germany and Austria

This “official” explanation appeared in Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, often referred to as the War Guilt Clause. The argument was based on the fact that Austria attacked Serbia on July 29 and Germany invaded Belgium on August 3.[2] Thus, the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires were seen to be the initial aggressors and therefore, responsible for the war. Some of Germany's allies, with the help of Allied propaganda, even became convinced that they were fighting "Germany's war".

German academics such as Fritz Fischer, Imanuel Geiss, Hans-Ulrich Wehler, Wolfgang Mommsen and V.R. Berghahn have all promoted the thesis, to various degrees, in the post-World War II period. Fischer contended that Germany wanted to control most of Europe or, at the very least, unite it economically through Germany. However, as he points out, diplomatic efforts to do so had often centered around Anglo-Germanic cooperation, not war.

It has been argued that Germany was the European power most prone to start a general European war, by virtue of geography. Each of the other great powers of Europe had a convenient outlet for imperial expansion: France could seek colonies across the Mediterranean in North Africa, Austria could expand in the Balkans towards the Aegean Sea, Russia could develop its recently-acquired holdings in Central Asia and the Far East, perhaps later adding Manchuria, while Britain could seek colonies in almost any part of the world, owing to its domination of the high seas. By contrast, Germany was hemmed in between the great powers of France, Austria and Russia, and could only base a navy in the North Sea, which would be seen by Britain as a direct menace to the British Isles. Gordon Corrigan makes this case in his book Mud, Blood and Poppycock: Britain and the First World War.

Giant accident

In the late 1920s and 30s, many people felt that the war was an accident that no one had foreseen or intended. In this interpretation, events had simply gotten out of control. This implied that something had to be done to prevent future accidental catastrophes. The nations involved in the war responded by setting up the League of Nations, signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact, passing neutrality acts and engaging in appeasement to settle disputes.

Arms races

The naval arms race between Germany and Great Britain was drastically intensified by the 1906 launch of the HMS Dreadnought, a revolutionary battleship that rendered all previous battleships obsolete. This weakened Britain’s relative power as a seafaring nation, as the new type of vessel opened up a new chapter in naval warfare, annihilating the old status-quo. Consequently, a major naval arms race in shipbuilding developed, tying in with the concept of new imperialism, furthering the interest in alliances. Paul Kennedy has promulgated the thesis that both nations adopted Alfred T. Mahan’s conclusion that control of the oceans was vital to a great nation. Additionally, this concentration kept related industries active and unemployment down while minimizing internal strife through the focus on a common, patriotic goal.

David Stevenson described the armaments race as “a self-reinforcing cycle of heightened military preparedness”, while David Herrmann viewed the shipbuilding rivalry as part of a general movement towards war. However, Niall Ferguson argues that Britain’s ability to maintain an overall advantage signifies that change within this realm was insignificant and therefore, not a factor in the movement towards war.

The naval strength of the powers in 1914
Country	Personnel	Large naval vessels	Tonnage
Russia	54,000	4	328,000
France	68,000	10	731,000
Britain	209,000	29	2,205,000
TOTAL	331,000	43	3,264,000
Germany	79,000	17	1,019,000
Austria-Hungary	16,000	3	249,000
TOTAL	95,000	20	1,268,000
Source: Ferguson 1999 p 85

Plans, distrust and mobilization: The First out of the Gate theory

Closely related is the thesis adopted by many political scientists that the war plans of Germany, France and Russia automatically escalated the conflict. Fritz Fischer and his followers have emphasized the inherently aggressive nature of Germany’s Schlieffen Plan, which outlined German strategy if at war with both France and Russia. Conflict on two fronts meant that Germany had to eliminate one opponent quickly before taking on the other, relying on a strict timetable. Germany’s strategy called for a strong right flank on the attack on Belgium, conquer and crush French mobilizations to cripple the French army. After the attack, the German army would then be rushed to the eastern front through railroads and quickly destroy the slow, but would-be unstoppable military mobilization. Unfortunately, things did not end up as planned, and the beginning mistakes would cost Germany the war. France’s well defended border with Germany meant that an attack through Belgian (and possibly Dutch) territory was a necessity, creating a number of unexpected problems. In a greater context, France’s own Plan XVII called for an offensive thrust into Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley, crippling Germany’s ability to wage war. Russia’s revised Plan XIX implied a mobilization of its armies against both Austria-Hungary and Germany. All three created an atmosphere where generals and planning staffs were anxious to take the initiative and seize decisive victories. Elaborate mobilization plans with precise timetables had been prepared. Once the mobilization orders were issued, it was understood by both generals and statesmen alike that there was little or no possibility of turning back or a key advantage would be sacrificed. Furthermore, the problem of communications in 1914 should not be underestimated; all nations still used telegraphy and ambassadors as the main form of communication, which resulted in delays from hours to even days.

Militarism and autocracy

President of the United States Woodrow Wilson and other observers blamed the war on militarism. The idea was that aristocrats and military elites had too much control over Germany, Russia and Austria, and the war was a consequence of their thirst for military power and disdain for democracy. This was a theme that figured prominently in anti-German propaganda, which cast Kaiser Wilhelm II and Prussian military tradition in a negative light. Consequently, supporters of this theory called for the abdication of such rulers, the end of the aristocratic system and the end of militarism—all of which justified American entry into the war once Czarist Russia dropped out of the Allied camp. Wilson hoped the League of Nations and universal disarmament would secure a lasting peace. He also acknowledged variations of militarism that, in his opinion, existed within the British and French political systems.

Economic imperialism

Lenin famously asserted that the worldwide system of imperialism was responsible for the war. In this he drew upon the economic theories of English economist John A. Hobson, who, in his 1902 book entitled “Imperialism”[3], had earlier predicted the outcome of economic imperialism, or unlimited competition for expanding markets, would lead to a global military conflict. This argument proved persuasive in the immediate wake of the war and assisted in the rise of Marxism and Communism. Lenin’s 1917 pamphlet “Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism” [4] made the argument, specifically, that large banking interests in the various capitalist-imperialist powers had pulled the strings in the various governments and led them into the war.

Nationalism and romanticism

The civilian leaders of the European powers found themselves facing a wave of nationalist zeal that had been building across Europe for years, as memories of war faded or were convoluted into a romantic fantasy that resonated in the public conscience. Frantic diplomatic efforts to mediate the Austrian-Serbian quarrel simply became irrelevant, as public and elite opinion commonly demanded war to uphold national honor. Most of the belligerents envisioned swift victory and glorious consequences. The patriotic enthusiasm, unity and ultimate euphoria that took hold during the Spirit of 1914 was full of that very optimism regarding the postwar future. Also, the Socialist-Democratic movement had begun to exert pressure on aristocrats throughout Europe, who optimistically hoped that victory would reunite their countries via the consolidation of their domestic hegemony. However, Lord Kitchener and Erich Ludendorff were among those who predicted that modern, industrialized warfare would be a lengthy excursion. Others, such as Bethmann Hollweg, were concerned by the potential social consequences of a war. International bond and financial markets entered severe crises in late July and early August reflecting worry about the financial consequences of war. Nevertheless, spurred on by propaganda and nationalist fervor, many eagerly joined the ranks in search of adventure.

See also: Recruitment to the British Army during WW I

Culmination of European history

A localized war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was made possible due to Austria-Hungary’s deteriorating world position and the Pan-Slavic separatist movement in the Balkans.

See also: Powder keg of Europe

The expansion of such ethnic sentiments coincided with the growth of Serbia and the decline of the Ottoman Empire, as the latter had formerly held sway over much of the region.

Imperial Russia also supported the Pan-Slavic movement, motivated by ethnic loyalties, dissatisfaction with Austria (dating back to the Crimean War) and a century-old dream of a warm water port.²[5] For the Germany’s geography in the center of Europe led to the decision for an active defense, culminating in the Schlieffen Plan.³ At the same time, the transfer of the contested Alsace and Lorraine territories and defeat in the Franco-Prussian War influenced France’s policy, characterized by revanchism. The French formed an alliance with Russia and a two-front war became a distinct possibility for Germany.

Map of the world with the Participants in World War I. The Allies are depicted in green, the Central Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.

Participants in World War I

Main article: Participants in World War I

The warring parties were divided into 'two camps'. On one side were the Allies and on the other were the Central Powers.

Allies

Allies included France, Great Britain, and the United States.

Central

Central powers included Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Neutral

Other countries were neutral

July crisis and declarations of war

After the assassination on June 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary waited for 3 weeks before deciding on a course of action, because most soldiers were on leave to help gather the harvest. On July 23, assured by unconditional support of the Germans should war break out, it sent the July Ultimatum to Serbia containing many demands, among them that Austrian agents would be allowed to take part in the investigation, and in general holding Serbia responsible for the assassination. The Serbian government accepted all the terms, except that of the participation of the Austrian agents in the inquiry, which it saw as a violation of its sovereignty. Breaking diplomatic relations, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia on July 28 and proceeded to bombard Belgrade on July 29. On July 30, Austria-Hungary and Russia both ordered general mobilization of their armies.

The Germans, having pledged their support to Austria-Hungary, sent Russia an ultimatum on July 31 to stop mobilization within 12 hours. The same day, Raoul Villain assassinated SFIO socialist leader Jean Jaurès, one of the only French figures who could stop the anti-militarist workers' movement from taking part in the war. On August 1, with the ultimatum expired, the German ambassador to Russia formally declared war. On August 2, Germany occupied Luxembourg, as a preliminary step to the invasion of Belgium and the Schlieffen Plan (Germany had planned to attack France first according to the plan, and then Russia, which had already gone wrong). The same day, yet another ultimatum was delivered to Belgium, requesting free passage for the German army on the way to France. The Belgians refused. At the very last moment, the Kaiser Wilhelm II asked Moltke, the German Chief of General Staff, to cancel the invasion of France in the hope this would keep Britain out of the war. Moltke, horrified by the prospect of the utter ruin of the Schlieffen Plan, refused on the grounds that it would be impossible to change the rail schedule—“once settled, it cannot be altered” . The question of whether such a radical change in Germany’s plans would have indeed been possible was the subject of much dispute. When Moltke’s reply was revealed after the war to General von Staab, Germany’s Chief of the Railway Division, he saw it as an affront to the capabilities of his unit, and proceeded to write a book proving such a change was indeed possible. On August 3, Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium on August 4. This act—violating Belgian neutrality to which Germany, France, and Britain were all committed to guarantee—gave Britain, which up to that point had yet to choose a side in the conflict, a reason to declare war on Germany on August 4. Matthias Erzberger, the Reichstag deputy, later testified that six months after the outbreak of war, Moltke admitted that attacking France first was a mistake and that “the larger part of our army ought first to have been sent to the East to smash the Russian steamroller” .

Opening hostilities

European military alliances in 1915. The Central Powers are depicted in puce, the Entente Powers in grey and neutral countries in yellow

Europe

In Europe, the Central Powers—the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire—suffered from mutual miscommunication and lack of intelligence regarding the intentions of each other’s army. Germany had originally guaranteed to support Austria-Hungary’s invasion of Serbia but practical interpretation of this idea differed. Austro-Hungarian leaders believed Germany would cover the northern flank against Russia. Germany, however, had planned for Austria-Hungary to focus the majority of its troops on Russia while Germany dealt with France on the Western Front. This confusion forced the Austro-Hungarian army to split its troop concentrations. Somewhat more than half of the army went to fight the Russians on their border, and the remainder was allocated to invade and conquer Serbia.

Serbian Campaign

Main article: Serbian Campaign (WWI)

The Serbian army fought a defensive battle against the invading Austrian army (called the Battle of Cer) starting on August 12. The Serbians occupied defensive positions on the south side of the Drina and Save rivers. Over the next two weeks Austrian attacks were thrown back with heavy losses. This marked the first major Allied victory of the war. Austrian expectations of a swift victory over Serbia were not realized and as a result, Austria had to keep a very sizable force on the Serbian front, which weakened their armies facing Russia.

Haut-Rhin, France 1917. A complete set of these images can be found at World War One Color Photos

Germany in Belgium and France

After entering Belgian territory, the German army soon encountered resistance at a fortified Liège. Although the army as a whole continued to make rapid progress into France, the German invasion forced Britain’s decision to intervene on the side of the Allies. As a signatory of the 1839 Treaty of London, Great Britain was committed to the preservation of a neutral and independent Belgium. In British eyes, the ports of Antwerp and Ostend were deemed too important to be possessed by a hostile continental power. Britain sent an army to France (the British Expeditionary Force, or BEF) which advanced into Belgium and slowed the Germans. The first British soldier killed in the war was John Parr, on August 21 1914, near Mons.

Initially, the Germans had great successes in the Battle of the Frontiers (14–24 August 1914). However, Russia attacked in East Prussia and diverted German forces intended for the Western Front. Germany defeated Russia in a series of battles collectively known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg (August 17–September 2). This diversion exacerbated problems of insufficient speed of advance from railheads not allowed for by the German General Staff. Originally, the Schlieffen Plan called for the right flank of the German advance to pass to the west of Paris. However, the capacity of rail and surface roads hampered the German supply train, allowing French and British forces to finally halt the German advance east of Paris at the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914, thereby denying the Central Powers a quick victory over France and forcing them to fight a war on two fronts. The German army had fought its way into a good defensive position inside France and had permanently incapacitated 230,000 more French and British troops than it had lost itself in the months of August and September. Yet staff incompetence and leadership timidity (such as Moltke the Younger needlessly transferring troops from the right to protect Sedan) cost Germany the chance for an early victory over France with its very ambitious war plan.

Africa and Pacific

In August 1914, French and British Empire forces invaded the German protectorate of Togoland in West Africa. Shortly thereafter, on August 10, German forces based in South-West Africa attacked South Africa. New Zealand occupied German Samoa (later Western Samoa) on August 30. On September 11, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of Neu Pommern (later New Britain), which formed part of German New Guinea. Japan seized Germany’s Micronesian colonies and the German coaling port of Qingdao, in the Chinese Shandong peninsula. Within a few months, the Allied forces had seized all the German territories in the Pacific. Sporadic and fierce fighting, however, continued in East Africa for the remainder of the war, as German forces recruited native soldiers and evaded capture.

Early stages

In the trenches: Infantry with gas masks, Ypres, 1917.

Trench warfare begins

Main article: Western Front (World War I)

Advances in military technology meant that defensive firepower outweighed offensive capabilities, making the war particularly murderous, as tactics had failed to keep up. Barbed wire was a significant hindrance to massed infantry advances; artillery, now vastly more lethal than in the 1870s, coupled with machine guns, made crossing open ground a nightmarish prospect. Germans began using poison gas in 1915, and soon, both sides were using gas. Neither side ever won a battle with gas, but it made life even more miserable in the trenches and became one of the most feared, and longest remembered, horrors of the war. Unfortunately, few drastic changes in tactics could have been made even if the military leaders of the time were open to them. The war saw the invention of tanks as another attempt to break the trench warfare stalemate. They were primarily used by the British and French, though the Germans used captured Allied tanks and a small number of their own design.

After the First Battle of the Marne, both Entente and German forces began a series of outflanking maneuvres to try to force the other to retreat, in the so-called Race to the Sea. Britain and France soon found themselves facing entrenched German positions from Lorraine to Belgium’s Flemish coast. Britain and France sought to take the offensive, while Germany defended occupied territories. One consequence was that German trenches were much better constructed than those of their enemy: Anglo-French trenches were only intended to be “temporary” before their forces broke through German defences. Some hoped to break the stalemate by utilizing science and technology. In April 1915, the Germans used chlorine gas, for the first time, which opened a 6 kilometer (4 mi) wide hole in the Allied lines when French colonial troops retreated before it. This breach was closed by allied soldiers at the Second Battle of Ypres (where over 5,000 mainly Canadian soldiers were gassed to death) and Third Battle of Ypres, where Canadian forces took the village of Passchendale with the help of allied powers.

On July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British Army saw the bloodiest day in its history, suffering 57,470 casualties and 19,240 dead. 800 soldiers of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment went into battle at Beaumont-Hamel in France. The next day, only 68 men answered the regimental role call. Like their British counterparts, the battle of Beaumont Hamel remained the bloodiest day in the history of Newfoundland until 1949 when it joined the Canadian Confederation. As a result of their heroism, the 1st Newfoundland Regiment were dubbed “The Royal Newfoundland Regiment”. Many historians agree that the Battle of Beaumont Hamel contributed greatly to the identity of Newfoundland.

Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next four years, though protracted German action at Verdun throughout 1916, and the Entente’s failure at the Somme, in the summer of 1916, brought the exhausted French army to the brink of collapse. Futile attempts at frontal assault—with a rigid adherence to unimaginative manoeuver—came at a high price for both the British and the French poilu (infantry) and led to widespread mutinies especially during the time of the Nivelle Offensive in the spring of 1917. News of the Russian Revolution gave a new incentive to socialist sentiments among the troops, with its seemingly inherent promise of peace. Red flags were hoisted, and the Internationale was sung on several occasions. At the height of the mutiny, 30,000 to 40,000 French soldiers participated.

Canadian troops advancing behind a tank at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Throughout 1915–17, the British Empire and France suffered far more casualties than Germany. However, while the Germans only mounted a single main offensive at Verdun, each failed attempt by the Entente to break through German lines was met with an equally fierce German counteroffensive to recapture lost positions. Around 800,000 soldiers from the British Empire were on the Western Front at any one time. 1,000 battalions, each occupying a sector of the line from the North Sea to the Orne River, operated on a month-long four-stage rotation system, unless an offensive was underway. The front contained over 9,600 kilometers (6,000 mi) of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for about a week before moving back to support lines and then further back to the reserve lines before a week out-of-line, often in the Poperinge or Amiens areas.

In the British-led Battle of Arras during the 1917 campaign, the only military success was the capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian forces under Sir Arthur Currie and Julian Byng. It provided the British allies with great military advantage that had a lasting impact on the war and is considered by many historians as the founding myth of Canada.

Southern theatres

Ottoman Empire

Main article: Middle Eastern theatre of World War I

The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October and November 1914, because of the secret Turko-German Alliance, which was signed in August 1914. It threatened Russia’s Caucasian territories and Britain’s communications with India and the East via the Suez canal. The British Empire opened another front in the South with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns. In Gallipoli, the Turks were successful in repelling the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) and forced their eventual withdrawal and evacuation. In Mesopotamia, by contrast, after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915–16), British Empire forces reorganised and captured Baghdad in March 1917. Further to the west in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, initial British failures were overcome when Jerusalem was captured in December 1917, and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, under Field Marshall Edmund Allenby, broke the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo in September 1918.

Russian armies generally had the best of it in the Caucasus. Vice-Generalissimo Enver Pasha, supreme commander of the Turkish armed forces, was a very ambitious man with a dream to conquer central Asia. He was not, however, a practical soldier. He launched an offensive with 100,000 troops against the Russians in the Caucasus in December of 1914. Insisting on a frontal attack against Russian positions in the mountains in the heart of winter, Enver lost 86% of his force at the Battle of Sarikamish.

The Russian commander from 1915 to 1916, General Yudenich, with a string of victories over the Ottoman forces, drove the Turks out of much of present-day Armenia, and tragically provided a context for the deportation and genocide against the Armenian population in eastern Armenia.

In 1917, Russian Grand Duke Nicholas assumed senior control over the Caucasus front. Nicholas tried to have a railway built from Russian Georgia to the conquered territories with a view to bringing up more supplies for a new offensive in 1917. But, in March of 1917 (February in the pre-revolutionary Russian calendar), the Czar was overthrown in the February Revolution and the Russian army began to slowly fall apart.

Italian participation

Main article: Italian Campaign (World War I)

Italy had been allied to the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires since 1882. Italy had its own designs against Austrian territory in the Trentino, Istria and Dalmatia, and maintained a secret 1902 understanding with France, which effectively nullified its alliance commitments. Italy refused to join Germany and Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the war because their alliance was defensive. The Austrian government started negotiations to obtain Italian neutrality in exchange for French territories (Tunisia), but Italy joined the Entente by signing the London Pact in April and declaring war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915; it declared war against Germany fifteen months later.

In general, the Italians had numerical superiority but were poorly equipped. The Italians went on the offensive to relieve pressure on the other Allied fronts and achieve their territorial goals. In the Trentino front, the Austro-Hungarian defence took advantage of the elevation of their bases in the mostly mountainous terrain, which was not suitable for military offensives. After an initial Austro-Hungaric strategic retreat to better positions, the front remained mostly unchanged, while Austrian Kaiserschützen and Standschützen and Italian Alpini fought bitter close combat battles during summer and tried to survive during winter in the high mountains. The Austro-Hungarians counterattacked in the Altopiano of Asiago towards Verona and Padua in the spring of 1916 (Strafexpedition), but they also made little progress.

Beginning in 1915, the Italians mounted 11 major offensives along the Isonzo river north of Trieste, known as the First through Eleventh Battles of the Isonzo. These attacks were repelled by the Austro-Hungarians who had the higher ground. In the summer of 1916, the Italians captured the town of Gorizia. After this minor victory, the front remained practically stable for over a year, despite several Italian offensives. In the fall of 1917, thanks to the improving situation on the Eastern front, the Austrians received large reinforcements, including German assault troops. The Central Powers launched a crushing offensive on October the 26th that was spearheaded by German troops and supported by the Austrians and Hungarians. The attack resulted in the victory of Caporetto: the Italian army was routed, but after retreating more than 100km, it was able to reorganise and hold at the Piave River. In 1918, the Austrians repeatedly failed to break the Italian line, and, decisively defeated in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, surrendered to the Entente powers in November.

War in the Balkans

Main article: Serbian_Campaign_(WWI)

Faced with the Russian threat, Austria-Hungary could spare only one third of its army for Serbia. After suffering tremendous losses, the Austrians briefly captured the Serbian capital, but Serb counterattacks succeeded in expelling the invaders from the country by the end of 1914. For the first 10 months of 1915. Austria used most of its spare armies to fight Italy. However, German and Austria diplomats scored a great coup by convincing Bulgaria to join in a new attack on Serbia.

The conquest of Serbia was finally accomplished in a little more than a month, starting on October 7, when the Austrians and Germans attacked from the north. Four days later the Bulgarians attacked from the east. The Serbian army, attacked from two directions and facing certain defeat, retreated east and south into Albania, and then by ship to Greece. In late 1915, a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece to offer assistance and to pressure the Greek government into war against the Central Powers. Unfortunately for the Allies, the pro-Allied Greek government of Eleftherios Venizelos was dismissed, by the pro-German King Constantine I, before the allied expeditionary force had even arrived.

The Salonica Front proved entirely immobile, so much so that it was joked that Salonica was the largest German prisoner of war camp. Only at the very end of the war were the Entente powers able to make a breakthrough, which was after most of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been removed, leaving the Front held by the Bulgarians alone. This led to Bulgaria’s signing an armistice on September 29, 1918.

Eastern Front

Initial actions

File:GermanTrenchNearTheMazuricLakesOnTheEasternFront.jpg

A German trench in the swamp area near the Mazuric Lakes on the Eastern Front. Picture taken in February 1915, just before the German winter offensive started in heavy snowstorms.

Main article: Eastern Front (World War I)

While the Western Front had reached stalemate in the trenches, the war continued in the east. The Russian initial plans for war had called for simultaneous invasions of Austrian Galicia and German East Prussia. Although Russia’s initial advance into Galicia was largely successful, they were driven back from East Prussia by the victories of the German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes in August and September 1914. Russia’s less developed industrial base and ineffective military leadership was instrumental in the events that unfolded. By the spring of 1915, the Russians were driven back in Galicia, and in May, the Central Powers achieved a remarkable breakthrough on Poland’s southern fringes, capturing Warsaw on August 5 and forcing the Russians to withdraw from all of Poland. This became known as the “Great Retreat” by the Russian Empire and the “Great Advance” by Germany.

Russian Revolution

Main article: Russian Revolution of 1917

Dissatisfaction with the Russian government’s conduct of the war grew despite the success of the June 1916 Brusilov offensive in eastern Galicia against the Austrians. The Russian success was undermined by the reluctance of other generals to commit their forces in support of the victorious sector commander. Allied and Russian forces revived only temporarily with Romania’s entry into the war on August 27: German forces came to the aid of embattled Austrian units in Transylvania, and Bucharest fell to the Central Powers on December 6. Meanwhile, internal unrest grew in Russia as the Tsar remained out of touch at the front. Empress Alexandra’s increasingly incompetent rule drew protests from all segments of Russian political life and resulted in the murder of Alexandra’s favorite Rasputin by conservative noblemen at the end of 1916.

Vladimir Lenin

In March 1917, demonstrations in St. Petersburg culminated in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the appointment of a weak Provisional Government, which shared power with the socialists of the Petrograd Soviet. This division of power led to confusion and chaos both on the front and at home, and the army became increasingly ineffective.

The war, and the government, became more and more unpopular, and the discontent led to a rise in popularity of the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, who were able to gain power. The triumph of the Bolsheviks in November was followed in December by an armistice and negotiations with Germany. At first, the Bolsheviks refused to agree to the harsh German terms, but when Germany resumed the war and marched with impunity across Ukraine, the new government acceded to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3 1918, which took Russia out of the war and ceded vast territories, including Finland, the Baltic provinces, parts of Poland and Ukraine to the Central Powers.

After the Russians dropped out of the war, the Entente no longer existed. The Allied powers led a small-scale invasion of Russia. The invasion was made with intent primarily to stop Germany from exploiting Russian resources and, to a lesser extent, to support the Whites in the Russian Revolution. Troops landed in Archangel (see North Russia Campaign) and in Vladivostok.

1917-18

In the trenches: A carrying party of the Royal Irish Rifles in a communications trench on the first day on the Somme, July 1 1916

Events of 1917 would prove decisive in ending the war, although their effects would not be fully felt until 1918. The British naval blockade of Germany began to have a serious impact on morale and productivity on the German home front. In response, in February 1917, the German General Staff (OHL) was able to convince Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg to declare unrestricted submarine warfare, with the goal of starving Britain out of the war. Tonnage sunk rose above 500,000 tons per month from February until July, peaking at 860,000 tons in April. After July, the reintroduced convoy system was extremely effective in neutralizing the U-boat threat, thanks to American experimentation. Britain was safe from the threat of starvation, and the German war industry remained deprived materially.

The decisive victory of Germany at the Battle of Caporetto led to the Allied decision at the Rapallo Conference to form the Supreme Allied Council at Versailles to coordinate plans and action. Previously British and French armies had operated under separate command systems.

In December, the Central Powers signed an armistice with Russia, thereby releasing troops from the eastern front for use in the west. Ironically, German troop transfers could have been greater if their territorial acquisitions had not been so dramatic. With both German reinforcements and new American troops pouring into the Western Front, the final outcome of the war was to be decided in that front. The Central Powers knew that they could not win a protracted war now that American forces were certain to be arriving in increasing numbers, but they held high hopes for a rapid offensive in the West using their reinforced troops and new infantry tactics. Furthermore, the rulers of both the Central Powers and the Allies became more fearful of the threat first raised by Ivan Bloch in 1899, that protracted industrialized war threatened social collapse and revolution throughout Europe. Both sides urgently sought a decisive, rapid victory on the Western Front because they were both fearful of collapse or stalemate.

Entry of the United States

Main article: American Expeditionary Force

President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in official relations with Germany on February 3 1917.

Original neutrality

America’s policy of insisting on neutral rights while also trying to broker a peace resulted in tensions with both Berlin and London. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson repeatedly warned that he would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, and the Germans repeatedly promised to stop. A proposal to Mexico to join the war against the Allies was exposed in February, bringing war closer. (See Zimmermann telegram). After further U-boat (German submarines) attacks on American merchant ships, Wilson requested that Congress declare war on Germany, which it did on April 6, 1917 (see: Woodrow Wilson declares war on Germany on Wikisource). The U.S. House of Representatives approved the war resolution 373-50, the U.S. Senate 82-6, with opposition coming mostly from German American districts. Wilson hoped war could be avoided with Austria-Hungary; however, when it kept its loyalty to Germany, the U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary in December 1917.

Although the American contribution to the war was important, particularly in terms of the threat posed by an increasing U.S. infantry presence in Europe, the United States was never formally a member of the Allies but an “Associated Power”. Significant numbers of fresh American troops arrived in Europe in the summer of 1918, and they started arriving at 10,000 per day.

Miscalculation

Germany miscalculated that it would be many more months before large numbers of American troops could be sent to Europe, and that, in any event, the U-boat offensive would prevent their arrival.

Navy

The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, several destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and several submarines to the Azores and to Bantry Bay, Ireland to help guard convoys. Several regiments of U.S. Marines were also dispatched to France. However, it would be some time before the United States would be able to contribute significant manpower to the Western and Italian fronts.

Infantry

The British and French wanted the United States to send its infantry to reinforce their troops already on the battlelines, and not use scarce shipping to bring over supplies. Thus the Americans primarily used British and French artillery, airplanes and tanks. However, General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Force (AEF) commander, refused to break up American units to be used as reinforcements for British Empire and French units (though he did allow African American combat units to be used by the French). Pershing ordered the use of frontal assaults, which had been discarded by that time by British Empire and French commanders as too costly in lives of their troops. To the astonishment of the Allies, the dispirited Germans broke and ran when the Americans came running, and the AEF suffered the lowest casualty rate of any army on the Western Front, with most recorded deaths being attributed to disease.

Another level 4 section

This section created to make the length of the ToC blatantly obvious.

German Spring Offensive of 1918

For most of World War I, Allied forces were stalled at trenches on the Western Front

Main article: Spring Offensive

German General Erich Ludendorff drew up plans (codenamed Operation Michael) for a 1918 general offensive along the Western Front. This Spring Offensive sought to divide the British Empire and French armies in a series of feints and advances. The German leadership hoped to strike a decisive blow against the enemy before significant United States forces could be deployed. Before the offensive even began, Ludendorff made what may have been a fatal mistake by leaving the elite Eighth Army in Russia and sending over only a small portion of the German forces from the east to aid the offensive in the west.

Operation Michael opened on March 21 1918, with an attack against British Empire forces near the rail junction at Amiens. Ludendorff’s intention was to split the British Empire and French armies at this point. German forces achieved an unprecedented advance of 60 kilometers (40 mi). For the first time since 1914, maneuvering was achieved on the battlefield.

British and French trenches were defeated using novel infiltration tactics. Up to this time, attacks had been characterized by long artillery bombardments and continuous-front mass assaults. However, in the Spring Offensive, the German Army used artillery briefly and infiltrated small groups of infantry at weak points, attacking command and logistics areas and surrounding points of serious resistance. These isolated positions were then destroyed by more heavily armed infantry. German success relied greatly on this tactic.

The front line had now moved to within 120 kilometers (75 mi) of Paris. Three super-heavy Krupp railway guns advanced and fired 183 shells on Paris, which caused many Parisians to flee the city. The initial stages of the offensive were so successful that German Kaiser Wilhelm II declared March 24 a national holiday. Many Germans thought victory was close; however, after heavy fighting, the German offensive was halted. The Germans had brilliant new stormtrooper, or Hutier tactics that avoided the trenches and sent small units on preplanned raids deep behind the lines to control and communication centers. That worked very well, but the Germans, lacking tanks or motorized artillery, were unable to consolidate their positions. The British and French learned that they had to fall back a few miles and the Germans would be disorganized and vulnerable to counterattack.

American divisions, which Pershing had sought to field as an independent force, were assigned to the depleted French and British Empire commands on March 28. A supreme command of Allied forces was created at the Doullens Conference, in which British Field Marshal Douglas Haig handed control of his forces over to Ferdinand Foch.

Following Operation Michael, Germany launched Operation Georgette to the north against the Channel ports. This was halted by the Allies with less significant territorial gains to Germany. Operations Blücher and Yorck were then conducted by the German Army to the south, broadly towards Paris. Next, Operation Marne was launched on July 15 as an attempt to encircle Reims, beginning the Second Battle of the Marne. The resulting Allied counterattack marked their first successful offensive of the war. By July 20, the Germans were back at their Kaiserschlacht starting lines, having achieved nothing. Following this last phase of the ground war in the West, the German Army never again held the initiative. German casualties between March and April 1918 were 270,000, including many of the highly trained stormtroopers. Their best soldiers were gone just as the Americans started arriving.

Meanwhile, Germany was crumbling internally as well. Anti-war marches were a frequent occurrence and morale within the army was at low levels. Industrial output had fallen 53% from 1913.

Allied victory: summer and autumn 1918

American engineers returning from the front during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in September 1918

Main articles: Hundred Days Offensive and Weimar Republic

The Allied counteroffensive, known as the Hundred Days Offensive began on August 8 1918. The Battle of Amiens developed with III Corps Fourth British Army on the left, the First French Army on the right, and the Canadian and Australian Corps spearheading the offensive in the centre. It involved 414 tanks of the Mark IV and Mark V type, and 120,000 men. They advanced as far as 12 kilometers (7 mi) into German-held territory in just seven hours. Erich Ludendorff referred to this day as “the Black Day of the German army”.

The offensive slowed and lost momentum due to supply problems. British units had encountered problems with all but seven tanks and trucks ran out of gas. On August 15, General Haig called a halt and began planning a new offensive in Albert. This Second Battle of the Somme began on August 21. Some 130,000 United States troops were involved, along with soldiers from Third and Fourth British Armies. It was an overwhelming success for the Allies. The Second German Army was pushed back over a 55 kilometer (34 mi) front. The town of Bapaume was captured on August 29 and by September 2, the Germans were on the Hindenburg Line, which was the starting point of the war.

The Allied attempt to take the Hindenburg Line (the Meuse-Argonne Offensive) began September 26, as 260,000 American soldiers went “over the top”. All divisions were successful in capturing their initial objectives, except the U.S. 79th Infantry Division, which met stiff resistance at Montfaucon and took an extra day to capture the objective.

By the start of October, it was evident that Germany could no longer mount a successful defense, let alone a counterattack. Numerically on the frontline they were increasingly outnumbered, with the few new recruits too young or too old to be of much help. Rations were cut for men and horses because the food supply was critical. Ludendorff had decided, by October 1, that Germany had two ways out of the War—total annihilation or an armistice. He recommended the latter to senior German officials at a summit on that very same day. During October, Pershing’s artillery continued to unrelentingly pound the exhausted and bewildered Germans, all along the Meuse-Argonne front. The Allied pressure did not let up until the end of the war.

Meanwhile, news of Germany’s impending military defeat had spread throughout the German Armed forces. The threat of general mutiny was rife. Naval commander Admiral Reinhard Scheer and Ludendorff decided to launch a last ditch attempt to restore the “valour” of the German Navy. Knowing any such action would be vetoed by the government of Max von Baden, Ludendorff decided not to inform him. Nonetheless, word of the impending assault reached sailors at Kiel. Many rebelled and were arrested, refusing to be part of a naval offensive which they believed to be nothing more than a suicide bid. It was Ludendorff who took the blame for this—the Kaiser dismissed him on October 26.

With power coming into the hands of new men in Berlin, further fighting became impossible. With 6 million German casualties, Germany moved toward peace. Prince Max von Baden took charge of the new German government. Negotiations for peace began immediately upon his appointment. In the matter of the German monarchy, he was torn between the idea of a constitutional monarchy—in which he himself was in line for the crown—or a republic. President Wilson demanded the abdication of the Kaiser and there was no resistance when the social democrat Philipp Scheidemann on November 9 declared Germany to be a republic. Von Baden then announced that the Kaiser was to abdicate, along with all other princes in the Reich. Imperial Germany was dead; a new Germany had been born: the Weimar Republic.

End of war

Start of the end of the war

Front page of the New York Times on Armistice Day, November 11 1918.

The collapse of the Central Powers came swiftly. Bulgaria was the first to sign an armistice (September 29 1918). Faced with the opening of a second front in the Austrian rear, Ludendorff and Hindenberg demanded that the government pursue a negotiated peace. On October 3, Germany and Austria-Hungary appealed to President Wilson for an immediate armistice. The sailors of Germany’s High Seas Fleet mutinied starting October 29, and rebellion quickly spread throughout western Germany. On October 30, the Ottoman Empire capitulated. On November 4, the Armistice with Austria was granted to take effect at three o’clock on the afternoon. Austria and Hungary signed separate armistices following the overthrow of the Habsburg monarchy and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Following the outbreak of the German Revolution, a republic was proclaimed on November 9, marking the end of the monarchy. The Kaiser fled the next day to the neutral Netherlands, which granted him political asylum (see Weimar Republic for details).

Armistice

On November 11, an armistice with Germany was signed in a railroad carriage at Compiègne in France where Germans had previously dictated terms to France, ending the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

End of the end of the war

At 11:00 on November 11 1918, a ceasefire came into effect and the opposing armies on the Western Front began to withdraw from their positions. Canadian George Lawrence Price is traditionally regarded as the last soldier killed in the Great War: he was shot by a German sniper and died at 10:58.

The very end closing the end of the end of the war

A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months until it was finally ended by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919 with Germany, and the following treaties with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and The Ottoman Empire signed at St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly and Sèvres respectively. However, the latter treaty with the Ottoman Empire was followed by strife (the Turkish Independence War) and a final peace treaty was signed between the Allied Powers and the country that would shortly become the Republic of Turkey, at Lausanne on July 24 1923.

Some war memorials date the end of the war as being when the Versailles treaty was signed in 1919; by contrast, most commemorations of the war’s end concentrate on the armistice of November 11 1918. Legally the last formal peace treaties were not signed until 1923.

Further information: World War I casualties

Economics and manpower issues

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased for three Allies (Britain, Italy, and U.S.), but decreased in France and Russia, in neutral Netherlands, and in the main three Central Powers. The shrinkage in GDP in Austria, Russia, France, and the Ottoman Empire reached 30 to 40 percent. In Austria, for example, most of the pigs were slaughtered and, at war’s end, there was no meat.

All nations had increases in the government’s share of GDP, surpassing fifty percent in both Germany and France and nearly reaching fifty percent in Britain. To pay for purchases in the United States, Britain cashed in its massive investments in American railroads and then began borrowing heavily on Wall Street. President Wilson was on the verge of cutting off the loans in late 1916, but with war imminent with Germany, he allowed a massive increase in U.S. government lending to the Allies. After 1919, the U.S. demanded repayment of these loans, which, in part, were funded by German reparations, which, in turn, were supported by American loans to Germany. This circular system collapsed in 1931 and the loans were never repaid.

One of the most dramatic effects was the expansion of governmental powers and responsibilities in Britain, France, the United States, and the Dominions of the British Empire. In order to harness all the power of their societies, new government ministries and powers were created. New taxes were levied and laws enacted, all of which were designed to bolster the war effort; many of which have lasted to this day.

At the same time, the war strained the abilities of the formerly large and bureaucratized governments such as in Austria-Hungary and Germany. Here, however, the long term effects were clouded by the defeat of these governments.

Families were altered by the departure of many men. With the death or absence of the primary wage earner, women were forced into the workforce in unprecedented numbers. At the same time, industry needed to replace the lost laborers sent to war. This aided the struggle for voting rights for women.

As the war slowly turned into a war of attrition, conscription was implemented in some countries. This issue was particularly explosive in Canada and opened a political gap between the French-Canadians—who claimed their true loyalty was to Canada and not the British Empire—and the English-speaking majority who saw the war as a duty to both Britain and Canada, and a way of demonstrating leadership and high contribution to the British Empire. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden pushed through a Military Service Act that caused the Conscription Crisis of 1917.

In Britain, rationing was finally imposed in early 1918 and was limited to meat, sugar and fats (butter and oleo), but not bread. The new system worked smoothly. From 1914 to 1918 trade union membership doubled, from a little over four million to a little over eight million. Work stoppages and strikes became frequent in 1917-18 as the unions expressed grievances regarding prices, liquor control, pay disputes, “dilution”, fatigue from overtime and from Sunday work, and inadequate housing. Conscription put into uniform nearly every physically fit man, six million out of ten million eligible in Britain. Of these, about 750,000 lost their lives and 1,700,000 were wounded. Most deaths were to young unmarried men; however, 160,000 wives lost husbands and 300,000 children lost fathers. [Havighurst p 134–5]

Technology

Nieuport Fighter, France 1917.

See also: Technology during World War I

The First World War began as a clash of 20th century technology with 19th century tactics and the inevitable appalling casualties. By the end of 1917, however, the major armies - now numbering millions of men - had modernized significantly and were making use of such technology as wireless communication, armoured cars, tanks, and tactical aircraft. The infantry was reorganized such that 100 man companies were no longer the main unit of maneuver in favour of the squad of 10 or so men under the command of a junior NCO. Artillery had also undergone a revolution; in 1914 cannons were sited in the front lines and firing over open sights directly at their targets; by 1917 indirect fire with guns (as well as mortars and even machine guns) was responsible for the majority of casualties inflicted, and counter-battery artillery missions became commonplace, using new techniques for spotting and ranging enemy artillery.

Much of the war’s combat involved trench warfare, where hundreds often died for each yard of land gained. Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during the First World War. Such battles include Ypres, Vimy Ridge, Marne, Cambrai, Somme, Verdun, and Gallipoli. Artillery was responsible for the largest number of casualties during the First World War. The war consumed vast quantities of explosives. During the war, the Haber process of nitrogen fixation was employed to provide the German forces with a continuing supply of powder for the ongoing conflict in the face of British naval control over the trade routes for naturally occurring nitrates.

There was chemical warfare and aerial bombardment, both of which had been outlawed under the 1907 Hague Convention, and both of which had extremely limited effects in tactical terms.

Chemical warfare was a major distinguishing factor of the war. Gases used ranged from tear gas to disabling chemicals such as mustard gas and killing agents like phosgene. Only a small proportion of total war casualties were caused by gas, but it achieved harassment and psychological effects. Effective countermeasures to gas were found in gas masks and hence in the later stages of the war, even as the use of gas increased, its effectiveness in creating casualties was quite limited.

Perhaps the most powerful weapons of the Great War were railway artillery. As the war progressed, military heavy-guns became increasingly larger. As each belligerent nation increased the firepower and range of its artillery, the other nations were required to respond likewise in order to prevent the technological superiority of any given military power. The naval guns of the day were the largest guns on the planet, and weighed hundreds of tons apiece. Thus, a method for transporting these guns was essential, and railroads became the favored means. The largest U.S., British, and French rail guns were severely outranged by the German Krupp, Max E, and Paris Guns.

Fixed-wing aircraft were first used militarily during the First World War. Initial uses consisted primarily of reconnaissance, though this developed into ground-attack and fighter duties as well. Strategic bombing aircraft were created principally by the Germans and British, though the former used Zeppelins to this end as well.

U-boats (submarines) were used in combat shortly after the war began. Alternating between restricted and unrestricted submarine warfare during the First Battle of the Atlantic, they were employed by the Kaiserliche Marine in a strategy of defeating the British Empire through a tonnage war. The deaths of British merchantmen and the invulnerability of U-boats led to the development of several countermeasures: depth charges (1916), hydrophones (passive sonar, 1917), blimps, hunter-killer submarines (HMS R-1, 1917), ahead-throwing weapons, and dipping hydrophones (both abandoned in 1918). To extend their operations, the Germans proposed supply submarines (1916). Most of these would be forgotten in the interwar period until World War II revived the need.

Trenches, the machine gun, air reconnaissance, barbed wire, and modern artillery with fragmentation shells helped stalemate the battle lines of World War I by making massed infantry attacks deadly for the attacker. The infantry was armed mostly with bolt action magazine rifles, but the machine gun, with the ability to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, blunted infantry attacks as an offensive doctrine. The British sought a solution and created the tank, and with it mechanized warfare. The first tanks were used during the Battle of the Somme on September 15 1916; mechanical reliability issues hampered their mobility but the experiment proved its worth as protection against enemy weapons, particularly the machine gun. Within a year the British were fielding tanks by the hundreds and showed their potential during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 by breaking the Hindenburg Line while combined arms teams captured 8000 enemy soldiers and 100 guns. Light automatic weapons were also introduced, such as the Lewis Gun and Browning Automatic Rifle, combining the firepower of the machine gun with the portability of the rifle.

Manned observation balloons floating high above the trenches were used as stationary reconnaissance points on the front lines, reporting enemy troop positions and directing artillery fire. Balloons commonly had a crew of two personell equiped with parachutes: upon an enemy air attack on the flammable balloon the balloon crew would parachute to safety. At the time, parachutes were too bulky to be used by pilots in airplanes, and smaller versions would not be developed untill the end of the war. Recognised for their value as observer platforms, Observation balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by large concentrations antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly airplanes. Blimps and balloons helped contribute to the stalemate of the trench warfare of World War I, and the balloons contributed to air to air combat among the aircraft to defend the skies for air superiority because of their significant reconnaissance value. The Germans conducted air raids during 1915 and 1916 on England and London with airships with the intent to damage the morale and will to fight of the British and to cause aircraft to be reassigned to England away from the front lines.

Another new weapon sprayed jets of burning fuel: flamethrowers. First used in war by the German army, and later adopted by other powers during WWI (it was invented prior to this, and simple models have existed since ancient times). Although not of high tactical value, they were a powerfull demoralizing weapon and caused much terror on the battle field. It was a dangerous weapon to wield as their heavy weight made operators vulnrable targets, and the fuel on their backs was highly flammable.

Aftermath

Main article: Aftermath of World War I

The First World War ended with Europe scarred by trenches, spent of its resources and littered with the bodies of the millions who died in battle. The direct consequences of World War I brought many old regimes crashing to the ground, and ultimately, would lead to the end of 300 years of European hegemony in the world.

Disapperance

No other war had changed the map of Europe so dramatically—four empires disappeared: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and the Russian. Three defunct dynasties, the Hohenzollerns, the Habsburg and the Romanovs, together with all their ancillary aristocracies, all fell during the war.

Versailles Treaty

The Versailles Treaty required Germany to pay enormous reparations, which it did by borrowing from the United States, until reparations were suspended in 1931. The “Guilt Thesis” became controversial in Britain and the United States. It caused enormous bitterness in Germany, which nationalist movements, especially the Nazis, exploited in the 1920s.

In the Australian and New Zealand popular minds, the First World War became known as the nation’s “baptism of fire”, as it was the first major war in which the newly established countries fought, and it is one of the first cases where Australian troops fought as Australians, not just subjects of the British Crown. Anzac Day (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) is thus held in great reverence by many Australians and New Zealanders.

Similarly, Anglo-Canadians believe that they proved they were their own country and not just subjects of the British Empire. Indeed, many Canadians refer to their country as a nation “forged from fire,” as Canadians were respected internationally as an independent nation from the conflagrations of war and bravery. Like their British counterparts, Canadians commemorate the war dead on Remembrance Day. However the French Canadians did not see it that way, creating a permanent chasm that continutes to split the country. See Conscription Crisis of 1917 for more details.

Social trauma

The experiences of the war led to a sort of collective national trauma afterwards for all the participating countries. The optimism of the 1900s was entirely gone and those who fought in the war became what is known as “the Lost Generation” because they never fully recovered from their experiences. For the next few years, much of Europe began its mourning; memorials were erected in thousands of villages and towns.

This social trauma manifested itself in many different ways. Some people were revolted by nationalism and what it had supposedly caused and began to work toward a more internationalist world, supporting organizations such as the League of Nations. Pacifism became increasingly popular. Others had the opposite reaction, feeling that only strength and military might could be relied upon for protection in a chaotic and inhumane world that did not respect hypothetical notions of civilization. “Anti-modernist” views were a reaction against the many changes taking place within society. The rise of Nazism and fascism included a revival of the nationalistic spirit of the prewar years and, on principle, a rejection of many postwar changes. Similarly, the popularity of the Dolchstosslegende was a testement to the psychological state of the defeated, as acceptance of the scapegoating mythos signified a rejection of the “lessons” of the war and therefore, a rejection of its popular resulting perspective. Certainly a sense of disillusionment and cynicism became pronounced, with Nihilism growing in popularity. This disillusionment towards humanity found a cultural climax with the Dadaist artistic movement. Many people believed that the war heralded the end of the world as they had known it, including the collapse of capitalism and imperialism. Communist and socialist movements around the world drew strength from this theory and enjoyed a level of popularity they had never known before. These feelings were most pronounced in areas directly or particularly harshly affected by the war, especially within Europe.

Other names

World War I has also been called “The Great War” (a title previously used to refer to the Napoleonic Wars) or sometimes “the war to end all wars” until World War II. The term “First World War”, implying an event distinct from a “Second World War” has fallen into disfavour by some scholars who regard World War I as merely the first phase of a three-decade-long war spanning the period 1914–1945.⁴ “War of the Nations” and “War in Europe” were commonly employed as descriptives in the 1920s.

Quotations

“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” —Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary, at the beginning of the war.

“Yesterday I visited the battlefield of last year. The place was scarcely recognisable. Instead of a wilderness of ground torn up by shell, the ground was a garden of wild flowers and tall grasses. Most remarkable of all was the appearance of many thousands of white butterflies which fluttered around. It was as if the souls of the dead soldiers had come to haunt the spot where so many fell. It was eerie to see them. And the silence! It was so still that I could almost hear the beat of the butterflies' wings”. —a British officer, 1919.

“The First World War killed fewer victims than the Second World War, destroyed fewer buildings, and uprooted millions instead of tens of millions - but in many ways it left even deeper scars both on the mind and on the map of Europe. The old world never recovered from the shock”. —Edmond Taylor, in “The Fossil Monarchies”

“Soldiers! Heroes! The supreme command has erased our regiment from its records. Our regiment has been sacrificed for the honor of Belgrade and the Fatherland. Therefore, you no longer have to worry for your lives - they do not exist anymore. So, forward to glory! For King and Homeland! Long live the king! Long live Belgrade!” —Major Dragutin Gavrilovic, to defenders of Belgrade in First World War

Picture of John McCrae who wrote the famous poem In Flanders Fields. McCrae died in 1918 from pneumonia and meningitis while serving in a hospital in France.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
—Canadian lieutenant colonel John McCrae, from the poem “In Flanders Fields”

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
—Wilfred Owen, from Anthem for Doomed Youth

“Gott strafe England” was a common slogan of the German Army, which means “May God punish England”.

“In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth”. —Siegfried Sassoon in 'Memoirs of an Infantry Officer'.

“In war there are three courses of action open to the enemy, and he usually chooses the fourth”. —General Helmuth von Moltke'.

“We will support Britain to the last man and the last shilling”. —Andrew Fisher, Australian Prime Minister at the outbreak of the war.

Movies, novels, poetry

in chronological order

• In Flanders Fields (1915) poem by John McCrae [6]
• Le Feu (or Under Fire) (1916) novel by Henri Barbusse
• Over The Brazier (1916), poems by Robert Graves
• Dulce et Decorum Est (1917) poem by Wilfred Owen
• Storm of Steel, autobiography of Ernst Junger. First published 1920 and revised several times through 1961
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), movie directed by Rex Ingram based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
• Three Soldiers (1921) novel by John Dos Passos
• The Good Soldier Švejk (1923) satirical novel by Jaroslav Hašek
• Mare Nostrum (1926), movie directed by Rex Ingram based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
• Journey's End (1928), play written by R. C. Sherriff
• All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), novel written by Erich Maria Remarque
• No Man's Land (Green Fields of France) by Eric Bogle
• Death of a Hero (1929) novel by Richard Aldington
• A Farewell to Arms, (1929) novel by Ernest Hemingway
• Goodbye to All That, (1929) autobiography of Robert Graves
• All Quiet on the Western Front (film) (1930), movie directed by Lewis Milestone
• Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, novel by Siegfried Sassoon (1930)
• Sergeant York (1941), movie directed by Howard Hawks
• Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) directed by Michael Curtiz
• Paths of Glory (1957), movie directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb (1935)
• The Blue Max (1966), movie directed by John Guillermin
• Johnny Got His Gun (1971), movie directed by Dalton Trumbo
• Gallipoli (1981), movie directed by Peter Weir
• Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), TV, created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson
• Regeneration (1997), movie directed by Gillies MacKinnon based on the novel by Pat Barker (1991)
• The Lost Battalion (2001), movie and screenplay directed by Russell Mulcahy
• A Very Long Engagement (2004), movie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• All the King's Men, movie about the Sandringham Company at the Dardanelles

See also

• List of World War I veterans
• British military rifles

Media

Bombers of WWI: Video clip of allied bombing runs over German lines.

WWI-era French and British tanks.

References

Reference books

• Higham, Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. Researching World War I: A Handbook (2003)
• Pope, Stephen and Wheal, Elizabeth-Anne, eds. The Macmillan Dictionary of the First World War (1995)
• Tucker, Spencer, ed. The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, and Military History (5 vol 2005), online at eBook.com
• Tucker, Spencer, ed. European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1999)

Overviews

• Buchan, John. A History of the Great War (1922). 4 Vols
• Carver, Michael, Field Marshal Sir. War Lords. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976 Includes brief bios of Hamilton, Foch, Haig, von Falkenhayn
• Cassar, George H. Kitchener's War: British Strategy from 1914 to 1916 (2004)
• Cruttwell, C. R. M. F. A History of the Great War, 1914-1918 (1934)], British perspective
• Falls, Cyril. The Great War (1960), the classic history from the 1960s.
• Ferguson, Niall The Pity of War (1999)
• Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 (1996)
• Howard, Michael. The First World War (2002)
• Hubatsch, Walther. Germany and the Central Powers in the World War, 1914-1918 (1963)
• Keegan, John. The First World War (1999). Very readable history by the famous living military historian.
• Liddell Hart, B. H., The Real War 1914-1918, (1930).
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. Passage Through Armageddon: The Russians in War and Revolution, 1914-1918 (1986)
• Lyons, Michael J. World War I: A Short History (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall, 1999.
• Morrow Jr., John H.. The Great War: An Imperial History (2003)
• Robbins, Keith. The First World War (1993)
• Stokesbury, James. A Short History of World War I (1981)
• Strachan, Hew The First World War: Volume I: to arms (2004)' the major scholarly synthesis. Thorough coverage of 1914
• Winter, J. M. The Experience of World War I (2nd ed 2005)

Causes and diplomacy

• Evans, R. J. W., and Hartmut Pogge Von Strandman, eds. The Coming of the First World War (1990), essays by scholars from both sides
• Gilpin, Robert. War and Change in World Politics Cambridge University Press, New York: 1981.
• Hamilton, Richard F. and Holger H. Herwig. Decisions for War, 1914-1917 (2004)
• Henig, Ruth The Origins of the First World War (2002)
• Joll, James. The Origins of the First World War (1984)
• Kennedy, Paul M. (ed.). The War Plans of the Great Powers, 1880-1914. (1979)
• Kennedy, Paul M. The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860-1914 (1981)
• Knutsen, Torbjørn L. The Rise and Fall of World Orders Manchester University Press, 1999.
• Lee, Dwight E. ed. The Outbreak of the First World War: Who Was Responsible? (1958), readings from multiple points of view
• Ponting, Clive. Thirteen Days: Diplomacy and Disaster - The Countdown to the Great War (2002)
• Stevenson, David. Cataclysm: The First World War As Political Tragedy (2004) major reinterpretation
• Stevenson, David. The First World War and International Politics (2005)

Intelligence

• Beesly, Patrick. Room 40 London: Hamish Hamilton, 1982. Covers the breaking of German codes by RN intelligence, including the Turkish bribe, Zimmermann telegram, and failure at Jutland.
• Kahn, David. The Codebreakers Scribners, 1996. Covers the breaking of Russian codes and the victory at Tannenberg.
• David Kahn The Reader of Gentlemen's Mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the Birth of American Codebreaking (2004)
• Tuchman, Barbara W. The Zimmermann Telegram (1966)

USA and Canada at war

• Beaver, Daniel R. Newton D. Baker and the American War Effort, 1917-1919 (1966)
• Chambers, John W., II. To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America (1987)
• Coffman, Edward M. The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I (1998)
• Hallas, James H. Doughboy War: The American Expeditionary Force in World War I (2000)
• Holley, I. B. Ideas and Weapons: Exploitation of the Aerial Weapon by the United States During World War I(1983)
• Howarth, Stephen. To Shining Sea: A History of the United States Navy, 1775-1991 (1991)
• Hurley, Alfred F. Billy Mitchell, Crusader for Air Power (1975)
• Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1982)], covers politics & economics & society
• Koistinen, Paul. Mobilizing for Modern War: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1865-1919
• Milner, Marc, Prof. Canadian Military History. Toronto: Copp Clark Putnam, 1993. Includes problems of Canadian recruiting and the 1917 draft crisis (with its problems over Quebec)
• Morton, Desmond, and J. L. Granatstein Marching to Armageddon: Canadians and the Great War 1914-1919 (1989)
• Slosson, Preston William. The Great Crusade and after, 1914-1928 (1930). U.S. social history
• Trask, David F. The United States in the Supreme War Council: American War Aims and Inter-Allied Strategy, 1917-1918 (1961)
• Venzon, Anne ed. The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1995)
• Wade, Mason. The French Canadians, 1760-1945 (1955), ch 12
• Wynn, Neil A. From Progressivism to Prosperity: World War I and American Society (1986)

Europe: economic and social

• Broadberry, Stephen and Mark Harrison, eds. The Economics of World War I (2005) ISBN 0-521-85212-9. Covers France, UK, USA, Russia, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Netherlands
• Hardach, Gerd. The First World War 1914-1918 (1977), economics
• Eric Osborne. Britain's Economic Blockade of Germany, 1914-1919 (2004)
• Stubbs, Kevin D. Race to the Front: The Materiel Foundations of Coalition Strategy in the Great War (2002)
• Shotwell, James T. Economic and Social History of the World War (1924)
• Turner, John, ed. Britain and the First World War (1988)
• Winter, J. M. The Experience of World War I (2nd ed 2005)
• Winter, J. M. Capital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin, 1914-1919 (1999)

Infantry and specialty military topics

• Bidwell, Shelford, and Dominick Graham. Firepower: British Army Weapons and Theories of War, 1904-1945 (1992)
• Gudmundsson, Bruce I. Stormtroop Tactics: Innovation in the German Army, 1914-1918 (1989)
• Herwig, Holger H. Operation Michael: The “Last Card” 2001 German Spring Offensive in 1918
• Albert G. Love, War Casualties (1931) online statistics and how compiled for U.S. Army
• Messenger, Charles. Call To Arms: The British Army 1914-1918 (2005) (ISBN 0297846957), recruitment, training, supplying of officers & men
• Sheffield, G. D. Leadership in the Trenches: Officer-Man Relations, Morale and Discipline in the British Army in the Era of the First World War (2000)
• Smith, Leonard V. Between Mutiny and Obedience. The Case of the French Fifth Infantry Division during World War I (1994)
• Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August, tells of the opening diplomatic and military manoeuvres

New weapons: air, tank, gas, submarine

• Haber, L. F. The Poisonous Cloud: Chemical Warfare in the First World War (1986);
• Palazzo, Albert. Seeking Victory on the Western Front: The British Army and Chemical Warfare in World War I (2000)
• Lawson, Eric and Jane Lawson. The First Air Campaign, August 1914-November 1918 (1996)
• Kennett, Lee B. The First Air War, 1914-1918 (1992)
• Morrow, John. German Air Power in World War I. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982. Contains design and production figures, as well as economic influences.
• Winter, Denis. First of the Few. London: Allen Lane/Penguin, 1982. Coverage of the British air war, with extensive bibliographical notes.
• John Abbatiello. Anti-Submarine Warfare in World War I: British Naval Aviation and the Defeat of the U-Boats (2005)
• Gray, Edwyn A. The U-Boat War, 1914-1918 (1994)
• van der Vat, Dan. The Atlantic Campaign Harper & Row, 1988. Connects submarine and antisubmarine operations between wars, and suggests a continuous war.
• Fuller, J.F.C. Tanks in the Great War 1920.
  • Guderian, Heinz. Achtung! Panzer (2003 from 1937 edition) Panzer Leader (1952) is revised on the basis of wartime experience.

Popular books and documentaries

• Keegan, John. The First World War (1999)
• Taylor, A. J. P. The First World War: An Illustrated History, Hamish Hamilton, 1963
• Editors of American Heritage. History of WWI. Simon & Schuster, 1964. popular
• Johnny Got His Gun (1939) by Dalton Trumbo
• Strachan, Hew ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War, a collection of chapters from various scholars
• Toland, John. No Man's Land. 1918 - The Last Year of the Great War (1980)
• The Great War, television documentary by the BBC.
• Aces: A Story of the First Air War, written by George Pearson, historical advice by Brereton Greenhous and Philip Markham, NFB, 1993. Argues aircraft created trench stalemate

Notes

• ^Note 1 : October 30, 1918 in Herbert Hoover, Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson p 47
• ^Note 2 : “Warm Water Friendship” Time Magazine, November 14, 1955 <http://www.time.com/time/archive/printout/0,23657,823942,00.html> (membership required) See also: http://www.historyhome.co.uk/europe/russia1.htm
• ^Note 3 : Citino, Robert. The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich
• ^Note 4 : Gilpin, p 200; Knutsen, p.6–7; Tammem, p.51–52; Rasler & Thompson, p 4

External links

• A Guide to World War I Materials at the Library of Congress
• Chronology World War I World History Database
• A multimedia history of World War One
• The War to End All Wars on BBC
• “The Heritage of the Great War” with numerous pictures (many in color!)
• Royal Engineers Museum The Royal Engineers and the First World War
• GenealogyBuff.com — World War I Casualty Reports for the U.S. Army 1918

Maps

• The British Army in the Great War
• The French Army in the Great War
• World War I — Wars And Battles
• Fighting the Hun in the Great War
• Encyclopedia of the First World War
• Trenches on the Web
• Online World War I Records & Indexes
• World War I Document Archive
• The Medical Front WWI

Commentaries

• World War I Naval Combat
• Wanted! 500 000 Canadians for WWI — Illustrated Historical Essay
• Memoirs of the Great War — A personal account in diary format of one man’s experiences throughout the Great War
• War diaries of TF Littler A personal account, war postcards and propaganda comic postcards

Images

• Casualties of the First World War
• Dardanelles Report 1915
• Mediatheque Autochromes — French site with many color photographs from WWI
• The World War I Years — NVR’s Film & Discussion Series in Public Libraries
• WWW-VL: Military History: The Great War 1914-1918

Postcards

• WWI links
• Chailey 1914-1918 - A Sussex community's response to the First World War

Another random section added for fun