World War I:Part 1
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[[fr:Premi�re Guerre mondiale]][[sv:F�rsta v�rldskriget]]
World War I was a war in which many nations were fighting, in different parts of the world. Therefore it is called a "world" war. It lasted from 1914 to 1918. Later there was another one. It was called World War II. Before this second war the people did not know that there would be another one. Therefore the first one was called "The Great War" or "the war to end all wars".
The war started after Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was killed by a terrorist from Serbia. It happened in Sarajevo. However, there are more reasons that the war started. It is rather complicated.
The countries of Europe were linked and divided by a web of alliances. After the Assasination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria sent an (almost impossible) ultimatum to Serbia. When the Serbs failed to meet this ultimatum, Austria declared war. Russia, which wanted to protect the Slavic states, was drawn in, as was Germany, who had promised support to the Austrians. The involvement of Russia brought France into the war. Germany had a plan to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance. First, it would defeat the French. Mainly France, Russia ), The delays from the resistance of the Belgians, French and British forces and the unexpectedly rapid mobilisation of the Russians upset the German plans, and the Central Powers were forced to fight a war on two fronts. The Ottoman Empire joined the "Central Powers" (Mainly Germany and Austria-Hungary)some months later. In 1917 Italy and the United States joind the Allies
The public view of war in 1914 was almost "romantic", and its declaration was met with great enthusiasm by many people. The common view was that it would be a short war of "manoeuvre" with a few sharp actions (to "teach the enemy a lesson") and would end with a victorious entry into the capital (the enemy capital, naturally) then home for a victory parade or two and back to "normal" life. There were some pessimists (like Lord Kitchener) who predicted the war would be a long haul, but "everyone knew" the War would be "Over by Christmas".....
The First World War was different from prior military conflicts. This time, millions of soldiers fought on all sides and many, many people died, mostly because of the more efficient weapons (like Artillery and machine guns) that were used in large quantities against old tactics. Although the First World War led to the development of air forces, tanks (which weren't used before at all) and new tactics (like the rolling barrage), much of the action took place in trenches, where thousands died for each square meter of land. The armies of the First World War also used chemical warfare, which was later banned when its true effects were seen on soldiers.
Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred in this war. See Ypres?, Marne?, Cambrai?, Somme?.
Perhaps the most important event caused by the hardship of the war was the Russian Revolution. Socialist? and Communist? uprisings also occurred in many other European countries, starting in 1917, notably in Germany.
The war ended on 1918, but its consequences were long lasting. The treaty of Versailles, that put official end to the war, along with heavy reparations to be paid by Germany, included a clause to create a League of Nations, an international organization that should prevent a new war. The US senate, however, never ratified the treaty, despite the campaigning by the US president, Woodrow Wilson, originator of the idea.
The experiences of the war led to a sort of "trauma" for all the participating countries. The optimism of 1900 was gone, and those who fought in the war became known as "the [Lost Generation]?" because they never fully recovered.
World War I or The First World War, 1914 - 1918, was the first war that involved nations spanning more than half the globe, hence world war.
It was commonly called "The Great War" or sometimes "the war to end wars" until World War II started, although the name "First World War" was coined as early as 1920 by Lt-Col � Court Repington in The First World War 1914-18.
Some scholars write of the First World War as merely the first phase of a 30-year-long war spanning the period 1914 - 1945.
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Diplomatic origins
Though triggered by the assassination (June 28, 1914) of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia at the hands of a pro-Serbian nationalist assassin (a Bosnian Serb student named Gavrilo Princip), the war's origins lie in the complex relations of the European powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 had brought not only the establishment of a powerful and dynamic German Empire , but also a legacy of animosity between France and Germany following the latter's annexation of the formerly French territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Under the political direction of her first Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, Germany secured her new position in Europe by an alliance with Austria-Hungary and a diplomatic understanding with Russia.
The accession (1888) of Emperor Wilhelm II brought to the German throne a young ruler determined to direct policy himself, despite his rash diplomatic judgment. After the 1890 elections, in which the centre and left parties made major gains, and due in part to his disaffection at inheriting the Chancellor who had guided his grandfather for most of his career, Wilhelm engineered Bismarck's resignation.
Much of the fallen Chancellor's work was undone in the following decades, as Wilhelm failed to renew the arrangement with Russia, presenting republican France with the opportunity to conclude (1891-94) a full alliance with the Russian Empire. Worse was to follow, as Wilhelm undertook (1897-1900) the creation of a German navy capable of threatening Britain's century-old naval mastery, prompting the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale of 1904 and its expansion (1907) to include Russia.
Rivalry among the powers was exacerbated from the 1880s by the scramble for colonies which brought much of Africa and Asia under European rule in the following quarter-century. Even the once hesitantly imperialistic Bismarck became an advocate of overseas Empire, adding to Anglo-German tension as German acquisitions in Africa and the Pacific threatened to impinge upon British strategic and commercial interests. Wilhelm's support for Moroccan independence from France, Britain's new strategic partner, provoked the Tangier Crisis of 1905. During the Second Moroccan or Agadir Crisis (1911), a German naval presence in Morocco tested the Anglo-French coalition once again.
A key ingredient in the emerging diplomatic powder-keg was the growth of powerful nationalist aspirations among the Balkan states, which each looked to Germany, Austria-Hungary or Russia for support. The rise of anti-Austrian circles in Serbia following a 1903 palace coup contributed to a further crisis in 1908 over Austria's unilateral annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, German pressure forcing a humiliating climbdown on the part of a Russia weakened (1905) by defeat at the hands of Japan and subsequent revolutionary disorder
Alarm at Russia's unexpectedly rapid recovery after 1909 fuelled feeling among German ruling circles in favour of a pre-emptive war to break alleged Entente "encirclement" before Russian rearmament could tip the strategic balance decisively against Germany and Austria-Hungary. By 1913 both France and Germany were planning to extend military service, while Britain had entered into a naval convention and military discussions with France during the previous year.
The outbreak
Austrian regional security concerns grew with the near-doubling of neighbouring Serbia's territory as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. Franz Ferdinand's assassination in June 1914 provided the opportunity sought by some Austrian leaders for a reckoning with the smaller Slav kingdom. The Sarajevo conspirators were alleged by the Austro-Hungarian authorities to have been armed by the shadowy Black Hand, a pan-Serb nationalist grouping with links to Serbian ruling circles.
With German backing, Austria-Hungary, acting primarily under the influence of Foreign Affairs Minister Leopold von Berchtold, sent an effectively unfulfillable 15-point ultimatum to Serbia (July 23, 1914), to be accepted within 48 hours. The Serbian government agreed to all but one of the demands. Austria-Hungary nonetheless broke off diplomatic relations (July 25) and declared war (July 28) through a telegram sent to the Serbian government.
The Russian government, which had pledged in 1909 to uphold Serbian independence in return for Serbia's acceptance of the Bosnia annexation, mobilized its military reserves on July 30 following a breakdown in crucial telegram communications between Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas II, who was under pressure by his military staff to prepare for war. Germany demanded (July 31) that Russia stand down her forces, but the Russian government persisted, as demobilization would have made it impossible to re-activate its military schedule in the short term. Germany declared war against Russia on (August 1) and, two days later, against the latter's ally France.
The outbreak of the conflict is often attributed to the alliances established over the previous decades - Germany-Austria-Italy vs. France-Russia; Britain and Serbia being aligned with the latter. In fact none of the alliances was activated in the initial outbreak, though Russian general mobilization and Germany's declaration of war against France were motivated by fear of the opposing alliance being brought into play.
Britain's declaration of war against Germany (August 4) was officially the result not of her understandings with France and Russia (Britain was technically allied to neither power), but of Germany's invasion of Belgium, whose independence Britain had guaranteed to uphold (1839), and which stood astride the planned German route for invasion of Russia's ally France.
The first battles
Germany's plan (named the Schlieffen plan) to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance involved delivering a knock-out blow to the French and then turning to deal with the more slowly mobilized Russian army. The German plan involved demanding free passage across Belgium. When this was denied, Germany invaded, occupying Luxembourg rapidly but encountering resistance before the forts of the Belgian city of [[Li�ge]]. Britain sent an army to France, which advanced into Belgium.
The delays brought about by the resistance of the Belgians, French and British forces and the unexpectedly rapid mobilization of the Russians upset the German plans. Russia attacked in East Prussia, diverting German forces intended for the Western Front, allowing French and British forces to halt the German advance on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914) as the Central Powers (the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires) were forced into fighting a war on two fronts.
The spread of war
1914:
- July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia;
- August 1, Germany declared war on Russia;
- August 2, German troops occupied Luxembourg;
- August 3, Germany declared war on France;
- August 4 -
- August 23, Japan declared war on Germany.
- September of 1914 a Unity Pact was signed by France, Britain, and Russia;
- November 1-5, Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
1915:
- May 23, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary;
- October: Bulgaria entered the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
1916
1917:
- February 24 - United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Walter H. Page, was given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which German Empire offered to give the American Southwest back to Mexico if Mexico would declare war on the United States
- April 6, the United States declared war on Germany;
- August 14, China declared war on Germany.
Entry of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October - November 1914, threatening Russia's Caucasian territories and Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez canal. British action opened another front in the South with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamia campaigns, though initially the Turks were successful in repelling enemy incursion. But in Mesopotamia, after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915-16), the British reorganized and captured Baghdad in March 1917. Further to the west in Palestine, initial British failures were overcome with Jerusalem being captured in December 1917 and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Edmund Allenby going on to break the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo (September 1918).
Italian Participation
Italy, since 1882 notionally allied to the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires but with her own designs against Austrian territory in South Tyrol, Istria and Dalmatia, and a secret 1902 understanding with France effectively nullifying her alliance commitments, joined the Allies in May 1915, declaring war against Germany fifteen months later. Italian action along the Austrian border pinned down large numbers of enemy troops, though the crushing German-Austrian victory of Caporetto (October 1917) temporarily eliminated Italy as a major threat.
The Fall of Serbia
After repulsing three Austrian invasions in August-December 1914, Serbia fell to combined German, Austrian and Bulgarian invasion in October 1915. Serbian troops continued to hold out in Albania and Greece, where a Franco-British force had landed to offer assistance and to pressure the Greek government into war against the Central Powers.
Early stages: from romanticism to the trenches
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| Louvain, Belgium, 1915 |
Recruitment to the British army during WW I
The Trenching Begins
After their initial success on the Marne, Entente and German forces began a series of outflanking manoeuvres to try to force the other to retreat, in the so-called Race to the Sea. France and Britain soon found themselves facing entrenched German positions from Lorraine to Belgium's Flemish coast. The sides took set positions, the French and British seeking to take the offensive while the Germans sought to defend the territories they had occupied. One consequence of this was that the German trenches were much better constructed than those of their enemy: the Anglo-French trenches were only intended to be 'temporary' before their forces broke through the German defences. Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next four years, though protracted German action at Verdun (1916) and Allied failure the following spring brought the French army to the brink of collapse as mass desertions undermined the front line.
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Around 800,000 soldiers from Britain and the Empire were on the Western Front at any one time, 1,000 battalions each occupying a sector of the line from Belgium to the Arne and operating a month-long four stage system, unless an offensive was underway. The front contained over 6,000 miles of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for around a week before moving back to support lines and then the reserve lines before a week out-of-line, often in the Poperinge or Amiens areas.
The Somme and Passchendaele
Both the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele (1917) also on the Western Front resulted in enormous loss of life on both sides but minimal progress in the war. It is interesting to note that, when the British attacked on the first day of the battle of the Somme, and lost massive amounts of men to a continuous hail of machine-gun fire, they did succeed in gaining some ground. This caused the German command to order its soldiers to re-take this ground, which resulted in similar losses for the Germans. Hence, instead of a lopsided engagement, with only British soldiers attacking, which would have resulted in large amounts of casualties only for the British, the volume of attacks was rather evenly distributed, which caused even distribution of the casualties.
Poison Gas
Not even an initially devastating array of new weapons achieved the required victory: poison gas (first used by the Germans on Russian soldiers without much success in battle of Bolimow on January 1, 1915; more often quoted as first use is the attack on Canadian soldiers at Ypres on April 22, 1915); liquid fire, introduced by the Germans at Hooge on July 30, 1915); and armoured tanks (first used by the British on the Somme on September 15, 1916) each produced initial panic among the enemy, but failed to deliver a lasting breakthrough.
Use of poison gas in World War I
Aircraft and U-Boats
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Military aviation achieved rapid progress, from the development of (initially primitive) forward-firing aerial machine-guns by the German air force in the autumn of 1915 to the deployment of bombers against London (July 1917): more dramatic still, at least for Britain, was the use of German submarines (U-boats, from the German Unterseeboote) against Allied merchant shipping in proscribed waters from February 1915. Germany's decision to lift restrictions on submarine activity (February 1, 1917) was instrumental in bringing the United States into the war on the side of the Allies (April 6). The sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania was a particularly controversial "kill" for the U-boats.
The Eastern Front and Russia
While the Western Front had reached stalemate in the trenches, the war continued to the east.
German Victories 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 economic and military organisation soon proved unequal to the combined might of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. In 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.
Russia unsettled
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, when Russian success was undermined by the reluctance of other generals to commit their forces in support of the victorious sector commander. Allied fortunes 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, while the Empress's increasingly incompetent rule drew protests from all segments of Russian political life, resulting in the murder of Alexandra's favourite Rasputin by conservative noblemen at the end of 1916.
Continued at World War I:Part 2
References
- Richard Doughty. 2005. Pyrrhic Victory. Belknap Press. ISBN 06740188X.
- Ian Ousby. 2002. The Road to Verdun. Anchor Books. ISBN 0385721730.
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "World War I" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I August 11, 2003
- The Simple English Wikipedia article, "World War I" http://simple.wikipedia.com/wiki.cgi?action=edit&id=World_War_I August 11, 2003
