World War I, also known as (before 1939) the Great War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End All Wars, was a world conflict lasting from August 1914 to the final Armistice (cessation of hostilities) on November 11, 1918. The Allied Powers (led by the British Empire and France, and, after 1917, the United States) defeated the Central Powers (led by the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire), and led to the collapse of four empires and a radical change in the map of Europe. The Allied powers are sometimes referred to as the Triple Entente, and the Central Powers are sometimes referred to as the Triple Alliance.
World War I is infamous for the protracted stalemate of trench warfare 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. 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.
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 had earlier predicted the outcome of economic imperialism, or unlimited competition for expanding markets, would lead to a global military conflict in his 1902 book entitled 'Imperialism' he predicted large banking interests in the various capitalist-imperialist powers would pull the strings in the various governments and lead them into the war. Related to the idea of economic "shadow forces" working behind the scenes to escalate the conflict, was a thesis, particularly popular in the U.S., that various arms dealers and military industries had led the Great Powers into the war, this is the so-called "Merchants of Death" thesis. However, in the context of the period, it is unclear how these industries had a direct and specific influence on policy-making, and how this sector of the economy was more influential than other industrial and trade sectors, which would presumably be damaged through disrupted trade flows and the loss of markets by a large-scale global war.
In addition, related to economic imperialism was American Admiral Mahan's influential thesis that (intense) economic rivalry between states inevitably leads to war. In the context of the social-Darwinistic spirit of the times, economic and military conflict between "races" or nationalities was seen to be inevitable by many military leaders, and the prestige of attaining to or preserving world power was an important consideration for politicians not only for relative international power considerations but domestic satisfaction ones. The civilian leaders of the European powers found themselves facing a wave of nationalist zeal. Frantic diplomatic efforts to mediate the Austrian-Serbian quarrel simply became irrelevant, as public opinion (and elite opinion) in key countries demanded war to uphold national honor.
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On 8 August 1914 a combined French and British Empire force invaded the German
protectorate of Togoland in West Africa. Shortly thereafter, on August 10, German forces based in South-West Africa attacked South Africa, part of the British Empire. Another British Dominion, New Zealand, occupied German Samoa (later Western Samoa) on 30 August; 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. Within a few months, the Entente forces had driven out or had accepted the surrender of all German forces in the Pacific. Sporadic and fierce fighting, however, continued in Africa for the remainder of the war.
In Europe, 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. Rather than invading eastern France directly, German planners deemed it prudent to attack France from the north. To do so, the German army had to march through Belgium. Germany demanded free passage from the Belgian government, promising to treat Belgium as Germany's firm ally if the Belgians agreed. When Belgium refused, Germany invaded and began marching through Belgium anyway, after first invading and securing Luxembourg. Britain sent an army to France (the British Expeditionary Force, or BEF), which advanced into Belgium.
Initially the Germans had great successes in the Battle of the Frontiers (14-24 August 1914). However, the delays brought about by the resistance of the Belgian, French and British forces; the unexpectedly rapid mobilization of the Russians; and overly-ambitious objectives upset the German plans. Russia attacked in East Prussia, diverting German forces intended for the Western Front. Germany defeated Russia in a series of battles collectively known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg (17 August 2 September). This diversion exacerbated problems of insufficient speed of advance from railheads, not allowed for by the German General Staff, allowed French and British forces to finally halt the German advance on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914) and the Entente forced the Central Powers into fighting 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, as Ludendorff had needlessly transferred troops from the right to protect Sedan, cost Germany the chance for an early knockout.
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In 1914, The common view on both sides was that it would be a short war of manoeuvre, with a few sharp actions and would end with a victorious entry into the enemy capital, then home for a victory parade or two and back to "normal" life. Many thought it would have finished by Christmas of that year. Spurred on by propaganda and nationalist fervor, many eagerly joined the ranks in search of adventure. Few were prepared for what they actually encountered at the front.
Advances in military technology meant that defensive firepower out-weighed 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. General Staffs of European armies had uniformly ignored the lessons of the U.S. Civil War and were often indifferent to massive loss of life (British General Haig's diaries are particularly striking in this respect; due to poor tactics most advances were calamitous, e.g. at Somme British casualties amounted to 420.000). By 1915 both sides were using poison 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. Bad weather was another calamity: in 1917 many British troops simply drowned in the mud of Flanders amidst torrential rain.
After the First Battle of the Marne, both 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. 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, opening a four mile wide hole in the Allied lines when French colonial troops retreated before it. This breach was closed by Canadian soldiers at both the Second Battle of Ypres and Third Battle of Ypres, (where over 5000 Canadian soldiers were gassed to death), earning German respect.
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 more frontal assaults, at terrible cost to the French infantry, led to mutinies which threatened the integrity of the front line, after the Nivelle Offensive in spring of 1917. News of the Russian Revolution gave a new incentive to socialist sentiments among the troops. Red flags were hoisted and the Internationale was sung on several occasions.
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Throughout 1915-17, the British Empire and France suffered many more casualties than Germany, but both sides lost millions of soldiers to injury and disease. 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 6,000 miles of trenches. Each battalion held its sector for around a week before moving back to support lines and then further back to the
reserve lines before a week out-of-line.
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October-November 1914, due to
the secret Turko-German Alliance signed in August 1914, threatening 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 ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), forcing 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 with Jerusalem being captured in December 1917 and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force,under Field Marshall Edmund Allenby, going on to break the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo in September 1918. On the whole, ‘peripheral’ eastern strategy of W.Churchill was hardly effective; ironically it was repeated almost to the letter during WWII.
Events of 1917 would prove decisive in ending the war, although their effects would not be fully felt until 1918. The Entente's 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) were 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 newly introduced convoy system was extremely effective in neutralizing the U-boat threat. Britain was safe from the threat of starvation.
The decisive victory of Germany at the Battle of Caporetto led to the Entente decision at the Rapallo Conference to form the Supreme Allied Council at Versailles to co-ordinate plans and action. Previously British Empire 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.
Although the American contribution to the war was important, particularly in terms of the threat posed by an increasing US infantry presence in Europe, the United States was never formally a member of the Entente, but an "Associated Power." Significant numbers of American troops only arrived in Europe in the summer of 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 and 120,000 men. The Entente forces advanced as far as twelve kilometres into German- held territory in just seven hours. Erich Ludendorff referred to this day as "the Black Day of the German army". However, after a few days, the offensive had slowed down 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 km front. By September 2, the Germans were on the Hindenburg Line, 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 was unable to progress on the first day of the battle. This failure allowed the Germans to recover and regroup. Montfaucon was captured on 27 September; however, failure to take it the day before proved to be one of the most costly mistakes of the entire campaign.
By the start of October, it was evident that things were not going according to plan for the Allies. Many tanks were once again breaking down, and those actually operable were rendered useless due to impassable terrain. Regardless of this, 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.
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 Sevres respectively. Many war memorials date the end of the war as being when the Versaille treaty was signed, 1919; by contrast, most commemorations of the war's end concentrate on the Armistice of 1918; however, the formal ending of all hostilities was not until 1923.
Major problems the country faced right after the war were:
· Demobilization;
· Inflation;
· A slump in the areas bought under government control during the war, i.e. coal industry;
· Reduction of governmental revenue;
· Ireland;
· Foreign affairs (intervention in Russia and sentiment for the ‘Reds’).
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased for the main Allies (the UK, 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. 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 the UK. To pay for purchases in the US, the UK cashed in its massive investments in American railroads, then began borrowing heavily on Wall Street. 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 US government lending to the Allies. After 1919, the US 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 designed to bolster the war effort, many of which have lasted to this day. The aftermath of World War I saw the last major extension of British rule, with Britain gaining control through League of Nations Mandates in Palestine and Iraq (British League of Nations Trust Territory of Iraq) after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, as well as in the former German colonies of Tanganyika, South-West Africa (now Namibia) and New Guinea (the last two actually under South African and Australian rule respectively). But although Britain emerged among the war's victors, and her rule expanded into new areas, the heavy costs of the war undermined her capacity to maintain the vast empire. The British had suffered millions of casualties and liquidated assets at an alarming rate, which led to debt accumulation, upending of capital markets and manpower deficiencies in the staffing of far-flung imperial posts in Asia and the African colonies. Nationalist sentiment grew in both old and new Imperial territories, fuelled by pride at Empire troops' participation in the war and the grievance felt by many non-white ex-servicemen at the racial discrimination they had encountered during their service to the Empire.
The 1920s saw a rapid transformation of Dominion status. Although the Dominions had had no formal voice in declaring war in 1914, each was included separately among the signatories of the 1919 peace Treaty of Versailles, which had been negotiated by a British-led united Empire delegation. In 1922 Dominion reluctance to support British military action against Turkey influenced Britain's decision to seek a compromise settlement.
Full Dominion independence was formalised in the 1926 Balfour Declaration and the 1931 Statute of Westminster: each Dominion was henceforth to be equal in status to Britain herself, free of British legislative interference and autonomous in international relations. The Dominions section created within the Colonial Office in 1907 was upgraded in 1925 to a separate Dominions Office and given its own Secretary of State in 1930.
Canada led the way, becoming the first Dominion to conclude an international treaty entirely independently (1923) and obtaining the appointment (1928) of a British High Commissioner in Ottawa, thereby separating the administrative and diplomatic functions of the Governor-General and ending the latter's anomalous role as the representative of the head of state and of the British Government. Canada's first permanent diplomatic mission to a foreign country opened in Washington, DC in 1927: Australia followed in 1940.
Egypt, formally independent from 1922 but bound to Britain by treaty until 1936 (and under partial occupation until 1956) similarly severed all constitutional links with Britain. Iraq, which became a British Protectorate in 1922, also gained complete independence ten years later in 1932.
India started a party called the National Indian Congress back in 1885; due to political efforts of Mahatma Gandi and Jawaharlal Neru India got a measure of self-governing in the 20s; 5 mln of the wealthiest were given the vote; in the province of education, health and public works ministers could now be Indians.
In 1919 Irish guerrillas, known as the Irish Republican Army under the leadership of General Michael Collins began a military campaign against British rule called the Anglo-Irish War. The war ended in 1921 with a stalemate that resulted in the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The treaty divided Ireland into two states, most of the island (26 counties) became the Irish Free State an independent dominion nation within the British Commonwealth; while the six counties in the north with a largely loyalist, Protestant community remained a part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. Eire was never satisfied that it didn’t control Ulster; it took no part in the Commomwealth and remained neutral during WWII.
At the outbreak of the war, it was a widely held belief that the war would usher in a new age of humanity. In reality, the war failed to deliver on both sides. For combatants and non-combatants alike, the war had been justified for reasons that future generations simply would not be able to understand without seeing the war in the context of the "spirit of 1914". Instead of feeling jubilation, the victors entered a period of mourning. 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 which saw the war as a duty to both Empire 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.
The First World War was a clash of 20th century technology with 19th century tactics. This time, millions of soldiers, both volunteers and conscripts fought on all sides, with Kitchener's Army being a notable all volunteer force. Much of the war's combat involved trench warfare, where hundreds often died for each metre 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 First World War also saw the use of chemical warfare and aerial bombardment, both of which had been outlawed under the 1907 Hague Convention. 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, as the use of gas increased, in many cases its effectiveness was diminished.
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.Tanks were introduced in World War I by the British and created mechanized warfare that dominated the rest of the 20th century. The first tank was nicknamed Mother. The first use of tanks was during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916. This was not as successful as intended, but as a start the tanks proved their value against the machine gun. 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. Within a year the British were fielding tanks by the hundreds and showed their potential during the Battle of Cambrai, in November 1917, breaking the Hindenburg Line while capturing 8000 enemy and 100 artillery guns.
Dirigible balloons were used as stationary reconnaissance points on the front lines. The Germans conducted air raids during 1915 and 1916 on England and London with dirigible balloons with the intent of damaging the morale and will to fight of the British and cause aircraft to be reassigned to England away from the front lines. Dirigible balloons were part of the new found aerial warfare of World War I.
In Australian and New Zealand popular legend, the First World War is known as the nation's "baptism of fire", as it was the first major war which the newly established countries fought, and is one of the first cases where Australian troops fought as Australians, not just subjects of the British Empire. 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, 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.
The experiences of the war led to a sort of collective national trauma afterwards for all the participating countries. 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. "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." – wrote Edmond Taylor, in "The Fossil Monarchies". This social trauma manifested itself in many different ways. Some people were revolted by nationalism and what it had caused and began to work toward a more internationalist world through 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 on for protection in a chaotic and inhumane world that did not respect hypothetical notions of civilization. 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. The most noteable phenomenon in art was ‘Bloomsbury Groop’ with the remarkable ‘stream of consciousness’ novels. In general art of the classes and masses grew further apart. Many people believed that the war heralded the end of the world as they had known it, including the collapse of capitalism and imperialism. Working class developed its own values, culture and entertainment – there appeared workers’ clubs and libraries; also ‘Co-op’ credit base. There appeared mass cultural icons of the movie entertainment – like Charlie Chaplin or Mary Pickford.
Conscription brought people of many different classes, and also people from all over the empire, together and this mixing was seen as a great leveller which would only accelerate social change after the war. Major industries were returned to private hands; the government began a consistent financial policy to ensure an eventual return to the gold standard. This would entail a deflationary approach with a steady contraction of the note issue.
The social reforms of the last century continued into the 20th with the Labour Party being formed in 1900, but this did not achieve major success until the 1922 general election. Lloyd George said after the First World War that "the nation was now in a molten state", and his Housing Act 1919 would lead to affordable council housing which allowed people to move out of Victorian inner-city slums. There appeared over 200.000 publically built houses.The slums, though, remained for several more years, with trams being electrified long before many houses. The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave women householders the vote, but it would not be until 1928 that equal suffrage was achieved (women aged 30 and above were given the vote). In 1918 elementary education was made free. There appeared improved medical arrangements, better conditions for children and old people; Medical Research Council which was later turned into a new Ministry of Health.
A short lived post-war boom soon lead to a depression that would be felt worldwide. Particularly hardest hit were the north of England and Wales, where unemployment reached 70% in some areas. In rural areas the population steadily declined; prices for farm products fell. Unemployment was a general phenomenon: it afflicted shipbuilding, steel, coal-mining, shipping and textiles. The General Strike was called during 1926 in support of the miners and their falling wages, but little improved, the downturn continued and the Strike is often seen as the start of the slow decline of the British coal industry. In 1936 200 unemployed men walked from Jarrow to London in a bid to show the plight of the industrial poor, but the Jarrow March, as it was known, had little impact and it would not be until the coming war that industrial prospects improved. Why were the depressed areas so bad? Firstly, they contained the older export industries and many countries found alternative sources of supply during the war. Import duties worsened the position. Secondly, government actions were unimaginative and failed to get at the root of the problem: the Unemployment Act of 1934 took into account family income and savings; the careful and the thrifty were penalized – they didn’t get unemployment benefits while drunks and idlers did – they naturally didn’t have any savings or ‘assets’. It was not uncommon to see almost new bicycles, prams left in the dumps – the inspectors could otherwise consider them ‘assets’ which proved the family got enough means and didn’t need state support. Employers were not compelled to move into depressed areas either. What really helped from 1936 onward was the rearmament program. For the South and Midlands, however, this was a time for growing contentment and prosperity.
WWI, the after war years feed-back tasks. Note: the questions are meant to provide kind of a rough plan for your examination answer; you are welcome to rearrange them in a more suitable way.
1. Name countries of the a) Triple Entente;
b) Triple Alliance.
2. Which explanations are given as to the reasons of WWI? What other reasons could be given?
3. Find on the map and show zones of colonial hostilities.
4. Explain what is ‘Shieffen Plan’; why did it fail?
5. Dwell upon European warfare; what made this war different from all the previous ones? Comment upon coordination, effectiveness and staff competence. Write out places of major battles. Explain what is ‘a war of attrition’.
6. What was the role of Ottoman Empire in the conflict?
7. Write out dates you consider most important for the period. What happened?
8. Name major problems GB faced after the Armstice and sum up the way they were dealt with.
9. Sum up tranformation of the Dominion Status; why was it so rapid? Which countries gained independence?
10. Name nations that consider WWI ‘Baptism of fire’; name nations that suffered psychological trauma after the war; how did the trauma manifest itself?
11. Speak about social reforms of the 20-s.
12. What is ‘depression’? Why was it so bad?
13. Supply English equivalents for the following: урегулировать конфликт, некомпетентность командования, колючая проволока, пулеметы, субмарины, отравляющие газы, окопы,осколочные снаряды, отступление, морская блокада, прекращение огня, война на истощение (изнурение), разведка, нехватка персонала, экономический спад, ценные бумаги(имущество). Learn the glossary.