...When most people are asked what they think of when they visualize a battlefield on the Western Front during World War 1, they’ll usually talk to you of the static trench-warfare, or the several-year long stalemate, which resulted in millions of casualties for mere miles of ground. What few actually know, though, is that at least initially, the Western Front was a mobile war. It wasn’t until late October and mid-November of 1914, that the German and Allied armies developed their notorious defensive trench systems, for which the war would immortalize. The reasons for the development of trench-warfare were due both to the massive casualties sustained in frontal assaults, and the relative inability to counter such modern inventions as the machine-gun and improved rifled artillery. To have a better understanding of how and why the Western front devolved into the trench-dwelling war of attrition that it’s become famous for, we must first explore the tactics used in the years previous, and in the first few months of the First World War. The leading military leaders of the Allied and Central powers in the years prior to 1914, and even years afterward, were heavily influenced by the tactical genius of the early 19th century General, Napoleon. They believed that if war were to come to Europe again, though it would be a costly affair, it would be won through flanking maneuvers and supported and screened by horse-cavalry, as had been the case in the Napoleonic Wars and the later Franco-Prussian...
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...French border. Germany then invades Belgium to attack France. Britain declares war on Germany: Britain protests the violation of Belgium's neutrality, and is guaranteed by a treaty. The German Chancellor says that the treaty is just a scrap of paper, and the United Kingdom declares war on Germany. Battle of Tannenberg: The Battle of Tannenberg was a right between Russia and Germany in the year 1914, and resulted in the suicide of Russian commanding General, Alexander Samsonov, and a German victory....
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...history books, The Battle of Somme is considered a turning point that eventually brought about the end of The Great War, the First World War. It came at a staggeringly high cost to both sides. In terms of casualties, it was the single bloodiest battle during the war, lasting over a period of 4 months. Overconfidence in the precursor artillery bombardment to lighten the German defenses before the main offensive, and poor execution of fires, ratcheted up the number of casualties the British would sustain before the Somme Offensive came to a conclusion several months later. This paper examines the pre battle preparations, the battle itself, and the aftermath of the battle, with a particular focus on the artillery’s role and effectiveness...
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...WW1 Significant events Many battles were fought in World War 1 and many lessons were learnt. Whether it is the advancements of technology or the new war tactics. Three of these kind of events stand out: the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, which is important as its failure influenced many countries who participated in the battles. The battle of Verdun which was the longest battle in WW1. And finally the US entering the war which, although happened towards the end of the war, influenced the battles and the decision making around the war. After the examination of these events, the most influential event of WW1 will be established and further proved to be the significant turning point in WW1. The first turning point in World War 1 is the British Campaign at Gallipoli in 1915. This campaign was important because it improved the morale of the British public, it allowed grain to more easily flow to Russia, and it kept Russia in the war, which was needed in order for the Allies to win. On November 25th 1914, Winston Churchill suggested his plan for a new war front in the Dardanelles to the British government’s War Council. On January 15th 1915, the War Council gave its agreement and British troops in Egypt were put on alert. The Central Powers were fighting primarily on two fronts – the Western and Eastern Fronts. Creating another front would force the Germans to split their army still further as they would need to support the badly rated Turkish army. When the Germans went to assist...
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...defensive war. How new defensive weaponry began the transformation of warfare in World War I. Finally, defensive tactics used in trench warfare limited the mobility of the offensive attack. II Prior to World War I the European...
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...Stephen Kosaka Professor Jacob Jones HIST 157, Term 2 3 December 2006 WWI: The Battle of Meuse-Argonne World War 1 had begun in 1914, in response to an assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand who was the heir to the throne of Austria. He was assassinated by a Serbian terrorist that triggered the countries of Austria, France, Germany, Russia, and Serbia to declare war between each other. France was soon invaded by the Germans who were trying to capture the city of Paris, and eventually were pushed back by the resilient forces of the French Armies. With the fierce fighting between the two countries and numerous other battles that has taken place, the United States eventually entered the war in 1917 due to the “Zimmerman note” and several sinking of U.S. cargo ships. Was the battle of the Meuse-Argonne necessary for the stability of the European nation? What was the American’s role in accomplishing peace in the region? The American allies, both the French and British, presumed that the U.S. was not able to muster, train, and equip a large force to effectively fight the enemy. The French’s plan was to try and bolster their sagging morale from all the fighting that they requested an American Division be sent to show their support in the war. The French offered to help train but were cautious because they wanted the Americans to eventually have their own army. The British on the other hand wanted the Americans to be trained, equipped and integrated with the British...
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...Introduction The First World War went down in history as one of the worst wars ever to be fought, owing to the magnitude of destruction and loss of life it left in its wake. The war started in 1914 ending in 1919, and has been described variously as the Great War, the War of Nations and the War to End All Wars. (Dwight E, 1966) It was fought by many nations around the world, with Europeans being the main players, and is very significant for the way it shaped the continents years after it ended. Many explanations for the possible causes of the war have been given, some of which have been accepted while others have been disputed. The war was fought in a series of battles fought at different locations at different times and involved over 65million men. This paper discusses the genesis, chronology of events during the war, the main players, the casualties and the implication of the war on modern history. The Genesis, Main Players, Events, Casualties and Implications First of all, it is thought that competition among the major European powers was an ingredient in fuelling the war. This was so especially between Britain and Germany, who were competing to have the most powerful navy in the world. All parties were building up large armies and navies, and from this there emerged a professional and powerful class of military officers. At one point, Germany had a well trained, large army that could match the entire army of Great Britain. This led to emergence of tension in Europe, which...
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...The Second Battle of the Marne marked the turning of the tide in World War I. It began with the last German offensive of the conflict and was quickly followed by the first allied offensive victory of 1918 (In Viereck & In Maerker-Branden, 1929). Although US troops assumed mainly a support role in this action, the battle came to be known as the beginning of the end for Germany. 85,000 US troops participated, with 12,000 casualties, gaining the praise of not only their own officers, but the French and British commanders as well. In the Second Battle of Marne with 30,000 killed and wounded, the United States started suffering casualties on the enormous scale usually associated with the battles of the Great War (Coffman, 1968). In late May, the German high command had ordered a major offensive from the Chemin des Dames northeast of Paris towards the River Marne threatening both Paris and the Paris - Verdun rail link (Dupuy, 1956). The 2nd and 3rd divisions of the AEF helped defend along the Marne on either side of the river town of Chateau Thierry. What resulted was a rounded bulge in western front thirty miles wide at the base, extending south about 25 miles to its apex right at Chateau Thierry (In Viereck & In Maerker-Branden, 1929). With American encouragement, a plan evolved to eliminate this salient with a two pronged assault from the west and south. In July, when it became clear that the Germans would renew their assault in the area, a decision was made to absorb the assault...
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...Before the First World War, the Franco-Prussian War died out a year after it started in 1870 along with its old tactics and its use of weaponry bayonets, cannons, and horses for mobility. France faced defeat, once again, controlled by the Prussian (what is known today as Germany) regime run by the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The old ways of warfare were becoming obsolete. The laborers of the Allied forces helped to supplement the need to resupply on innovative equipment used during the First World War; the equipment was never utilized in the past, which changed the standard mindset of how war was to be fought. The change of warfare devastated the world and altered how war was fought in the modern world; technology and industrial advances...
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...WORLD WAR I Era Bella: growing tension between powers, as a result of economic globalization and the rise of colonialism 1882 Triple Alliance: linking Germany with Austria-Hungary and Italy, to maintain the beneficial state for Germany. Weltpolitik: world hegemony policy driven by William II, after acceding to the throne in 1888 and in 1890 to dismiss the Chancellor Bismark • Withdrawal from Russia in 1890 to renew the Reinsurance Treaty. • Confrontation with Britain by economic competition and German shipbuilding plans. • Creation of a Franco-Russian alliance 1893: military assistance in case of war against Germany. • The Entente Cordiale in 1904 Franco-British • Anglo-Russian Agreement 1907 (Persia, Afghanistan (England), Tibet) • Finally, the formation of the Triple Entente to counteract this policy 1.1. The transformations of the new century and the conflicts between the powers. Emergence of USA and Japan, which retention passage of a European to a global. • Spanish-American War 1898: conflict between USA and Spain, the latter losing the Cuban island, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam • 1905 Russian-Japanese War: Russian aggression ultimately led to the British-Japanese alliance in 1902 which led to the aforementioned war, winning Japan. As a result Russia turned its attention to the Balkans, leads to clash with Astro-Hungary. 1.2. The Road to War 1905-1914 Balkans: • Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina October 5, 1908 (United...
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...n late June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. An escalation of threats and mobilization orders followed the incident, leading by mid-August to the outbreak of World War I, which pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire (the so-called Central Powers) against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Japan (the Allied Powers). The Allies were joined after 1917 by the United States. The four years of the Great War–as it was then known–saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction, thanks to grueling trench warfare and the introduction of modern weaponry such as machine guns, tanks and chemical weapons. By the time World War I ended in the defeat of the Central Powers in November 1918, more than 9 million soldiers had been killed and 21 million more wounded. WORLD WAR I BEGINS (1914) Though tensions had been brewing in Europe–and especially in the troubled Balkan region–for years before conflict actually broke out, the spark that ignited World War I was struck in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot to death along with his wife by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie set off a rapid chain of events: Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident...
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...About World War I "Total War I: The Great War" by John Bourne The First World War was truly ‘the Great War’. Its origins were complex. Its scale was vast. Its conduct was intense. Its impact on military operations was revolutionary. Its human and material costs were enormous. And its results were profound. The war was a global conflict. Thirty-two nations were eventually involved. Twenty-eight of these constituted the Allied and Associated Powers, whose principal belligerents were the British Empire, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, and the United States of America. They were opposed by the Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. The war began in the Balkan cockpit of competing nationalisms and ancient ethnic rivalries. Hopes that it could be contained there proved vain. Expansion of the war was swift. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914; Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany declared war on France on 3 August and invaded Belgium. France was invaded on 4 August. German violation of Belgian neutrality provided the British with a convenient excuse to enter the war on the side of France and Russia the same evening. Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on 6 August. France and Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary six days later. The underlying causes of these events have been intensively researched and debated. Modern scholars are less inclined to allocate blame for the outbreak of war than...
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...walls of the trenches was thick, deep, gluey mud. The trenches were infested with rats and lice which fed off of the dead bodies of soldiers. Due to the mass amounts of deaths that occurred in the trenches, a putrid stench of blood and rotting bodies is all that could be smelt. The rats were oversized and spread diseases throughout the trenches and the lice resulted in many soldiers getting trench fever. The damp, freezing cold environment of these trenches also led to trench-foot which is a condition similar to frostbite that sometimes caused the soldiers to get gangrene or to amputate their foot/feet. While in the trenches, all the soldiers could hear was the frightening sound of crashing explosions and shells flying through the air. Because of this, it was very hard to sleep. The trenches were also extremely crowded, as well. Sometimes, men in the trenches would be buried alive - as high explosive shells would fall upon the dugouts. In the trenches, soldiers spent all of their time doing nothing but eating, sleeping (despite all the noise), and crouching behind their rifles. Trench warfare involved a lot of random shelling and sniping. Because it was nearly impossible for the soldiers to protect themselves against these attacks, the soldiers were always extremely stressed out and exhausted. The daily struggle of surviving in the trenches contributed to this as well. Along the Western Front, dozens to hundreds of Canadian soldiers were killed and injured every...
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...soldiers were able to predict the type of incoming enemy ordnance before they exploded. Hence, a third detrimental consequence of untruthful mass war propaganda is known injuries, such as blindness and deafness caused by long-term exposure to artillery explosions. The senses of vision and hearing are required for human survival and needed by youth to earn an education and perform certain jobs. Exposure to artillery attacks is silent among war propaganda media as it would undoubtedly frighten the recruitment of healthy youthful people. The Battle of Verdun was the longest and bloodiest battle of WWI and lasted 300 days (Andrews). Ultimately, both sides fired 40 to 60 million artillery shells. With this in mind, Owen writes, “…deaf even to the hoots” (7) as how accustomed these soldiers have become to artillery bombardments. During WWI, artillery usage was most prominent since infantry soldiers were hunkered down in extensive trench networks as a means of protection against machine guns (Andrews). Constant artillery barrages inflicted severe casualties and induced psychological fear among soldiers. For this reason the mental condition of PTSD, also known as shell shock during WWI, caused invisible permanent emotional scars for life. The utter emotional terror that soldiers experience from war is a fourth detrimental consequence of mass propaganda misrepresentation. War can destroy the behavioral health of once healthy people to the point of rendering them emotionally...
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...British Mark I, was designed in 1915 and first saw combat at the Somme in September 1916. The French soon followed suit with the Renault FT, which established the classic tank look (turret on top). Despite their later prowess in tank combat in WWII, the Germans never got around to large-scale tank production in WWI, although they did produce 21 tanks in the unwieldy A7V model. 2. FLAMETHROWERS Although the Byzantines and Chinese used weapons that hurled flaming material in the medieval period, the first design for a modern flamethrower was submitted to the German Army by Richard Fiedler in 1901, and the devices were tested by the Germans with an experimental detachment in 1911. Their true potential was only realized during trench warfare, however. After a massed assault on enemy lines, it wasn’t uncommon for enemy soldiers to hole up in bunkers and dugouts hollowed into the side of the trenches. Unlike grenades, flamethrowers...
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