Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 137.205.8.xxx (talk) at 03:31, 1 December 2001 (Fixed quotation mark typo). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

World War I was the first war that involved nations spanning more than half the globe, hence "world" war. It lasted from 1914 to 1918 and was called "The Great War" or "the war to end all wars" until World War II started.

Origins of War

Ostensibly, the triggering event for the war was the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo by a Serbian-backed terrorist (a student fanatic named Gavrilo Princip), but the real reasons were far more complex.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe had a delicate balance of power, which was destroyed by the death of Queen Victoria and the decommissioning of German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. All the major European powers were linked and divided by a web of treaties, alliances and "understandings".

After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent an effectively impossible ultimatum to Serbia, and when the Serbs failed to meet this ultimatum, Austria declared war. Russia, which saw itself as "protector of the Slavic states," partially mobilized. Germany, allied by treaty to Austria-Hungary, warned Russia that they should stand down, and Russia did not heed Germany's warnings. The involvement of Russia brought France into the game.

Germany had a plan to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance which involved delivering a knock-out blow to the French and then turning to deal with the more slowly mobilised Russians. The German plan involved demanding free passage across Belgium and Luxembourg. When this was denied, they simply invaded. This brought Great Britain in to support the 'Entente' (primarily France and Russia). The delays brought about by the resistance of the Belgians, French and British forces and the unexpectedly rapid mobilisation of the Russians upset the German plans. Russia attacked in East Prussia and destroyed several cities. Germany and Austria, together with Pilsudski from Poland, fought against the Russians. The Central Powers (primarily Germany and Austria-Hungary) were forced into fighting a war on two fronts.

The Ottoman Empire joined the "Central Powers" some months later, threatening communications with India and the East via the Suez canal, which opened another front in the South with the Galipoli (1915) and Messopotamian campaigns.

In 1917 Italy and, later, the United States joined the Allies.

Early stages: from romanticism to the trenches

The perception 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...."

Timeline

(significant events here?)

End of the War

The war ended on 1918, but its consequences were long lasting. The Treaty of Versailles put an official end to the war. The treaty required that Germany pay heavy /reparations, and included a clause that would create a League of Nations, an international organization that should prevent a new war. The U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty, however, despite Woodrow Wilson's campaign to support the treaty and his idea for a League of Nations. The U.S. instead sought a separate peace with Germany in order to avoid joining the League.

Distinguishing features of this War

The First World War was different from prior military conflicts: it was a meeting of twentieth century technology with nineteenth century mentality and tactics. This time, millions of soldiers fought on all sides and the casualties were enormous, 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 ,and new tactics (like the rolling barrage), much of the action took place in the trenches, where thousands died for each square metre of land. The First World War also saw the use of chemical warfare, and aerial bombardment, both of which had been outlawed under the 1909 Hague Convention. The effects of gas warfare were to be long lasting, both on the bodies of its victims (many of whom, having survived the war, continued to suffer in later life) and on the minds of a later generation of war leaders (Second World War) who, having seen the effects of gas warfare in the Great War, were reluctant to use it for fear that the enemy would retaliate and might have better weaponry.

Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred in this war. See Ypres, Marne, Cambrai, Somme, Verdun, Gallipoli.

Aftermath

Revolutions: Perhaps the single most important event precipitated by the privations of the war was the Russian Revolution. Socialist and explicitly Communist uprisings also occurred in many other European countries from 1917 onwards, notably in Germany.

As a result of the Bolsheviks revolting in Russia, German, Austrian and Poland's Pilsudski forces defeated the Russian armies, and the new communist government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk in March 1918. In that treaty, Russia renounced all claims to Couronia, Livonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Finland, and Poland (which had been a province of Russia).

Influenza pandemic: A separate, but related event was the great influenza pandemic. A new strain of Influenza, originating in the U.S.A. (but misleadingly known as "Spanish Flu") was accidentially carried to Europe with the American forces. The disease spread rapidly through the both the continental U.S. and Europe, spreading, eventually, around the globe. The exact number of deaths is unknown, but in excess of 30 million people worldwide is not an overestimate.

Social trauma: The experiences of the war lead to a sort of collective national trauma afterwards for all the participating countries. The optimism of 1900 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.

Geopolitical consequences: Approximately 25 percent of the land of the German Empire was taken by the western allies and given to various countries. The largest confiscated part of Germany was given to Poland; this part was called the "Polish Corridor" because of its access to the sea. In addition the western powers helped Poland gain another huge chunk of land in Ukraine.

Other countries were also cut severely. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken into many pieces. Austria changed from a monarchy to a republic. Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia became part of the new Czechoslovakia. Galicia was transfered to Poland and south Tyrol to Italy. Bosnia-Herzegovnia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Vojvodina were joined with Serbia to form Yugoslavia. Translyvania became part of Romania. Overall 60 percent of ethnic Hungarians found themselves living outside of the new independent country of Hungary.

Resources

For more details on the subject, consult these histories: (list of histories here)

Literature

The war inspired many great novels and poems. They include:

• Erich Maria Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front
• Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms
• Mark Helprin: A Soldier of the Great War
• Robert Graves: Goodbye to All That
• Frederic Manning: Her Privates We
• Dalton Trumbo: Johnny Got His Gun
• Richard Aldington: Death of a Hero
• T E Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"): The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

and the poetry of Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Siegfied Sassoon

See also: World War II, Seven Years War

/Talk