WWI

28^th July 1914 – 11^th November 1918
 

WWI is often referred to as the Great War and initially, those involved believed it to be a war to end all wars. It involved much of Europe, including the UK, as well as Russia, the USA and Turkey and battles took place across the World, including in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia as well as in Europe itself. It remains one of the deadliest conflicts in history, an estimated 9 million died in combat itself while another 5 million are thought to have died in occupied areas from bombardment, hunger or disease. Further individuals lost their lives in the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Turkey and the H1N1 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish Flu, which spread across the world in the aftermath of the war.

British soldiers were initially volunteers, but as the war continued, were conscripted into service. On returning home, many found that they were unable to talk about the trauma they experienced. In Britain, conscription resulted in the calling up of nearly every physically fit man in Britain. Of these around 750,000 lost their lives, most of these were young, unmarried men. Conscription began in 1916 and demanded that men aged 18-40 were liable to be called up for military service unless they met a certain criteria. Married men were exempt in the original act but this was changed, as was the age limit, which was raised to 51. Conscription lasted until mid-1919 and only applied to England, Scotland and Wales.

Lead up to war

In 1914, much of Europe was split into opposing alliances. The Triple Entente consisted of Britain, France and Russia and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary. Tensions had been building for a while and finally came to a head after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Hungarian throne. His assassin, Gavrilo Princip was a rebel from Serbia, leading Serbia to be blamed for the death and Austria-Hungry declaring war. Russia stepped in and allied with Serbia, with the conflict expanding to include Germany, France and Britain along with their colonies by the summer of that year. By November, the Ottoman Empire joined Germany and Austria to form the Central Powers, while Italy joined Britain, France, Russia and Serbia as the Allied Powers in the following spring.

At the time that War broke out, many of the European countries that were involved were led by grandchildren of Queen Victoria. Three of her grandchildren were main players in the conflict, King George in Britain, Tsar Nicolas in Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany.

Worldwide conflict

Some of the first battles of WWI took place in Africa among the British, French and German colonial forces. In the early days of the war, French and British troops stationed on the continent, invaded German controlled areas. German forces in South West Africa then attacked South Africa, leading to fighting that continued throughout the rest of the war.

German forces also attempted to use Indian nationalism as part of their campaign, instigating uprisings in India and urging Afghanistan to join the war on their side. The outbreak of the war did see continued loyalty to Britain from the Indian people, who supported the British war effort in a bid to achieve Indian Home Rule. The Indian Army actually outnumbered the British Army by the start of WWI and research has shown that the Indian army suffered huge losses and this, along with growing hostilities against the British led to a campaign for full independence.

The Western Front

Because of technical advances by the start of WWI which were not available in previous conflicts, there was much more powerful artillery, machine guns and barbed wire which dominated the battlefield and saw the start of trench warfare. In time, other weapons came into play, including tanks and gas warfare.

The First Battle of the Marne in September 1914 saw Allied and German forces unsuccessfully try to gain the upper hand in a campaign that came to be known as the Race to the Sea. By the end of the year, both sides confronted each other along a line of uninterrupted trenches that stretched from the Channel to the Swiss border. The German forces tended to hold the high ground at this time and also built much better trenches as the Allied forces only intended theirs to be temporary. Chlorine gas was used for the first time the following year at the Second Battle of Ypres. Several types of gas soon became widely used on both sides and became one of the most feared horrors of the trenches.

1915 through to 1917 saw the British Empire and France suffer more casualties than German forces thanks to several unsuccessful campaigns to break through German lines. The Battle of the Somme in 1916 was an Anglo-French offensive and the first day of the battle remains the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. An estimated 57,470 causalities were recorded, with over 19,000 dying the first day. It wasn’t just the fighting that led to a loss of life, the living conditions meant that infection and disease were rife, and this, along with lice, trench foot, blindness and burns caused by mustard gas, trench fever and shell shock, which is now more commonly believed to be PTSD all contributed to the loss of life.

War at sea

WWI wasn’t just fought on land, at the start of the war, the German Empire had a wide range of ships, many of which were used to attack merchant ships. The British Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, but were often too late to prevent casualties. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain began a naval blockade of Germany, which cut off vital military and civilian supplies. The Battle of Jutland in the summer of 1916 developed into the largest naval battle of the war, it was the only full scale clash of battleships during the war and one of the largest in history.

U boats were also utilised by German forces and attempted to cut supply lines to Britain and North America. After the sinking of the Lusitania, a passenger ship, in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners and Britain began to militarise their merchant vessels. The U boat threat lessened in 1917 when merchant ships began to travel in convoy, however by this time, U Boats had sunk more than 5,000 Allied ships.

WW1 was also the first time aircraft carriers were used in combat.

American involvement

Following ten months of fighting as part of the Battle of Verdun, Germany attempted to negotiate a peace with the Allies, however, this was rejected. Soon after this, Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States attempted to intervene, offering peace to both sides and asking for their demands. The negotiations failed and the war would continue for another two years.

The United States would enter the war in April 1917. Though they were a major supplier to the Allies, they remained neutral at the start of the war and only started to become more involved after the sinking of the Lusitania which killed 128 Americans. President Wilson demanded an apology but his re-election campaign prevented him from being more activrly involved.

On April 6^th 1917, Congress declared war on Germany, though under the guise of an Associated Power rather than as a formal Ally. It also remained outside the Pact of London and was only at war with Germany, not the other Central Powers. At the time, the US army had fewer than 300,000 men, compared to the Allied forces, many of which had several million men per army.

Russian revolution

During the course of WWI, a revolution took place in Russia which overthrew the monarchy and resulted in the deaths of the royal family, which included Tsar Nicholas, the cousin of the British king.

By the end of 1916, Russian casualties totalled nearly 5 million and major urban areas were badly affected by food shortages which resulted in civil unrest. Tsar Nicholas ordered the military to supress strikes, but soldiers refused. Fearing a left wing take over, the Tsar abdicated. Vladimir Lenin, with the help of the German government, returned to Russia and took control of the Bolsheviks who immediately demanded an end to the war. The Revolution was followed by an armistice and negotiations with Germany. With Russia now out of the war, Romania found itself alone on the Eastern Front and signed a treaty ending the war between them and the Central Powers. Under the terms of the treaty, Romania had to give territory to Austria-Hungry and Bulgaria and to lease its oil to Germany. Following the Bolsheviks gaining power, the Tsar and his family were placed under house arrest, they requested asylum in Britain with their cousin, King George, however Britain’s government opposed and the family were executed.

By the summer of 1917, even the Pope got involved to find a peaceful solution to the war.

German revolution

After a series of successful battles for the Allies and news of an impending defeat hit Germany, there was a revolution in the country starting in October 1918. The Navy refused to set sail and the country was declared a republic on 9^th November 1918. Shortly afterwards Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and German forces surrendered.

The Armistice

Armistice Day continues to be remembered on 11^th November every year to mark the moment that the armistice ending the war was signed. It took place on 11^th November at 5am on a railroad carriage at Compiegne. At 11 am on 11^th November 1918, a ceasefire came into effect and armies began to withdraw. There was still some fighting along the front as some regiments wanted to recapture territory before the war ended, an occupation of Germany took place following the Armistice that consisted of American, Belgian, British and French forces. At the time of the Armistice, no Allied force had crossed the German frontier and the Western Front was still 450 miles from Berlin. This would inevitably lead to conspiracy theories that the German forces did not truly lose and instead were sabotaged by Jews, Socialists and Bolsheviks.

Aftermath of WWI

In the aftermath of the war, four empires disappeared, some nations regained their further independence and new ones were created. Four dynasties fell, including the Romanovs (Tsar Nicholas’ family), the Habsburgs, the Ottomans and the Hohenzollerns. Belgium, Serbia and France were badly damaged.

The formal state of the war persisted for a further seven months until the Treaty of Versailles which was signed on 28^th June 1919. The US did not ratify the treaty despite public support and did not formally end its involvement until 2^nd July 1921 when a second resolution was signed. For the UK, the war ceased on the following days under the Termination of the Present War Act 1918:

Germany – 10^th January 1920
Austria – 16^th July 1920
Bulgaria – 9^th August 1920
Hungary - 26^th July 1921
Turkey – 6^th August 1924

Records show that of the 60 million Europeans that were enlisted into the military from 1914 to 1918, 8 million were killed, 7 million were permanently disabled and 15 million were seriously injured. Disease flourished in the aftermath of the war, including typhus, malaria and the flu. Overall, the “Spanish” Flu killed at least 17 million people world war.