On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated. His murder led to World War I, which lasted from August 1914 to November 1918. For many years it was known as the Great War and the War to End All Wars because it was the most extensive conflict the world had ever seen up to that time. The amount of money spent was enormous. More than 65 million men were mobilized for the armies and navies. More than 8 million lost their lives, and more than 21 million were wounded. Civilians worked as never before to produce enormous quantities of guns, ammunition, and other supplies. Civilians also suffered more than in any previous war. Because they played such an important part, this was called “total war.” AssassinationArchduke Francis Ferdinand was murdered at Sarajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia. The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian terrorist. Austria claimed that Serbian government officials also belonged to Princip's terrorist group. For many years Serbia and Austria-Hungary had been unfriendly because Serbian patriots wanted to unite all Serbs into a single state. Serbs living in Austria-Hungary would be included, too. Austria-Hungary was strongly opposed to this. War declaredAustria-Hungary decided to use the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand as an excuse to settle its quarrel with Serbia. On July 28 Austria declared war on Serbia. The nations in Europe had been expecting war for many years. Rival groups of nations had been making treaties and alliances, and Europe had been divided into two camps. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were members of the Triple Alliance, or Central Powers. Russia, France, and the United Kingdom formed the rival Triple Entente Powers. Later they were called the Allies. The Balkan States sided with Serbia and the Allies. On July 29 Russia moved its troops near the Austrian border. This move was made, Russia said, to keep Serbia from being crushed. Russia had plans in Turkey, however, that had been blocked by Austria and Germany. Germany demanded that Russia stop all its war measures. Russia refused. On August 1 fighting began on the German-Russian border. Within a week all of Europe was drawn into the war. Most of the countries became involved in the conflict because of their obligations to each other under the alliances. Japan entered the war on the side of the Allies on August 23. Italy decided to remain neutral for the time being despite its membership in the Triple Alliance. Many Italians favored joining the Allies. Joining the Allies would help Italy get territories in Austria-Hungary where people of Italian nationality lived. The Western FrontThe two main areas where the land fighting took place were west and east of Germany. They were called the Western Front and the Eastern Front. Sea power later allowed the Allies to spread the war to other fronts, especially in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. The Allies also conquered German colonies in Africa. Italy opened another front against Austria-Hungary in 1915. TrenchesThe Germans had hoped to win the war quickly, and they had a plan to do so. But they were forced to retreat at the battle of the Marne in September 1914. The armies on the Western Front then settled down to trench warfare for the next four years. Lines of trenches dug into the ground stretched from the coast of Belgium to the Swiss border. The enemies were separated by a “no-man's land” usually less than 200 yards (180 meters) wide and covered with barbed wire. Forward movement across this no-man's land was very difficult. Often heavy bombardments with cannons were tried. Although this smashed the barbed wire, it also blew huge holes in the muddy ground so that any movement was difficult. Both sides tried to find an answer to this standoff. The Germans nearly found it by using poison gas that blew over the Allied trenches and injured or killed the defenders. These chemical weapons were first used on the Western Front in April 1915. After that the soldiers wore gas masks to protect them. The best answer to the standoff was the British invention of the tank. It was an armored motor-driven vehicle able to crawl across trenches, craters, and other obstacles. The first tank attack occurred near the Somme River on September 15, 1916. BattlesThe battle of the Somme was typical of many of the great battles on the Western Front. It was directed by Sir Douglas Haig, who from 1916 onward commanded the British armies in the west. Before the attack, the German trenches were bombed for a week. The battle itself—repeated attacks and counterattacks—lasted until November. The British had 60,000 casualties (those killed, wounded, or taken prisoner) on the first day. Altogether in this battle they and the French had about 615,000 casualties against about 650,000 on the German side. Another famous battle in the west began in February 1916. It followed the German attack on the French fortress area of Verdun. The French at first were driven back. Led by General Henri Philippe Pétain, the French regained most of the lost ground by the end of the year. These clashes were followed in 1917 by further costly Allied attacks. The battles weakened both sides on the Western Front. In 1917 French soldiers revolted. To relieve the situation General Haig made an attack near Ypres (which the British soldiers usually called “Wipers”). After three months of bitter fighting, this attack came to a standstill in the swamps of Passchendaele. The Eastern FrontOn the Eastern Front the lines were much less firmly fixed. They swayed back and forth as first one side and then the other attacked. The Russians tried to advance into East Prussia in August 1914 but were defeated at the battle of Tannenberg. The Germans were led by General Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff. GallipoliAt the end of 1914 Turkey joined the Central Powers and attacked the Russians in the Caucasus Mountains. Great Britain and France decided to help Russia by landing troops on the Gallipoli peninsula for a move on Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). British ships tried unsuccessfully to force their way through the Dardanelles (the strait leading from the Mediterranean Sea toward Istanbul). British, Australian, and New Zealand troops were forced to land on the peninsula on April 25, 1915. By that time, however, the Turks were there to block them. At the beginning of 1916 the Allied force was withdrawn. The Gallipoli operation was a failure. Elsewhere on the Eastern FrontIn the summer of 1915, the Germans on the Eastern Front drove back the Russians. This success persuaded Bulgaria to join the Central Powers. German, Austrian, and Bulgarian troops were then able to occupy Serbia. An Allied force landed at Thessaloníki (Salonika) in Greece to help the Serbians. They made little progress until the end of the war. By 1916 the Russians needed guns and ammunition. Despite this they made a surprise attack against the Austrians in Bukovina, which is the mountain region that now divides Romania from Ukraine. This attack succeeded and encouraged Romania to join the Allies. The Germans then removed troops from the Western Front. In a brilliant campaign they invaded Romania and crushed its armies. Italy joined the Allies in 1915. In bitter fighting along the Austrian border the Italians made little progress against the Austrians. They suffered heavy losses. The Middle EastWhen the war began, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia (now Iraq), and much of Arabia were part of the Ottoman Empire (the Turkish empire). In 1915 troops from India under British command advanced up the Tigris River but were surrounded at Al Kut by the Turks. They were forced to surrender after a 147-day siege. Al Kut was retaken in a second Mesopotamian campaign. Baghdad then was captured on March 11, 1917, and the whole province was cleared of the Turks. Farther west, British and Commonwealth troops moved from Egypt across the Sinai to invade Palestine. They were held up at Gaza for more than a year. General Edmund Allenby then took command. He attacked in Autumn 1917. The forces split the Turkish armies into two parts and captured Jerusalem on December 9. Meanwhile the British soldier T.E. Lawrence, who was known as Lawrence of Arabia, was stirring up an Arab revolt against the Turks. General Allenby tricked the Turks into thinking he was going to attack in the Jordan River valley. Actually, on September 19, 1918, he attacked and destroyed the main Turkish army at the battle of Megiddo. The Allies occupied Syria, which brought Turkish resistance to an end. Events of 1917The Russian RevolutionThe Russian Revolution in 1917 caused a complete collapse by the Allies on the Eastern Front. The Germans were able to withdraw troops to fight elsewhere. In October they and the Austrians made a surprise attack on the Italians at Caporetto. They drove the Italians back to the Piave River with tremendous losses. The United States enters the warMeanwhile, the United States had joined the Allies. The United States had been brought to the edge of war by German submarine attacks on its merchant ships. Then, early in 1917, the Germans tried to persuade Mexico to join the Central Powers. Germany promised to give Mexico the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. This plot was discovered by the British. When the United States found out about it they declared war on Germany on April 6. The United States immediately helped the Allies with supplies and money. But it needed some time before its armies were ready to fight in Europe. In May 1917 the Selective Service Act allowed the United States government to call all men between ages 21 and 30 for military service. The tide turnsThe winter of 1917–18 was gloomy for the Allies. They could only hold their positions and wait for the United States forces to arrive. The German armies by this time outnumbered those of the Allies on the Western Front. The German generals decided to make a last push in the spring of 1918. Their attacks created deep bulges in the Allied lines and were difficult to stop. French Marshal Ferdinand Foch then was given command of all Allied troops in the west. The tide turned as 300,000 U.S. troops landed each month in France. In July 1918 it was Foch's turn to attack. After a successful drive by the French farther south, British, Canadian, and Australian troops made a surprise attack. On August 8 the Allies, led by 450 tanks, attacked near Amiens. Ludendorff afterward called it “the black day of the German army.” Foch ordered a general advance. By November the Germans were driven back to the battle lines of 1914. Meanwhile the Allied armies at Salonika attacked and crushed the Bulgarians, who gave up on September 29, 1918. In northern Italy the Allies advanced across the Piave River. At the battle of Vittorio Veneto they completely defeated the Austrians. On October 30 the Austrians asked for a cease-fire. Turkey gave up on the same day. The war at seaAdmiral John Jellicoe and his British Grand Fleet was eager to meet the weaker and inexperienced German High Seas Fleet. On August 28, 1914, British ships sailed into the waters off the German coast. They sank three German cruisers in the battle of the Heligoland Bight. The British Navy also escorted troop ships and helped in the conquest of the German colonies. German ships gave the Allies some trouble, especially the Emden. After sinking 15 merchant ships, the Emden was caught and destroyed by the Sydney off Cocos Island in the Indian Ocean. It was the first sea fight by the Australian navy. BlockadeThe German High Seas Fleet could stop any attempt to land troops on the German coast. The Allied navies, however, kept the oceans free for the movements of their armies and supplies. At the same time, they were able to prevent most supplies from reaching the Central Powers by sea. This blockade, as it was called, was announced in February 1915. But it was two years before it caused serious shortages in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Submarine warfareIn reply to the British blockade, the Germans announced that every merchant ship in the waters around the British Isles would be sunk by submarines. The use of submarines in this way was against international law, and the United States protested. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the British liner Lusitania. Nearly 1,200 people died, including a number of Americans. Following protests, the Germans for a time promised not to sink large liners without warning. The sinking of the Lusitania influenced the United States and its support for the Allies. In 1916 the attacks by German submarines increased. Allied ships were sunk faster than new ones could be built. In February 1917 the Germans announced that all ships on the way to or from Allied ports would be sunk without warning. Allied losses increased quickly. In April 1917 one of every four merchant ships that left the British Isles never returned. By the end of the month, there was only a six weeks supply of grain left in Great Britain. At that time there were no good ways to detect submarines beneath the surface or of destroying them even if they were detected. What the Allies could do was arm the merchant ships. This made it more dangerous for submarines to attack them. Also, merchant ships began to make their voyages in convoys, or groups, escorted by warships. These measures greatly reduced the sinkings. Altogether, the Germans lost nearly 200 submarines in the war, most of them in the years 1917–18. The U-boats, as the German submarines were called (from the name Unterseeboote), caused the loss of about 6,000 Allied ships, however. Britain alone lost 13,000 lives in these attacks. The war in the airWhen World War I began, airplanes were in their infancy. Airplanes did play a part in the war, though. It was largely as support for land and sea operations. Zeppelins and air raidsThe most efficient long-range aircraft at the time were the cigar-shaped zeppelin airships developed by the Germans. At the beginning of 1915, zeppelins began bombing towns in Great Britain by night. Soon, however, fighter airplanes and antiaircraft guns on the ground were able to shoot them down. There were few zeppelin raids after 1916. In 1917 large German airplanes began bombing London and other cities. Usually they flew on moonlit nights but sometimes they flew by day. The last big raid was made on the night of May 19–20, 1917, by 43 bombers. Thirteen of the bombers reached London. The system for warning people of approaching bombers worked fairly well, but there were few good shelters. Air raids on Britain killed about 1,300 people and injured about 3,000. The air acesArmy aircraft were used over the fighting fronts to observe and photograph enemy positions and troop movements. To protect them, fighter aircraft usually escorted these flights. This led to frequent air fights. A number of gallant pilots won fame as ace fighters. Among them were the British pilots Albert Ball, Edward Mannock, and James McCudden. Canadian aces were William Bishop and Raymond Collishaw. American aces were Edward Rickenbacker and Raoul Lufbery. The French had Georges Guynemer, René Fonck, and Charles Nungesser. The German aces were Manfred von Richthofen (known as the Red Baron), Oswald Boelcke, Max Immelman, and Werner Voss. Other uses for aircraftArmy airplanes also were used for bombing railroad junctions, airfields, and supply depots. Navy aircraft were used only in limited ways. They included seaplanes, which were airplanes with floats in place of wheels so that they could land on and take off from the water, and small airplanes that could be flown off platforms mounted on the larger warships. HMS Argus was the first aircraft carrier. It was a ship with a flat top deck that could be used by airplanes for taking off and landing. It was not completed until September 1918, however. The British and United States navies used small airships called blimps for hunting submarines. The end of the warIn the fall of 1918 the German people were starving from the effects of the naval blockade. On October 3, 1918, the Germans sent an appeal for a cease-fire to Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States. He demanded an unconditional, or complete and total, German surrender. General Ludendorff resigned, and on November 4 a revolution broke out in Germany. On November 11 the German government leaders signed the armistice. They admitted their defeat. It was signed in Marshal Foch's private railroad car in the Forest of Compiègne in France. The armistice went into effect six hours later, at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. All together, the war killed some 8.5 million soldiers, sailors, and airmen. About 5 million of them died fighting for the Allies. Altogether, about 21 million were wounded. In addition, about 20 million people throughout the world died from famine or diseases caused or spread by the war. The settlementThe peace conference that was to end World War I met in Paris in January 1919. Representatives came from all the countries that had been at war with the Central Powers. The peace treaty was drawn up chiefly by President Wilson of the United States; by David Lloyd George, prime minister of the United Kingdom; and by Georges Clemenceau, prime minister of France. The treaty aimed to “make the world safe for democracy,” as Wilson said. It also established the League of Nations, an organization that was supposed to keep the peace of the world and settle disputes. Treaty of VersaillesThe treaty was given to the German delegation to sign at Versailles, France, on May 7, 1919. The German delegates strongly objected to its severe terms. The Allies made only small changes, however. Germany was allowed to keep only a small volunteer army and navy. It was forbidden to have submarines, tanks, or an air force. It was also forced to pay a great deal of money for its share in starting the war. These payments were called reparations. The representatives of the Allies and of Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. The Allies later signed separate treaties with Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The United States Senate refused to ratify, or agree to, the Treaty of Versailles because of objections to joining the League of Nations. Separate peace treaties with Germany and Austria were ratified by the United States Senate in October 1921. Effects of the warAs a result of the treaties, Germany, Austria, and Turkey were all forced to give up territory, and the boundaries in Europe were altered so that people of one nationality were not under the rule of another. The Allied nations' dreams of peace did not last long after the end of World War I, however. Fighting broke out between various peoples, and the League of Nations was not effective in stopping the battles. The major nations signed several peace treaties, including the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact in 1928, but these treaties soon broke down. The German people, in particular, were not happy with the Versailles Treaty. When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 he started building up the German military. His actions eventually led to World War II. |