Events And Ending Of The First World War
War on the Western Front
On the Western Front, the war began when the German armies swept across Belgium and entered southern France. The French army along with the British army met the German forces in the Battle of Marne (after the river near which the battle was fought) some 15 miles from Paris. The German forces had to retreat. For about four years, neither side could dislodge the other. The European countries made use of the troops recruited from their colonies in the war. Thus, the Battle of Marne was a turning point of the war because it foiled all German plans of crushing France.
Trench Warfare
France The combination of machine guns and heavy artillery made life above ground too dangerous. The opposing armies dug a series of trenches to defend themselves and to launch attacks. Living conditions in these trenches was pathetic. Soldiers endured food shortages, lice, rats, poison gas, cold and the stench of dead soldiers who could not be moved out quickly. Rain and snow turned the trenches into thick mud caves.
War on the Eastern Front
In August 1914 fighting began on the Eastern Front with the invasion of Russia by Austria-Hungary. Germany and Austria succeeded in repulsing the Russian attack and capturing parts of the Russian empire. They were also successful against Romania, Serbia and Italy. Outside Europe, there were campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine, Mesopotamia and Arabia; and against Germany and Turkey in Iran where they were trying to establish their influence. Japan occupied German possessions in East Asia, and Britain and France seized most of the German colonies in Africa.
Policy Of Blockade
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| U-Boats Used In The Blockade Of Britain |
The war involved total mobilisation of all the resources of the warring parties with all economic activities subordinated to the needs of the war. It also required that no goods including food, raw materials and war materials should be allowed to enter the enemy territory from anywhere. In 1916, Germany started the submarine warfare and sunk many British warships but the French defeated her in the Battle of Verdun. The English tightened the blockade of the German coast to meet the German submarine warfare. Germany was defeated in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
War Against Turkey: Towards the end of the year 1914, Turkey joined the war on the side of Germany. The German fleet controlled the Baltic Sea, Turkey held Dardanelles which led to the Black Sea. Thus, Russia was cut off as it could not get any help from the Entente powers. The British Indian Army attacked Turkey and the Turks surrendered in October 1918.
ENTRY OF THE USA IN THE WAR
In 1915, the German U-Boats had sunk a British ship Lusitania. Among the 1153 passengers killed, 128 were Americans. The Americans were generally sympathetic to Britain, and this incident further roused anti-German feelings in the USA. The Allied Powers had raised vast amounts of loans in the USA to pay for the arms and other goods bought by them. Therefore the USA feared that if Germany won the war, she would become a serious rival to the USA. On 6 April, 1917, the United States of America declared war on Germany.
EXIT OF RUSSIA
Another major development that took place in 1917 was the withdrawal of Russia from the War after the October Revolution. The Russian Empire had suffered serious reverses in the War. Over 600,000 Russian soldiers were killed. The day after the Bolshevik Government came to power under the leadership of Lenin, it issued the Decree on Peace with proposals to end the War without any annexations and indemnities.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918): Russia signed a peace treaty with Germany in March 1918, known as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany imposed harsh terms on Russia and the Russian government accepted them.
END OF THE WAR
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| The Tank Used In The First World War |
Britain, France and the USA launched a military offensive in July 1918 and Germany and her allies began to collapse. Political discontent started rising in Austria-Hungary and Germany. Bulgaria withdrew from the War in September and Turkey surrendered in October. The emperor of Austria-Hungary surrendered on 3rd November. In Germany a revolution broke out. Germany became a republic and the German emperor Kaiser William II fled to Holland. The new German government signed an armistice on November 11, 1918.
The number of persons who fought in the War vary between 53 and 70 million people. The total number of those killed and dead in the War are estimated at about nine million, that is, about one-seventh of those who participated in it. Several million became invalids. The air raids, epidemics and famines killed many more among the civilian populations.
Besides these terrible human losses, the economy of many countries was shattered. The global economic depression of 1929-30 is attributed to this War. It gave rise to many serious social problems.
According to some estimates the expenditure on the Allied side was nearly forty-one thousand million pounds and that on the German side over fifteen thousand million pounds.
First World War At A Glance Up to Events
- The First World War (1914-1919) was fought between the Allied Powers consisting of France England and Russia and the Central Powers comprising Germany, Austria-Hungary. Other powers like the USA, Japan, Turkey and Bulgaria joined the War later.
Causes of the First World War
- (1) Imperialism; (2) Armament Race; and (3) Division of Europe into two armed camps - the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.
- Sarajevo Crisis, the immediate cause of the war was the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian at Sarajevo capital of Bosnia.
Events of the First World War
- Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Germany declared war on Russia and on France. Germany marched into Belgium and Britain declared war on Germany.
- The War was fought at different fronts from 1914 to 1918. Finally, in July 1918, Britain, France and the USA launched a military offensive and Germany and her allies began to collapse.
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