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World War I The War to End all Wars. A Family Affair. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. King George V of England . Czar Nicholas II of Russia.
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World War I The War to End all Wars
A Family Affair Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany King George V of England Czar Nicholas II of Russia
Building the fire pit – EuropeClose quarters and tension in EuropeImagine a United States, where each state is an individual country. How long would it take United Colorado to invade United New Mexico?How long would it take Germany to invade France and Russia to invade Germany and Britain to invade Europe?
The LogsNationalism-The belief that national interests and national unity should be placed ahead of global cooperation and that a nation’s foreign affairs should be guided by its own self-interest. *Often, it was expressed as competitiveness with, and even antagonism toward, other nations. Militarism- The policy of building up armed forces in aggressive preparedness for war. Imperialism- The policy of extending a nation’s authority over other countries by economic, political, or military means.Alliances- A close association of nations or other groups formed to advance common interests. Alliances of World War I Austria Hungry-Germany(and her colonies)-ItalyRussia-France( and her colonies)-Britain(and her colonies/dominions: Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa)-Japan
The MatchThe assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo.
Incredible Explosions! Explosion in Europe
June 28, 1914: Ferdinand is assassinated in Bosnia-Herzegovina by a Serbian nationalist secret society called the Black Hands. Austria-Hungry debates for 3 weeks how to react finally implicates Serbia with the Archdukes assassination, and opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians and cement their influence and power in the Balkans. Sequence of Events • One Thing Led to Another • following remarkable sequence of events that led to the 'Great War‘ • July 28th: Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was almost entirely appeasing: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. • Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete. • August 1st: Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia.
August 3rd: France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route. • August 4th: Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August. Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty. With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defense later that day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary. • With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
Japan, honoring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan. • Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both.In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Triple Entente. against her two former allies. • United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.
By the end of World War I, there will be nothing left in Europe but a smoldering fire pit
German soldier pointing at viewer. "You, too, should join the Reichswehr. Therefore, sign up at the next enlistment post, Reichswehr-Gruppen-Kommando no. 4 (Bavarian), Möhl, Major General."
Sarms of British planes bombing a factory. "What England wants!" Poster quotes from British Labour party leader Johnson-Hicks which appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Jan. 3, 1918: "One must bomb the Rhine industrial area day by day with hundreds of airplanes, until the cure [destruction of German industrial production] has occurred."
German soldier, with gas mask hanging from his neck, gazing into the distance. Text reads: Help us triumph! Subscribe to the War Loan.
Propaganda Assignment: Using the perspective of the country you were assigned to during our alliance game, create your own propaganda poster. Due tomorrow so don’t waste time!
Military Tactics In order to understand the horrors of WWI trench warfare, one must first have a basic understanding of military tactics as they developed over the centuries. In ancient times battles on open ground were usually won by the side with the greatest numbers of troops. The larger army overwhelming the smaller army by sheer force of numbers. This led to the creation of defensive positions placing obstacles in the way of attacking forces in order to slow the attackers giving the defenders an advantage. Defensive positions can be created by taking advantage of natural terrain such as hills and mountains, by using natural cover such as a forest or ditch or by building artificial fortifications such as trench works, fortresses and castles. It generally requires a much greater force to overrun and capture a reinforced enemy position in battle the attacking force taking heavy casualties during their assault on the enemy position. Thus a smaller defending force can often repel a much larger force of attackers. The ground between the attacking forces lines and the lines of the defenders is known as “No Mans Land” crossing this ground is the deadliest part of battle.
Trench Warfare Because of the evolution of the machine gun, opposing sides were forced to “dig in,” instead of charging the enemy. War of Attrition = Last Man Standing Wins
While a fortified enemy position can be weakened by concentrated artillery and weapons fire it is necessary to over run and occupy enemy positions in order to capture ground and defeat the enemy.
World War One produced tactics in which opposing armies faced each other across fortified trenches often for months at a time. Being unable to advance and capture enemy positions. Attempted assaults on opposing trenches resulted in massive slaughter on both sides. Modern technology only added to the horrors of these conditions.
At the age of 92, Arthur Savage was asked about his memories of life on the Western Front.“My memories are of sheer terror and the horror of seeing men sobbing because they had trench foot that had turned gangrenous. They knew they were going to lose a leg. Memories of lice in your clothing driving you crazy. Filth and lack of privacy. Of huge rats that showed no fear of you as they stole your food rations. And cold deep wet mud everywhere. And of course, corpses. I'd never seen a dead body before I went to war. But in the trenches the dead are lying all around you. You could be talking to the fellow next to you when suddenly he'd be hit by a sniper and fall dead beside you. And there he‘d stay for days.”
An aerial reconnaissance photograph of the opposing trenches and no-man's land between Loos and Hulluch in Artois, France, taken at 7.15 am, 22 July 1917. German trenches are at the right and bottom, British trenches are at the top left. The vertical line to the left of centre indicates the course of a pre-war road or track.
Australian sniper using a periscope rifle at Gallipoli, 1915. He is aided by a spotter with a periscope. The men are believed to belong to the Australian 2nd Light Horse Regiment and the location is probably Quinn's Post.
Technology changing the face of War By the time of WWI scientific technology had very much changed the nature of the battlefield. With the development of motorized transportation, chemical weapons, combat aircraft, tank warfare, effective artillery, and the widespread deployment of the machine gun with frontline units. All warring factions during WWI were pretty well equally armed in terms of weapons and technology Use of motorized transportation and railroads allowed frontline positions to be rapidly reinforced with men and supplies
Artillery The battlefields of WWI saw the widespread deployment of modern and very effective artillery. Due to the development of motorized transport it became much easier to quickly deploy more and larger artillery pieces to the battle front. Life in the trenches meant being subjected to near constant artillery bombardment. The heavy artillery pieces were also capable of delivering poison gas shells onto enemy positions. Soldiers of WWI often developed a condition known as “Shell Shock” brought about due to constant exposure to artillery fire and the stresses of trench warfare.
Machine Guns and Artillery Machine guns and artillery changed warfare forever.
The Machine Gun: During WWI the machine gun was treated as a light artillery weapon used by soldiers. The machineguns of this era were water cooled, meaning that the barrel was surrounded by a water jacket which kept the barrel cool and prolonged accuracy and barrel life. Water cooled guns also required keeping buckets of water on hand. These weapons were relatively heavy and required usually a five man crew per weapon to maintain and transport the weapon and ammunition. WWI saw the widest deployment of machineguns of any previous war. The machine gun combined with the infantryman’s rifle and support artillery were the primary defenses of the trenches. Attacking forces had to face a wall of machine gun, rifle, and artillery fire while advancing on enemy trenches. British 18 pounder field gun
