{"id":33632,"date":"2019-04-22T07:03:42","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T07:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ww1hull.com\/?p=33632"},"modified":"2019-04-22T07:03:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T07:03:42","slug":"the-great-war-1914-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ww1hull.com\/?p=33632","title":{"rendered":"The Great War 1914- 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Great War 1914- 18<\/h2>\n
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\"World<\/strong><\/p>\n

The “Great War”, (or the First World War as it would be later known), was one of the most destructive wars in world history.\u00a0It was a war like no other, where the British, French, Russian, German, Austria Hungarian and Ottoman Empires merged into two opposing forces. Centred in\u00a0Europe, the Great War\u00a0began on\u00a028 July 1914, and lasted\u00a0until the\u00a011 November 1918.\u00a0It soon became a global war, fought by 33 countries, across three continents and across all seas, and involving 70 million combatants. It was the first war to be fought in the air, and to develop new deadly weapons, like rifles, machine guns, heavy artillery, tanks, U-Boats, bombers, flame throwers, barb wire and chemical gas to win the war. These 20th Century war machines were pitted against 19th Century war tacitics, where massed human waves of attacks, were hurled against these deadly new weapons, for just a few yards of ground.\u00a0However, the opponents were evenly matched and there was tactical stalemate. Industrialised warfare could not break the deadlock, but only magnified the horrors of \u00a0war. On average,\u00a0over 6,000 soldiers died every day, for four and half years.\u00a0It cost the lives of more than 9 million troops\u00a0and 7\u00a0million civilians., with another 21 million servicemen and countless civilians also wounded. Each nation was deeply scarred by the casualties, leaving a lasting impact on social memory. Such collective trauma destroyed optimism, and created a term for those killed in the war as “The \u00a0Lost Generation”.\u00a0The First World War would pave the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The\u00a0German, Russian, Austria Hungary and Ottoman empires\u00a0which had ruled with absolute power, now crumbled and by the end of the war, only the British Empire remained. The war marked the beginning of modern history and due to its world impact and significance, was known by those who survived it as “The Great War”. The tragedy of the Great war was not that it killed millions of people, but it caused such resentment, that would lead to a Second World War, twenty years later.<\/p>\n

The cause of the ‘Great War’, was a simple problem of Germany, a relatively new country, wanting to expand its empire and economic influence, over much older powers, like, France, Russia and Britain. The term Empire is now a historical anachronism, but in 1914, the world was controlled and dominated by the five European Imperial powers, of Britan, France, Russia, Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Turkish empire. Empire was seen as a legitimate instrument to improve ‘civilisation’. Oversea territories and colonies were used as economic markets, to exploit raw materials, control trade and boost national wealth and prestige. The British Empire in 1914, was the largest empire in world history. The Royal Navy ruled the seas, and Britain dominated world trade and controlled one quarter of the world’s population. The Russian Empire was about three quarters the size of Britain’s. French territory was about half the size and the German Empire was only 10% the size of the British Empire. To Germany, whose population increased by a million people a year, who produced more steel than all other major powers put together and exported 90% of the world’s chemicals, this was a barrier to their economic expansion. Germany, frustrated by limited markets and dominated by a militaristic ruling class, increased its army and navy, in preparation to expand its empire. In a tangle of alliances, stretching back decades, a climate of agressive rivaly and tension between countries, burst into war.<\/p>\n

\"ENGRAVINGThe war drew in all the world’s economic Great Powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies\u00a0(based on the Triple Ententes\u00a0of Britain, France and the Russian Empire, against the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Although Italy\u00a0had also been a member of the Triple Alliance\u00a0alongside\u00a0Germany\u00a0and\u00a0Austria-Hungary, it did not join the Central Powers, as\u00a0Austria-Hungary\u00a0had taken the offensive against the terms of the alliance. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war: Italy, Japan\u00a0and the United States\u00a0joined the Allies, and the Ottoman Empire\u00a0and Bulgaria,\u00a0joined\u00a0the Central Powers.\u00a0More than 33 countries, or 1.5 billion people, were formally involved in the Great war, which represented 80% of the world’s population. Only a dozen or so countries managed to remain neutral.<\/p>\n

\"GRAVESThe trigger for war was the 28 June 1914 assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, in Sarajevo.\u00a0This set off a diplomatic crises, whenAustria-Hungary\u00a0delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, and entangled international alliances formed over the previous decades, were invoked. Within 37 days, the major powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world.<\/p>\n

On 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians, with German support, declared war on\u00a0Serbia\u00a0and subsequently invaded. As\u00a0Russia\u00a0mobilised in support of\u00a0Serbia,\u00a0Germany\u00a0invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg\u00a0before moving towards\u00a0France, leading\u00a0Britain\u00a0to declare war on\u00a0Germany. After the German attack on\u00a0Paris\u00a0was halted, what became known as the ‘Western Front’ settled into a war of attrition, with a\u00a0trench line\u00a0that would change little until 1917. Meanwhile, on the\u00a0Eastern Front,\u00a0the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, but was stopped in its invasion of East Prussia\u00a0by the Germans at Tannenberg. In November 1914, the\u00a0Ottoman Empire\u00a0joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai.\u00a0Italy\u00a0joined the Allies in 1915 and\u00a0Bulgaria\u00a0joined the Central Powers in the same year, while Romania\u00a0joined the Allies in 1916, and the\u00a0United States\u00a0joined the Allies in 1917.<\/p>\n

\"QUEENThe Russian government collapsed in March 1917, and a\u00a0later revolution in November,\u00a0forcedRussia\u00a0to abandon the war, via the Treaty of Brest Litovsk.\u00a0\u00a0This was a massive German victory, only nullified by the 1918 victories of the Western allies. After a stunning German offensive\u00a0along the Western Front,\u00a0in March 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. On 4th November 1918,\u00a0the exhausted Austro-Hungarian empire agreed to an armistice. Germany, facing starvation and problems with internal revolutionaries at home, also agreed to an armistice on\u00a011 November 1918. Thus the First World War suddenly stopped, ending in a strange anti climax, with Germany having conquered vast territories in Russia, collapsing, without being either invaded or defeated.<\/p>\n

By the end of 1918, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire\u00a0and theOttoman Empire\u00a0had ceased to exist. National borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and\u00a0Germany’s colonies were shared out among the winners. The war had cost over $3.5 Trillion dollars. During the Paris Peace conference of 1919, the\u00a0\u2018Big Four<\/span>\u2019 (Britain,France, the\u00a0United States\u00a0and\u00a0Italy) imposed a series of treaties on their enemies. Germany was made to accept full responsibility for starting the war and then repay the costs of the war to the Allies, through severe reparations which crippled the German economy. In addition, the German Rhineland was de-militarised and the Germany army restrictied to only 100,000 men with no tanks, aircraft, U-Boats or modern weapons. Germany re-unification with Austria was outlawed to prevent this powerful threat ever re-surfacing again. German territories were given away and millions of German speaking people were to become minorities, in the newly formed nations of Poland and Czechoslovakia. These sanctions would humiliate Germany, sowing the seeds of the next World War, twenty years later. The ‘League of Nations’ was formed with the aim of preventing another ‘Great War’, but none of the leading powers wanted another war to enforce the sanctions. The ‘League’, was undermined by weakened states, economic depression, renewed European nationalism, and the German feeling of humiliation contributing to the rise of Nazis. These conditions eventually contributed to\u00a0World War II. The First World War left an enduring legacy which affects the World today. It included the end of empires and the decline of aristocracy; the development of new nations and the desire for self determination, the need for a global system of international co-operation, such as the ‘League of Nations’ and the ‘United Nations’. It led to new political ideas, such as Communism, Fascism, Pacifism, Social Democracy and votes for women. It taught the world about chemical warfare, shell shock, conscription, and led to medical advances, like blood transfusions and plastic surgery. It developed filmed propaganda, war technology and planned economies. It created the ‘Middle East’, the growth of Arab nationalism, Zionist ambition and the emergence of modern Turkey.<\/p>\n

The following timeline highlights the build up to the Great War and some key events between 1914-1918.<\/p>\n

The Build Up to War<\/strong><\/p>\n

* \u00a0January 18 1871<\/strong>\u00a0– Prussia & Germany unite as a single nation under Kaiser Wilhelm I.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0May 10 1871<\/strong>\u00a0– France is forced to sign a humiliating Treaty that ends the Franco- German war 1870-71.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0October 10 1879<\/strong>\u00a0– Austro-Hungary and Germany sign an dual defensive alliance against Russia.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a01888<\/strong>\u00a0– the\u00a029 year old Wilhelm II, becomes ruler Kaiser Willhelm II of Germany, after his father’s untimely death.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a01892<\/strong>\u00a0– France and Russia sign a military alliance against German and Austro-Hungary agression.<\/p>\n

* \u00a01894<\/strong>\u00a0– Nicholas, is crowned Tsar Nicjolas II of Russia. Germany and Russia do not renew their friendship treaty.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a01898-1912<\/strong>\u00a0– \u00a0Anglo – German arms race, for naval superiority, begins<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a01901<\/strong>\u00a0– Great Britain’s Queen Victoria dies. Four of her nine children are married sovereigns and most of the ruling European Monarchies are related to her. Her Empire measures a quarter of the world and some 400 million people.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Oct – Dec 1901<\/strong>\u00a0– Anglo-German negotiations break down due to competing interests and differences.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0 April 8 1904\u00a0<\/strong>– Great Britain and France sign the ‘Entente Cordiale’ – increases co-operation between these two powers.<\/p>\n

*\u00a01904-06<\/strong>\u00a0– Russio-Japanese war results in a disastrous defeat for Russia and major civil rest back home.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0January 22 1905<\/strong>\u00a0– ‘Bloody Sunday Massacre’ by Tsarist troops in St Petersburg left Russian workers dead and costs Nicholas support from workers and farmers.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a01905<\/strong>\u00a0 – ‘Tangiers Crises’ German interference in Morocco, unites France and Britain and forces Germany to back down<\/p>\n

* \u00a01906<\/strong>\u00a0– Britain builds the first ‘Dreadnought’ class battleship. Tensions with Germany increase.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Augsut 31 1907<\/strong>\u00a0– Anglo-Russian Entente signed. Germany feels threatened.<\/p>\n

* \u00a01908- 09<\/strong>\u00a0– ‘Bosnian Crises’ strains relations between Austro-Hungary and Russia. Russia builds up its army.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0July 1 1911<\/strong>\u00a0– ‘Agadir Crises’. Britain supports France against German interference in North Africa. Germany backs down.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a01911-12 Balkans War<\/strong>. Serbia emerges strongest. Russia is obliged to back Serbia. Increases Central Powers willingness for war.<\/p>\n

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1914 \u00a0The Great War Begins<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 28 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne and his wife, Sophie are assissinated by\u00a0Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip while the couple were visiting\u00a0Sarajevo.<\/p>\n