just what did spark this great calamity of history at the dawn of the

20th century Europe was at a crossroads on the one hand it still clung
to the old Victorian ideas of monarchy class culture and empire
however on the other new ideas such as socialism nationalism and
greater democracy coupled with the application of technology
particularly in terms of communication such as an expanding train
network which made continental travel fast and safe as well as greater
literacy rates meant that in almost every country there were calls for
change of some kind or another one man that seemed to realize that
the old ways were slowly dying out was archduke Franz Ferdinand of
the Austro-Hungarian empire in an age of regal conformity Ferdinand
was something of a rebel he surrendered his claim to the Austro-
Hungarian throne in order to marry for love rather than secure his
position and he also worked to stabilize the security of his family's
empire often through comparatively radical policies he engaged in a
diplomatic effort with imperial Russia under tsar Nicholas ii in order to
end simmering hostilities between the two empires while at the same
time he recognized that internally the Austro-Hungarian empire was
going to have to change this empire extended into eastern Europe and
the Balkan regions and thus being under one banner it was composed
of various ethnic and religious factions many of whom distrusted or
actively hated the other leading to an epidemic of violence and
terrorism in the 1900s in the Balkan holdings especially ethnic tensions
were high as were nationalist ideals of independence which were
exacerbated by neighboring Serbia whose interests lay with the many
ethnic Serbs within Austro-Hungarian controlled territory in the Balkans
furthermore Serbia was allied with imperial Russia who were in turn
allied with France Russia viewed the Serbian people as their fellow Slavs
and vowed to defend them against the Austro-Hungarians if war should
break out which would also see France drawn into the fighting but
Austria-Hungary had their own allies in the form of neighboring
Germany despite Germany’s position as one of the younger nations in
Europe at the time coming into being in 1871 it was a prosperous
country in 1914 that was quickly overtaking its European neighbors
however it was ruled by the egotistical Kaiser Wilhelm ii a grandson of
England’s queen Victoria who clung on to increasingly obsolete ideals
such as militarism and imperialism he and his close governments
viewed the 20th century as the time of Germany’s rise to true
superpower level but to do that he needed to challenge the powers of
all namely Britain France and Russia as such Wilhelm ii built up a huge
army and a powerful navy with which he could exert his influence on
the world stage strengthening German possessions in Africa china and
the pacific while brutally cracking down on any opposition there
Germany’s arms program triggered an almost out of control and costly
arms race in Europe from the 1890s Britain was still the largest empire
in the world and as such relied upon a massive royal navy to protect
and police it for the royal navy and the British people numbers of ships
were more important than anything else thus despite its strength on
paper much of the British fleet comprised of older vessels since it was
simply too expensive to replace all of them with the modern types that
were appearing consequently by the 1910s the fleet which
outnumbered any other in Europe was a mix of ultra-modern
dreadnoughts backed up by aging cruisers some of which had originally
been launched with masts for sales although these had now been
removed on land the French army was a major thorn for Germany’s
ambitions in Europe being one of the largest standing military forces
numbering over 777 000 professional troops plus some 38 000 colonial
troops compared to the Kaiser’s seven hundred thousand French forces
were also one of the most modern equipped with machine guns
modern artillery pieces and the growing number of these newfangled
aeroplanes but it was on the other side of Germany that the Kaiser saw
his biggest opponent in imperial Russia whose army was reported to
have 5.7 million within its ranks the largest in the world however this
impressive figure was completely offset by a number of factors that
would inhibit its effectiveness still a largely agricultural country its war
manufacturing base paled in comparison to Germany’s and so vast
amounts of Russia’s equipment was out of date therefore in any war
between Moscow and berlin it would be a question of Russia’s quantity
versus Germany’s quality and in that regard Kaiser Wilhelm ii was
supremely confident that his own men would more than make up for
the shortfall in numbers even with France in the fighting on the west
there was also the ever-present threat of revolution in an increasingly
turbulent Russia yet despite this arms race and the old game of military
brinksmanship being played on the European continent few truly
believed war would actually come instead relying on the concept of
deterrence with each side building up vast armies and navies with
which to counter one another the ongoing problem of terrorism and
revolution however was not so easily kept in check for his part in
attempting to address the growing problems within his country's
empire Franz Ferdinand even suggested a new monarchy be
established with the three main factions one of whom were the Slavs
sharing the throne equally the Austro-Hungarian ruling elites were
appalled at the suggestion and even went as far as to label him insane
due to inbreeding within his dynasty their alternative was simply to
crack down on any descent which only further fueled resentment
nevertheless Ferdinand continued to push for change in order to save
the increasingly fractured empire then in 1914 he decided to accept an
invitation to visit the empire's territory of Bosnia disregarding warnings
concerning a nationalist movement in operation there named the black
hand Ferdinand and his wife's train arrived in Bosnia’s capital on June
28 1914 something that sparked outrage from the Serb population
within Bosnia for each year June 28th is a national day of
commemoration for it marks the anniversary of the Serb victory over
the Turks at the battle of Kosovo in 1389. for members of the black
hand therefore there could be no greater symbol for their cause than to
assassinate a member of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy that was
oppressing them on that date at 10 10 a.m. Ferdinand and his wife
Sophia were traveling in an open top car so they could wave to the
crowds lining the streets when a grenade was thrown at them this
attack failed as Ferdinand’s driver saw the weapon being hurled and
sped up leading it to detonating beneath the car behind theirs however
by some incredible twist of fate later in the day as Ferdinand and
Sophia were being driven back to the palace where they would be
staying the driver took a wrong turn into a side streets and into the
path of Gavril principle a member of the black hand seizing his
opportunity he took out a pistol and shot the couple the two died on
the way to hospital Ferdinand clutching the woman he loved until his
last breath the nationalists celebrated their victory but they had no idea
what they had just unleashed on the world given that it was Serb
nationalists that were responsible for the killing the Kaiser told the
Austro-Hungarians that they would fully support any measures they
decided to take in punishing Serbia the now famous blank check but
behind closed doors Wilhelm was secretly pushing for war he wanted
the Austro-Hungarians to invade Serbia even though it would likely
spark off war with Russia who he believed could be defeated quickly
since the Russian army while large was tactically and technologically
inferior and Russia itself seemed constantly on the brink of revolution
he also believed that the combined might of Germany and Austria-
Hungary could keep France at bay if they honored their alliance with
Russia and intervenes this would in his mind finally allow him to achieve
military dominance over Europe and establish Germany as a true
superpower militarily and not just economically the question nobody in
the Kaiser’s government could seem to answer however is what would
Britain do if war erupted on the continent Britain’s army was
comparatively small but could call upon troops from Australia Canada
India and new Zealand while the royal navy could seriously damage
Germany’s empire abroad despite his ascertation of his army's
superiority even the Kaiser had to accept that fighting Russia France
and the British empire and supporting Austria-Hungary in the Balkans
was too much but while Britain had shown its support for France in face
of German aggression it was wary of France’s Russian allies London and
Moscow had similar aims in Europe which should have made them
neutral allies however they were staunch rivals in the far east as such
Britain remained out of any formal treaties that would drag her into a
war that was primarily a Russian concern such as the invasion of Serbia
but also couldn't ignore the situation in Europe therefore Britain
entered into an entent with France saying it would support her if
attacked but an ontance was in no way binding on July 23 1914 a month
after Ferdinand’s assassination the Austro-Hungarians delivered an
outrageous ultimatum to Serbia that every country observing the
situation was convinced was designed to be rejected and was
suspected to have been dictated to them by the Kaiser the ultimatum
had six key points to it including forcing Serbia to distance itself from
the national goal in Austro-Hungarian territory Serbian forces should
clamp down on nationalist groups in Serbia that threaten Austro-
Hungarian rule and have Austro-Hungarian officials lead the
investigation the Serbians appealed to Russia for help but realizing time
was not on their side they agreed to all parts of the ultimatum namely
the Austro-Hungarians being involved in internal investigations of the
assassination and other groups opposed to Austria-Hungary in Bosnia
this seemed reasonable to the world but not having all of its demands
met and at the insistence of Germany Austria-Hungary used this one
rejection as an excuse and invaded on July 28 1914 over the coming
days events would dramatically spiral out of control Russia had begun
to mobilize in the wake of the ultimatum and Germany responded in
kind before the Kaiser declared war on Russia on august 1st the next
day a skirmish broke out between French and German troops at the
French town of john Chery in what was the first battle of the western
front and the next day the Kaiser declared war on France France now
turned to Britain for support but Britain although alarmed at the
situation was more preoccupied with an impending uprising in Ireland
than events in Europe and remained undecided about what to do
Kaiser Wilhelm wanted a swift victory against France and attacked the
so-called iron gates of Paris at Longwood knowing that if the French
were defeated there then the country could be flooded with German
troops and forced to surrender to his terms however he made the
mistake of sending his troops through Belgium which had declared
itself neutral when the fighting broke out Britain had a treaty with
Belgium safeguarding their neutrality which the Kaiser dismissed as
little more than a piece of paper this blatant disregard for Britain’s
word forced London to finally declare war on Germany and Austria-
Hungary on august 4th on august 7 1914 the first troops of the British
expeditionary force landed in France and marched towards the
advancing Germans in Belgium and northeastern France unlike the
brutal trench warfare that would come later the early days of the war
were quite fluid in nature where a rapidly changing strategic picture
making reconnaissance a top priority for both sides and new
technologies would provide the answer however while this was
happening unbeknownst to anyone the Kaiser had secretly entered into
an agreement with the ottoman empire led by modern-day turkey
bringing them in on his side together Germany Austria-Hungary and the
ottoman empire formed the triple alliance with the ottoman empire
bursting into the war on October 28 1914 by attacking Russian ports in
the black sea leading to Britain France and Russia formally declaring
war on them on November 4th the Kaiser had seduced the ailing
ottoman empire into joining Germany by his forces string of early
victories and the promise of territorial gains while at the same time
warning of the consequences if they didn't join thus every major power
in Europe was now thrown together in war together the Kaiser’s
Germany and his allies became known as the central powers with many
of those countries having empires the fighting inevitably spilled over
into other parts of the world eventually encompassing parts of Africa as
well as the middle east and far east proof of this was provided barely a
week later after the start of hostilities when the German ship so false
was fired on and captured by Australian forces south of Melbourne
eight and a half thousand miles away from Serbia just a few days after
that British empire and French forces invaded and captured durman
tuggerland in west Africa the great powers of Europe had not engaged
in a full-scale war for over 60 years during which time the industrial
revolution had flourished as such the technology of war had
dramatically changed the dimensions of battle but sadly military tactics
often failed to keep pace even to the extent that in the opening battles
many French troops still adorned themselves in the traditional blue
tunic rather than the subdued colours they would later use to prevent
them standing out to snipers perhaps the most significant development
in weaponry was the machine gun while there are variations of
machine guns they all work in a similar manner whereby the energy
created in one bullet being fired helps reload the next bullet almost
instantaneously the result is a weapon that allows one man to fire 400
to 500 rounds a minute whereas before using traditional bolt action
rifles he could only discharge at best 10 to 20. this had a major impact
on traditional tactics that still prioritize the importance of the massed
cavalry charge with soldiers on horseback over open planes when the
war was barely a month old nearly three-quarters of a million casualties
had already been suffered by the major combatants on the eastern and
western fronts and it was thanks largely to the perfect storm of
obsolete tactics in the face of this new dreaded weapon never before
had such death been inflicted in war on such a scale and the war itself
was barely 30 days old another tool for war that would come to the
fore very quickly was the aero plane despite having been invented by
the wright brothers just 11 years previously early skepticism of the aero
plane in a military role quickly gave way to enthusiasm as military
leaders realized it was a useful tool for locating the enemy and
coordinating artillery attacks on September 2nd 1914 with the allies on
the western front in full retreats and Paris seemingly on the verge of
falling a French aircraft spotted a weakness in the German lines and this
allowed the allies to successfully counter attack in doing so they saved
Paris and possibly France itself from falling dramatically changing the
course of the war it was the first time in history an aircraft had
overwhelmingly affected the course of a war in fact aero planes on both
sides became so good at reconnaissance and artillery spotting that both
sides realized they were going to have to come up with a way to stop
them pilots therefore began experimenting with ways to destroy an
enemy aircraft they encountered in the air and this led to some bizarre
experiments such as using an anchor to snag enemy planes the obvious
answer was to fit guns on the aircraft but many of the early machines
were too underpowered to carry machine guns instead their crews
tried firing pistols and rifles at enemy pilots which was sometimes
enough to only warn an enemy off since actually hitting the plane was
all but impossible the outbreak of war saw a dramatic increase in the
pace of aircraft and weapon development leading to the first true
fighter aircraft known then as fighting scouts and these would turn the
skies into a brutal killing field the problem however was that the
machine gun couldn't fire through the propeller and instead was
mounted around it which made it difficult to aim some aircraft put the
propeller at the rear of the aircraft so it would not be an issue but the
Germans would later introduce the idea of synchronizing the gun to the
turning of the propeller this meant that the bullets fired between the
blades as they turned stopping as the blade passed in front of the gun
and firing again when the blades were clear fighter pilots became
celebrities during the war with the most famous being manfred von
richthoven a man whose name would forever be remembered by the
accolade of being the red baron richtoven's legacy went beyond his
own score of 80 confirmed kills what made him so great was his ability
to teach his subordinates the skills he learned in combat and he wrote
some of the earliest training manuals on air combat the principles of
which are still taught to fighter pilots today bombing from the air also
came to fruition during the war initially it was used as an extension of
the army's artillery but as the war progressed aircraft became heavier
and more powerful and began carrying out the first true strategic
bombing raids against enemy cities while pilots took the war into the
skies sailors were taking the war under the sea the first world war was
the first major conflict involving the widespread use of submarines
submarine warfare was not a new concept with the first ever
submarine attack taking place during the American revolutionary war
but it came of age at the beginning of the 20th century and its influence
on the war was both spectacular and totally unexpected a taste of the
power the submarine offered was witnessed on September 22nd 1914
the German submarine u9 attacked and sank three British cruisers as
after striking the first the others in the area believed it had suffered a
malfunction and went over to help this made them easy prey for the u9
which sank all three of them in quick succession over 1 000 men died
and Britain’s once seemingly invincible royal navy appeared helpless
while the submarine's role in naval warfare was secured Germany’s U-
boats attempted to starve Britain of food and war supplies from her
empire by intercepting the cargo ships bringing them to Britain which
were so important to maintaining the war effort with little real defense
against their attacks the only hope was to catch them on the surface
with aircraft and bomb them or coordinate naval gunfire from nearby
ships contrary to public perception of world war one and two
submarines they actually spent 95 of their time on the surface using
conventional diesel engines and charging their batteries which powered
them when they were submerged and this weakness was fully exploited
by the allies who began using powered balloons and later aircraft to
patrol the sea lanes and hunting them down with bombs working in
very cramped conditions submarine duty was a psychologically taxing
job and often their submarines were just as dangerous as the enemy
with many being lost in accidents especially involving their batteries
which could leak poisonous gas after a series of setbacks encountering
the German army in eastern France the British and French began
withdrawing towards the river man in what became known as the great
retreat upon reaching the mark the British and French repelled the
German army effectively grinding their advance to a halt both sides
then tried outflanking one another to the north but this only further
extended the battle lines until by mid-October both sides reached the
north sea forcing them to first consolidate their positions and then try
and break through enemy lines this involved digging trenches which
would protect the two sides from opposing gunfire and maintain their
front lines the two sides fought a series of pitched battles through late
October and into November in what is remembered as the first battle
of Ypres the British French and Belgians all fought the German army
and although successful once more in repelling them the allies paid a
heavy toll suffering nearly 130 000 killed or wounded the Germans
themselves sustained 134 000 casualties and while they could still
match the allied armies in the west the casualty rate coupled with the
demands of fighting a war in the east as well meant that the planned
big offensive to win the war had to be pushed back until 1950. this
delay meant both sides had time to build bigger longer and more
intricate trenches that would only make the job of breaking the
stalemates even more difficult the Austro-Hungarian army who entered
Serbia to take its revenge for France Ferdinand’s killing thus starting the
war were beaten back by Serbian troops but not before they committed
a series of well-publicized atrocities on the Serbian people the Serbians
garnered a lot of sympathy following their victory and received aid and
even troops from other countries but ultimately the country would be
defeated in the coming months by a combined Austro-Hungarian
German and Bulgarian force although the Serbian army continued
fighting with the allies for the duration of the war among its ranks was
mancillo gavrik a seven-year-old boy whose family was massacred by
the Austro-Hungarians and was adopted by a Serbian army unit at eight
years old he was given the rank of corporal and ended the war as a ten-
year-old lance sergeant having impressed one of the army's most senior
figures by tales of his exports including getting wounded in a trench
elsewhere japan joined the war on the side of the British and a joint
British japanese force captured German-controlled territory in china
the German navy shelled madras in British India and papiti in French
Polynesia but were defeated in engagements with the royal navy of
Tanzania in Africa and then again in the Falkland’s later that year
Australian troops captured German new guinea while new Zealand’s
troops also captured German Samoa in the western pacific while the
Germans had been halted in the west the Austro-Hungarian and
German armies enjoyed more success in the east against the Russians
the Russians suffered a string of defeats in 1914 which only fueled the
growing resentment of the tsar in his own country however the Austro-
Hungarians and Germans failed to capitalize on their successes and
with the onset of winter just like in the west and the bulk lands the two
sides ground to a halt not even a surprise attack by the ottoman army
against Russian forces in the black sea could break the eastern
stalemate for Britain the year ended with the nature of the war
changing forever when German warships shelled Scarborough and
hartlepool on December 16 convinced of their naval superiority the
attack proved that Britain’s fleet couldn't guarantee her protection and
the civilians killed became almost martyrs for the recruitment of new
soldiers to replenish losses this was further exacerbated by the first air
attacks on Britain the following year by German zeppelins amidst the
growing tragedy a story of human compassion unfolded when on
Christmas day 1914 troops from both sides got out of their trenches
and greeted each other in no man's land declaring an unofficial truce
they talked sang songs shared rations and even played football the
generals were furious however believing that this was fraternizing with
the enemy and would foster hesitation before an attack the truce
ended and the next day shooting began again life in the frontline
trenches was extremely taxing on the troops both physically and
mentally it would take around 450 men six hours to dig just 275 yards
and this often occurred at night so as not to alert the enemy that a
trench was being extended although the size and design of the trenches
vary depending on what could be dug by hand a typical British trench
was seven foot deep and six foot wide which was deemed sufficient
enough to offer a degree of protection from enemy shells and machine
gun fire mud and flooding during rainy periods was forever a problem
because not only did it cause injuries such as trench foot where the skin
has rubbed away against the sides of the soldier's boots but it also
proved to be a breeding ground for disease the damp also weakened
the trench walls meaning there was a constant fear of them collapsing
destroying a narrow trench with an artillery shell was an extremely
difficult thing to do with the only effective method being to saturate
the area with heavy shells thus the men often found themselves
standing around in the mud and water in cramped and claustrophobic
conditions while shells exploded around them all the while wondering if
the next shell would score a critical hit when a shell did land inside a
trench it was carnage with the trench no longer offering any protection
and instead directing the blast towards the men later trenches would
be dug in zigzag patterns to limit this problem as well as prevent enemy
soldiers who invaded the trench firing straight down the line the misery
of trench life was often compounded by the poor quality of food served
to the troops particularly in the early days of the war British troops
famously learned to despise the biscuits dished out to them which were
often so tough to eat that they cracked the soldier's teeth whenever
they bit into them an often overlooked part of trench life were the
prolonged periods of boredom which was a real fear for the military
leadership because they were worried that this would encourage
pacifist or even revolutionary ideas a typical day in a trench would see
the soldiers awakened before sunrise and stand too meaning they
would ready their weapons for an attack this would usually last two
hours before standing down and having breakfast they would then
spend the next few hours repairing any damage to the trench and
cleaning their equipment before lunch in the afternoon they would get
a few hours down time where they could read or write letters or get
some rest before returning to stand to again around dusk and then
sleeping while being in the trench provided protection the moment the
troops began leaving it to conduct an attack was when a huge
percentage of them would be killed finally the men would have to climb
out of the trench using ladders which left them exposed to enemy fire
as they went over the top and left them unable to retaliate the men
then had to walk across no man's land between the trenches because
the generals believed that if the men ran then discipline would break
down and the attack would fail but all this did was leave them exposed
to machine gun fire needlessly wasting lives until the enemy was simply
overwhelmed by the numbers of men walking towards them it was hell
on earth between December 1914 and march 1915 the allies attacked
German positions in the champagne region in an effort to break
through the German lines the operation was a success but the gains
were extremely minute on the grand scheme of things and cost 93 000
allied soldiers killed or wounded and 46 000 Germans as the campaign
came to a close the British began the battle of nerve Chappelle which
was aimed at relieving the German-occupied city of Lille a German
counter-attack halted the British advance before they could achieve
their goal and both sides dug in once more a few weeks later the British
achieved a breakthrough by digging a tunnel under the German lines on
hill 60 and planting explosives the resulting explosion caught the
Germans off guard and allowed the British to capture the hill only to
have it recaptured by the Germans a few days later the tactic of digging
under the enemy trench and placing explosives there would be
repeated again and again as the war went on in an effort to break the
stalemate the Germans unleashed a new and deadly weapon in the
form of chlorine gas on April 22nd during the second battle of Ypres the
gas was released by the Germans against the French army who thought
it was a smokescreen to cover a German advance as such the French
commanders ordered their men to stand to ready for an attack but this
only exposed men to the poison the effects of chlorine gas are horrific
and within seconds of inhaling it the victim's respiratory organs were all
but destroyed resulting in choking fits of blood until they died the
French lines completely collapsed and while the world condemned such
attacks both sides were quick to grasp the effectiveness of gas as a
weapon and it became just another part of the war in April 1915 French
and British empire forces mostly comprising of Australians and new
Zealanders planned a major landing at Galapagos in turkey to open up a
new front and divert the ottoman forces attention away from Russia it
was conceived by Winston Churchill but when the royal navy conducted
a reconnaissance of the landing zone they found it heavily defended
and advised against the operation Churchill proved too proud to call off
his plan and ordered the landings to take place anyway the result was
one of the most drawn out and futile battles of the entire war lasting
eight months and ending with the allies having to retreat after
sustaining 302 000 casualties the tragedy of Galapagos is so burned into
the consciousness of Australians and new Zealanders that many
historians have argued that it gave rise to the birth of nationalism in
those countries calling for their independence from Britain and the
crown a debate that still continues on today on May 7 1915 an incident
occurred that would have dramatic consequences for the course of the
war later when the Germans sank the British cruise liner in Lusitania
despite warnings issued by the Germans there were large numbers of
Americans on board who were killed and this pushed Americans closer
to the allies before they eventually joined the war in 1917 against the
Germans on May 23 1915 having thus far remained out of the war Italy
declared war on the central powers and launched an attack against
neighboring Austria-Hungary hoping surprise would lead to a quick
victory and territorial gains however like on the western front the
fighting became bogged down into near static trench warfare but at
much higher altitudes where the extreme cold claimed thousands of
lives and the frequent snowfall meant that the trenches would fill up
with snow wounded or dead soldiers would often simply disappear and
as late as 2015 bodies of soldiers who died on this brutal battlefront
continue to be found on the eastern front the situation was no better
for the Russians 1915 saw defeat after defeat for the tsar's armies
culminating in the capture of Warsaw in modern day Poland on august
5th as 1916 arrived the British could no longer rely on volunteers as
their ranks dwindled and a fresh summer offensive approached as such
conscription was introduced for the first time primarily concerning fit
unmarried young men however military service could be refused on the
grounds of religious or political viewpoints known as conscientious
objectors these men were frowned upon by their communities such
was the patriotic tone of the time and their names would be put in local
newspapers in order to shame them and discourage others by May
1916 the war at sea was about to reach its zenith as the German navy's
high seas fleets planned to ambush the royal navy's battleships and
battle cruisers in the north sea this they hoped would help them
wrestle dominance over the sea lanes out of Europe away from Britain
their plan involved attacking a fleet of British battle cruisers under the
command of admiral sir David Beatty destroying them quickly and
luring out British battleships into open conflict however British code
breakers had already learned of this plan and so the British fleet was
already mobilized the two sides met in the battle of Jutland on May 31
1916. the battle was the biggest naval engagement of the war involving
250 ships of various sizes and 100 000 men despite the German fleets
under the command of admiral reinhard shear possessing some of the
most modern ships in the world and having generally better weapons
the royal navy was ultimately victorious due to the sheer weight of
numbers on their side the British lost 14 ships and over 6 000 men but
were still able to field a sizable battle-ready force whereas the Germans
who lost 11 ships 2 500 men and suffered many other damages were
on the verge of complete destruction and so steamed for home never
again did the German fleets attempt to break the royal navy in a
pitched battle instead the war at sea became primarily fought by
Germany’s U-boats that continued to inflict heavy losses on British
shipping the Kaiser’s u-vote campaign would prove remarkably
successful right up to the end of the war almost starving Britain into
submission as summer came so too did the great offensive on July 1
1916 British forces went into action against the Germans over the
Somme river the battle was preceded by an intense artillery barrage
and several underground mines detonated from the tunnels dug under
the German trenches that left craters 93 feet wide on the first day
alone the British army lost over 19 000 troops with another 40 000
wounded the worst day for the British army in its entire history the
fighting for the Somme continued into November resulting in a
strategically important victory for the allies but the battle cost both
sides over 1.2 million men the continued need to break through the
trenches saw the introduction of another new weapon the tank based
on an agricultural tractor and actually developed by a royal navy
engineer the first tanks were thus known as land ships but they were so
secret that the men building them were told they were making water
carriers as such the name tank stuck the tank saw its debut on
September 15 1916 during the Somme offensive and immediately made
its presence known knocking over barbed wire and plowing through
enemy positions with near impunity their impact was so great that they
became a vital part of any future battle plan the Germans attempted to
build their own super tanks but when these proved unwieldy they
began using captured British and French ones as the bloodiest year of
fighting so far drew to a close 1917 would see the start of the beginning
of the end not just of the war but of the empires that began it wars of
empire in Europe were nothing new but never before had it been seen
on such a scale with so much death and suffering at home as well as on
the battlefield coupled with new ideas of socialism and nationalism the
great powers found themselves facing the prospect of revolution at
home as the war dragged on and losses mounted Britain would see the
first open rebellion when over Easter of 1916 Irish republicans rose up
in Dublin in an effort to overthrow the British rule they believed that
with Britain committed to fighting in Europe they would be unable to
suppress the uprising but they were proven wrong and after almost a
week of fighting the uprising was put down leaving over 450 dead
despite this the uprising sowed the seeds for the founding of the
republic of Ireland in 1919 but excluded an area of northeastern Ireland
which remained under British rule an issue that would see years of
republican and loyalist terrorism and remains contentious even today
in the wake of Britain’s decision to leave the European union while the
republic remains a member a few months later in 1916 the ottoman
empire found itself facing an Arab revolt calling for a new Arab kingdom
to be created from Syria to Yemen free of the ottoman Turks the
fighting lasted until the end of the war and not only helped ease the
fighting on the eastern and southern fronts but also saw the empire
start to break up until it collapsed in 1922 in Russia the tsar's hold on
his country had been tenuous throughout his reign but the war had
only fueled the call for revolution particularly from the Marxists led by
Vladimir Lenin in the army order and discipline was breaking down as
the Russians suffered one terrible defeat after another which saw
officers resort to extreme measures such as mass shootings of
deserters or drunks meanwhile the Russian economy came to the brink
of collapse and in 1917 workers across the country went on strike
finally grinding Russia to a halt having no choice tsar Nicholas ii stood
down and handed the country over to a provisional government in
what is known as the February revolution for the next few months
Russia appeared to be in limbo since the provisional government
proved too weak to hold the country together seizing his opportunity
Lenin led his Bolshevik forces in yet another revolution in October of
1917 and this in turn led to the Russian civil war breaking out in the
months that followed lens Bolsheviks knew they couldn't fight the
central powers as well as a civil war at home and so began negotiating
with the Kaiser signed on march 3rd 1918 their treaty saw large areas
of Russian territory ceded to the Germans that was hoped would aid
their ongoing war in the west the end of hostilities on the eastern
fronts also saw more German and Austro-Hungarian troops committed
to the west the Russian revolutions of 1917 had a potentially greater
impact on the western front when during the spring and summer of
1917 there were a series of mutinies within the French army
discouraged by their lack of success and spurred on by Russian
revolutionaries fighting within the French ranks French inventory began
protesting against their commanding officers or refusing to return to
their trenches to relieve frontline units while open fighting between
French units was avoided the mutinies only further lowered morale
amongst the French army and it would not be until the arrival of
American forces later in the year that it was re-energized under
president Woodrow Wilson the united states had maintained an
officially neutral stance when the fighting broke out which ultimately
proved profitable since American industry was contracted out to
produce war materials for both sides although ultimately due to the
British blockade much of the supplies earmarked for Germany would
never make it following the sinking of the Lusitania and the high loss of
American life opinion in Washington began to change and the
campaign was begun to get America into the war on the side of Britain
and France this campaign was ultimately successful with congress
voting for war on Germany on April 6 1917. however american
mobilization was initially slow echoing the british deployment the
americans formed the american expeditionary force on july 5th 1917
under general john perishing and began shuttling troops to France
however it would not be until October 21st that the American troops
would fire their first shots of the war despite this slow start in 1918
American troops were finally arriving in significant numbers which at
times reached 10 000 fresh troops a day in 1918 the central powers
were beginning to falter under the strain of war effectively blockaded
at sea and with the demands of feeding an army fighting on so many
fronts at once a food shortage began to take hold which was worsened
in Austria-Hungary by an influenza outbreak that overwhelmed medical
resources stretched to their limits the Austro-Hungarian army had
effectively been under German control aged emperor free to address
these problems but he failed miserably and the cause for revolution
grew louder by autumn 1918 until finally he stood down and
transferred power to a series of national councils these councils all
sought to act in their own interest and Austria-Hungary collapsed finally
and most significantly by late 1918 the Kaiser began to lose his grip on
Germany in march of 1918 the Germans suffered badly fighting that
year's spring offensive that included a large number of u.s forces on the
western front over 1.5 million men were killed or wounded over 680
000 of whom were German then later in the year the allies launched a
final bid to end the war which saw somewhat appropriately the most
bloody battle of the war the hundred days offensive was a series of
pitched battles fought between august and November 1918 and would
see a staggering 1.8 million casualties including a further 785 000
Germans with Austria-Hungary now virtually out of the war and the
ottomans making peace with the allies in October of 1918 no one
country could hope to sustain such losses just like in Austria-Hungary
Germany faced food shortages influenza outbreaks as well as the loss of
millions of wounded or dead soldiers with his authority waning and the
end of the war in sight American president Woodrow Wilson publicly
stated that any peace negotiations would no longer include the Kaiser
and with uprisings in berlin and a German navy mutiny taking place he
abdicated the throne on November 9th 1918. the new civilian
government that replaced him sued for peace and at 11 o'clock on
November 11th the guns fell silent the great war was over over 17
million people died as a direct result of the first world war over 20
million more were wounded many in life-altering ways the problem
with these figures however is they ignore the deaths that continued as
a result of the war in the years and decades after the war had finally
given the Bolsheviks in Russia the opportunity to seize power and this
sparked a civil war that would last another year and involve American
British French and even German troops fighting on effectively the same
side against them ultimately they would fail and Lenin would create the
soviet union out of what was left of imperial Russia the Russian civil war
would see an estimated 3 million people die through fighting or
starvation additionally the birth of this communist superpower would
also see it at odds with the west and eventually give rise to the cold war
that in turn led to a series of proxy wars fought around the world it
would even bring the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon while
we can't be sure the Russian revolution wouldn't have happened
anyway it is clear that world war one speeded up Lenin’s plans the
collapse of the ottoman empire would also see wide-scale genocide
particularly against Christians within its borders while the two countries
where the great war began Serbia and Bosnia would be led into a
forced marriage to form Yugoslavia after the end of the Austro-
Hungarian empire's rule in the Balkans Yugoslavia was mired by ethnic
tensions throughout its lifetime resulting in a series of bloody and
brutal civil wars in the 1990s in which wide-scale ethnic cleansing was
carried out on an almost industrial scale even the victorious powers of
Britain and France would suffer a difficult post-war period the expense
of the war in economical and material terms had greatly diminished
their power and the rebuilding process saw them in competition with
one another the old Anglo-French rivalry and suspicion quickly reared
its head again and both sides quietly began preparing for what they saw
as the possible next war being between them this sentiment was
particularly felt in France who believed that Britain was conspiring to
weaken French currency on the international markets in favor of the
British sterling on the other side of the world Britain and France’s ally
japan also felt betrayed by the west who began imposing arms
limitations on the world stage through treaties such as the Washington
naval treaty which limited warship production these treaties were
intended to prevent another arms race but overwhelmingly favored the
us and Britain souring Japanese opinion and bringing forth calls for
japan to begin expanding its own empire in Asia while the blame for the
great war was put squarely on the Kaiser it would be the German
people who would suffer for it while he went into exile in Holland in the
treaty of Versailles that outlined the terms of peace Germany was not
only forced to accept the guilt of having started the war but it was also
humiliated and broken by some of the harshest terms ever inflicted on
a country one man loathed the terms of the treaty perhaps more than
anyone else he would go on to leave a growing political party in
Germany that vowed that the treaty of Versailles would be abolished
and Germany would once more rise to greatness his name was Adolf
Hitler