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The First World War: The War to End War | WW1 Documentary
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the lamps are going out all over europe
we shall not see them lit again in our
lifetime so remarked the british foreign
secretary sir edward gray as the
european continent geared up for war in
the summer of 1914 although at first
glance his words appear somewhat
fantastic the fact is that what would
transpire over the following four years
would so dramatically change the world
that the consequences of which would not
be fully resolved until the end of the
century when all key figures involved
had long since died including grey
himself
even today the consequences of that
summer are still being felt and we all
live in the shadow of the great war the
first world war
[Music]
welcome to wars of the world
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so 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 austro-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 gavrilo princip 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
austro-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
austro-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 austro-hungary in bosnia this
seemed reasonable to the world but not
having all of its demands met and at the
insistence of germany austro-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 johnshary 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 austro-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 austro-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 ss 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 aeroplane
despite having been invented by the
wright brothers just 11 years previously
early skepticism of the aeroplane 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 aeroplanes 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
richtofen'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 ipra 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 falklands 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 bulklands 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 ipra 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 austro-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 pershing 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 austro-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
austro-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
austro-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 austro-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
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