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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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new history content awaits

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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