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The Course of the First World War (General (Germans sought to knock France…
The Course of the First World War
General
rapid movement August-October 1914
Germans sought to knock France out in 6 weeks
deployed 7 armies against France
1 army positioned to deal with Russian attack
would turn their focus to Russia once France was defeated
as soon as war broke out, France implemented Plan XVII
an attempt to retrieve Alsace-Lorraine
British mobilised the British Expeditionary Force - dispatched it to France to help defend German invasion
Russia began mobilising to alleviate the pressure on France
Austria-Hungary's main focus was Serbia
The First World Was was no as global a conflict as the Second World War
many different theatres of fighting:
Eastern Europe: Russia vs AH/Germany
Austro-Italian border: after Italy joined in 1915
Balkans with Austrians, Germans and Bulgarians vs Serbia
Ottoman Empire: Turkey faced British and British Imperial troops at Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Middle East
Africa: Britain attacked German colonies
Western Front: stalemate 1914-1917
a war of movement in opening months and from spring of 1918
1915
Western Front
German army on defensive
focusing on Russian instead
only significant German offensive on Western Front in 1915 was in April at the Second Battle of Ypres
Germans began using chlorine gas
in the disarray caused by the gas, Germans captured high ground in the north of Ypres
Ypres still mostly controlled by allies
many French and British offensives
resulted in heavy casualties and little change to the front line
At Loos, British attacked using poison gas
attack failed because their reserves had been held back too far to mobilise quickly
British had 50,000 casualties
Sir John French replaced as commander-in-chief by Douglas Haig
Eastern Front
May 1915: huge German offensive against Russia's North-West Front
drove them out of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia
General Brusilov felt obligated to withdraw troops on South-West Front
all Russian forces in retreat
1 million Russians surrendered in 1915
August 1915, Tsar Nicholas II took over as commander-in-chief
Weak Point Strategy - the Gallipoli Campaign
huge debate among the French and British:
should they focus their attention on driving Germany out for France and Belgium
or should they knock out Austria-Hungary and Turkey (were a lot weaker)
in the wake of stalemate in the West, the allies mounted the Gallipoli Campaign
to try and weaken the central powers
objective: seize control of the Dardanelles Straits and defeat Turkey
March 1915:
18 Allied ships tried to enter Dardanelles
4 sank hitting mines
attempt abandoned
April 1915:
British landed, but Turks had strengthened their defences
British pinned down on the beaches, remained there for a year
became another war of attrition
January 1916:
all allied forces evacuated
Other Fronts and Significant Developments
May 1915: Italy joined allies after signing Treaty of London
in the Balkans: Bulgaria joined Central Powers, helped AH and Germany defeat Serbia
British and French landed in neutral Greece to help Greece
pushed back by he Bulgarians
Greece remained neutral until July 1917 - joined Entente
1914
Western Front
German commander-in-cheif: Helmuth von Moltke
changed the Schlieffen Plan, to:
transfer a few more troops to the Eastern Front
have more troops on the Left Wing of the Western Front
August 1914: Germany invaded Luxembourg, Belgium and France (with 1.5-1.7 million troops)
German advance slower than anticipated
120,000 BEF soliders arrived in France sooner than expected
BEF inflicted heavy casualties against Germans at Mons
Belgian resistance more resolute than Germans anticipated
France: plan XVII resulted in huge casualties
over 210,000 died in the first month of the war
French help up by the Germans in the Battle of the Frontiers - then driven back
Early September, German forces came close to Paris
northernmost army went East rather than West - exposed German troops to flank
British and French flanked behind and inflicted losses at the Battle of the Marne
Germans pulled away from Paris back to the River Aisne
Von Moltke resigned - replaced by Erich von Falkenhayn
Germans, French and British headed north trying to outflank each other
by late Ocotber, armies arrived at the Channel
Battle of Ypres: BEF and French prevented Germans from capturing Ypres - outflanked them
1 more item...
by end of 1914
BEF had lost 96,000 men
French had lost 995,000
Germans had 670,000 casualties
Eastern Front
Russians mobilised faster than Germans anticipated
by 17th August, 2 Russian armies advanced into East Prussia
Moltke transferred 60,000 troops from Western Front to Eastern Front
Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Ludendorff controlled Germany's forces in the East
German forces overwhelmed Russians at Tannenburg (August) and Masurian Lakes (September)
Russians transmitted uncoded messages telegraphing their messages to Germany
1918
dramatic return to a war of movement
Germans had a massive breakthrough
Allies launched a massive counter-attack
this led to their surrender
signed peace (Armistice) on 11 November 1918
6 October, German government asked allies for armistice terms
9th November, Kaiser fled to Holland
new socialist government singed ceasefire 11th November
Russia singed Brest-Litovsk Treaty in 1918 - surrendered
General Ludendorff launched a massive attack - strengthened by troops from the Russian front
but Germany had no further reserves
he had created Storm Battalions to advance quickly
Germans inflicted heavy casualties and advanced 65 km in 5 days
by July, Germans were within 40 miles of Paris
lost a lot of troops in this breakthrough
forces were tired and overstretched
from late May, allied troops were backed up by US troops
allied launched a counter-attack on 8th August
offensive benefited form improved communications (radio), tanks, artillery etc.
by September, allies had taken back land taken by Germany and broke the Hindenburg line
1917
General
Germany convinced Russian collapse was imminent
8th January: Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare
to increase pressure on Entente and starve Britain of supplies
this U-boat campaign hit allies hard:
end of 1916-April 1917: allied merchant ship losses increased from 350,000 tons an month to over 860,000 a month
this would sink American ships and draw them into the war - Germans well aware
19th January: US government informed of Zimmerman telegram
in which Germany tried to entice Mexico into an alliance against the USA
6th April: USA declared war on Germany
Western Front
late April, serious mutinies broke out among French units
dealing with this meant French couldn't launch any more successful offensives for the rest of 1917
therefore British kept pressure on Germans on Western Front
Eastern Front
by 1917:
1.7 million Russians had been killed
8 million Russian troops wounded
2.5 million Russian troops prisooners
Norman Stone:
the army was not on the point of collapse, but morale was poor
Germany had captured lots of Western Russia
War imposed stress on Russia's economy
inflation rose
peasants called up to war
peasant began hoarding grain
2nd March: Tsar Nicholas II abdicated - Russia became a Republic
Provisional government decided to continue the war
war minister, Alexander Kerensky, launched an unsuccessful offensive in June 1917
domestic issues worsened
Austro-Italian Front
Austria-Hungary had a major victory at the Battle of Caporetto