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World War 1 - The War to End All Wars - Coggle Diagram
World War 1 - The War to End All Wars
A gang of Yugoslav nationalists who didn't like being part of Austria-Hungary shot the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand while he was in Sarajevo.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia.
Russia came in to aid Serbia, so Germany decided to declare war on Russia!
Knowing that France would go to war with Germany, Germany decided to attack France quickly and invaded via neutral Belgium and Luxembourg, and because of this, Great Britain stepped in to stop the Germans getting any closer.
Two sides formed the allies and the central powers.
A new form of warfare evolved as these fully industrialized armies with engines, machine guns, airplanes and new chemical gas weapons fought against each other.
Boys as young as 12 managed to lie their way into the army ranks.
Germany marched on Paris but was stopped by the French and both sides dug themselves into trenches in what became known as the Western Front. On the Eastern Front, the Russians invaded Austria-Hungary but were stopped in Eastern Prussia by the Germans.
The Ottoman Empire joined in on the site of the Central Powers in 1914.
Trench warfare: Each army would dig a long network of trenches in the ground, fortifying the front with barbed wire and sandbags. - neither side dared advance on the other.
Machine guns were a new and very effective weapon.
When the time was right, the army would climb up over the top and charge across no-man's land to the enemy trench and capture it, thus gaining more land and taking another step towards their goal! At least that was the plan.
Spirits were high at least when the first Christmas came by. Both forces climbed out of their trenches to celebrate Christmas together, talk, share stories and play football. When Christmas ended, they would climb back into their trenches to become enemies once again.
Conditions in the trenches were dreadful. Disease was everywhere.
1916 saw a renewed push on the Western Front from both sides. Thousands of French died at Verdun as the Germans unleashed their chlorine gas.
The infamous Battle of the Somme was a long and gruelling battle that lasted from July to November. The first day alone saw over 80,000 men wounded or killed; mostly British, due to disastrous attacks.
Fundamental errors and contradictions from the high command led to confusion and unclear plans. In places, soldiers weren't organized in time to charge so by the time that they got going, the artillery had stopped firing on the Germans, allowing them to easily fire upon their attackers. Planes and artillery were supposed to clear the German barbed wire, but the shrapnel was ineffective against the wire.
When the order came to go over the top, thousands of men ran out to their death to be caught on the barbed wire and picked off one by one by the German machine guns. This battle saw the first use of tanks by the British.
Ultimately, France and Britain pushed against Germany and gained much ground.
During 1916 also, before the Somme, Irish Republicans staged an uprising in Dublin in the hopes to catch Britain while they were distracted by the war. It was crushed by Britain but after executing the rebel leaders Irish support for Britain and the war dropped, at least in the south of Ireland. Most Irish troops after that came from the Protestant North.
On the sea Britain mined many patches of international water to stop movement of German ships. Germany was blockaded. After many naval battles, Britain tried to stay in control of the seas.
Germany were on the attack with the u-boat submarines adding a new dimension to Naval Warfare - They sank many ships including the ship The Lusitania and because this broke loads of war rules, it ultimately influenced the United States of America to enter the war... two years later!
The British pushed up through the Arabian peninsula with T.E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia helping to organize the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
In 1917, the Russians had a series of revolutions. In the February Revolution, the Tsars were gotten rid of, but Russia remained in the war, and the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks took control and brought power to the people and sowed the seeds for Communism in Russia.
The Russians signed a treaty with Germany and pulled out of the war causing an initial difficulty for the enemies of the Central Powers. The Allies however became refreshed with reinforcements from the United States of America who eventually decided to enter the war in 1917 after Germany tried to convince Mexico to attack them.