Key Battles of the Great War
The Great War: Summaries of the Key Battles
[pic]Europe in 1914
At the start of the Great War in 1914, Germany was a relatively young power, only coming into existence following a series of wars in 1871. Germany's Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, had shepherd the country into the 20th century with the adage that Germany must always be in a majority of three in any dispute among the five great European powers. His aim was to maintain peaceful ties with Russian.
When Kaiser Wilhelm II came to power, he quickly retired Bismarck, and upset the Chancellor's delicate balance of power by refusing to renew Germany's friendship with Russia. Germany soon found itself in a minority of two. Its only European ally was the weakest of the European powers, Austria-Hungary.
The tripwire that set off the century's first global conflict was Austria's declaration of war against Serbia on July 28, 1914, a month after Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne) was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian fanatic. A war between Austria and Serbia meant a war between Austria and Russia -- Serbia's traditional ally. That meant war between Russia and Germany. And that meant war between Germany and France. And that meant war between Germany and Great Britain. In a flash, the whole continent was at war.
The Outbreak of War
At the outbreak of war, the German High Command activated the Schlieffen Plan, which called for a major offensive to capture Paris in precisely 42 days.
The German army would avoid France's line fortifications by sweeping west through neutral Belgium and then turning in a huge arc south into France. The French army would be destroyed defending Paris. The German generals were so confident of success that Kaiser Wilhelm II proclaimed that he would have "Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner." If the plan worked, France would be forced to surrender and Germany could shift its forces to the eastern front and defeat the Russians before they were fully prepared to fight. According to the German generals the war would be over by Christmas, only five months after it began.
As the German army advanced through Belgium, the French believed that this was a diversion, and sent most of the French army northeast to attack Germany through the lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. The French would loose 27,000 men in a single day, proving that the machine gun and the long-range rifle were devastating defensive weapons against traditional warfare tactics.
But the Schlieffen Plan soon began to unravel. The German army, having advanced rapidly through Belgium and deeply into France, found themselves physically exhausted and far ahead of their supply lines. As the German right flank drove towards Paris, it separated from the rest of the invading force. Recognizing their vulnerability, the Germans pulled up twenty-five miles short of Paris. Now it was France's chance to attack. French General Joffre ordered a stand along the Marne.
Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, a Russian army of some 350,000 men engaged Germany at the Battle of Tannenberg. For Germany it was one of the greatest victories of the war: one third of the Russian troops were either killed or captured; the rest ran for their lives in a disorganized retreat. But even though the victor, the brief penetration into Prussia by the Russians hurt Germany in the end by taking pressure off the beleaguered French Army, as two German Army corps and a cavalry division destined for the final push to take Paris were diverted to the Eastern Front. In early September, the first Battle of the Marne took place, with over two million men participating. The German army was stopped and Paris was saved.
Immediately following the first Battle of the Marne, both sides tried to out-flank one another in an effort to swing around the other's defensives. The resulting actions, called by some the "race to the sea," ended with a line of trenches that extended from Switzerland to the English Channel. By mid-September, stalemate had begun and trench warfare had set in. No one suspected that the trench lines that stretched across Western Europe by the end of December 1914 would not change much over the next four years.
Gallipoli
On April 24th, 1915, an amphibious force of British, French, Australian, and New Zealand troops began landing on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli. Their aim, to knock Germany's ally, Turkey, out of the war. Only a small Turkish force awaited them on the cliffs overlooking the shore. However, the Gallipoli landing was a disaster caused by inadequate intelligence, insufficient attention to the terrain, an underestimation of the enemy's strength and resilience in defense of their native soil. Nine months after landing, the allies withdrew after incurring over 250,000 casualties, including over 46,000 dead.
The Battle of Verdun
German General Erich von Falkenhayn developed a battle plan for attacking Verdun, France, a city protected by a ring of underground forts. The German attack on Verdun on February 21, 1916 was a complete surprise to the French. German heavy guns quickly reduce the French trench system into isolated pieces, forcing soldiers to fight in small groups with no tactical links. After a few short weeks, the battle took on a life of its own, with small groups of men on both sides fighting local battles in constant struggle for their lives, and protection of the territory they occupied. Begun in mid-February 1916, and ending in December, the battle of Verdun symbolized for the French the strength and fortitude of their armed forces and the solidarity of the entire nation. Verdun is still considered by many military historians as the 'greatest' and most demanding battle in history. Verdun exemplifies the "war of attrition," and in the end the front lines were nearly the same as when the battles started while over 300,000 French and Germans were killed and over 750,000 were wounded.
The Battle of the Somme
One hundred and twenty-five miles northwest of Verdun, the British and French armies joined at the Somme River. A Franco-British offensive was planned here for 1916 to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun. British General Douglas Haig ordered a massive bombardment of the German lines that would last a week and could be heard across the Channel in England. But the German troops were deeply dug in and the bombardment did not reach them. Once the shelling was over, of the 100,000 British troops who attacked the German lines July 1, 1916, 20,000 were killed and over 40,000 were wounded. It was the single worst day in deaths and casualties in British military history. Eventually this battle, which did not change the front line trenches much at all, involved over 2 million men along a 30 mile front. British and French losses numbered nearly three-quarters of a million men.
The Battle of Ypres
British General Douglas Haig often believed his army was on the verge of a breakthrough. His optimism resulted in a plan in 1917 to attack the German lines just outside of Ypres, Belgium. This would be the third battle at Ypres, the other two having taken place in 1914, and 1915. Once Haig's army broke through, he envisioned it sweeping across the low plains and swinging north to the sea.
On the morning of June 7, 1917, the Allies set off a series of nineteen giant mines dug over eighteen months under the German lines south-east of Ypres. Together with a sophisticated counter-battery operation, this stroke completely disrupted and disorganized German defensive positions. The initial advance ended successfully, but then weeks passed before the British troops were ordered to continue by which time the wettest fall in years had set in. In this three-month battle, men, animals and equipment were swallowed up in mud that was often like quicksand, Haig's ambitious plan became yet another failure.
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The Western Front in 1918
Over a four-month period in 1918, the German army launched five major assaults at different parts of the allied line. The new campaign was based on new tactics: squads of elite storm-troopers, armed with automatic rifles, light machine guns and flame-throwers, were supported with a creeping barrage of artillery fire. Initially the plan worked. The British Fifth Army collapsed. The allies gave ground. But for every allied trench captured, there was always another for the Germans to take. Within a week the advance had ground to a halt. Soon the elite German storm troopers were a spent force. The allies, having stemmed the German advance, now reversed it. The whole front was ablaze. The climatic battles of September 1918 saw the rupture of the Hindenburg Line, and on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the armistice went into effect.
The Treaty of Versailles (1919)
The Treaty of Versailles was a the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. Although the armistice signed on November 11, 1918 put an end to the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude a peace treaty. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial provisions required Germany and its allies to accept full responsibility for causing the war and, under the terms of articles 231-248, disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Allies. The Treaty was undermined by subsequent events starting as early as 1922 and was widely flouted by the mid thirties.
France
Georges Clemenceau's aims can be summarized as follows
• To gain control of most of Germany's factories
• To humiliate the German people
• To permanently cripple Germany's armed forces so France would never be threatened again, and to create a "buffer zone" by demilitarising the Rhineland
Britain
Lloyd George's aims can be summarized as follows
• To defend British interests by preserving Britain’s naval supremacy that had been threatened by Germany in the run up to the war, maintaining Britain’s empire and possibly increased colonial expansion
• To reduce Germany’s future military power and to obtain reparations
• Not to create an embittered Germany that would seek revenge and threaten peace in the long term future; and lastly
• To help Germany economically to become a strong trading partner with Britain
United States
Woodrow Wilson's aims can be summarized as follows
• To prevent another war at all costs
• To establish a "League of Nations" to help settle international conflicts peacefully
• To capitalise on European debt, maintain strong trade agreements, and to end the writing of secret treaties which expanded the war
The Terms of the Treaty
The terms of the Treaty, which Germany had no choice but to accept, were announced on May 7, 1919.
Germany lost:
10% of its national territory, All of its overseas colonies, 12.5% of its population, 16% of its coalfields, and half its iron and steel industry, Alsace-Lorraine returned to France, Saar coal fields placed under French control for 15 years, Annexation of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland prohibited, Upper Silesia returned to Poland, Northern Schleswig returned to Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia became independant states
Military Restrictions on Germany
The Rhineland to be a demilitarized zone, The German armed forces cannot number more than 100,000 troops and no conscription, Manufacturing of weapons is prohibited, Import and export of weapons is prohibited, Manufacture or stockpiling of poison gas is prohibited
Tanks are prohibited, Naval forces limited to 15,000 men, 12 destroyers, 6 battleships, and 6 cruisers, Submarines are prohibited, Military aircraft are prohibited
Reparations
Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles assigned blame for the war to Germany; much of the rest of the Treaty set out the reparations that Germany would pay to the Allies. The total sum due was decided by an Inter-Allied Reparations Commission. The war reparations that Entente demanded from Germany was 226 billion Reichsmark in gold (around £11.3 billion), then reduced to 132 billion Reichsmark. In 1921, this number was officially put at £4,990,000,000, or 132 Billion marks. In many ways, the Versailles reparations was a reply to the reparations placed upon France by Germany through the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt. Signed after the Franco-Prussian War, France took huge loans in order to pay the reparations by 1873, because the Treaty conditions allowed the German Army to occupy France until the war reparations were paid. The Versailles Reparations came in a variety of forms, including coal, steel and agricultural products.
The standard view is that the reparations were the cause of Germany's economic woes and the rise of Nazism in Germany. However, this is a topic which is still the subject of debate among historians.
League of Nations
The treaty provided for the creation of the League of Nations, a major goal of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The League of Nations was intended to arbitrate international disputes and thereby avoid future wars. Only three of Wilson's Fourteen Points were realized, since Wilson was compelled to compromise with Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Orlando on some points in exchange for retaining approval of Wilson's "fourteenth point," the League of Nations.
Reaction of the Allies
The French felt that they had been slighted, and subsequently voted out Clemenceau at the next election. Britain as a whole was at first content, because it succeeded in securing more favourable German eastern frontiers, e.g. plebiscites on areas previously assigned to Poland (Masuria, southern Warmia, Upper Silesia) and creation of the Free City of Danzig). Even then Britain felt that the Treaty was too harsh to Germany, which dissatisfaction might have been potential trouble for the future. For the United States, it was seen as Europe’s problem, but there also it was widely believed the Treaty was too harsh[citation needed].
United States U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge who opposed ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. The United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, making it invalid in the United States and effectively hamstringing the nascent League of Nations envisioned by Wilson. The largest obstacle faced in the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles was the opposition of Henry Cabot Lodge. It has also been said that Wilson himself was the second-largest obstacle, primarily because he refused to support the treaty with any of the alterations proposed by the United States Senate.
Reaction in Germany
The treaty evoked an angry and hostile reception in Germany from the moment its contents were made known. The Germans were outraged and horrified at the result - since Wilson's idealistic fourteen points had painted the picture of a different outcome. They did not feel that they were responsible for starting the war nor did they feel as though they had lost. The German people had understood the negotiations at Versailles to be a peace conference and not a surrender. At first, the new government refused to ratify the agreement, and the German navy sank its own ships in protest of the treaty.
Upon learning of the full terms of the treaty, the German provisional government in Weimar was thrown into upheaval. “What hand would not wither that binds itself and us in these fetters?” asked Chancellor Philipp Scheidemann who then resigned rather than agree to the Treaty. Army chief Paul von Hindenburg did the same, after declaring the army unable to resume the war under any circumstances. Only an ultimatum from the Allies finally brought a German delegation to Paris to sign the treaty on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. As President of the newly-formed Weimar Republic, Friedrich Ebert finally agreed to the agreement on June 28, 1919.
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