World War I Highlights

A Fresh Start:

A war that left its impact on quadrillions of souls and the planet they inhabited. The stage on which this act of conflict was performed, got destroyed by its own act leaving the audience dazzled by their participation in the act of warfare.

World War I was a blow to the world. It was fought between the Central Powers which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey against the Allies, which included France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and Japan. Another combatant, the United States became a part of the Allies in 1917, before the ending year of the War. The battle between the rivals aimed to destroy the Powers of one another.

The war duration was extended up to a time of 5 years, starting from 1914 till 1918. This extended interval led to a world being shaken to bits and pieces.

Reason for the Conflict:

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria hurtled into warfare across Europe.

He was killed by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. The nationalists aimed to end the Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This attack led to a series of blames over the Serbian government and finally ended up being used as a weapon against Serbian nationalism.

Austria-Hungary awaited the declaration of war until they got some support fighters. Since Russia supported Serbian, which meant Russia's allies would also stand by Serbia.

German leaders assured Austria-Hungary that they would be standing side by side. Austria- Hungary warned Serbia.

The Beginning of World War I:

Austria-Hungary initiated the battle and then Russia stood with Serbian Army along with its allies, those being Belgium, France and Great Britain. The actual World Conflict had been initiated.

Conflict across Two Fronts:

The incidents of War happened across two fronts, the western front and the eastern front. On the western front, Germany invaded Belgium so as in a stance to capture it. They used heavily equipped weapons against civilians in the city and left every person in the city awaiting death.

They had developed a plan to get a quick victory over Belgium, calling it the Schlieffen Plan.

Battle of the Marne:

French and British forces came to tackle the German army, which had caused enough disaster in France. This was the first Battle, named "Battle of the Marne." In effect of this battle, German troops were driven back to the River Aisne. This was the end of an attack by the German Army.

Battle of Tannenberg:

On the eastern front, a catastrophic timeline of events was being set into action. Russian troops invaded East Prussia and Poland, which were held in captivity by the German Forces. Russian forces were ceased to enter in, by the German and Austrian forces.

The battle that took place in August 1914 was named, "The Battle of Tannenberg." Germany got the victory in it but it left it to a loss of moving two regiments across the western front to the eastern front which half led to its defeat in the Battle of Marne.

The Russians had bigger plans made ahead of time, in front of which the Schlieffen plan was nothing but a mere game of quick victory, which the Germans had hoped of.

Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution:

The social unrest was in action in Russia for decades, which led to an outbreak of the Revolution.

This Revolution was targeted against Czarist rule by the Bolsheviks who would become the Communist Party later on of the Soviet Union. The reason for the Revolution was the increasing poverty of the Russian public, deprivation of food and economic fluctuation. Russian revolution took place in 1917, led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. This was the end of Russian participation in World War I, leaving its allies to confront the German troops on the western front.

US Participation in World War I:

The US President was in the favor of having a neutral view of the War during 1914. However, it provided and received shipments to and from the European countries on both fronts.

In 1915, Germany declared the watercourse circling the British Isles to be a combat area.

Germany flushed aggression towards neutral public ships and sunk several trading and deck passenger ships which included some U.S ships too.

A protest took place over the sinking of Lusitania, an ocean liner that was sunk by the German Navy. It led to the demise of a lot of innocent people. This event changed the course of the opinion of the American Public against Germany. Congress proceeded with a $250 million arms subsidy measure, in February 1917.

This act intended the United States to be ready to battle in World War.

The United States entered the battlefield on April 2, 1917, just after a month of Germans sinking four more U.S. Consignor ships in the previous month of March. President Wilson was bespoke for a pronouncement of war against Germany.

Dardanelles Campaign:

The Ottoman Empire entered the dispute in late 1914. The Allies were in a rage to conquer the Ottoman Empire. The Allies failed when they attacked Dardanelles in an attempt to gain victory over the Ottoman Empire and failed again when they invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula in April, 1915. They suffered a loss of 250,000 casualties and had to retreat back to their lands from the Peninsula. This also included the British troops resisting the Ottoman Turks in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Battle including Italy:

In late 1915, a skirmish is known as the "First Battle of Isonzo" took place as soon as Italy entered the battlefield. It took the Allies' side. The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo took place in October 1917, which also came to be known as the "Battle of Caporetto." In this battle, Austria-Hungary gained success against the opponents with the aid of German troops.

After a series of battles, Italy came in view to assist the Allies. Later on, the Allies which included British, American troops and French, came back to fight on the front lines.

The War on the Waters:

Before the initiation of World War I, the German Navy was nothing in comparison to Britain's Royal Navy. In fact, Britain's Navy stood undisputed by any other nation. The German Navy had increased its strength to combat on the Waterfront. Its supply of U-boat submarines aided in its strength.

Battle of Dogger Bank (January 1915):

The battle was fought between the British Navy and the German Navy. The British startled the German by initiating a strike against their Ships in the North Sea. They were in power against the

German Navy. So, the German Navy didn't confront the Royal British Navy for more than a year. It had chosen to settle its strategy on the U-boats.

Battle of Jutland (May 1916):

Battle of Jutland is known to be the Major engagement between Navies of two fronts of the World War I. It again left Britain's Royal Navy superior to the German Navy on the North Sea. Germany couldn't make any further attempts against the Naval blockade.

World War I in the Sky:

At the time of World War I, there wasn't much advancement in the field of aviation. Planes had been newly introduced by the Wright brothers in the years preceding the War, in 1903. Planes were initially used in those years just for surveillance purposes and not as warplanes. The information gathered through this scrutiny allowed pushing the Germans out of France, that was delivered by the Pilots to the Allies during the first battle of Marne.

The Propeller of the planes was highly affected by the machine guns if the timing of shooting the bullet was incorrect. It could damage it in a blow.

The solution came through a French plane, named "The Morane-Saulnier L." Its Propeller was steel-plated that resisted the bullets from hitting it. It was used by the Allies against the Central Powers. Another Plane, "The British Bristol Type 22," also came in handy in those war times to offer reconnaissance work and as a fighter plane.

In conclusion, the Allies made more and more aircraft than the Germans could. The British succeeded in creating a separate air warfare Team, called the "Royal Air Force", that would in fact work independently of the other two troop forces, the Army and the Navy.

Second Battle of the Marne:

Although not powerful on the Eastern front, Germany held its Garrison over the Western front after the treaty with Russia. The second battle of Marne took place on July 15, 1918, between German and the French and with the American troops also standing side by side with the French.

Germans were attacked heavily and after suffering huge casualties, they had no other choice but to retreat back. Their hopes of occupying France and specifically Belgium were shattered. And as a result, the second battle of Marne turned out in the favour of the Allies, who regained the occupied lands by German troops.

Role of African American Soldiers:

There were four Black regimes serving in the U.S. military. The regimes had soldiers who participated in the American-Indian Wars and the Spanish-American war.

These Black regimes were not stationed to fight alongside white soldiers on the front lines in Europe, which the U.S. military considered ludicrous to its self-esteem. However, they were sent for minor roles of loading and unloading cargo, cooking, maintaining stuff and so forth. After the U.S. military faced a lot of criticism from the Black people, depriving African American soldiers of their civil rights. It formed two divisions of Black Combat teams, who were trained separately.

After entering the battlefield, one division faced criticism while the 93rd division showed a successful performance.

When France demanded America for augmentation, the U.S. sent the 93rd division over to aid France. They fought dauntlessly on the front rows and got to be called out as "Harlem Hellfighters," for which they got the French award of "Croix de Guerre," for their courage.

World War ending without Surrender:

Although the Turkish gained victory on the lands of Gallipoli, they were left weak due to the revolts against its economy and ravage on its land. So, they had to sign a treaty in 1918 with the Allies.

On the other hand, the growing nationalism was weakening Austria-Hungary. It had no other choice but to sign a truce.

Only Germany remained out of all the Central Powers. Since its allies had ended the conflict in peace talks, it couldn't stay fighting on the war fronts alone. So, it was forced to seek a ceasefire.

Finally ending the huge war, World War I, on November 11, 1918.

The Pact of French:

In 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, Allies presented their opinion of protecting their territories from any further conflicts. Some were hoping not to see any war after World War I and began calling it, "The War to end all Wars."

This treaty was signed on June 28, 1919. Germany was forced to agree into signing it because of its defeat to the Allies. Loftiness among the Germans increased and this would serve as the basis among other reasons for *World War II to take place.

*World War II was caused due to enormous reasons, one being the impact of the Treaty of Versailles followed by WWI and several other factors contributed to the arousal of WWII.

World War I Fatalities:

The masses of public, soldiers and the land got highly affected resulting in the loss of more than *9 million soldiers, 21 million soldiers being wounded. Loss of civilian lives reached close to 10 million. German and France's populations were the highly affected ones out of all the participants of the War. They had sent their teenagers and the adult population to fight. The nations that became the victims getting affected badly were Germany, Turkey, Russia and Austria-Hungary.

* The exact values may differ from the above-mentioned ones.

Bequest of World War:

*World War I changed the world. Modern weaponry was introduced to fight, which included tanks, aerial warfare, modernized guns and machinery etc.

It led to an epidemic of Spanish flu which killed a massive number of people. It led to a social upheaval where Women came out to work since men had been sent to fight the war.

The use of different gases in the war led to an everlasting chemical effect on the population. Gases like Mustard gas and phosgene gas were used.

*These were not only the after-effects of war. It led to social unrest; peace of mind was not to be found in those times. All the possible consequences of war were faced by the people.

Conclusion:

World War I, a conflict that led to a disaster that has effects even to this day on the lives of affected.