The Widening War
The Western Front
”a jolly little war”
”the boys will be home by Christmas”
• Schlieffen plan fails. Why?
1. More Belgian resistance than expected.
2. Russian attacks in east earlier than expected
3. Underestimated GB – Belgian alliance.
4. French forces transferred quicker than expected
from Alsace-Lorraine.
5. Logistical problems – long supply lines
6. Diversion of German First Army to the southeast
split her forces in two, increasing vulnerability.
War of Attrition
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September 1914 - German advance is halted at Battle of the Marne, 40 miles
from Paris. Stalemate ensued.
Taxicabs rush French
and British forces to battle.
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Ypres, Belgium: four major battles during the ”race to the sea”.
February 1916 – Germans attempt to break stalemate at Battle of Verdun. No
change in position. Nearly ½ million dead on both sides.
July 1916 – Battle of the Somme. A pyrrhic victory for the allies. Only a few
square miles gained. 600,000 dead.
The Eastern Front
• Germany inflicts major defeat on the Russians at Battle of Tannenberg and
Battle of Masurian Lakes in August and September 1914.
• Battle of Galicia 1914: Early victory for Russians over Austria-Hungary, but
in May following year are pushed out by German offensive.
• On Austrian front - Serbia humiliates A-H twice. Need Germany’s help to
push back Russians.
• By 1915 Russian’s advance is severely weakened. 2.5 million Russians are
killed, wounded or captured in 1915.
• Eastern Front is thereafter determined by the Germans.
• May 1916 last Russian offensive against A-H; Russian army collapses in
1917 due to revolution.
Also in 1915
• Italy changes sides. Joins the Entente with hopes to gain
territory from Austria. Italy remains bogged down in South
Tyrol for next 2½ years. Both sides suffer enormous losses.
Italy is finally defeated in Battle of Caporetto 1917.
• Bulgaria chooses to side with the Ottomans in order to settle
scores with Serbia.
• Disaster for Serbia: German and A-H attack from the north.
Bulgaria from the south-east. The Serbian army, its monarchy
and many of its people flee over the mountains to Albania.
Ottoman Turks join war 1914
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War is extended to the Middle East.
Allied with Germany and A-H, they hope to restore empire.
Battle lines seesaw back and forth between Turks and Russians.
• Britain doesn’t regard the Ottoman Empire as a serious opponent.
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1915 British invasion of Gallipoli. Aim is to take the Dardenelles and
Constantinople.
– French, British, Irish and Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corp)
contingents are dealt severe defeat. Evacuation one year later.
– First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, was dismissed.
A two-front war for Britain
• Second struggle between the British and the Turks
takes place in Mesopotamia.
• Aim is to control oil fields which GB accomplishes
already in 1914.
• British advances up the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
are halted 20 miles from Baghdad where the Turks
force them to retreat. British troops under siege for 5
months and they surrender in April 1916.
• Heavy blow for Great Britain.
Global warfare due to colonies
• British hope to lead Arab revolts against the Turks.
• British armies with contingents from Egypt, India, Australia and New
Zealand fight the Ottoman Turks.
• Colonial subjects of British and French supported their foreign masters.
Helped to seize Germany’s colonies.
• Japan seizes German colonies in the Pacific and on Chinese mainland.
• More than 1 million Africans served in the various armies. Here is a picture
of two African soldiers in France.
The war at sea
• Ambitions to control the world’s waterways
were significant reasons that the war spread
so quickly.
• Mines, submarines, torpedoes made great
warships vulnerable.
• Naval power used to maintain control of trade
routes around the globe.
Submarine warfare
• Britain and France naval blockade of Germany
early in war. No neutral ship allowed to sail to
Germany with cargo.
• Germany launched counter-blockade with its
new weapon – the submarine.
• 1915 sinking of British passenger ship the
Lusitania. USA, under Woodrow Wilson,
protests.
• Germany relaxes its submarine warfare.
German domestic situation 1916
• Germany realizes that military success alone cannot
win the war. Full mobilization of homefront.
• 1916 Socialist opposition in Germany starts to press for
compromise peace.
• In November/December 1916 President Wilson tries to
broker a diplomatic solution. Germany positive but
France and England reject initiative.
• German high command under Generals von
Hindenburg and Ludendorff are determined to gain
victories before peace. Want hegemony in Europe.
Unrestricted submarine warfare
draws US into war
• Germany launches unrestricted submarine
warfare at end of 1916. Sink all ships providing
aid to the Allies.
• USA is neutral but supplies GB and France.
• Germany hopes that they can knock out Britain
and France before the US can mobilize.
• Zimmermann telegram February 1917 shifts
public opinion away from isolationism.
• USA declares war on Germany in April 1917. First
combat in Europe with Americans starts in
November.
Beginning of the end
• War weariness among soldiers and civilians.
• Italian and Russian armies collapse in 1917.
Strikes common in German cities. German moderates in
Reichstag call for peace without territorial gains!
• German High Command under Ludendorff push for one
last great offensive in France.
• March – July 1918 Second Battle of the Marne. Allies
hold firm.
• Submarine warfare fails. US troops and supplies
crossing Atlantic tip the scales in favor of Allied victory
Armistice
(suspension of hostilities)
• August 1918 – Ludendorff approaches Wilson for
lenient armistice terms. Rejected by the Allies.
Demand complete surrender and overthrow of
monarchy. Negotiations over armistice drag on….
• German people rise up, army discipline collapses.
Revolutionary councils of soldiers and workers
appear. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates. A-H
surrenders
• November 9, 1918 A republic is proclaimed in
Berlin and its leaders agree to armistice terms.
Goes into effect on November 11, 1918.