World War I: Peace Treaties

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 16
At a glance
Powered by AI
The document provides an overview of World War 1 including its dates, locations, results and involvement of various countries and regions.

The document lists several events in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that increased tensions between European powers and ultimately led to the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914.

The main countries involved in World War 1 were divided into the Allied Powers (France, British Empire, Russia, Italy, US, etc.) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria).

World War I

28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
Date
(4 years, 3 months and 2 weeks)
Peace treaties
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific
Location Islands, China, Indian Ocean, North and South
Atlantic Ocean
Allied victory

 Central Powers victory on the Eastern


Front nullified by defeat on the Western
Front and Italian Front
 Fall of all continental empires in Europe
(including Germany, Russia, Ottoman
Empire and Austria-Hungary)
Result  Russian Revolution and Russian Civil
War, with the collapse of the Russian
Empire and the subsequent formation of
the Soviet Union
 Widespread unrest and revolutions
throughout Europe and Asia
 Creation of the League of Nations (see
Aftermath of World War I)

 Formation of new countries in Europe


and the Middle East
 Transfer of German colonies and
Territorial territories, Partitioning the former
changes Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary and
the Russian Empire, transfer of
territories to other countries

Belligerents
Allied Powers:
 France
 British Empire Central Powers:

  Russia[a]   Germany
(until 1917)   Austria-Hungary
  Serbia   Ottoman Empire
  Belgium
  Japan
  Montenegro
  Italy (from 1915)
  United States
(from 1917)
  Romania (from 1916)   Bulgaria (from 1915)
  Portugal (from 1916)  ... and others
  Hejaz (from 1916)
  Greece (from 1917)
 Siam (from 1917)
  China (from 1917)
 ... and others

Commanders and leaders


 Raymond Poincaré
 Georges
Clemenceau
 Herbert H. Asquith
 David Lloyd
George  Wilhelm II
 Nicholas II   Franz Joseph I †
 Alexander  Karl I
Kerensky  Mehmed V †
 Victor Emmanuel  Mehmed VI
III  Three Pashas
 Vittorio Orlando  Ferdinand I
 Woodrow Wilson and others ...
 Yoshihito
 Albert I
 Peter I
 Ferdinand I
and others ...

Strength
Total: 42,950,000 [1]
Total: 25,248,000[1]

 12,000,000  13,250,000
 8,842,000[2][3]  7,800,000
 8,660,000[4]  2,998,000
 5,615,000  1,200,000
 4,744,000
 800,000
 707,000
 658,000
 380,000
 250,000
 80,000
 50,000

68,208,000 (Total all)


Casualties and losses
 Military dead:
5,525,000
 Military wounded:
12,832,000
 Total:
 Military dead:
18,357,000 KIA, WIA
4,386,000
and MIA
 Military wounded:
 Civilian dead:
8,388,000
4,000,000
 Total:
12,774,000 KIA, WIA
further details ...
and MIA
 Civilian dead:
Military deaths by country:[5]
[6] 3,700,000

further details ...
 1,811,000
 1,398,000
Military deaths by country:[5]
 1,115,000
 651,000
 2,051,000
 250,000–335,000
 1,200,000
 275,000
 772,000
 117,000
 88,000
 59,000–88,000
 26,000
 7,000
 3,000
 <1,000

 v
 t
 e

Theaters of World War I


Events leading to World War I
Franco-Prussian War 1870–1871
Second Concert of Europe 1871
Congress of Berlin 1878
Campaign in Bosnia 1878
Dual Alliance 1879
Triple Alliance 1882
Franco-Russian Alliance 1894
Anglo-German naval arms race 1898–1912
Entente Cordiale 1904
Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905
First Moroccan Crisis 1905–1906
Pig War 1906–1908
Anglo-Russian Entente 1907
Bosnian Crisis 1908–1909
Agadir Crisis 1911
Italo-Turkish War 1911–1912
Balkan Wars 1912–1913
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand 1914
July Crisis 1914
 v
 t
 e

World War I: Mobilized forces per total population (in %)[citation needed]


World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, was a global war
originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously
known as the Great War or "the war to end all wars",[7] it led to the mobilisation of more than
70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars
in history.[8][9] It also was one of the deadliest conflicts in history,[10] with an estimated 8.5 million
combatant deaths and 13 million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war,[11] while resulting
genocides and the related 1918 Spanish flu pandemic caused another 17–100 million deaths
worldwide,[12][13] including an estimated 2.64 million Spanish flu deaths in Europe and as many as
675,000 in the United States.[14]

On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist and member of the
Serbian Black Hand military society, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz
Ferdinand in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis.[15][16] In response, Austria-Hungary issued an
ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July. Serbia's reply failed to satisfy the Austrians, and the two moved
to a war footing. A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in
the Balkans to one involving most of Europe. By July 1914, the great powers of Europe were
divided into two coalitions: the Triple Entente, consisting of France, Russia, and Britain; and the
Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Triple Alliance was only defensive
in nature, allowing Italy to stay out of the war until 26 April 1915, when it joined the Allied
Powers after its relations with Austria-Hungary deteriorated.[17] Russia felt it necessary to back
Serbia, and approved partial mobilisation after Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of
Belgrade, which was a few kilometres from the border, on 28 July.[18] Full Russian mobilisation
was announced on the evening of 30 July; the following day, Austria-Hungary and Germany did
the same, while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within twelve hours.[19] When Russia
failed to comply, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of Austria-Hungary,
the latter following suit on 6 August; France ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on
2 August.[20] In the end, World War I would see the continent of Europe split into two major
opposing alliances; the Allied Powers, primarily composed of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain & Ireland, the United States, France, the Russian Empire, Italy, Japan, Portugal, and the
many aforementioned Balkan States such as Serbia and Montenegro; and the Central Powers,
primarily composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire
and Bulgaria.

Germany's strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to rapidly concentrate
the bulk of its army in the West to defeat France within 6 weeks, then shift forces to the East
before Russia could fully mobilise; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan.[21] On 2 August,
Germany demanded free passage through Belgium, an essential element in achieving a quick
victory over France.[22] When this was refused, German forces invaded Belgium on 3 August and
declared war on France the same day; the Belgian government invoked the 1839 Treaty of
London and, in compliance with its obligations under this treaty, Britain declared war on
Germany on 4 August. On 12 August, Britain and France also declared war on Austria-Hungary;
on 23 August, Japan sided with Britain, seizing German possessions in China and the Pacific. In
November 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Austria-Hungary and
Germany, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and the Sinai Peninsula. The war was
fought in (and drew upon) each power's colonial empire also, spreading the conflict to Africa and
across the globe.
The German advance into France was halted at the Battle of the Marne and by the end of 1914,
the Western Front settled into a war of attrition, marked by a long series of trench lines that
changed little until 1917 (the Eastern Front, by contrast, was marked by much greater exchanges
of territory). In 1915, Italy joined the Allied Powers and opened a front in the Alps. Bulgaria
joined the Central Powers in 1915 and Greece joined the Allies in 1917, expanding the war in the
Balkans. The United States initially remained neutral, though even while neutral it became an
important supplier of war materiel to the Allies. Eventually, after the sinking of American
merchant ships by German submarines, the declaration by Germany that its navy would resume
unrestricted attacks on neutral shipping, and the revelation that Germany was trying to incite
Mexico to initiate war against the United States, the U.S. declared war on Germany on 6 April
1917. Trained American forces did not begin arriving at the front in large numbers until mid-
1918, but the American Expeditionary Force ultimately reached some two million troops.[23]

Though Serbia was defeated in 1915, and Romania joined the Allied Powers in 1916, only to be
defeated in 1917, none of the great powers were knocked out of the war until 1918. The 1917
February Revolution in Russia replaced the Monarchy with the Provisional Government, but
continuing discontent with the cost of the war led to the October Revolution, the creation of the
Soviet Socialist Republic, and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by the new government
in March 1918, ending Russia's involvement in the war. Germany now controlled much of
eastern Europe and transferred large numbers of combat troops to the Western Front. Using new
tactics, the German March 1918 Offensive was initially successful. The Allies fell back and held.
The last of the German reserves were exhausted as 10,000 fresh American troops arrived every
day. The Allies drove the Germans back in their Hundred Days Offensive, a continual series of
attacks to which the Germans had no countermove.[24] One by one, the Central Powers quit: first
Bulgaria (September 29), then the Ottoman Empire (October 31) and the Austro-Hungarian
Empire (November 3). With its allies defeated, revolution at home, and the military no longer
willing to fight, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on 9 November and Germany signed an armistice on
11 November 1918, ending the war.

World War I was a significant turning point in the political, cultural, economic, and social
climate of the world. The war and its immediate aftermath sparked numerous revolutions and
uprisings. The Big Four (Britain, France, the United States, and Italy) imposed their terms on the
defeated powers in a series of treaties agreed at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the most well
known being the Treaty of Versailles with Germany.[25] Ultimately, as a result of the war, the
Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman, and Russian Empires ceased to exist, and numerous new
states were created from their remains. However, despite the conclusive Allied victory (and the
creation of the League of Nations during the peace conference, intended to prevent future wars),
a second world war followed just over twenty years later.

The term world war was first used in September 1914 by German biologist and philosopher
Ernst Haeckel, who claimed that "there is no doubt that the course and character of the feared
'European War' ... will become the first world war in the full sense of the word,"[26] citing a wire
service report in The Indianapolis Star on 20 September 1914.
Prior to World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or
simply the World War.[27][28] In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's wrote, "Some
wars name themselves. This is the Great War."[29] Contemporary Europeans also referred to it as
"the war to end war" or "the war to end all wars" due to their perception of its then-unparalleled
scale and devastation.[30] After World War II began in 1939, the terms became more standard,
with British Empire historians, including Canadians, favouring "The First World War" and
Americans "World War I".[31]

Background
Main article: Causes of World War I

Political and military alliances

Rival military coalitions in 1914: Triple Entente in green; Triple Alliance in brown. Only the
Triple Alliance was a formal "alliance"; the others listed were informal patterns of support.

For much of the 19th century, the major European powers had tried to maintain a tenuous
balance of power among themselves, resulting in a complex network of political and military
alliances.[32] The biggest challenges to this were Britain's withdrawal into so-called splendid
isolation, the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the post-1848 rise of Prussia under Otto von
Bismarck. Victory in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War established Prussian hegemony in Germany,
while victory over France in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War unified the German states into
a German Reich under Prussian leadership. French desire for revenge over the defeat of 1871,
known as revanchism, and the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine became a principal object of French
policy for the next forty years (see French–German enmity).[33]

In 1873, to isolate France and avoid a war on two fronts, Bismarck negotiated the League of the
Three Emperors (German: Dreikaiserbund) between Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany.
Concerned by Russia's victory in the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War and its influence in the
Balkans, the League was dissolved in 1878, with Germany and Austria-Hungary subsequently
forming the 1879 Dual Alliance; this became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882.[34][35]

The practical details of these alliances were limited since their primary purpose was to ensure
cooperation between the three Imperial Powers and to isolate France. Attempts by Britain in
1880 to resolve colonial tensions with Russia and diplomatic moves by France led to Bismarck
reforming the League in 1881.[36] When the League finally lapsed in 1887, it was replaced by the
Reinsurance Treaty, a secret agreement between Germany and Russia to remain neutral if either
were attacked by France or Austria-Hungary.

In 1890, the new German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, forced Bismarck to retire and was
persuaded not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty by the new Chancellor, Leo von Caprivi.[37] This
allowed France to counteract the Triple Alliance with the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894 and
the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain, while in 1907 Britain and Russia signed the Anglo-
Russian Convention. The agreements did not constitute formal alliances, but by settling long-
standing colonial disputes, they made British entry into any future conflict involving France or
Russia a possibility. These interlocking bilateral agreements became known as the Triple
Entente.[38] British backing of France against Germany during the Second Moroccan Crisis in
1911 reinforced the Entente between the two countries (and with Russia as well) and increased
Anglo-German estrangement, deepening the divisions that would erupt in 1914.[39]

Arms race

SMS Rheinland, a Nassau-class battleship, Germany's first response to the British Dreadnought

The creation of the German Reich following victory in the 1871 Franco-Prussian War led to a
massive increase in Germany's economic and industrial strength. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz and
Wilhelm II, who became Emperor in 1890, sought to use this to create a Kaiserliche Marine or
Imperial German Navy to compete with Britain's Royal Navy for world naval supremacy.[40] In
doing so, he was influenced by US naval strategist Alfred Mahan, who argued possession of a
blue-water navy was vital for global power projection; Tirpitz translated his books into German,
and Wilhelm made them required reading.[41] However, it was also driven by Wilhelm's
admiration of the Royal Navy and desire to outdo it.[42]

This resulted in the Anglo-German naval arms race. Yet the launch of HMS Dreadnought in
1906 gave the Royal Navy a technological advantage over its German rival, which they never
lost.[40] Ultimately, the race diverted huge resources to creating a German navy large enough to
antagonise Britain, but not defeat it. In 1911, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
acknowledged defeat, leading to the Rüstungswende or ‘armaments turning point', when
Germany switched expenditure from the navy to the army.[43]

This was driven by Russia's recovery from the 1905 Revolution, specifically increased
investment post-1908 in railways and infrastructure in its western border regions. Germany and
Austria-Hungary relied on faster mobilisation to compensate for fewer numbers; it was concern
at the closing of this gap that led to the end of the naval race, rather than a reduction in tension
elsewhere. When Germany expanded its standing army by 170,000 men in 1913, France
extended compulsory military service from two to three years; similar measures taken by the
Balkan powers and Italy, which led to increased expenditure by the Ottomans and Austria-
Hungary. Absolute figures are hard to calculate, due to differences in categorising expenditure,
while they often omit civilian infrastructure projects with a military use, such as railways.
However, from 1908 to 1913, defence spending by the six major European powers increased by
over 50% in real terms.[44]

Conflicts in the Balkans

Sarajevo citizens reading a poster with the proclamation of the Austrian annexation in 1908

In October 1908, Austria-Hungary precipitated the Bosnian crisis of 1908–1909 by officially


annexing the former Ottoman territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it had occupied since
1878. This angered the Kingdom of Serbia and its patron, the Pan-Slavic and Orthodox Russian
Empire. The Balkans came to be known as the "powder keg of Europe".[45] The Italo-Turkish
War in 1911–1912 was a significant precursor of World War I as it sparked nationalism in the
Balkan states and paved the way for the Balkan Wars.[46]

In 1912 and 1913, the First Balkan War was fought between the Balkan League and the
fracturing Ottoman Empire. The resulting Treaty of London further shrank the Ottoman Empire,
creating an independent Albanian state while enlarging the territorial holdings of Bulgaria,
Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece. When Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913, it
sparked the 33-day Second Balkan War, by the end of which it lost most of Macedonia to Serbia
and Greece, and Southern Dobruja to Romania, further destabilising the region.[47] The Great
Powers were able to keep these Balkan conflicts contained, but the next one would spread
throughout Europe and beyond.

Prelude
Sarajevo assassination

Main article: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand


This picture is usually associated with the arrest of Gavrilo Princip, although some[48][49] believe it
depicts Ferdinand Behr, a bystander.

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
visited the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. A group of six assassins (Cvjetko Popović, Gavrilo Princip,
Muhamed Mehmedbašić, Nedeljko Čabrinović, Trifko Grabež, and Vaso Čubrilović) from the
Yugoslavist group Mlada Bosna, who had been supplied with arms by the Serbian Black Hand,
gathered on the street where the Archduke's motorcade was to pass, with the intention of
assassinating him. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's
South Slav provinces, which Austria-Hungary had annexed from the Ottoman Empire, so they
could be combined into Yugoslavia.

Čabrinović threw a grenade at the car but missed. Some nearby were injured by the blast, but
Ferdinand's convoy carried on. The other assassins failed to act as the cars drove past them.

About an hour later, when Ferdinand was returning from a visit at the Sarajevo Hospital with
those wounded in the assassination attempt, the convoy took a wrong turn into a street where, by
coincidence, Princip stood. With a pistol, Princip shot and killed Ferdinand and his wife Sophie.
Although they were reportedly not personally close, the Emperor Franz Joseph was profoundly
shocked and upset. The reaction among the people in Austria, however, was mild, almost
indifferent. As historian Zbyněk Zeman later wrote, "the event almost failed to make any
impression whatsoever. On Sunday and Monday (28 and 29 June), the crowds in Vienna listened
to music and drank wine, as if nothing had happened."[50][51] Nevertheless, the political effect of
the murder of the heir to the throne was significant, and was described by historian Christopher
Clark on the BBC Radio 4 series Month of Madness as a "9/11 effect, a terrorist event charged
with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna."[52]

Expansion of violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Crowds on the streets in the aftermath of the anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo, 29 June 1914
The Austro-Hungarian authorities encouraged the subsequent anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo, in
which Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks killed two Bosnian Serbs and damaged numerous Serb-
owned buildings.[53][54] Violent actions against ethnic Serbs were also organised outside Sarajevo,
in other cities in Austro-Hungarian-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.
Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned and extradited
approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs, 700 to 2,200 of whom died in prison. A further 460 Serbs
were sentenced to death. A predominantly Bosniak special militia known as the Schutzkorps was
established and carried out the persecution of Serbs.[55][56][57][58]

July Crisis

Main articles: July Crisis, German entry into World War I, Austro-Hungarian entry into World
War I, and Russian entry into World War I

The assassination led to a month of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria-Hungary,


Germany, Russia, France and Britain, called the July Crisis. Austria-Hungary correctly believed
that Serbian officials (especially the officers of the Black Hand) had been involved in the plot to
murder the Archduke, and wanted to finally end Serbian interference in Bosnia.[59] However, the
Austrian-Hungarian foreign ministry had no proof of Serbian involvement, and a dossier that it
belatedly compiled to make its case against Serbia was riddled with errors.[60] On 23 July,
Austria-Hungary delivered to Serbia the July Ultimatum, a series of ten demands that were made
intentionally unacceptable, in an effort to provoke a war with Serbia.[61] Serbia decreed general
mobilisation on 25 July. Serbia accepted all the terms of the ultimatum except for articles five
and six, which demanded that Austrian-Hungarian representatives be allowed to assist in
suppressing subversive elements inside Serbia's borders and to participate in the investigation
and trial of Serbians linked to the assassination.[62][63] Following this, Austria broke off diplomatic
relations with Serbia and, the next day, ordered a partial mobilisation. Finally, on 28 July 1914, a
month after the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Ethno-linguistic map of Austria-Hungary, 1910. Bosnia-Herzegovina was annexed in 1908.

On 25 July, Russia, in support of Serbia, declared partial mobilisation against Austria-Hungary.


[64]
On 30 July, Russia ordered general mobilisation. German Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg
waited until the 31st for an appropriate response, when Germany declared Erklärung des
Kriegszustandes, or "Statement on the war status".[19][65] Kaiser Wilhelm II asked his cousin, Tsar
Nicolas II, to suspend the Russian general mobilisation. When he refused, Germany issued an
ultimatum demanding its mobilisation be stopped, and a commitment not to support Serbia.
Another was sent to France, asking her not to support Russia if it were to come to the defence of
Serbia. On 1 August, after the Russian response, Germany mobilised and declared war on
Russia. This also led to the general mobilisation in Austria-Hungary on 4 August.

The German government issued demands to France that it remain neutral whilst they decided
which deployment plan to implement, it being extremely difficult to change the deployment once
it was underway. The modified German Schlieffen Plan, Aufmarsch II West, would deploy 80%
of the army in the west, while Aufmarsch I Ost and Aufmarsch II Ost would deploy 60% in the
west and 40% in the east. The French did not respond but sent a mixed message by ordering their
troops to withdraw 10 km (6 mi) from the border to avoid any incidents, and at the same time
ordered the mobilisation of their reserves. Germany responded by mobilising its own reserves
and implementing Aufmarsch II West. The British cabinet decided on 29 July that being a
signatory to the 1839 treaty about Belgium did not oblige it to oppose a German invasion of
Belgium with military force.[66]

On 1 August, Wilhelm ordered General Helmuth von Moltke the Younger to "march the whole
of the ... army to the East" after being informed that Britain would remain neutral if France was
not attacked (and, possibly, that her hands might, in any case, be stayed by crisis in Ireland).[67][68]
Moltke told the Kaiser that attempting to redeploy a million men was unthinkable, and that
making it possible for the French to attack the Germans "in the rear" would prove disastrous. Yet
Wilhelm insisted that the German army should not march into Luxembourg until he received a
telegram sent by his cousin George V, who made it clear that there had been a misunderstanding.
Eventually, the Kaiser told Moltke, "Now you can do what you want."[69][70]

Cheering crowds in London and Paris on the day war was declared.

For years, the French had been aware of intelligence indicating that Germany planned to attack
France through Belgium. General Joseph Joffre, chief of staff of the French military from 1911,
inquired about the possibility of moving some French troops into Belgium to pre-empt such a
move by Germany, but France's civilian leadership rejected this idea. Joffre was told that France
would not be the first power to violate Belgian neutrality and that any French move into Belgium
could come only after the Germans had already invaded.[71] On 2 August, Germany occupied
Luxembourg, and on 3 August declared war on France; on the same day, they sent the Belgian
government an ultimatum demanding unimpeded right of way through any part of Belgium,
which was refused. Early on the morning of 4 August, the Germans invaded; King Albert
ordered his military to resist and called for assistance under the 1839 Treaty of London.[72][73][74]
Britain demanded Germany comply with the Treaty and respect Belgian neutrality; the
ultimatum expired on 4 August at midnight Berlin time, 11pm British time. No reply having
been received by then, Britain was at war with Germany.[75]

Progress of the war


Further information: Diplomatic history of World War I

Opening hostilities

Confusion among the Central Powers

The strategy of the Central Powers suffered from miscommunication. Germany had promised to
support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but interpretations of what this meant differed.
Previously tested deployment plans had been replaced early in 1914, but those had never been
tested in exercises. Austro-Hungarian leaders believed Germany would cover its northern flank
against Russia.[76] Germany, however, envisioned Austria-Hungary directing most of its troops
against Russia, while Germany dealt with France. This confusion forced the Austro-Hungarian
Army to divide its forces between the Russian and Serbian fronts.

Serbian campaign

Main article: Serbian Campaign of World War I

Serbian Army Blériot XI "Oluj", 1915

Austria invaded and fought the Serbian army at the Battle of Cer and Battle of Kolubara
beginning on 12 August. Over the next two weeks, Austrian attacks were thrown back with
heavy losses, which marked the first major Allied victories of the war and dashed Austro-
Hungarian hopes of a swift victory. As a result, Austria had to keep sizeable forces on the
Serbian front, weakening its efforts against Russia.[77] Serbia's defeat of the Austro-Hungarian
invasion of 1914 has been called one of the major upset victories of the twentieth century.[78] The
campaign saw the first use of medical evacuation by the Serbian army in autumn of 1915 and
anti-aircraft warfare in the spring of 1915 after an Austrian plane was shot down with ground-to-
air fire.[79][80]

German Offensive in Belgium and France

Main article: Western Front (World War I)


German soldiers in a railway goods wagon on the way to the front in 1914. Early in the war, all
sides expected the conflict to be a short one.

A French bayonet charge at the Battle of the Frontiers; by the end of August, French casualties
exceeded 260,000, including 75,000 dead.

When the war began, the German Order of Battle placed 80% of the army in the West, with the
remainder acting as a screening force in the East. The plan was to quickly knock France out of
the war, then redeploy to the East and do the same to Russia.

The German offensive in the West was officially titled Aufmarsch II West, but is better known as
the Schlieffen Plan, after its original creator. Schlieffen deliberately kept the German left (i.e. its
positions in Alsace-Lorraine) weak to lure the French into attacking there, while the majority
were allocated to the German right, so as to sweep through Belgium, encircle Paris and trap the
French armies against the Swiss border (the French charged into Alsace-Lorraine on the outbreak
of war as envisaged by their Plan XVII, thus actually aiding this strategy).[81] However,
Schlieffen's successor Moltke grew concerned that the French might push too hard on his left
flank. Consequently, as the German Army increased in size in the years leading up to the war, he
changed the allocation of forces between the German right and left wings from 85:15 to 70:30.
Ultimately, Moltke's changes meant insufficient forces to achieve decisive success and thus
unrealistic goals and timings.[82][dubious – discuss]

The initial German advance in the West was very successful: by the end of August the Allied
left, which included the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), was in full retreat; French casualties
in the first month exceeded 260,000, including 27,000 killed on 22 August during the Battle of
the Frontiers.[83] German planning provided broad strategic instructions, while allowing army
commanders considerable freedom in carrying them out at the front; this worked well in 1866
and 1870 but in 1914, von Kluck used this freedom to disobey orders, opening a gap between the
German armies as they closed on Paris.[84] The French and British exploited this gap to halt the
German advance east of Paris at the First Battle of the Marne from 5 to 12 September and push
the German forces back some 50 km (31 mi).
In 1911, the Russian Stavka had agreed with the French to attack Germany within 15 days of
mobilisation; this was unrealistic and the two Russian armies that entered East Prussia on 17
August did so without many of their support elements.[85] The Russian Second Army was
effectively destroyed at the Battle of Tannenberg on 26–30 August but the Russian advance
caused the Germans to re-route their 8th Field Army from France to East Prussia, a factor in
Allied victory on the Marne.[citation needed]

By the end of 1914, German troops held strong defensive positions inside France, controlled the
bulk of France's domestic coalfields and had inflicted 230,000 more casualties than it lost itself.
However, communications problems and questionable command decisions cost Germany the
chance of a decisive outcome, and it had failed to achieve the primary objective of avoiding a
long, two-front war.[86] This amounted to a strategic defeat; shortly after the Marne, Crown
Prince Wilhelm told an American reporter; "We have lost the war. It will go on for a long time
but lost it is already."[87]

Asia and the Pacific

Main article: Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I

New Zealand occupied German Samoa (later Western Samoa) on 30 August 1914. On 11
September, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of Neu
Pommern (later New Britain), which formed part of German New Guinea. On 28 October, the
German cruiser SMS Emden sank the Russian cruiser Zhemchug in the Battle of Penang. Japan
seized Germany's Micronesian colonies and, after the Siege of Tsingtao, the German coaling port
of Qingdao on the Chinese Shandong peninsula. As Vienna refused to withdraw the Austro-
Hungarian cruiser SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth from Tsingtao, Japan declared war not only on
Germany but also on Austria-Hungary; the ship participated in the defence of Tsingtao where it
was sunk in November 1914.[88] Within a few months, the Allied forces had seized all the
German territories in the Pacific; only isolated commerce raiders and a few holdouts in New
Guinea remained.[89][90]

World empires and colonies around 1914

African campaigns

Main article: African theatre of World War I

Some of the first clashes of the war involved British, French, and German colonial forces in
Africa. On 6–7 August, French and British troops invaded the German protectorate of Togoland
and Kamerun. On 10 August, German forces in South-West Africa attacked South Africa;
sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the rest of the war. The German colonial forces in
German East Africa, led by Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, fought a guerrilla warfare
campaign during World War I and only surrendered two weeks after the armistice took effect in
Europe.[91]

Indian support for the Allies

Main article: Indian Army during World War I


Further information: Hindu–German Conspiracy, Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition, and Third
Anglo-Afghan War

The British Indian infantry divisions were withdrawn from France in December 1915, and sent to
Mesopotamia.

Germany attempted to use Indian nationalism and pan-Islamism to its advantage, instigating
uprisings in India, and sending a mission that urged Afghanistan to join the war on the side of
Central Powers. However, contrary to British fears of a revolt in India, the outbreak of the war
saw an unprecedented outpouring of loyalty and goodwill towards Britain.[92][93] Indian political
leaders from the Indian National Congress and other groups were eager to support the British
war effort since they believed that strong support for the war effort would further the cause of
Indian Home Rule.[citation needed] The Indian Army in fact outnumbered the British Army at the
beginning of the war; about 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa,
and the Middle East, while the central government and the princely states sent large supplies of
food, money, and ammunition. In all, 140,000 men served on the Western Front and nearly
700,000 in the Middle East. Casualties of Indian soldiers totalled 47,746 killed and 65,126
wounded during World War I.[94] The suffering engendered by the war, as well as the failure of
the British government to grant self-government to India after the end of hostilities, bred
disillusionment and fuelled the campaign for full independence that would be led by Mohandas
K. Gandhi and others.[95]

You might also like