World War I

An Overview of World War I

By Jon Larr

Several events erupted to result in WWI. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand along with the "powder keg of Europe," the Balkans, were the most immediate causes for war but the main reason was due to the tensions which had been building up in Europe between the great powers. The great powers consisted of Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia

From 1871 to 1890 Otto Van Bismarck of Germany worked to keep the peace. He saw France as the greatest threat to peace because they wanted revenge for their humiliating loss in the Franco-Prussian war. Therefore, his first goal was to isolate France by allying with Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia. However, this was a dangerous alliance because Austria-Hungary and Russia were fighting over the Balkans. In 1890 Kaiser William II forced Bismarck out of office. He let the treaty between Russia and Germany lapse. This delighted the French who had been supporting Russia for years. Because Russia was no longer allied with Germany, they allied with France. This was Bismarck's greatest fear because, should Germany go to war, it would face war on two fronts. Kaiser William also held a grudge against Britain and decided to challenge them. He began to build a navy that he hoped would soon rival Britain's. This caused Britain to simultaneously start to build more ships and to reach out to France and Russia to form alliances.

In 1907 the battle lines were drawn in Europe. On one side was the Triple Alliance, which consisted of German, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. On the other side was the Triple Entente, which consisted of Great Britain, France and Russia. The only thing that Europe needed to erupt in war was something to set it off.

This "powder keg" was the Balkans. The Balkans consisted of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. Each of these newly formed countries was strong in nationalism and they all desired to extend their borders. The situation in the Balkans threatened Austria-Hungary but delighted the Russians. The Russians encouraged the Slavs, a nationality that comprised the majority of the Balkans, in hope of gaining a port on the Mediterranean Sea. In 1908 year, Austria took over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian officials were angered because they were planning to take over these countries themselves. Consequently, they wanted to go to war but Russia had not mobilized yet. In the following years crisis after crisis broke out in the Balkans but peace was maintained. However, each time peace was restored one nation or another was humiliated. After 1913, no one was willing to be humiliated again.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand touched of the war because Austria-Hungary used it as an excuse to teach Serbia a lesson. First, Austria-Hungary contacted Germany to see if they would back them up. When Kaiser William placed no limits on the support he would offer Austria-Hungary, they sent Serbia an ultimatum that required them to investigate and indict those who were involved in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. They had 48 hours to respond. Serbia knew refusing the ultimatum would result in war. In effect, they met the ultimatum but Austria-Hungary, on July 28, declared war on Serbia. Once war was declared on Serbia, Russia mobilized for war as they had interest in Serbia and felt it was their duty to protect it. Russia looked towards France, their ally, for help but Germany did not wait for France to respond. They declared war on them two days after declaring war on Russia.

Germany now faced Otto Van Bismarck's worst nightmare, war on two fronts. However, German Generals had a plan to prevent this. It called for a quick strike against France before Russia mobilized. Because France had built defenses all along their border with Germany, the Germans needed to attack through Belgium for their "lightning" attack to be effective. Belgium, however, had been granted neutrality by the great powers. Therefore, they would not let the German army into there country. When Germany ignored them and came through Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Great Britain felt threatened because the German army was near Belgian ports which were close to the shores of Britain.

In Northern France there were 1.5 million German, French, and British soldiers. This was the western front of the war. At first, the French underestimated the power of the Germans. By September 2 the German fighting force was nearing Paris. Because the Germans were so far from their main supply lines, in Germany, and the French were so close, in Paris, while the Germans had to stretch their supply lines, the French did not. On September 6 the Allies struck back at the Germans. The Allies found a gap in the German lines, this gap was along the Marne River. The allies then sent every soldier they had into battle and stopped Germany in their tracks. By September 12 the Germans had retreated 40 miles north of Marne. The battle of Marne was perhaps the most important on the Western front. One of the significant effects it had was making Germany realize there was going to be no quick strike against France. Germany now faced long wars on both the eastern and western fronts. There were, however, more theatres of battle than just in Germany.

There were also fronts in the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and in Asia and Africa. On the Ottoman front, the Allies tried to attack straits so they would be able to get supplies to Russia. This disaster became known as the Gallipoli Campaign. More effective was the allied strategy of inciting rebellion in the Middle East. Because of these rebellions the allied forces were able to take over Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus. There was not much action occurring on the Italian front. The Italians were divided over which side they wanted to support and they lacked good equipment but they were able to divert Austria-Hungary's attention, which proved useful. In Asia, Japan declared war on Germany shortly after war was declared in Europe. The Japanese quickly overran the German holdings in China and the Pacific Islands. In Africa, the British and French took over all German possessions except for Tanzania.

By 1917 Europe had lost more men in three years than in the 300 years before WWI. These losses were felt the most heavily in Russia. Russians lacked guns, ammunition, warm clothes, and food. They were also badly led and poorly supplied. In March 1917 the Czar was overthrown. Despite the turmoil in their country the Russians promised they would keep on fighting but this turned out to be a lie.

An important cause of the allied victory was the American entry into the war. On January 31, 1917 Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare. In 1915 they had blown up the Lusitania, killing U.S. citizens. This event angered the United States and, in fear that the U.S. would declare war on them, the Germans agreed to warn neutral ships before firing. However, they knew their call for unrestricted submarine warfare would bring the U.S. into the war. The German plan was to defeat Britain before the U.S. became a problem. Because of the unrestricted submarine warfare the German blew up 3 U.S. ships. The British also intercepted messages sent from Germany to Mexico promising Mexico their land back in the United States if they helped to defeat the U.S. All of these causes forced the U.S. to enter the war on April 2, 1917.

The series of event that led up to the end of the war started with Germany putting into effect their "special weapon." The Germans brought Lenin back to Russia and put him back in power. The Russians then signed the Treaty of Brest Litovsk with Germany, which stopped fighting between the two countries. The Germans could now send all of their forces onto the western front. When all of the German force was on the western front they, for the first time in the war, had more soldiers in that area than the Allies. The Germans then set up the largest artillery barrage of the war and by June 1918 they were back to the Marne. However, it was at that point that the German war machine stalled, with a lack of soldiers and supplies. At that point, the U.S. was arriving with 250,000 soldiers per month. On August 1918 allied tanks broke through German lines. On November 9, 1918 Kaiser William II abdicated and the representatives of the new German government signed an armistice. In November 11, 1918, the war officially ended.