World War I 1914-1918

At the time, World War I (also called the First World War or the Great War) was the most destructive war fought in, at least, the history of the modern state system. Eventually, all of the great powers became involved in the war, making it a world-wide war, although most of the fighting occurred in Europe. Two alliances of great powers, both with numerous supporting states, are generally attributed to have fought the war: the Central Powers (including Austria-Hungary, Germany and, later, the Ottoman Empire) fought against the Entente Powers (including France, Russia, the UK and, later, Japan, Italy and the USA). The war ended, after the collapse of Russia, with the defeat of the Central Powers. However, it is impossible to overstate the damaging impact the war had on the all the participants nor is it possible to ignore the long-term consequences of the outcome – some of which remain relevant to this day.

By 1914, the previously shifting political alliances of the European great powers had become inflexible, due at least in part to the rise of nationalism. Technological innovations made the outbreak of war subject to military preparations for war. Mobilizing armed forces practically replaced formal, diplomatic, declarations of war as the sign of a war beginning but this was not well understood by the political leadership of the day, most of whom remained committed to pursuing imperialist policies abroad. The possibility of even a relatively insignificant localized dispute escalating into an all-out European war between the great powers was definitely recognized but such an outcome, while certainly considered regrettable, was not widely believed to be potentially catastrophic.

When a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, a chain of threats, ultimatums, and mobilizations was set in motion. Austria-Hungary attacked Russian supported Serbia on July 29, 1914, making unacceptable demands of the Serbian government and within a week most of the European great powers were at war. Specifically the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary and Germany) were now fighting the Entente (Russia, France, and the UK).

The German military had long been prepared to fight a war on two fronts – against France to the west and Russia to the east. In the west, its armies outflanked the French by advancing westward through Belgium, while also bringing Great Britain into the war on the pretext of its treaty obligations to Belgium. The German armies then turned south toward Paris. The French army, by then reinforced by a British Expeditionary Force, managed to halt the advance on the Marne River and a counteroffensive pushed back the German armies but then stabilized in November 1914 – what would soon become the Western Front – along the Aisne River. The rest of the war on the Western Front would be fought on French territory. The tremendous firepower of modern artillery and machine guns then caused the armies to spread out until a continuous front was established from the English Channel to the Swiss border. This became a war of attrition fought in trenches. Frontal infantry assaults typically gained ground measured in yards or meters and human toll was unprecedented. Attempts to break through the front, including the German attempt at the Battle of Verdun and the British and French attempt at the Battle of the Somme (both 1916) failed.

In the east, Russian armies mobilized and took the offensive in 1914, sooner than the Germans had expected and they advanced deep into East Prussia, Poland, and Galicia. In Prussia, the Russians were stopped at the Battle of Tannenberg; German and Austro-Hungarian forces along the front first contained the Russian attacks and then counterattacked by the end of the year. A German offensive launched in May 1915, forced the Russians back into their own territory. Though it mounted several more offensives and suffered enormous casualties, the Russian army proved unable to break the defense offered by the Central Powers.

Other fronts in the war were to a greater or lesser extent peripheral to the main theatres but were nonetheless bloody. They included Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, where Britain unsuccessfully attempted to invade the heartland of the Ottoman Empire; the Caucasus and Persia, where Russia and Turkey fought; Mesopotamia and Egypt, where British forces fought the Turks; and the Isonzo valley northwest of Trieste, where Italian and Austrian troops fought a long series of costly battles.

At sea only Germany and Great Britain ever committed substantial fleets to battle. The major naval engagement of the war, and one of the largest naval battles in history, was the inconclusive Battle of Jutland fought between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet in May 1916. The main use of the British navy was, with considerable success, to blockade Germany and cut off its maritime access to food and raw materials from overseas. In response Germany deployed a fleet of submarines, to interrupt the maritime supply lines of the British Isles. The German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, beginning in 1917, led to the sinking of much neutral shipping, and it was a cause for American entry into the war on the side of the Entente.

Widespread domestic discontent, already present but exacerbated by the poor performance of Russian armies in the war and the grievous loss of life this entailed, led to the overthrow of the Russian Tsar in February 1917. Anti-war sentiment then undermined the provisional government, which intended to continue fighting rather than seek a separate peace with the Central Powers, and created conditions suitable for the Bolshevik Revolution in November. The Bolsheviks unilaterally ceased hostilities on November 26th and a month later signed a formal armistice with Germany. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed on March 3, 1918, formally ended Russian participation in the war against the Central Powers.

The release of substantial German military forces in the east for service on the deadlocked Western Front provided the basis for the German Spring Offensive in 1918. Spearheaded by units trained in a new tactical doctrine (infiltration tactics), the Germans managed to break through the lines and reestablish mobility and, for a while, the Entente was in panic. The crisis passed as a result of a combination of a German inability to exploit their initial success and the arrival of American troops to reinforce the shaken Entente. By autumn 1918 the position of the Central Powers was deteriorating rapidly. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, weakened by military defeats as well as nationalist uprisings encouraged by the Russian Revolution, began to disintegrate. Allied forces then began a steady advance that recovered almost all of German-occupied France and part of Belgium by October 1918. German military and civilian morale collapsed, and amid widespread political unrest the German Kaiser abdicated on November 9th. On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed ending World War I.

References

Clodfelter, 705-89; COW106; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1017-84; Kohn, 539-43; EB - World War I.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Western Europe, Eastern Europe, West Asia (Middle East), North Africa, South Africa, East Asia

Belligerents

Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Ottoman Empire, Portuagal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, UK, USA

Dispute

Territory, Governance

Initiation Date

July 29, 1914

Termination Date

November 11, 1918

Duration

4 years, 3 months, 14 days
(1567 days)

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(Allied victory)

Fatalities

Total: 8,578,031
Austria-Hungary: 1,200,000
Belgium: 13,716
Bulgaria: 87,500
France: 1,385,000
Germany: 1,773,700
Greece: 5,000
Italy: 650,000
Japan: 300
Ottoman: 325,000
Portugal: 7,222
Romania: 335,706
Russia: 1,700,000
Serbia: 70,000
UK: 908,371
USA: 116516

Magnitude

6.9