THExPATH TO WAR
The map above gives the line-up in Europe when the First World War broke out in August 1914, together with a list of those nations that – for various reasons – joined in at a later date. How did it come to this? It can well be argued that the seeds of this conflict were sown as far back as 1870. It was in that year that, under Bismarck’s artful strategy, the Germans trounced the French at the Battle of Sedan and, the following year (at the Palace of Versailles in order to humiliate the French further!), had Germany proclaimed an Empire. A new and potentially powerful nation would soon be seeking to walk in the corridors of power. It had every right to do so per se, but the build up of its military strength alarmed its land neighbours, particularly France and Russia, and Great Britain also bristled at the news that the Kaiser was determined to build a sizeable navy to share in the ruling of the waves. The strength of the Royal Navy was the foundation of British power.
The decisive factor came in 1882. In May of that year, to strengthen its position on the continent, Germany made a defence pact – the Triple Alliance – with Austria-Hungary and Italy, thereby creating a central, potentially hostile bloc down the middle of Europe. (The pact is sometimes known as the “Central Treaty”). It was an alliance that could not be ignored. France and Russia felt isolated and vulnerable, and, despite their contrary forms of government, signed a military convention in 1894. Then in 1904, even more surprisingly, France and Britain – persistent and bitter enemies for over more than eight centuries! – settled their current colonial disputes and agreed to an Entente. When Russia joined this “friendly agreement” in 1907 – forming the Triple Entente – the stage was set. It was not the most stable of settings. The Triple Alliance, via Austria-Hungary, had brought within its orbit the Balkan States, then seen as the melting pot and, more pertinently, the powder keg of Europe. As we have seen, the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo in June 1914 provided the spark.
Perhaps with the Franco-Prussian War in mind (1870-1871) – a whirlwind assault which brought the Third French Republic tumbling down in a matter of six months – the military on both sides considered that the coming conflict would be a short, sharp encounter. Victory would go to the side that showed from the outset the greatest national spirit, the greatest show of courage, and the greatest tenacity of purpose. The troops would be home for Christmas. And, indeed, as we shall see, that is just how the war began. The Germans, having thrust their way through Belgium, swept into Northern France and made for Paris. But movement ended some 20 miles from the capital. By September, such was the opposition then put up by
the French and the British that the Germans were not only obliged to stop, but also forced to take ground cover. Mobility on the battlefield was virtually impossible against the improved and deadly efficiency of the rapid-fire field gun and the withering fire of the machine gun. And by the end of the year these so-called “trenches”, long, narrow ditches, constructed in depth and extremely well defended (see diagram), stretched for 450 miles, from the English Channel to the Swiss border. Save for the occasional attempt to pierce through these formidable lines of defence – like the frontal attacks at the Somme, Verdun and Passchendaele, and the infamous Nivelle Offensive – it was to bring years of virtual stalemate and the appalling living conditions that went with it.
Incident
ally, the modern machinexgun, one of the mostly deadly of wartime weapons, was developed from the Gatling Gun, a rapid-firing firearm which was invented by the American Richard Jordan Gatling in 1861, and first used in the American Civil War of 1861-1865. By the turn of the century the modern version could fire 600 bullets per minute and had a range of more than 1,000 yards. In the meantime, field artillery had seen an improvement in its breech loading mechanisms, and the introduction of brakes had provided the means whereby the gun could be stablized, thereby avoiding re-aiming after each round. Both added to the speed of action.
The First World War (known earlier on as The Great War) began in Europe, and was mostly fought in Europe, but, as we shall see, more distant nations, such as Japan and the United States of America, became involved at some stage. On paper, and for the most part in practice, the Triple Entente had a number of factors in its favour. Due mainly to Britian’s contribution, it had command of the seas, enabling an effective blockade of Germany; it had more than twice the population of Germany and Austria-Hungary plus colonial forces (important in a war of attrition); and it had access to the world’s natural resources via overseas empires and the Americas …….. U-boats permitting! This said, Germany and Austria possessed a good command structure, were served by an efficient railway system, and the German army in particular was a highly motivated and well-trained fighting force. And the U-boat campaign, particularly in 1917, posed a serious threat to the transport of food and war materials to both France and Great Britain.
The war was mainly fought on six fronts – together with the War at Sea and the War in the Air – but some of the heaviest fighting was along the Western Front, the Gallipoli Campaign, and, until their collapse in 1917, Russia’s vast frontier to the east. Trench warfare at its worst was mostly confined to the Western and Italian Fronts, and the fighting in Gallipoli.
THExMAJOR WAR FRONTS – click on the title for the opening battle.
THE WAR BEGINS: GERMANYxINVADES BELGIUM – 4th AUGUST 1914
Via the Schlieffen Plan, German troops invade Belgium, sweep into northern France, and reach within twenty miles of Paris. By September, however, given the enormous increase in the power of small arms and artillery, they were forced to take ground cover. The age of trench warfare had begun, and by the end of the year these deep, fortified trenches were to stretch 450 miles from the English Channel to the Swiss Border. In this Front, and others, it was the beginning of four years of stalemate, punctuated by costly assaults across the killing grounds of no-man’s land.
