Facts about the first world war
...l and organizational developments led to the formation of general staffs with precise plans for mobilization and attack that often could not be reversed once they were begun. The German von Schlieffen Plan to attack France before Russia in the event of war with Russia was one such complicated plan that drew more countries into war than necessary. - The friction of an armed and divided Europe escalated into several crises in Morocco and the Balkans, which nearly ended in war. In 1905, Germany announced its support of independence for Morocco, the African colony that Britain had given France in 1904. The British defended the French, and war was avoided by an international conference in Algeciras in 1906, which allowed France to make Morocco a French protectorate. Another conflict was incited by the Austria-Hungarian annexation of the former Turkish province of Bosnia in 1908. The Greater Serbian movement had as an object the acquisition of Slavic Bosnia, so Serbia threatened war on Austria-Hungary. Russia had pledged their support to Serbia, so they began to mobilize, which caused Germany, allied with Austria-Hungary, to threaten war on Russia. The beginning of World War I was postponed when Russia backed down, but relations between Austria- Hungary and Serbia were greatly strained. - Unsatisfied, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. On July 29, Russia ordered a partial mobilization only against Austria-Hungary in support of Serbia, which escalated into a general mobilization. The Germans threatened war on July 31 if the Russians did not demobilize. Upon being asked by Germany what it would do in the event of a Russo-German War, France responded that it would act in its own interests and mobilized. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later, on France. The German invasion of Belgium to attack France, which violated Belgium's official neutrality, prompted Britain to declare war on Germany. World War I had begun. During the Great War, Canada contributed over 600,000 (other sources indicate only 400,000) soldiers to the battlefields whilst also providing vital manufacturing facilities and training soldiers from across the world. The contribution of Canada participation in the war and its dedicated effort is also seen in what is often said to have ‘made’ Canada as a nation. Canada entered the war in 1914. Almost 620,000 Canadian men and women served in the First World War at a time when the population of the country was only a few million. Of these, over 66,000 were killed. More than 700 men from the Newfoundland regiment were killed or injured during this battle. Four Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth's highest award for bravery, for their part in the taking of Vimy Ridge. Canadian John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" while on the battlefield. Through its participation Canada identified itself as a nation proving an outstanding courage, unification and force to make a historical contribution. 2/ Who were the Allied Powers? Who remained neutral? What were the major differences between the Western Front and the Eastern European Front? How did the abilities of the Canadian troops, as describe on p. 307 of your textbook, lead to an emerging Canadian identity? In order to understand the Alliance of the first World War we would have review the following remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the conflict, which will also indicate which countries became Allies in the war. As a matter of fact a coalition was formed by the Allied Powers: Russia, France, British Empire, Belgium, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro, followed by Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Japan, Italy and United States of America. Neutral Countries: On the other side, the following countries remained neutral, in other words did not involve themselves in the war: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican City. Regarding the major differences between the East and West front we will have to observe first that the geography of Eastern Europe in general has played a key role in how both World Wars' Eastern Front conflicts played out. Eastern Europe is, for the most part, physically similar to Western Europe as both belong to the same European plain. The key difference was the level of economic development. While Belgium and Northern France were among the most industrially advanced areas in the world, with excellent road and rail networks, Eastern Europe was undeveloped in comparison. Furthermore, the length of the front in the East was much longer in the West. Though the Second World War was bloodier and considerably more destructive over much greater areas of the globe, it never approached at any point the concentrated horror of the trench warfare on the Western front. Through the fields of southern Belgium and northern France ran a zone of armies little more than a few tens of miles broad all the way from the English Channel to the border with Switzerland. The First World War, was not just the Western front, however. British and Empire troops served in all corners of the earth, often fighting actions very different from the gargantuan struggle in the west. In the Far East Australian troops seized Germany’s Pacific island possessions and a battalion of Welshmen helped the Japanese at the siege of Tsingtao, Germany’s only colony on the Asian mainland. In Italy, men battled in the high Tyrol and the Balkans saw first the defeat,by the Germans and their Bulgarian allies, of Serbia, then Romania and finally the fall of Bulgaria itself to a Franco-British-Greek army pushing up from Salonika. Over 400,000 Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War (1914-1918).The western front, which the Canadians joined as part of the British 1st and later 2nd Armies, consisted of a complex, hand-gouged system of trenches, wooden planking, barbed wire and mud, which snaked from the English Channel to the Swiss border. The shock or storm troops fighted with exceptional dedication and courage, so that despite all of the losses experienced, Canada has achieved its historical contribution to the major event that was the First World War. At the same time the war participation gave Canada the opportunity to really become a nation, it brought Canada to its new, global dimension leading to Canadian identity. 3/ Look up newspapers of August and September 1914. How was the outbreak of war being reported in the Canadian papers? Make a collage of some major headlines and articles. In Winnipeg, a newspaper from August 1914 reported that "thirty descendants of Métis who fought at the side of Louis Riel in 1869-70 ... have just enlisted at Qu'Appelle. They are all members of the Society of French-Canadian Métis of that place. Their names are inscribed on the [Society's] roll of honour." News of the war did not easily reach some Canadian Native communities. Reserves in the Yukon and Northwest Territories and in northern sections of the provinces had fewer transportation and communication links with the rest of Canada. Here it is a brief collection of articles of the time: "When Samuel de Champlain joined a Huron-Algonquin war party in 1609 and killed two Iroquois with the shot from his harquebus, a new era began .... The only protection from the firearms and the greater killing power of the white man was in dispersion, sniping and ambush." - Military historian Fred Gaffen. Francis Pegahmagabow rarely spoke of his military accomplishments. However, his son Duncan recalls being told that his father was responsible for capturing 300 enemy soldiers." My mother [Eva] told me he used to go behind enemy lines, rub shoulders with the enemy forces and never get caught.” Duncan also remembers that Pegahmagabow "felt very strongly about his country". Mostly, he sees his father as a peaceful man: "He was always saying how we have to live in harmony with all living things in this world. His citation reads: "At Passchendaele Nov.6th/7th, 1917, this NCO [non-commissioned officer] did excellent work. Before and after the attack he kept in touch with the flanks, advising the units...