World War I
.... Beyond that was “no man’s land,” a wasteland of mud, barbed wire, and torn landscapes. To get to the other side, attacking forces had to climb out of their trenches and face the harshness of no man’s land. There they would be met by the Germans with an endless stream of machine-gun fire. Those who got caught up in the barbed wire would get shot one by one. Later on, they would be using poison gas and tanks, even fighter jets were made use of. Regardless of the heavy losses on both sides, little territory changed hands. In February, 1916, Germany began a key attack on the French town of Verdun. In the period of five months, the Germans gained little territory but were unsuccessful in capturing Verdun, and by December the French had got back what was theirs. More than 700,000 perished in the long, inconclusive siege of Verdun and thousands more were wounded. The stalemate went on through 1916 and 1917. During this stage, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost and little land was conquered. Meanwhile, on the eastern front, Russia was winning significant victories in Eastern Germany. However, they were badly beaten in Tannenberg, by the armies under the German commander, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. This was not their only retreat for another one had occurred in the spring of 1915. by late 1916, the Russian troops were at their lowest point and were very near collapse. In addition, their allies could not ship supplies into their ports. The Germans were occupying the Baltic Sea, while Turkey was still in control of the straits leading from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. At home, a lot of Russians were disappointed with the czar’s rule. In March, 1917, a revolution took place and the czar was removed from power; civil war spread through Russia. Realizing that Russia could no longer partake in the war, leaders of the new government signed a treaty in Germany in March, 1918. In the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia had to surrender massive amounts of valuable land, resources, and population. As a result, Germany was triumphant in Eastern Europe. III. Countries Affected by the World War Although the major battles of World War I were fought largely on the western and eastern fronts of Europe, other nations joined in as time went on to battle as well. Italy In 1915, Italy formed a secret agreement with Britain and France in exchange for territories in Austria and Africa. It then joined the Allied forces and war broke out on the Austrian-Italian border. Two years later, their defense was broken at Caporetto and were forced to retreat. Asia and the Pacific Over in Asia, Japan was taking over the German spheres of influence in the Shantung Peninsula, as well as the German-held islands in the Pacific Ocean. In response, the Allies promised to support their claim to these territories after the war was over. The British territories of Australia and New Zealand took possession of other German islands in the Pacific. Ottoman Empire The Turks took great care in protecting their territory. They set up mines in the Dardanelles and heavy artillery on the shore of the straits to prevent Allied aid from reaching Russian ports and keep the Russians confined in the Black sea. In 1915, the Allied troops arrived at Gallipoli trying to get to Constantinople by land and take over the Dardanelles. This didn’t turn out, for along with the German military, the Turks were unwavering and the Allies were forced to give up. In the Arab countries of the Middle East, Arab nationalists sided with the British to depose the Ottoman rulers. Hounded out from one place to another, at last the Turks finally pulled out from the war at the end of October, 1918. Africa In West Africa, the German colonies of Togoland and Kamerun were being seized by British and French troops, while those from the Union of South Africa took on the German neighboring colony of South-West Africa. Retreating into the African interior, an undefeated German army from German East Africa does not surrender until they received news of the war’s end. IV. Central Powers Collapse U.S.A.’s Participation at the War Prior to 1917, the United States had stayed out of the war because many Americans felt that the war was too remote from U.S. affairs to affect the United States. However, when Germany insisted upon using unrestricted submarine warfare, it brought its relations with the United States to a breaking point. On April 2, 1917, President Wilson read his war message to the Congress of the United States. Congress voted on April 6 for the United States to go to war against the Central Powers. When the United States entered the war, President Wilson insisted that it be referred to as an Associated Power rather than an Allied Power. Wilson stressed that the United States had entered the war for its own reasons and entertained war aims that did not necessarily coincide with those of its Europeans Allies. The United States was the only Associated Power during the war. Beginning in June, the first troops of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), under General John J. Pershing, arrived in France. When Congress declared war, the United States had a small volunteer army that had no experience in the kind of warfare that was being waged on the western front. In May 1917 Congress enacted conscription through th...