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Summary The First world war
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This is a summary of the First World War from beginning to end.
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First World Wara country to be proud of
Around 1900, many people in Europe were nationalistic. They were proud
of their country, people and culture. Soldiers considered it an honour to
fight for their country. There were military parades so that the people
could see how beautiful and strong their army was. Because of militarism
(being proud of everything related to the army: soldiers, weapons, medals)
people did not mind war at all. Despite militarism, there were few wars in
Europe after 1815. There was a balance of power (the power between
countries was divided in such a way that no country was dissatisfied). this
all changed in 1871 when dozens of German countries joined together to
form one large new country: Germany. Germany was imperialistic and
wanted to become a powerful world empire (just like England and France).
This could only be achieved by conquering colonies or taking those from
other countries. For this purpose, Germany started to build up a large and
strong army and a war fleet. England ruled the seas and had an enormous
fleet. Soon, an arms race developed between Germany and England: each
country bought and built as many warships as possible. England won this
arms race and thus remained the most powerful at sea. On land, it was
less clear who was the strongest. Tension in Europe increased. In order not
to be alone during a war, countries entered into alliances (Two or more
countries that have agreed to help each other militarily in case of war).
Some countries remained neutral (not taking sides in a quarrel or war). At
the beginning of 1914, there were two major alliances in Europe. One
consisted of Russia, Great Britain and France. The other consisted of
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Germany was caught between two
hostile allies: France in the west and Russia in the east. So if war came,
Germany could be attacked from two sides. German generals devised a
plan to prevent this. Russia is a huge country and it would take the
Russians a long time to get their army to the German border. They had to
make use of this time. If war threatened, Germany would not wait, but
attack France first. The German army would then have to defeat that
country within six weeks and then quickly travel east to fight the Russians.
The trigger for the war was a murder in Bosnia. This country had been in
the hands of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire for years. When the Turks lost
power there, Bosnia became independent. But not for long: the country
was almost immediately taken over by Austria-Hungary. Serbia is Bosnia's
neighbour. Many Serbs live in Bosnia. Nationalistic Serbs wanted Bosnia to
join Serbia: all Serbs in one country! These nationalists did not want
anything to do with Austria-Hungary. When the Austro-Hungarian crown
prince visited Bosnia, some Serbian nationalists decided to kill him. Many
people in Austria-Hungary were furious. Serbia had to be punished, they
, said. Russia promised to help Serbia if there was a war. And there was.
More than a month after the assassination, the war began that many
people had been expecting for years: the Great War. We now call it the
First World War.
Subquestion: What were the causes of the First World War?
the great war
On 1 August 1914, the German emperor and his generals gave the order:
attack! The First World War had begun. The Germans had to defeat France
in six weeks. France had heavily defended its border with Germany. It
would take a long time to break through those defences. Germany
therefore went around it via neutral territory: Belgium and Luxembourg.
Many people found it scandalous that Germany was attacking neutral
countries. The Germans wanted to conquer Belgium quickly and then
move on to Paris via Northern France. But the passage through Belgium
took more time than expected. While the Germans were fighting in
Belgium, the French army moved north to meet the German attack. Ally
England sent tens of thousands of soldiers to help. The German attack was
stopped. The armies faced each other on a narrow strip of land running
from the Belgian coast through northern France to Switzerland. This would
remain so for four terrible years of war. The soldiers protected themselves
from machine guns and grenades by digging long trenches: trenches
between the trenches of the two armies was a no man's land. Sometimes,
the soldiers came out of their trench and ran into the no-man's-land to
conquer the enemy's trench. The soldiers on the other side then started to
fire en masse. The result: thousands of dead and wounded. When it
rained, trenches turned into mud puddles and soldiers stood ankle deep in
water. If this went on for long, their feet would rot away. Someone with
'trench feet' remained handicapped for life. Other soldiers suffered from
shell shock: they literally went mad from the tension and the noise of the
grenade explosions. Soldiers had to relieve themselves in a corner of the
trench. It stank and attracted vermin. In winter, it was freezing cold, and if
food could not be brought to the trench during a battle, the soldiers went
hungry. In western Russia, the Russians fought against Germany and
Austria-Hungary. The Russian army was weaker than expected and
Germany, in particular, conquered large areas. Austria-Hungary also
fought against Italy. in the Ottoman Empire and even in the colonies in
Africa and Asia. A European country went to war (because of a European
country's colonies). Some countries had trained native soldiers in their
colonies. These fought in the colony itself and in Europe. Tens of
thousands of soldiers from Senegal, Congo, Algeria, India, Vietnam and
many other countries came to Europe to fight in the trenches. The Great
War had become a world war (Great war fought on different continents in
which soldiers from several continents were fighting). In 1917, a German
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