Military History of The First World War

1. The Central Powers and the Entente

By 1914 Europe had divided into two power blocks knitted together by a system of alliances or understandings. The Central Powers were Germany and Austria-Hungary who had first formed the Dual Alliance in October 1879. In May 1882 Italy joined them to form the Triple Alliance. However, Italy did not join the First World War as Germany's ally — the Triple Alliance was a defensive treaty that obliged Italy to join the war on the Central Power's side if any other member was attacked by France. However, the First World War began when Austria invaded Serbia on the 28th July, 1914 and subsequently Germany declared war on Russia (July 31st) and Germany invaded Belgium (August 3rd). Thus, Italy was not obligated by the terms of the treaty to fight on the Central Powers' side. Later, Italy joined the Allies in 1915.

The First World War: Map of the Western Front at the outset of the war.

The shaded area shows the region of Alsace-Lorraine. This was taken by Germany from France in 1871 as part of the Treaty of Frankfurt following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian war.

The rising power of Germany both industrially and militarily was perceived as a threat by the other Powers in Europe. France had been defeated by Germany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 and was Germany's traditional enemy. In 1891 Russia and France formed an Entente — another defensive alliance that required one country to fight if the other was invaded. The expansion of the German navy following the invention of the dreadnought (battleship) in 1906 brought about an arms race for naval supremacy between Germany and England, and Britain progressive moved towards support for France and Russia, especially in the wake of the First (1905-6) and Second (1911) Moroccan crises. In 1912 Britain and France formed an understanding that lead to detailed joint military planning of what to do in the event of war with Germany. In the run up to the war (see below) Austria issued Serbia with an ultimatum, and the Serbians responded by appealing to the Russians for aid — so the Serbians were also a member of the Allies (the Entente).

2. The run-up to the war: The July Crisis, 1914

On 28th June 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, was assassinated at Sarajevo in Bosnia. The assassination was organised by the Serbian General Staff. The Austrians, however, were not able to respond swiftly. For example, the Hungarian prime minister, Tisza, delayed matters by insisting on all protocols being adhered to. He insisted that German support was guaranteed.

On 5 July, however, the Kaiser issued his 'blank cheque' — meaning unequivocal support for Austria in the Balkans. Thus the Germans gave full support to Austria-Hungary. Germany was fully aware of the ultimatum being prepared against Serbia. The Germans did believe that war would be triggered by Russian mobilization. On 19th July the text of an ultimatum was agreed upon and on 23rd July the ultimatum was sent to Serbia. It required: (1) the Serbian government to forbid activities against Austria on Serbian territory; (2) The Serbian government was required to ban a nationalist organisation; (3) Austrian officials would be allowed to take part in an enquiry into the assassination of the Archduke. The ultimatum was delivered on 24th July.

On 24th July the Russian foreign minister Sazanov learnt of the terms of the ultimatum. On 25th July the Serbs appealed to the Tsar for help. At this time the French president, Raymond Poincare, and Prime Minister Rene Viviani were returning from Russia. They left on July 24th and only returned on July 30th. The Tsar ordered mobilisation. Because of military plans, mobilisation was forced to take place along the whole frontier of Russia. The Serbs were prepared to negotiate with the Austrians, but the Austrians gave them only 48 hours to decide and they opted to fight.

On 27th July British foreign secretary, Grey endeavoured to obtain German support for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but Berlin rejected this. On 28th July Austria declared war on Serbia and Belgrade was bombarded by gunboats. The Kaiser began to have second thoughts, but German chief of staff, Moltke, had already called for Austria's immediate mobilisation. On 30th July Russia issued a full mobilisation order. Once Russia mobilised Germany was committed by the Schieffen Plan to wage war against both France and Russia. On 31st July the Germans telegraphed an ultimatum to St. Petersburg and Paris calling on Russia to suspend warlike activities within twelve hours and demanding that France remains neutral. It also demanded that France handed over the fortresses of Toul and Verdun. On 1st August, Germany mobilized. On the 2nd August the Germans demanded passage through Belgium. Belgium refused, but the Germans advance regardless. Germany declared war on France on 3rd August. On 4th August Britain declared war on Germany, following the decision of the British cabinet on 2nd August to agree to fight if Belgium neutrality was violated.

3. Military Planning in Advance of the War

The German plan for the Great War was devised by their former chief of general staff, Count Alfred von Schlieffen (retired 1905). In the Schlieffen plan German forces were to invade Belgium, by-pass the French defenses on the Franco-German border, and hence out-flank the French army and cut-it off.

The Schlieffen Plan

German forces invade Belgium, outflank and pocket the French army

The French also had a plan devised by French commander-in-chief, Joseph Joffre (appointed 1911). This Plan 17 proposed a French assault to push the Germans back across the Rhine, followed by a move northwards to cut off the German armies in Belgium from supply.

Joffre's Plan 17

French forces invade Germany across the Rhine, cutting off the German army

The Schlieffen plan failed to calculate for the problem of the front units outrunning supply and becoming exhausted. The French Plan 17 failed to account for the fact that the German High Command would immediate commit their reserves to the offensive and thus have adequate manpower to thwart the French offensive.

Strictly, the Russians did not have adequate resources for attacking both Germany and Austria-Hungary simultaneously. Their rail network predominantly ran east-west thus making any transfer of forces north-south very difficult. Russian command structure and weaponry was also insufficient. Nonetheless, Russia did opt for an aggressive campaign on both fronts.

The Austrians, commanded by Conrad von Hötzendorff, planned to attack simultaneously Serbia and Poland.

At the outset of the war the British did not have a substantial army. It was planned that the British forces (the British Expeditionary Force, BEF) would be an adjunct to the French army. In advance of the war British military preparations were focused on countering the threat to British naval domination in the North Sea. In fact, British production of battleships did outstrip that of Germany in the period leading up to the war, and the German fleet was predominantly confined to harbour throughout the war as a consequence.

4. Serbia and the Eastern Front, 1914

Habsburg forces crossed the Danube and occupied Belgrade. Conrad underestimated Serbian resistance and diverted troops northwards. The Austrians were forced out of Belgrade by a Serbian counter-attack and pushed back across the Danube. Habsburg forces met a similar fate on the Carpathian front, where after pushing the Russians back they were in turn forced to retreat with over 300,000 casualties and 100,000 soldiers taken prisoner. They also lost a substantial number of their junior officers. This was particularly significant for the Austrians as theirs was a multi-national force held together principally by loyalty to a common monarch (Franz Joseph). The replacement officers in general failed to manage troops of different nationality. It is one factor that explains the relative weakness of the Habsburg armies in the Great War. Austro-Hungary was also not an industrial power on the scale of Germany, France and Britain.

From the second half of August 1914 the Russian first and second armies advanced into East Prussia; they moved separately and allowed the Masurian Lakes to divide them. The Germans intercepted their uncoded telegraph messages so knew their positions and were able to prepare accordingly. They were able to concentrate their smaller numbers of men against the two Russian armies separately. Firstly, they defeated the Russian Second Army at Tannenberg in East Prussia. The surrounded Russian army of 125,000 men surrendered. The Russian First Army was forced to withdraw from East Prussia in order to avoid a similar fate.

5. The Battle for the Marne

In accordance with their Plan 17, the French attempted to attack the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine, but were repulsed with the toll of about 1/3rd million casualties.

The Germans under Helmuth von Moltke (the son of the German commander in chief who had secured victory for the Germans in 1871) overwhelmed the Belgium fortresses and advanced rapidly through Belgium. The allies were forced to retreat. The German First and Second Armies drove southward and crossed the River Marne close to Paris. However, the Allied armies had not been outflanked and they did succeed in preserving the line. German troops ran out of supply and had to forage for food; forced marches reduced them to a state of exhaustion.

The BEF, after consolidating at Mauberge pushed forward and encountered the German 1st army under Kluck. The British were outnumbered 3 to 1 at the Battle of Mons, but managed to beat off the Germans who mistook the British rapid rifle fire for machine guns. However, the British were forced to make a rapid retreat from Mons.

The French commander, Joffre, responded to the threat to Paris by halting his own campaign in Alsace and transferring troops to defence of Paris. Joffre counterattacked the German flank and forced Moltke to reinforce it, thus calling off his offensive against Paris. The Germans fell back to the River Aisne where they dug in, and British and French forces were unable to dislodge them. Trench warfare had begun!

By September lines of trenches extended from the River Aisne to the Swiss border and stalemate had set in.

The German Invasion, 1st August — 9th September, 1914

German forces fail to outflank the French. Although in sight of Paris, they are halted at the Marne.

6. The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres

Each side attempted to resolve the stalemate by outflanking the other in the area between the English channel and the Isle de France (Paris). Both countered the other sides' maneuvers, in an episode that has come to be known as the “Race to the Sea”, and the result was that the trenches were extended to cover the entire area between the Belgian coast and Switzerland.

The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres

Both sides attempt to outflank the other and cut off their approach to the English Channel. They meet at Ypres.

Moltke had a nervous breakdown and was replaced as German commander-in-chief by Erich von Falkenhayn, the former Prussian Minister of War. But Falkenhayn was forced to divert troops to the Eastern front where the Russians were gaining ground against the Austro-Hungarian forces. The Russians countered by moving their forces northwards to meet the Germans, thus calling off their offensive against the Austrians.

As First Lord of the admiralty, Churchill sent a force of poorly equipped marines to Antwerp, and visited there himself on 3rd October. However, the force was only token, and Antwerp fell on 10th October, and the Belgium army withdrew down the coast, where it remained for the rest of the war. The British marines were taken prisoner. However, the Belgium defence of Antwerp may have been decisive in preventing the Germans winning the "race to the sea".

7. First Battle of Ypres

Falkenhayn also initiated an attack against the British held sector of the Western Front in an endeavour to take Calais and Dunkirk. This is the First Battle of Ypres - 12th October to 11th November. The British force, known as the “Old Contemptibles' , were heavily outnumbered and were driven back to Ypres. Both forces were steadily reinforced, and fought each other to a standstill. However, on 31st October the Germans broke through the British line, but were unable to exploit the breach, which French forces filled. By the end of the battle over half the men in the original BEF had been wounded or killed, and the old army had ceased to exist. By November there was deadlock over the entire front. But German losses were also extensive and the Germans failed to take the Channel ports. Joffre also attacked the Germans in the area of the Champagne and the Vosges, but was unable to make a breakthrough.

8. The Pacific

By the end of September 1914 Australian and New Zealand forces had captured the German South Pacific colonies of Samoa, German New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Britain's ally, Japan, declared war on Germany on 23rd August. The British did not in fact welcome this, and their foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, strove to prevent it. The Japanese sought to capture for themselves the German North Pacific Empire, and in fact succeeded in doing so. The most significant engagement was at Tsingtao on the Chinese coast where the Germans had an important naval base that was well defended with 6,000 men and heavy artillery. The Japanese assaulted the base with a force of 50,000 men supported by some British battalions. They were prepared to accept heavy losses, and took the base on the 7th November at a cost of 6,000 casualties to the German 700. By October the Japanese had also occupied the German colonies of the Marshalls, Carolines and Marianas thus absorbing into theirs the entire German North Pacific empire.

9. Africa

In South Africa the declaration of war between Britain and Germany provoked a brief civil war — a section of the Afrikaners rebelled. The government, let by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, put down the rebellion and then invaded the German colony of South West Africa (now Namibia) which they successful took on 9th July 1915 with very few casualties.

At the outset of the war the Allies quickly overran the German colony of Togoland. However, in the Cameroon, the other German colony in West Africa, the Germans employed a combined force of German troops and natives and it was not until February 1916 that colony was taken.

In German South-East Africa the British met with determined resistance lead by German General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, who twice defeated British invasions initiated from Kenya. Von Lettow-Vorbeck then opted for guerrilla tactics. Finally overwhelmed by superior British numbers he retreated into Mozambique from where he returned to German South-East Africa and made an invasion of Northern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He was never in fact defeated and was the last German commander to surrender — on 25th November, 1918.

10. The Eastern Front during 1915

In general, warfare on the Eastern front was more mobile than that on the Western front. This is due to two factors. Firstly, the concentration of manpower was much less. At the beginning of 1915 Germany had 100 divisions on the Western front compared to 80 divisions of both Central Powers along the Eastern front, which, obviously, is much longer. Secondly, there was a much higher concentration of heavy artillery on the Western front. Thus, trench warfare was not a major feature of the conflict on the Eastern front and battles in which manoeuvre was an important feature were more common there.

The Russians had pocketed part of the Austrian army and laid siege to a force of 120,000 men in the fortress of Przemysl. Austrian commander, Conrad, sought with the support of German reinforcements, to relieve them. Conrad began his campaign on 23rd January 1915 in temperatures as low as -15�C. He failed in his objective to relieve Przemysl, which fell on the 23rd March. Conrad also sustained very heavy losses — 400,000. Most of his experienced officers and NCOs were also killed or wounded. The Russians also sustained casualties of 400,000 men.

However, to the north, the Germans under the command of Ludendorff and Hindenburg, attacked and pushed the Russians back 70 miles inflicting 200,000 casualties on the Russians. But Austria-Hungary was already near to collapse, and there was some talk of a negotiated peace. Falkenhayn transferred eight divisions from the Western front to a newly formed Eleventh Army under the command of August von Mackensen, which was assembled to the north of the Carpathians. The Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow commenced on 2nd May; Russian front lines were quickly overrun and by mid May the German Eleventh Army had reached the River San, and on the 3 June Przemysl was retaken.

When Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente (see below) Conrad was forced to transfer forces to the Italian border. However, Mackensen's forces continued the offensive and crossed the Dniester. Hindenburg attacked in the north and took Warsaw on 5th August and Brest-Litovsk on the 25th. The German advance of 300 miles proved to be their undoing, for they had outrun supply, whilst the Russians were retreating to positions of better supply and reinforced by fresh troops. However, the Russians lost 850, 000 men as prisoners and almost a million as casualties.

11. Italy enters the war

Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23rd May, 1915. The Italian forces were able to withstand the opening Austrian offensive of May- June, known as the Trentino offensive. But Italy was a country ill-prepared for war, and the border between the two countries was predominantly mountainous, giving the advantage to defence. Nonetheless, the Italians, under the command of General Luigi Cardona launched offensives in June, July and October along the river Isonzo, all of which were unsuccessful and resulted in 125,000 casualties for the Italians and 100,000 for the Austrians.

12. The Balkans

Bulgaria entered the war on the German side, tempted by the German offer of regaining territory it had lost to Serbia during the Second Balkan War (1913). A planned encirclement of the Serbian army did not succeed, but the Serb army was driven back across Albania where it was evacuated by the British and French. To assist the Serbs a Franco-British force was sent to Salonika in Northern Greece. This started on 5th October, but the Bulgarians were able to pin this force down by occupying the mountains above Salonika. Furthermore, there was a change of government in Greece, the pro-entente government was replaced by a neutral one. Nonetheless, the French insisted on keeping the force in Salonika, where it remained for most of the war inactive. The Serbian army was also transferred to it.

13. The Western Front

During 1915, in France, the British army, under Sir John French, mounted an independent attack on the Germans in the battle of Neuve Chapelle (10th — 13th March) in an attempt to gain the Aubers Ridge They pierced the line, but were unable to exploit the breach.

At the Second Battle of Ypres (April 22nd) the Germans made the first use of poison gas in the history of warfare. Nonetheless, the Germans were not able by this means to break the British lines either.

The Western Front, 1915

The British have a minor success at Neuve Chapelle. The Germans respond by using poison gas in the Second Battle of Ypres.

Joffre also attacked in the area of Artois between the Vimy Ridge and Arras. The German line was depleted owing to the transfer of men to the Austrian front, and the French were able to take Vimy Ridge on two separate occasions, but on both they lacked the manpower to be able to hold it. Advancing forces moved out of the range of covering artillery, and this made them vulnerable to counter-attack — a theme of the warfare on the Western front from 1914 onwards. French casualties were 100,000 compared to German casualties of 60,000.

But the collapse of the Russian front made it imperative for the British and French to launch another offensive, to relieve pressure on the Russians. In the autumn Joffre launched attacks simultaneously in Artois and the Champagne, though the main thrust was in the Champagne where he massed 20 divisions and 700 heavy guns. In Artois the attack was conducted by 11 French and 5 British divisions. The French made some early gains and took the German first line, but failed to overrun the second. Falkenhayn rapidly transferred men from the Eastern front and thus halted the French attack.

However, as Falkenhayn also transferred forces facing the British, the British under Sir John French were able to capture the German first line of trenches on a four mile front at the village of Loos. However, on the second day of fighting two British divisions were cut up in the attempt to take the German second line. There were 8,000 casualties and Sir John French was sacked. Thus, in September 1915 the Allies sustained 200,000 casualties in comparison to 85,000 German and were unable to mount another offensive.

14. Gallipoli

Turkey entered the war on the Central Powers' side on 19th October 1914. They did so because Germany was at war with Russia, which was their traditional enemy. The British, however, quickly secured the important strategic points of the Suez Canal and the Abadan oil refinery. They used Indian troops to land at Basra in the Persian Gulf and so capture the Abadan oil fields.

In November 1914 the cabinet accepted that the war would not be a short one, and alternative projects for bringing it to a conclusion were considered. Lloyd George proposed an expedition to Salonika or the Dalmatian coast. Kitchener supported this idea, especially after the Russians appealed for help at the end of 1914. Churchill supported an amphibious operation against Turkey and he persuaded Kitchener that the navy could force the Dardanelles without support from the army. The decision to attack the Gallipoli Peninsula was taken by the war council unanimously on 13th January 1915.

A small success involving combined naval and land forces on the 19th February, 1915, encouraged the British to try something bigger. The navy attacked the Dardanelles with some French support on 18th March. They ran out of ammunition after one day, and two British battleships and one French ship were sunk by mines during the retreat. It was decided to revert to the army, but the transports were not ready, so the general in command, Hamilton, decided to return to Alexandria in order to refit. During the three weeks this took the Turks were able to reinforce their defences of the peninsula from two to six divisions.

The landing on the Gallipoli peninsula took place on the 25th April. Two landings were made — the 29th division at Cape Helles and the Anzac forces (Australian and New Zealand troops) further north. Neither operation went according to plan and the invading forces were soon pinned down by stiff Turkish resistance, aided by the mountainous and hence defensive terrain. The Turkish reinforced their forces and mounted a counter-attack on the 19th May, which was repulsed with heavy Turkish losses. British forces at Cape Helles made repeated attempts to widen the beachhead from April to July, but none succeeded and the casualties were heavy. In August another attempt to break the deadlock was made, with Anzac forces attempting to capture a ridge in combination with another landing at Suvla Bay. Whilst Suvla Bay was taken the Anzac operation failed and the stalemate was not broken. The British decided to withdraw and the Anzac force was evacuated in December 1915 and Cape Helles abandoned in January 1916. Allied losses were 180,000 casualties; the Turkish lost about 350,000.

15. The Western Front, 1916

By this time British mobilisation was beginning to have results and time was running out for Germany. Falkenhayn decided to launch an attack, and choose Verdun as his target. The Allies (Entente) also decided to attack on all fronts simultaneously. All sides believed that they would have enough high explosives manufactured to neutralise the dominance of defensive warfare. Between early 1915 and the autumn of 1916 Germany increased production of heavy guns from 38 to 330 per month. The French had made the mistake of enlisting key industrial workers, and the French army did not wish to demobilize them; however, the French passed a law requiring the army to do this. Thus, the increase in manufacture of French guns was slow at first, but thereafter accelerated rapidly. The Russians also began producing heavy guns in large numbers, but their problem was that their poor communications network made it difficult for them to deliver them to the front. In England a Ministry of Munitions was established under Lloyd George, and by mid 1916 Britain was producing 3,200 guns per month, mostly of the heavy variety. Britain was also able to use its credit with the United States to obtain ample supplies of raw materials for armaments production.

16. Verdun

Falkenhayn had a stockpile of 2 million shells. He deployed 1,000 guns in the vicinity of Verdun along a front of just 8 miles. Commencing February 24th using this prodigious firepower he was able to shatter the French front lines on the right bank of the River Meuse and the Germans advanced 5 miles in four days. They captured Douaumont, where they came under fire from French artillery on their left bank. They lacked sufficient firepower to reply. Thus the French, under the command of Philippe Pétain, brought the German advance to a halt.

Falkenhayn attempted to dislodge the French from the right bank of the Meuse, but the French in that sector, under the command of Robert Nivelle, replied with suicidal counter-attacks, which Falkenhayn's troops had to fend off in their turn. The French took about 1/3rd of a million casualties and the Germans almost as much. In addition, French morale was severely affected.

The Western Front, 1916

At the Battle of Verdun the Germans are not able to dislodge the French from the right bank of the River Meuse. At the Battle of the Somme, the Germans inflict the greatest loss in a single day ever suffered by a British army.

17. The Battle of the Somme

The Allies planned to attack the Germans in the region of the Somme. Initially, it was planned as a joint British and French operation, but as the French losses at Verdun were so severe, and their morale was low, the operation increasingly became a British led one, with the French in support. It was expected that the British heavy guns would be able to destroy the German defences, and Haig, the British commander-in-chief, deployed 1,400 guns for this purpose. However, the German defences were established over a depth of up to 3 miles, and the firepower was insufficient. Thus, the German defences, including barbed wire, were substantially intact when the British launched their attack on 1st July and the British sustained 57,000 casualties, including 19,000 dead, over the course of the day. It was the greatest loss in a single day ever suffered by a British army and the greatest suffered by any army in the First World War. They barely advanced. Haig persisted with the attack, but did not succeed in breaking the German lines.

However, from a strategic point-of-view, the attack was not a complete disaster. The British fired more than 7 million shells at the German defences between the beginning of July and the middle of September. The Germans were over-awed by the massive firepower of the British and the German troops suffered enormously. In September Haig was able to deploy tanks for the first time and by that time British gunnery had improved to the extent that they could fire a barrage in front of the advancing troops. However, when Haig deployed tanks on the 15th September he could not risk using artillery as well; the tanks proved mechanically unreliable and their first use did not produce a breakthrough. The Allies lost about 650,000 casualties in the action, to the German 400,000.

18. The Trentino Offensive

From March onwards the Italians under Cadorna were in trouble. The Austrians launched their Trentino offensive on 15th May 1916, and made a break through taking Arsiero and taking 400,000 Italians prisoner; Austrian commander, Conrad, planned to drive on as far as Venice and outflank the Italian army positioned on the Isonzo, which would force the Italians to withdraw and also force Italy out of the war. However, the Austrian advance ran out of momentum as their forward units outran supply. The Italians appealed for aid nonetheless, and the Russians responded with the Brusilov offensive.

19. The Brusilov Offensive

The Russians under General Brusilov attacked the Austro-Hungarians along the Carpathian front. The Austrian defences were weakened since manpower had been transferred to the Italian front. The offensive began on 4th June, and by July the Russians had advanced 60 miles along the whole front, taking 350,000 prisoners. The Germans responded by sending German reinforcements to the Southern sector and this brought the Russian offensive to a halt.

20. Romania

The initial success of the Brusilov offensive encouraged the Romanians to enter the war on the Allies side. Initially, the Germans were dismayed and Falkenhayn was replaced as commander in chief by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. However, the Germans pushed back Brusilov — he lost all the terrain he had captured and Russian casualties were 1.4 million. In fact, the Germans quickly conquered Romania and gained access to vital resources as a result.

21. Submarine warfare and the Battle of Jutland

The biggest threat facing Britain was the shortage of ships to carry goods. Building of merchant ships fell as demand for the navy and munitions. German submarines sunk British ships! In May 1915 the Germans sunk the passenger ship the Lusitania, killing also American citizens. The American president, Woodrow Wilson, strongly protested. The Germans continued with an unrestricted campaign for a further period, but, after more American protests, they imposed restrictions on their submarines, and there were no further sinkings at sight during most of 1916.

When in spring 1916 the Germans suspended their campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, in order to compensate their battle fleet started to venture into the North Sea. The British Grand Fleet under Jellicoe sailed out to meet them. The encounter was at Jutland, and lasted 5 minutes. The Germans turned away, firing a salvo of torpedoes as they did so, which forced the British navy also to retreat. British losses were heavier than the German losses, but the battle left Britain in control of the North Sea. The British lost 3 battle cruisers, 3 armoured cruisers and 8 destroyers. The Germans lost 1 battleship, 1 battle cruiser, 4 light cruisers and 5 destroyers. Thus, five ships were sunk per minute on average. From this point onwards the Germans decided to concentrate on submarine warfare. The drain on British shipping was severe.

22. Mesopotamia

The Viceroy of India (Lord Hardinge) ordered attacks on the Turkish empire in Mesopotamia, first taking Basra and then Abadan. By September 1915 General Nixon and Major General Townshend took Kut. But the Germans were now organising Turkish forces and Townshed's forces were besieged by the Turks and had to surrender on 19th April 1916 — 13,500 men were taken captive. The British sent out Lieutenant General Sir F. S. Maude with three British divisions and he successfully recaptured Kut on 24th February 1917, after which Turkish resistance was weak, and the British took Baghdad in March. The British sustained about 90,000 casualties, the Turkish about twice that number.

General Sir Archibald Murray attacked the Turkish from Egypt taking the Sinai Peninsula in February 1916. However, he was heavily defeated when he attempted to advance into Gaza and was replaced by General Sir Edmund Allenby who was assigned seven infantry and three cavalry divisions. He defeated the Turks at Beersheba and also at Gaza and entered Jerusalem on 9th December, 1917.

The British were also aided by Arab revolts against Turkish rule in Hejaz, who were supported by British weapons and the inspiration of T.E. Lawrence.

The first half of 1918 saw less activity in the region as the German attack on the Western front diverted men away from the area. In September 1918, however, another British offensive inflicted a defeat on the Turks at Megiddo and Damascus was taken on 1st October.

23. Unrestricted submarine warfare and Convoys

The Germans renewed their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare on 1st February 1917. In February the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, and issued a full declaration of war against Germany in April. However, the effects of the campaign on British shipping was initially devastating. 25% of British ships that sailed were sunk, and approximately 1 million tons of shipping was lost. Neutral ships refused to sail to British ports. One specific problem was the interruption of supplies of pit props from Norway, which threatened to bring the coal industry to a halt. Neither Jellicoe, the British admiral, nor Carson, the first Sea Lord, could not think of a solution to the problem. Lloyd George took up the suggestion of cabinet secretary Hankey for the establishment of convoys, and single-handedly pushed this policy through: Convoys were due to Lloyd George alone, his most decisive achievement of the war. Losses were dramatically reduced — less than 1% of ships sailing in convoy were lost, and the shipyards were able to replace losses without difficulty — supply exceeded losses by mid 1918. Eventually, over 80% of ships bound for British ports sailed in convoy.

24. The Russian Front in 1917

Although the Russians had massed a force of 62 divisions, their morale and infrastructure was collapsing. Troops began deserting in huge numbers — as much as 2 million during March and April alone. There was a revolution in St. Petersburg. However, the new Provisional Government, under Kerensky, also directed the Russian forces, now under the command of Brusilov, to prepare an offensive. Brusilov launched his offensive on 18th June, but the Germans quickly repulsed it and forced the Russians into retreat. The Germans were using shock troops for the first time, and were able to push back the Russians and capture Riga on the Baltic sea. Russian morale collapsed completely. Brusilov was replaced by General L.G. Kornilov.

25. The Nivelle Offensive

In France Joffre was replaced by Nivelle as commander-in-chief. Nivelle proposed a major French offensive at Chemin des Dames supported by a British attack at Arras.

The Nivelle offensive began on the 9th April with the British and Canadian flanking attack in the area of Arras. The Canadians captured Vimy Ridge and the British also had a major success in the vicinity of the town Arras owing to the massive firepower now available to them. They were unable to exploit their breakthrough, however, for their cavalry once again proved ineffective as the means to achieve this.

The Western Front, 1917

In the Nivelle offensive the French are unable to dislodge the Germans from the Chemin des Dames. The Battle of Passendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) is another failure for the British, but they successfully use tanks at the Battle of Cambrai.

Nivelle launched the French attack on 16th April and attempted to seize Chemin des Dames. The Nivelle offensive at Chemin des Dames in April was a failure and casualties were massive. Nivelle was replaced by General Pétain as commander-in-chief. There was a near mutiny among French soldiers in acts of “collective disobedience”. The French authorities were forced by the scale of the disturbance to take a conciliatory response, and, whilst up to 70 soldiers were executed, given the scale of the problem this was far less than it might have been. Thus, the French capacity for offensive was negated; only the British could attack during the remainder of 1917.

26. The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele)

The objective was to break the German lines in front of the Passendaele ridge above Ypres. As a preliminary Haig's army used 1 million tons of TNT placed in mines under the German defenses on the lower flank of the Messines Ridge to shatter them. With the support of a massive barrage, the British were able to overrun the German positions there. The main attack began on 31st July, and The British, nonetheless, launched a massive barrage and made some progress, before a month of rain put a stop to things for a while. However, the field commander, General Hubert Gough, made a botch of the operation, and the Germans were able to reinforce their line all along the salient at Ypres, that is, in front of the Pasendale ridge. Gough was replaced by Plummer, and the offensive was reopened in late September, and by early October Plummer's forces had made three successful limited attacks in the battles of Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde, using “bite and hold” tactics. The key to these successes was the use of a massive artillery barrage fired precisely in front of the infantry as the infantry advanced. The infantry were able to overrun the German defenses are less cost to themselves. They did not advance beyond the cover of the artillery, so any German counter-offensive was repulsed. In late September it began to rain heavily again; nonetheless, the British continued the offensive attempting to take the Passchendaele Ridge. The conditions were appalling and whilst the ridge was eventually taken it proved to be an untenable salient, and had to be evacuated in 1918 in advance of the German offensive then.

27. Cambrai

The British had developed a new technique of using sound rangers to locate enemy guns. This meant their artillery did not have to use preliminary artillery fire to locate range. They were able to “fire from map”. So the element of surprise was reintroduced. Haig used this technique and 400 tanks at Cambrai to make a breakthrough. However, the Germans responded with storm troops and pushed the British back to their original line.

28. Caporetto

The Italians continued to attack the Austrians along the Isonzo launching offensives in May and August (the tenth and eleventh battles of Isonzo). By September the Italians were unable to launch any further offensives. The Germans transferred forces from the Eastern Front and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italians at the Battle of Caporetto, and the Italians lost 1/3 million dead and 3/4 million wounded. However, Italy did not collapse, and the British and French sent reinforcements. The action at Cambrai forced the Germans to bring the offensive to a halt.

29. German offensive in Russia, 1918

Despite the focus on the Western front, the Germans continued to attack on the Eastern front, deploying 50 divisions for this purpose. They sought to cower the Russians into a punitive peace settlement. The Russians, now under Bolshevick control, initially broke off negotiations, but after the offensive began on 18th February, Lenin was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3rd March.

However, the Treaty proved to be difficult for the Germans as well. For example, they were forced to invade the Ukraine in order to enforce their control there. Thus, German forces continued to be deployed on the Eastern front in large numbers. The 50 divisions were not withdrawn. The Germans formed a plan of capturing the Baku oilfields in the Caucasus.

30. Ludendorff's offensive in the West

Hindenburg and Ludendorff were able to reinforce the Western front, deploying troops from the Eastern front, following the collapse of Russia and by conscripting a further 100,000 men from Germany industry. They planned to attack the British using 750,000 men against the British 300,000 and 6,600 field guns. The attack would be lead by elite troops — the storm troops — their purpose was to penetrate deep into enemy lines, leaving other forces following-up to mop up the pockets of resistance.

The German offensive, Operation Michael, opened on 21st March, attacking the British sector between St. Quentin and Arras. The massive artillery barrage and use of storm troops proved effective and the Germans were able to advance 40 miles along a 50 mile front. They closed in on Amiens. However, as they did so, their troops suffered from fatigue. The British were able to reinforce their line, with troops from the French sector and also from Britain.

The Germans switched their attention to the salient in Ypres, launching Operation Georgette, commencing 8th April. They made further progress by attacking south of the Ypres salient, but again the British were able to hold the line.

In a third operation, Operation Blücher-Yorck, they attacked the French on the Chemin des Dames, commencing 27th May. They pushed the French back 40 miles and were once again on the Marne and within sight of Paris. Once again the French were able to reform their line and the offensive ground to a halt.

The Western Front, 1918

In three successive operations the Germans endeavour to use their superior troop numbers to overwhelm the Allied lines.

Further offensives on the 9th July at Chemin des Dames and 9th June on the Marne were also repulsed.

German casualties were about 1 million; the Allies 900,000. However, by this time the Germans were unable to replace their losses; thus the Allies were close to victory.

31. Allied counter-offensive

This began on the 18th July when the French attacked along the March using three Armies and 750 tanks. The Germans were forced to retreat.

Despite British losses of artillery, their war effort proved equal to the drain, and the British army by July had more artillery available than they had in March. The British blockade of Germany was having the effect of depriving Germany of raw materials. British weapons were superior to German weapons by the end of the war. German infrastructure was beginning to collapse.

On the 8th August the British attacked at Amiens and were able to advance 8 miles along a 9 mile front. The Germans lost 27,000 casualties as opposed to the British 9,000. Their artillery was becoming effective in negating the German defences.

The British then started attacking all along the front, switching the offensive from one sector to another, and using the same techniques as were successful at Amiens. The Germans were pushed back by mid September to the outer limits of the massive Hindenburg Line.

The British supported by Belgium, French and American forces, attacked the line along the entire Western front commencing 26th September. The operation commenced in the south with attackes by the French and Americans, successfully reducing the St. Mihiel salient to the south of Verdun. The British commenced their attack in the north on the 27th September. The main defence of the Hindenburg Line was the St.Quentin Canal; this was constructed so that there were banks 15 metres high and filled with 2 metres of mud or water.

The Western Front, 1918 — The Last Stages of the War

Successive allied offensives push the Germans back and breach the Hindenburg line

Nonetheless, British artillery were able to neutralize German guns in advance of the attack, and the first British division to cross the canal and thus breach the line was the 46th North Midland. Thereafter, the British armies were able to breach the Hindenburg line over its whole length. The Allies continued to make steady advances throughout October right up to 11th November.

In Germany Ludendorff recommended peace and the Kaiser abdicated. The new German government accepted the inevitable and negotiations started on the 7th/8th November.

32. Armistice

The Germans sought by appealing to the Americans to drive a wedge between the Allies. Wilson entered into private negotiations with the Germans lasting three weeks, and on 23rd October the Germans accepted the 14 points. Wilson then threatened to withdraw American from the war should the other Allies refuse to accept the armistice on the basis of the 14 points. The British would not accept the point about the 'freedom of the seas', but acquiesced once given a guarantee that the point would be discussed. Similarly, the French introduced a clause regarding their claim for compensation from Germany for war damage. The Italians also tried to table reservations in defence of their territorial claim to Lombardy, which was offered to them as part of the treaty of London. But they were told that this was not a part of the terms of the German armistice, and the supreme war council then accepted the armistice as brokered by the Americans with the British and French reservations included, but not the Italian.

The German delegation met the French delegation on 7th November in a railway carriage at Rethondes, where they received the terms for the armistice: (1) The German army would withdraw behind the Rhine; (2) All arms and railway equipment would be left behind; (3) all submarines and most of the surface fleet would be interned; (4) they would have to accept the annulment of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and German troops in Eastern Europe would be withdrawn behind the German frontier of 1914. The Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland. The German delegation signed the armistice on 11th November. On the afternoon of 11th November Lloyd George addressed the house of commons; he related the terms of the armistice, and said: 'I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.'

There followed a period of horse-trading between the Allied generals. The British wanted the destruction of the German navy, which the French opposed; and the French wanted to permanently occupy parts of the east bank of the Rhine, to which the British were opposed. In the end, they agreed on a comprise solution: the German navy would be interned, and the French would be allowed to occupy the Rhineland.

A post-war influenza epidemic engulfed the world, reaching central Europe in August and England in October. Over 3/4 of the population caught the disease; it killed 150,000 people in England. In India 16 million people died from it. More people died from the influenza epidemic than from the war itself.