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IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon World War I in Outline In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That marks our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high, If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. John McCrae (1872-1918) If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; Her laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) I. The Schlieffen Plan A. German military doctrine required a swift offensive aimed at enveloping and annihilating one of her two chief enemies, Russia or France. Then, using interior lines, Germany could turn on and dispose of the other. 1. Russia is too vast to be beaten quickly. Therefore, the Germans must defeat France quickly 2. The common Franco-German border is heavily fortified by the French, and the Germans do not believe that a swift victory is possible by a thrust from Alsace-Lorraine 3. Graf Alfred von Schlieffen therefore devises a bold plan to encircle the French from the north, violating Belgian and Luxembourg neutrality. The German right wing would be a bludgeon, swinging like a door hinged on Luxembourg. a. Schlieffen preferred a double envelopment along the lines of Cannae b. For lack of manpower, he plans a manoeuver sur les derriere, with Paris as the communication center to be seized. c. Such a brutal invasion of Belgium was in violation of treaties signed by Germany. Worse, it would certainly bring England into the war on the side of

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Page 1: IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmonteachers.dadeschools.net/dblackmon/IB World History/11...IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon World War I Page 2 the French. Schlieffen

IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon

World War I in Outline

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That marks our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high,

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae (1872-1918)

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

A body of England's, breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

Her laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)

I. The Schlieffen Plan

A. German military doctrine required a swift offensive aimed at enveloping and annihilating one of

her two chief enemies, Russia or France. Then, using interior lines, Germany could turn on and

dispose of the other.

1. Russia is too vast to be beaten quickly. Therefore, the Germans must defeat

France quickly

2. The common Franco-German border is heavily fortified by the French, and the

Germans do not believe that a swift victory is possible by a thrust from Alsace-Lorraine

3. Graf Alfred von Schlieffen therefore devises a bold plan to encircle the French

from the north, violating Belgian and Luxembourg neutrality. The German right wing

would be a bludgeon, swinging like a door hinged on Luxembourg.

a. Schlieffen preferred a double envelopment along the lines of Cannae

b. For lack of manpower, he plans a manoeuver sur les derriere, with Paris

as the communication center to be seized.

c. Such a brutal invasion of Belgium was in violation of treaties signed by

Germany. Worse, it would certainly bring England into the war on the side of

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the French. Schlieffen is purely a military technician, and he discounts

England's involvement in the confidence of a quick German victory. Then, it

wouldn't matter. Moral considerations never occurred to him. Defense of the

Vaterland was everything.

II. French Plan XVII

A. Reckless advance into Alsace-Lorraine, with an emphasis on the offensive, thus running their

heads into a noose. The French left was ignored. Expecting a German invasion of Belgium, the

French welcomed it and thought they could cut off the German right wing by an attack through the

Ardennes.

III. The Guns of August

A. The Western Front

1. At first the German advance went as scheduled. Special units invaded Belgium

to secure the communications at Liège. However, the forts held out until Aug. 12, which

prevented any widespread use of the rail lines.

a. Liège was thought to be impregnable, but the Germans brought up 410

mm howitzers, the largest guns ever built to that date. This is an example of

advancing technology outmoding military plans.

b. The defense of Liège and the stubborn retreat of the Belgian army

toward Antwerp imposes an early roadblock on a plan that required great speed

and had little or no margin for error.

2. Reckless French attacks into from the Ardennes to Alsace and Lorraine led to

encounter battles with advancing Germans. The French are defeated with heavy losses.

They tend to recoil backwards, towards Paris, in the direction that the decisive German

attack is coming.

a. German officers in Alsace, intoxicated with success, demand an

offensive, which fails against the prepared French defenses, and allows the

French to withdraw units from that front and reassemble them around Paris.

3. First Battle of the Marne

a. This is the most important single battle of the war. The German

advance grinds to a halt before a French counterattack.

(1) Technically, a gap opened up between two German armies,

which allowed the French to attack into it: a battle of Central Position.

Fearing to be beaten in detail, the German commanders order a

withdrawal to reestablish a continuous line.

b. The chief reasons for the failure of the German offensive include

(1) the sheer exhaustion of the troops who were at their physical

limits. They had been asked to do more than technology allowed.

(2) "friction" in Clausewitz' phrase. Communication between

Moltke and the front had collapsed. No one exercised central control of

the German armies. Local commanders had an imperfect view of

events, and made poor decisions.

(3) luck: if Gen. Kluck had been given operational control over

von Bülow, the result would probably have been different

(4) nerve, which is a form of "friction." Moltke collapsed during

the crisis (as he had expected he would--he had tried to refuse the job)

while the French commander Joffre, was probably too stupid to panic.

(5) leadership: Gen. Galliéni, who took over Paris with a strong

hand, turned Paris into a fortress, collected a strategic reserve by

stripping other sections of the front, and ordering the counterattack.

4. The Race to the Sea

a. From September to October, the French and British try to envelop the

German flank, but the Germans counter by moving farther to their own right.

Eventually, the English Channel ends the process.

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5. Trench Warfare

a. The typical experience of the Western Front becomes the trench, an

enormous version of siege warfare extending from the English Channel to the

Swiss border.

b. M. Bloch was right.

c. Normally, several lines of trenches would be dug, with communication

trenches between them.

d. the terrain between the lines was No Man's Land

e. life is dominated by artillery, the machine gun, poison gas, barbed wire,

mud, rain, filth, hunger, and fear. Men live like subterranean animals.

(1) a single well sited machine gun could stop a battalion in its

tracks.

(2) barbed wire provided barriers to slow down assaults to allow

artillery and machine guns to operate.

(3) the great killer is artillery. Artillery turned the battle field into

a moonscape. It destroyed roads, bridges, fields. Movement over

shelled terrain became very difficult if not impossible. There was no

real defense against artillery. All men could do was dig in as deep as

possible and hope that they were lucky.

6. Elements of new technology which influence land war

a. barbed wire

b. the machine gun

c. bolt action, magazine rifles

d. smokeless powder

e. rapid fire artillery, requiring an effective breech loading mechanism and

hydraulic recoil

f. field telephones

g. internal combustion engine and the use of trucks

h. railroad (not actually new, but without the railroad the massive armies

used could not have been gathered or supplied)

i. airplanes, used initially in a reconnaissance role. Throughout the war,

the most important use of the airplane was to provide aerial photographs.

(1) invention of Anthony Fokker's arresting gear permitted the use

of machine guns which fire through the prop. Initially, the Allies use

aircraft with machine guns mounted on the top wing.

j. later, poison gas

k. later, the flame thrower

l. later, the tank

B. The Eastern Front

1. Tannenberg

a. In response to frantic French urging, the Russians consented to launch

an early offensive against the Germans. Its purpose was to divert forces away

from the decisive battle in France. Gen. Samsonov, the leader of the main

Russian force, had little faith in success, but saw his effort as a sacrifice on

behalf of his ally.

b. The offensive penetrates East Prussia much earlier than the Germans'

expected, and the German commander, von Prittwitz, panicked and was relieved.

c. Paul von Hindenburg replaced Prittwitz as

titular commander. A stolid general who had already retired, he was in no way

considered their best commander

d. Erich Ludendorff was assigned to Hindenburg as Chief of Staff. In

keeping with German practice, the real power and brains lay with the senior staff

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officer. Brilliant, ruthless, and devoid of moral scruples, Ludendorff is the

dominant partner.

e. Even before the arrival of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, von Prittwitz'

Chief of Staff had sat down and drawn up a series of plans to trap the Russians

at Tannenberg, and confidently ordered them implemented. In an amazing

example of doctrinal cohesion, Ludendorff, working on his train, developed

virtually the same plan. Upon arrival, he approved Hoffmann's moves.

(1) Tannenberg had in fact been wargamed repeatedly by the

General Staff. Ludendorff and Hoffmann's battle was daring and

aggressive, but the risks had long ago been calculated.

f. Samsonov is surrounded and destroyed completely in the marshes of

the Masurian Lakes. Samsonov commits suicide.

g. Ironically, the Russian assault had its intended strategic effect, when

Moltke pulled out two corps from the vital right wing and despatched them to

the East. More ironically, Tannenberg had been fought and won before their

arrival.

C. Entry of the Ottoman Empire

1. Germany had established marginally better relations with the Young Turks, and

especially Enver Pasha than the Allies. Russia was a hereditary enemy, of course, and

Austrian interests in the Balkans coincided with Turkey's. England was a threat to

Turkey's Arab territories. The escape of the Goeben and the Breslau and commissioning

as a Turkish ship (retaining the German crew) tipped the balance

IV. 1915

A. War at Sea

1. Tirpitz' naval strategy proves bankrupt. Having built a "risk fleet," neither he

nor the Kaiser would dare to risk it. Germany begins the war with no naval strategy at all

to speak of.

2. Great Britain imposes a naval blockade on Germany

a. Germany's Emden and a squadron under Graf Spee cause serious

headaches without threatening anything truly vital.

3. Most significant naval surface action is the cruiser Goeben, caught in the

Mediterranean Sea abut escaping to Turkey, where it is given to the Ottoman Empire.

This is a factor of consequence in the Turkish declaration of war in November against

Russia.

4. Submarine warfare: since the Germans cannot raid commerce on the surface,

they turn to the submarine. Declaring a war zone around Great Britain, where all vessels

will be sunk on sight, they sink the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, killing about 1100

civilians.

a. Inflames U.S. public opinion

B. War in Africa

1. German colonies quickly snapped up

2. The exception is German East Africa, where a remarkable man, Col. Paul von

Lettow-Vorbeck led a 5,000 man force, barely 5% of whom were Germans, in a stubborn

and brilliant guerrilla war against mostly Commonwealth troops. At war's end, he had

invaded an enemy colony, and there surrendered his men, unbeaten. Lettow-Vorbeck's

campaign is the most extraordinary of the war, and one of the most extraordinary in

military annals. Lettow-Vorbeck went into retirement, refused all blandishments by the

Nazis, and survived the bombing of World War II. He was persona non grata in British

Africa since he had demonstrated that black African troops could defeat Europeans if well

led.

C. Western Front

1. Of the uses and misuses of military theory: " 'To introduce into the philosophy

of war a principle of moderation would be an absurdity. War is an act of violence

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pushed to its utmost bounds.'" (Clausewitz qtd in Liddell Hart 61) "'Each of the

adversaries forces the hand of the other, and a reciprocal action results which in theory

can have no limit.'" (Stokesbury 91)

a. Clausewitz actually points out that reality limited the development of

theoretical limits. His theoretically absolute war had never been fought.

2. "The states of preindustrial, prepopular-government world had never managed

to engage in 'total' war. They had never been able to raise the money for it, they had

never been able to conscript sufficient numbers of their subjects or citizens to wage it,

they had never been able to produce enough surplus from a subsistence economy to

generate immense amounts of war matérial . . . . Governments could generate credit,

factories could spew out guns, planes, and endless ammunition supplies, and men could

be induced to die for slogans in greater numbers than ever before." (Stokesbury 91)

3. Fruitless offensives in the West, initiated by a French military doctrine of the

offensive at all costs.

4. The Commanders: French General Joseph Joffre and the new German Chief of

Staff Erich von Falkenhayn

a. French offensive at First Battle of Champagne Jan.-Mar. 1915

b. German offensive at Second Battle of Ypres in April-May

(1) Germans first use chlorine gas, as create a gap in the Allied

lines

(a)

Unsurprising that Germany, with its superb chemical

industries, would use this weapon first. It was first proposed

by "Professor Haber, a distinguished chemist of Jewish

origin," (Liddell Hart 69)

(2) Falkenhayn did not believe poison gas would work, and made

no provisions to exploit it.

c. French offensive at Vimy Ridge in May

d. French Second Champagne offensive in September

(1) Falkenhayn digs a second line of defense deep behind the first,

out of range of Allied guns

e. French offensive at Third Battle of Artois in October

f. British offensive at Loos late September

(1) British use gas

(2) German machine gunners called it the Leichenfeld von Loos--

the corpsefield of Loos

(3) As a result of bitter complaints, British commander Sir John

French is replaced by Sir Douglas Haig: a mule was being replaced by

a donkey.

5. The Butcher's Bill for Western Front 1915 alone

a. Britain: 279,000 and the end of its professional, pre-War army

b. Germany: 612,000

c. France: 1,292,000 (add this to 980,000 in 1914)

D. War in the Mediterranean

1. Turkey's hostility poses a really serious problem for Russia, since it blocks the

logical entry port for munitions and supplies of all types. To all intents and purposes,

Tsarist Russia is strategically isolated. Its armies become increasingly desperate for

weapons, munitions, clothing, and food. This contributes in a very important way to

Russia's collapse and the Russian Revolution.

2. Gallipoli in April 1915 potentially could have solved this problem. A successful

landing there could have opened the Straits and led to the fall of Constantinople, which

would deprive the Turks of their only source of munitions (Liddell Hart 78) The

operation is horribly botched, and the British eventually evacuate after 214,000

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casualties.

a. The Turkish Army in the region was trained and commanded by

German General Liman von Sanders, (who was a Jew, which must have been

rare in the German army, especially since he has the "von" in his name

indicating nobility; and how many Jewish generals have commanded Moslem

troops? I do not, unfortunately, know more about this man's biography than

this). The local Turkish commander was Mustapha Kemal, later called Atatürk,

head of the Turkish state.

E. War in the East

1. Battle of the Masurian Lakes: Ludendorff mauls a Russian army in February,

forestalling an offensive

2. Austrians launch an offensive in Galicia in April, with German Generals

Mackensen in command with Hans von Seeckt as Chief of Staff.

a. Von Seeckt introduces the tactical idea of reinforcing success and by-

passing strong points, which became the basis for German tactics in 1918.

(Liddell Hart 86)

b. The Russians are rolled back with heavy losses. The sheer size of the

front, primitive road conditions, and Germany's other commitments prevent an

effort adequate to finish the Russians off.

(1) The Russian armies were badly mauled and no longer pose a

direct threat to Germany

(2) The Russian armies were desperate for munitions. This is the

chief reason for their defeat.

3. Destruction of Serbia

a. Germany concludes a treaty with Bulgaria to bring them into the war.

b. Mackensen crosses the Danube while the Bulgarians invade in Serbia's

rear. Caught, the Serbian army is driven through Albania. Survivors were

picked up by the British and moved to Salonika.

F. Italy's Entry into the War

1. Treaty of London 1915

a. Allies offered Italy Trieste, the Trentino, South Tirol, Gorizia, Istria,

and northern Dalmatia to enter the war.

b. The Italians begin a series of battles on the Isonzo River--11 in all from

1915 to 1917. At the end of that time, they had hammered their way all the way

to the Isonzo River.

V. 1916

A. Verdun: This battle comes to symbolize the entire French war effort and experience. Its

psychological impact lasts long after the battle itself is over.

1. Von Falkenhayn decides to "bleed the French white" by attacking a point that

the French would be forced to defend to the end.

2. Offensive opens in February, and achieves a strong advance, but fails to break

through.

3. Gen. Henri Pétain is placed in command of the sector. Pétain differs from most

French generals in that he is not so enamored of the offensive and believes that "Fire

kills."

a. Pétain opens up la voie sacrée, a single road under steady shell fire to

supply the entire salient. He institutes a rotation system, pulling troops out of

the line at regular intervals. This means that some 70% of the entire French

Army experienced the hell of Verdun first hand. (Stokesbury 146) The French

poilu swore "Ils ne passeront pas." and they didn't, but at truly hideous cost.

4. The battle lasted 10 months. At the end, neither side had won. The "meat

grinder" had ground up both sides.

5. The battlefield is not large, and, taking into consideration size of the field,

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duration, concentration of forces, conditions of life, and casualties, Verdun might be the

"worst" battle in recorded history. (Horne 327)

a. Combined casualties are somewhere around 420,000 dead and 800,000

gassed or wounded. The French reburied 150,000 unidentified or partial bodies

in an ossuary after the war. The French lost perhaps 542,000 men and the

Germans 434,000. One can't be precise because bodies were blown up,

dismembered, buried, exposed, blown up again, buried again, etc. etc. Different

authorities vary, but all figures are ghastly. (Horne 328, Stokesbury 147-8)

(1) As a comparison, British Empire casualties for all of World

War I were: 353,652 dead, 801,529 wounded, and 90,844 missing.

(Horne 328)

b. The battleground remains to this day very dangerous as a result of

unexploded ordnance. I have a friend who left the guide paths and immediately

saw numerous unexploded mines and shells.

6. Neither the French nor the German army was quite the same. There was never

as much trust in their leaders. The fighting was senseless, horrible, and futile beyond

imagination

7. The "Verdun Mentality"--Joffre was fired during the battle, and Pétain became a

national hero.

a. In the post-war era, Pétain emphasized the use of massive field

fortifications, noting that the Verdun forts stood up to inconceivable hammering.

French military outlook becomes static and defensive (a trait that culminated in

Dien Bien Phu).

8. Von Falkenhayn is also fired, and replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff,

who swiftly become not only the military commanders, but also virtually the German

government as well.

9. A remarkable number of German leaders in World War II saw action at Verdun:

Manstein, Guderian, Rommel, von Brauchitsch. They came up with different solutions.

10. Military innovations

a. A modern conception of an air force, as both sides sought to control the

air over Verdun in order to spot for artillery.

b. Use of trucks to supply a large battle over an extended period of time

c. Use of phosgene gas

d. Introduction of the flame thrower

e. Use of infiltration tactics by the Germans

B. The Somme The Somme holds the same mythological place for Great Britain as Verdun has for

the French. In this battle, the rebuilt British Army, made up for the first time of conscripts instead

of professionals, is shattered uselessly. The first day of the Somme is the bloodiest day in British

history, and in the history of World War I.

1. There was no special military significance to the Somme sector--it was

convenient

2. The British amassed the largest concentration of guns to date in history, and

fired the heaviest barrage in history to prepare the advance. The British amassed 1,500

guns to 18 miles of front; the French sector had an even higher concentration.

3. When the advance came, the British found that the German wire had not been

cut by the barrage nor had the German machine gunners been killed. They crawled out of

their bunkers and massacred the heavily laden troops.

a. The cream of the British Public Schools, the cream of the British

middle class, was slaughtered that day

b. It is the worst day in the history of the British Army: over 19,000

killed and about 38,500 wounded, in most cases without actually reaching the

first objective. (Stokesbury 154)

(1) In 40 minutes, a battalion from Newfoundland with 752 men

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lost 658 men and all 26 officers killed or wounded: 91%.

4. The battle becomes a monster, with Haig throwing in new attacks because he

couldn't think of anything else better to do.

5. When it ends, Britain had lost 420.000 men, the French 195,00, and the Germans

650,000. Nothing had been accomplished. (Stokesbury 156)

C. The Naval War

1. Two earlier surface engagements at Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank were

inconclusive

2. Admiral Reinhard Scheer named new commander of the High Seas Fleet.

a. Receives permission to sortie the fleet

3. Sir John Jellicoe, picking up increased wireless traffic and having the German

naval code, sorties as well

a. Note the use of technology to provide intelligence

4. In Churchill's words, Jellicoe was the only man who could lose the war in a

single day. Jellicoe was far more aware of this than anyone else. Also, he probably had

an unparalleled technical knowledge not only of the strengths and weaknesses of his own

fleet, but also the Germans' To put it bluntly, despite its superior size, the Royal Navy

had serious weaknesses. There are those who criticize Jellicoe's handling of the Fleet, but

their criticism is based on poor understanding of the problem.

5. The Battle of Jutland May 31, 1916 is the largest battleship engagement in

history. It also is the last great naval battle fought only in one dimension.

a. The battle cruiser screens engage first, and the Germans try to lure the

British onto the main fleet. Here, the Germans maul the British.

b. Despite being hampered by an almost complete lack of communication

from his cruisers, Jellicoe puts his main force into a favorable position to attack

Scheer's main force.

c. Scheer extricates himself with taut ship handling and escapes.

d. Jellicoe pursues into the night, but the forces pass each other by.

e. Tactically, the battle is inconclusive; since the Germans retire, the

battle is a strategic victory for Jellicoe. The next task of the High Seas Fleet will

be the mutiny at Kiel that topples the Kaiser.

(1) Ship for ship and pound for pound, the German ships were

superior, and that in turn reflects technological superior of German

industry over an aging British steel industry.

D. The War in the East

1. The Brusilov offensive

a. Gen. Alexei Brusilov adopts new tactics for the Russian army,

shortening the bombardment, picking quiet fronts, and using picked shock troops

instead of unwieldy masses.

b. Brusilov uses these tactics against the Austrians, and cracks the front

open, and threatens the Carpathians.

(1) As he advances, his communications become even worse, and

he received no effective help from other Russian armies, whose

commanders were jealous of him. The Germans switch troops to shore

up the Austrians, and Brusilov's men are stopped by exhaustion. The

battle drags on in a standard meatgrinder. Both sides lose a million

men.

c. With this million casualties just before the winter, the Russian Army is

finished. Ironically, its greatest success of the war seals its fate.

2. The Entry and Fall of Romania

a. Desiring Transylvania from Hungary, and believing Brusilov's

offensive would get it for them, Romania declares war on Austria. They wait

too long, and they attack in the wrong direction (instead of south into Bulgaria to

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link up with the Allied enclave at Salonika, they attack west into Transylvania)

b. Von Falkenhayn, fresh from being fired, takes command of this section,

and crushes the Romanians

VI. 1917

A. The Western Front

1. The Nivelle Offensive (Chemin des Dames April 16th

a. Gen. Robert Nivelle is named head of the French armies, and promises

an offensive that will win the war in a single stroke.

b. The Germans, quite independently, decide to concentrate on the Eastern

Front, and therefore build a defensive line behind their front, the Hindenburg

Line, in order to shorten the front and free troops up.

c. Nivelle's security is so unbelievably lax that the Germans were as well

informed as the French.

d. Behind the powerful Hindenburg Line, well-prepared for the attack, the

Germans massacre the poilus, who struggle for weeks, believing that this last

sacrifice would win the war.

e. By May 5, 120,00 French have been lost and divisions moving to the

front begin baa-ing like sheep.

f. By May 15, the poilus mutiny. They refuse to attack. The French

Army has been broken.

g. Henri Pétain replaced Nivelle, and acts to restore order. In large part,

this requires giving some attention to the material needs of the troops, who were

certainly the worst treated by their own government.

h. The men will defend the trenches, but they refuse to attack. It will be a

year before the French take the offensive, and no longer will they or could they

bear the brunt of the fighting. The doctrine of L'attaquee à outrance has broken

the sword of France.

i. Amazingly, the Germans never learn of the mutiny! This in itself

indicates that the men were not lacking in patriotism.

2. Third Ypres (Passchendaele)

a. Sir Douglas Haig, confident of victory, now prepares his breakthrough

(he was careful to keep large bodies of cavalry--as in sabers and horses--behind

the lines to exploit the breakthrough in truly Napoleonic fashion.

b. The bombardment began July 18. The offensive began July 31. In the

meantime, the bombardment turned the battlefield into a bottomless pit of mud.

c. Ypres is below sea level. It is kept dry only by elaborate dikes and

drainage systems, all of which had been blown to hell long ago.

d. Summer is a rainy time in Flanders. It began to rain very heavily

August 1.

e. The mud of Flanders is bottomless, clinging, and indescribable. It is

not possible to move across the muddy fields unless one puts down duckboards.

f. Flanders is flat. What little heights existed were in German hands.

g. Flanders is probably the worst place in Europe to launch an attack,

maybe the worst place in the world. Conditions are truly hideous and all

advantages lie with the defender.

h. A British staff officer, upon actually getting within five miles of the

front, burst into tears and said "My God, did we send men to advance in that?"

3. "The Love Battles":

"This Western-front business couldn't be done again, not for a long time. The young men

think they could do it again, but they couldn't. They could fight the first Marne again but not this.

This took religion and years of plenty and tremendous sureties and the exact relation that existed

between the classes. . . . Why this was a love-battle--there was a century of middle-class love spent

here . . . . All my beautiful lovely safe world blew itself here with a great gust of high explosive

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love . . . . "

F. Scott Fitzgerald Tender is the Night 57

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, --

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

a. " Verdun and the Somme and Passchendaele were 'love battles,' and that the

only people who could fight them were those who possessed a sublime faith in their countries, their institutions, and

their own unquestioned value systems. Only that kind of security, that kind of unthinking confidence, armored men

sufficiently to endure the hell of such battles. Now those men were gone." (Stokesbury 243)

B. America's Entry into the War

1. The sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915 had outraged US public opinion as

well as Woodrow Wilson (despite the fact that the ship was carrying both military

supplies and personnel).

2. The sinking of the Arabic in August brought about a real threat of a US

declaration of war. The Germans back down, and pledged to follow international law in

submarine attacks. They also reduced submarine operations.

3. By 1916, the British blockade is beginning to have a serious effect, and pressure

builds within German military circles to resume unrestricted are.

4. In March, 1916, the cross-Channel steamer Sussex was torpedoed, costing some

American lives. Wilson threatens to sever diplomatic relations. Germany again backs

down, and the Sussex pledge commits Germany to pre-war rules, which eliminates

submarines as a commerce raider.

5. By the end of 1916, the blockade is causing very severe problems in Germany--

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1916-17 is Germany's Turnip Winter. The potato crop that harvest was half pre-war

levels. With an official normal intake of 2,250 calories, rationing provided only 1,350

calories in early 1916, and only 1,000 calories during the Turnip Winter--a starvation diet

for those who could not afford the black market. An estimated 750,000 Germans starved

to death. In addition, the surviving population was weakened for the influenza epidemic

of 1918, which killed more people than the war itself--6,000,000 in India alone. The

epidemic moved from east to west, and struck Germany before it reached the Allies.

(Holborn 460, Stokesbury 278)

6. Germany had constructed 100 new submarines. German naval planners

estimated that they could sink 600,000 tons per month, enough to starve Britain into

submission by August of 1917. (Holborn 458, Liddell Hart 141)

7. Hindenburg and Ludendorff are now the de facto rulers of Germany.

a. Bethmann-Hollweg strenuously opposed the resumption of submarine

war since it would certainly lead to the entry of the United States into the war.

b. Hindenburg and Ludendorff brush the objections aside.

(1) They viewed US potential military strength with complete

disdain. They did not believe that the US could raise, train, or deploy

significant forces in Europe. They ignored the US Navy, which the

second largest in the world and growing.

(2) US industrial capacity, adaptability and energy, as well as US

financial resources meant absolutely nothing to these military

technicians.

2. Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare on February 1, 1917. The

US severs diplomatic relations on February 3.

3. The Zimmermann Telegram , offering Mexico Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona

in exchange for Mexican assistance. The British intercepted the note, and presented the

text of this incredibly stupid telegram to Wilson February 24.

4. By April, German torpedoings has ended Wilson's reluctance to ask Congress

for a declaration of war. The US declares war on April 6.

5. US entry dooms Germany. Without the US, Germany might have won in 1917.

With the US in the war, Germany had no chance whatsoever of winning in 1918.

a. US financial resources made an immediate and dramatic impact on

Britain's and France's ability to continue to fight.

b. The US Navy plays a decisive role in the anti-submarine campaign. In

April, 1917, 25% of all ships sailing from Britain were sunk. When US Admiral

Sims was shown the figures, he exclaimed "This means we are losing the war!"

His British counterpart replied "That's right--and there is nothing we can do

about it." (Stokesbury 222) Sims insists on the introduction of the convoy

system . This, and the addition of large numbers of swiftly constructed US

destroyers, broke the back of the submarine campaign by September.

6. The German decision was made out of "hubris and ignorance." (Holborn 458)

The military, to whom Germans looked for leadership, had utterly failed them. When the

inevitable collapse comes, both Hindenburg and (especially) Ludendorff will be very

careful to renounce all responsibility for their disastrous policies and blame defeat on

someone else.

a. Ludendorff is the author of the "stab in the back theory."

B. Caporetto October 24

1. The Germans had been perfecting a new tactical system, developed by Hans von

Seeckt and Oscar von Hutier. It involves the use of picked troops (Sturmtruppen or

storm troops, or Stoßtruppen or shock troops), short, intense bombardments, surprise,

infiltration, and reinforcement of success. Such an attack oozes through a front, causing

panic by getting behind strong points. Brusilov had developed the same ideas without

fully understanding them. These tactics require a high level of training, morale, and

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motivation of the individual soldier. These units required not only special training but

different discipline. Within the storm troops, enlisted men used the 2nd person familiar

(du) to their officers. Modern infantry tactics are based on this system.

2. With relatively small forces, the Germans surprise the Italians, and break the

front wide open. The Italians collapse and stream backwards. The only reason the

Germans did not knock Italy out of the war is that (1) they did not expect so much

success and did not devote enough resources to it (2) they outran their logistical support.

a. The internal combustion engine combined with the caterpillar tread

will solve the problem of transportation problem. Blitzkrieg will wed the tank

with shock troop tactics.

3. Italy stabilizes the line at the Piave, at the cost of 600,000 men. They are done

for the year.

C. The Collapse of the Romanov Empire

1. By 1917, there is hardly any support for the Romanov dynasty is Russia.

2. The end begins on March 8 in Petrograd with food riots.

3. The Russian Revolution will be dealt with in detail in a later unit.

4. Nicholas abdicates on March 15, and a provisional government is formed.

5. The provisional government made the mistake of attempting to continue the war

when the vast bulk of the Russian people wanted an end to it.

6. Lenin, for purely ideological reasons, wanted to end the war. This is his most

important lever in seizing control for the Bolsheviks.

7. The Germans apply massive pressure with an offensive deep into Russia.

Despite fierce opposition, Lenin insists that the revolution has no choice but to make

peace, or the Germans would shoot them all. Lenin was certainly correct in his

assessment.

8. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (signed March 3, 1918

a. Independence for Finland, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,

Moldavia, Galicia, and Armenia

b. All of these nations would fall under a German political and economic

sphere of influence.

c. Not unlike Friedrich List in the 19th century or Hitler's Lebensraum a

quarter century later.

d. Brest-Litovsk was considered harsh even by the chief German

negotiator, was signed by Trotsky only by dire necessity, and proved to the

Western Allies what kind of peace Germany would impose if she won.

II. War Socialism

A. The ravenous demands of total war drove the warring states dramatically increased the size and

scope of governmental control, a process which has never been reversed.

B. Germany, as a result of the blockade, took the lead in this process

1. Kaiser Wilhelm II in August 1914 proclaimed Burgfriede: "the internal peace

kept by the defenders of a castle under siege" (Holborn 431) The Kaiser offers a

cessation of class and party hostility: "I do not know parties any longer, I know only

Germans."

2. A "state of siege" is declared, which gave military commanders virtually

untrammeled power to suppress activities detrimental to the war effort. This included the

suspension of many civil rights, complete censorship of all publications, and any

measures necessary for internal security and control of associations. (Holborn 428-31)

a. Censorship in Germany, as indeed all the warring powers, was grossly

misused. The German public, and even the German cabinet and Reichstag was

kept in ignorance of the real status of the war.

3. The Social Democrats accept these provisions. They vote war credits, and agree

to suspend all labor strikes. In return, they are allowed some participation in the

government and tacit recognition of the role of the trade unions. Time would

demonstrate, however, that their power was far more apparent than real. Under the "state

of siege," Germany ends the war virtually as a military dictatorship.

a. The resignation of Bethmann-Hollweg in July 1917 marks the end of

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the constitutional monarchy.

4. Walter Rathenau, (1867-1922, when he was murdered by right-wing extremists)

the Jewish head of Germany's largest electrical firm, is the chief organizer of the

integration of the German economy with the war effort. An opponent of the blank

cheque and the declaration of war, he nevertheless placed his expertise at the service of

his country. He discovered that the German General Staff, that font of planning, had no

plans whatever for a long war, and no strategic stockpiles. Rathenau's genius is largely

responsible for Germany's ability to stay in the war as long as it did despite the blockade.

A brave and principled man, his contribution to the German war effort cannot be

measured. Ludendorff hated him with a pathological virulence, but Ludendorff's armies

could not have fought in 1917 or 1918 without him. Germany needed more Rathenau's

and fewer Ludendorff's.

5. Wages rose with the war, but were outstripped by price increases as a result of

wartime shortages.

6. Women enter the industrial work force (from approx. 1.4 million to 2.2 million),

composing 37.8% of Krupps by war's end. Juveniles were increasingly employed,

Sunday's rest, and the ten-hour day were abandoned. Juveniles' wages were necessary in

many families to make up for the loss of real wages. The wages paid women and

juveniles were dramatically lower than for men. (Ferro 171)

7. The Law of Auxiliary Patriotic Service did provide gains for war economy

workers while also regulating the movement from job to job. Workers councils were

introduced for businesses with 50 workers or more. These councils were to act as

intermediaries for questions regarding wages, hours, working conditions, and welfare

arrangements. The law also provided for some protection of civil rights (which was

ignored by Ludendorff) (Holborn 462) The leaders of heavy industry resisted the

workers' councils fiercely. The law was administered by Gen. Wilhelm Gröner, an

expert on railroads and logistics, who understood that the manpower problem could not

be solved without the trade unions.

8. Burgfriede puts the Social Democrats in a difficult position as time goes by,

since they had to support policies with which they did not agree at a time when rationing

and shortages hit the working classes harder than any other group. Since they had

pledged not to strike, negotiation was the only tool left them, and that was ineffective in

industries such as coal and iron.

9. Ludendorff's policies were ruthless and totalitarian in nature. In a move that

presages the Nazis, he deports 400,000 Belgian workers for forced labor in German war

industries. (Johnson 16)

C. France declares Union sacrée as well.

1. The initial effect was the institution of virtual martial law, which was ruthlessly

applied by a French officer corps with strong monarchist, clericalist connections (such as

Foch, Castelnau and d'Esperey). Parliamentary control of the army and the conduct of the

war was lost until the mutinies of 1917.

2. Leading politicians such as Malvy and Caillaux were arrested. Lists of

subversives were compiled. (Johnson 16)

3. Censorship becomes very severe even in France, with its history of freedom of

the press. One legacy became a suspicion of all information. (Ferro 126)

D. Great Britain begins to abandon its "business as usual" attitudes by 1915. In December, 1915,

Lloyd George pushes through the Defense of the Realm Act which organized corporatist war

boards to coordinate manufacturing, transport, and supply.

E. The US, even with the idealistic Progressive Woodrow Wilson as President, adopts policies at

variance with traditional principles. As a war-time president, Wilson, the advocate of the New

Freedom, looks more like Theodore Roosevelt and the New Nationalism of Herbert Croly.

1. War Industries Board, run by Bernard Baruch, "ran a kindergarten for 1920s

interventionism and the New Deal, which in turn inspired the New Frontier and the Great

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Society." (Johnson 17)

2. Fuel Administration

3. War Labor Policies Board

4. Shipping Board

5. Food Administration, coordinated by Herbert Hoover, the prime architect of

1920s US domestic economic policy

6. Espionage Act and Sedition Act both restrict civil liberties with 500 arrests,

including Eugene V. Debs (Ferro 115)

7. George Creel mobilizes a very effective propaganda campaign

a. It should be noted that British propaganda was extremely adept as well.

German propaganda was notably inept.

F. At the outset of the war, internal social tensions were papered over. However, as the war

progressed and suffering increased, grievances are intensified. All too often, conservatives

holding real power used the national crisis to legitimize their authority and strengthen the power of

the state. Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany collapse. France emerges even more divided

than before.

III. 1918

A. Ludendorff's Spring Offensives

1. Ludendorff believes that he must launch an offensive to break the Western Front

quickly, or exhaustion would certainly defeat Germany. With Russia out of the war, and

US troops not yet deployed, he believes that he must win in the spring of 1918.

2. Ludendorff adopts the new tactics and prepares a series of offensives with

staggering technical skill. In the end, however, he mishandles the attacks because he had

no clear strategic plan and also because he violated his own principles at crucial points.

3. On March 21, 1918, the first assault, codenamed "Michael," catches Haig by

surprise and tears a gaping hole in the front by March 23. Ludendorff has achieved a

breakthrough. Instead of exploiting the gap, he redirects the line of the offensive.

a. German troops, capturing well-stocked British supply depots, begin to

fall out and loot instead of continuing to fight. These men are hungry.

Continuous fighting and movement was bringing on physical exhaustion as well.

b. As large numbers of German troops compare the material wealth (not

just weapons, but above all, food) of the Allies with their own condition, their

morale begins to drop seriously. Their government had told them the

submarines were starving the Allies. Discipline erodes.

c. By March 25, the Germans had outrun their artillery, and were

attempting to supply themselves across devastated terrain.

4. Ludendorff loses his head, and stops the original offensive and instead launches

a second attack ("Mars") on April 9. This also meets initial success, but runs down for

the same reasons.

a. The Allies, under pressure of this drive, at last name a Commander-in-

Chief to coordinate all armies: Marshall Ferdinand Foch.

5. Ludendorff launches a third offensive, this time against the French on the

Chemins des Dames on May 27.

a. The French deploy according to Foch's insistence of fighting for every

inch of ground and counterattacking immediately and automatically, instead of

using an elastic defense advocated by Pétain.

b. A terrible hole is torn into the French lines, and the Germans drive on

Paris. They advance 40 miles Again, however, the troops wear down, and

Pétain assembles reserves (including 2 US divisions, equal in size to 4 French.

The Americans were inexperienced but exceptionally aggressive and quick

learners). The attack grinds to a halt.

(1) By this point, 15 US divisions had been assembled in France

since the offensives had begun, and more were pouring in.

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6. A 4th offensive is launched toward Soissons, but is stopped by French and US

counterattacks.

7. Ludendorff's last effort goes in July 15 against Reims. (There were 27 European

divisions defending, and 9 US equal numerically to 18 European. US numbers are

becoming significant). On one flank, where the French deployed along Foch's lines, the

Germans drove deeply. On the other, using Pétain's elastic defense, the Germans are

counterattacked and stopped.

8. Ludendorff's offensives are over. His men are bled white, exhausted, and

hungry. He had rolled the dice, and lost. On July 18, as Foch began directing Allied

offensives, Ludendorff asked Hindenburg what Germany should do. Hindenburg replied

"Do? Do? Make peace, you idiot!" (Stokesbury 280)

9. July 18th is the date accepted by historians when the military balance on the

Western Front shifted.

B. The Allied Summer/Fall Offensives

1. Ferdinand Foch is a fanatical proponent of the offensive. He at last has the

resources to make it work. He begins coordinating a series of powerful offensives.

2. The July 18th Aisne-Marne offensive, while limited, was an unqualified success.

3. August 8th, "the black day"

a. An Anglo-French offensive is planned at Amiens.

b. Haig designates his best units, a Canadian and an Australian corps, for

the attack.

c. The Allies will solve the problem of breaking the trench systems with

the tank, first used successfully in numbers at Cambrai, November 20, 1917.

The tanks would break down the wire, cross trenches, and attack machine gun

nests. Infantry and tanks would work in close cooperation. The intention was to

break the front with tanks, infantry, and artillery, and then pass faster Whippet

tanks and cavalry through to pursue. The latter stage did not occur as a result of

exhaustion of the crews and incompatibility of tanks with horse cavalry. In

addition, the British commanders were psychologically incapable of exploiting

the situation.

d. When the German Hutier tactics are wedded to the Allied tank, we are

on the way to the development of Blitzkrieg

e. The German army holding the front simply collapsed. Large numbers

of soldiers surrendered, scenes of panic, insubordination and desertion were

widespread.

f. The German section of the line was held by seriously under strength

units of poor quality

(1) In order to launch his offensive, Ludendorff had been forced to

cull out his best troops for training in the Hutier tactics for use as

"shock divisions." The remaining "trench divisions" were made up of

poorer material. In addition, Ludendorff's last efforts had drafted

increasing numbers of industrial workers, including skilled workers,

older workers, and especially anyone who challenged complete military

authority. Not only did this weaken the industrial effort underlying the

war, but it introduced Socialist agitators into the trenches. (Barnett 349,

Holborn 502)

(2) Corelli Barnett draws a strong parallel between the French

mutiny and the collapse of many German units and notes "how far a

war of nation states, fueled by a nationalistic 'ingroup psychology, had

been modified by a new international class war, with 'ingroup'

psychology based on class solidarity." (349-50,)

g. August 8th is called by Ludendorff "the black day" for the German

Army. He begins to unravel mentally. He becomes not only vindictive and

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eager to avoid taking responsibility for defeats (qualities he had always had) but

also unrealistic, vacillating, and hysterical.

(1) Ludendorff tells the Kaiser that the war is lost and Germany

should negotiate a peace.

(2) At that time, Ludendorff still had two prepared defensive lines,

an organized army of 2,500,000 that could still fight defensively, and

was opposed by armies without an overwhelming overall numerical

advantage commanded by men who were unable to visualize anything

other than piecemeal offensives. The reason he gives in so completely

is the Americans: in August 1918, the US now had 1,400,000 men in

France. Britain and France won the battles of 1918; America would

win those of 1919. Germany was not "stabbed in the back" but

overwhelmed economically, politically, technically, morally, and

militarily. Germany had fought total war, and had lost totally. (Barnett

353)

4. August to November 1918 sees a series of Allied blows intended to drive the

Germans back, and sever the rail links upon which German supplies depended. Behind

the lines, the German Army is swiftly disintegrating. On the front, the more reliable units

fight doggedly to preserve a more or less orderly retreat. There is some very hard

fighting ahead, particularly in the Meuse-Argonne (the American sector, where the terrain

was very difficult) and Flanders, but the Allied attacks are irresistible.

IV. Peace Negotiations and Armistice

A. The end comes swiftly.

B. Bulgaria collapses under an offensive from Salonika in September. They sign an armistice on

September 29 that permits the Allies to continue to advance against Austria.

C. Turkey, having lost Baghdad, and with the Arabian desert in full revolt, now loses Palestine to

Allenby (who enjoyed a 3:1 advantage over Liman von Sanders) at the Battle of Megiddo

September 19. Turkey signs an armistice October 30.

D. The Austrian front collapses at Vittorio Veneto in late October. Their army disintegrates.

E. Czechoslovakia declares formal independence on October 21.

F. Yugoslavia declares independence on October 29.

G. Austria and Hungary secede from their own state by October 31

H. Austria-Hungary, a nation that no longer existed, signs an armistice on November 3. Kaiser

Charles abdicates Nov. 12, to no one's interest. (Stokesbury 299)

I. The End of the Hohenzollern Empire

1. June 19, 1917, the Catholic Center Party, led by Mathias Erzberger, hitherto a

staunch supporter of the war, calls for a peace without annexations.

2. Wilson issues the Fourteen Points January 8, 1918.

a. open covenants openly arrived at

b. freedom of the seas

c. removal of trade barriers

d. arms reduction

e. impartial adjustment of colonial claims with due concern with the

peoples as well as the imperial governments

f. German evacuation of Russia

g. German restoration of Belgium

h. German restoration of France

i. adjustment of the Italian frontier

j. self determination for the peoples of Austria-Hungary

k. restoration of Rumania, Montenegro, and Serbia

l. self determination for the peoples of the Ottoman Empire

m. reestablishment of Poland with access to the sea

n. a League of Nations

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3. Ludendorff demands an immediate armistice be opened September 29, and

concedes the end of authoritarian government by recommending the formation of a

popular government. The party leaders of the Reichstag, who had been kept in the dark

about military conditions, are stunned.

4. Prince Max of Baden is named Chancellor on October 4. Well-educated,

liberal, an early advocate of a conciliatory peace, he is the finest and most capable

chancellor since Bismarck.

a. Max asks for an armistice, accepting the

Fourteen Points as a basis for peace negotiations.

5. Wilson demands the cessation of submarine warfare, stated that no armistice

would be allowed that would diminish Allied military superiority (ie: no breathing

space), and bluntly inquired whether the present government represented the German

people or the militaristic crowd that had started the war.

6. Wilson follows this with a note on October 24 stating that the Allies would not

make peace with the King of Prussia (ie the Kaiser) or "'military masters and monarchical

autocrats'." (Stokesbury 305)

7. Without consulting anybody, Ludendorff issues an appeal to "us soldiers" to

fight to the bitter end. Considering the state of the army and nation, this was irrational. It

created difficulties for Max, since Wilson wanted to know who was really in charge.

8. The Kaiser calls Hindenburg and Ludendorff to a meeting on October 26.

Ludendorff bitterly criticized the government. The Kaiser coldly replied that the

government was acting on Ludendorff's demand of September 29 for an immediate

armistice. Ludendorff tendered his resignation, which was accepted. Hindenburg

tendered his as well; however, the Kaiser refused to accept it and appealed to

Hindenburg's monarchism to obey. Ludendorff never forgives Hindenburg.

9. The Kiel Mutiny October 29, 1918

a. Naval officers determined on a last "death ride" against the Royal

Navy. The government was not consulted. The enlisted men were not

impressed.

b. The sailors refuse to obey orders. A spontaneous and disorganized

movement, it spreads quickly through the fleet. The sailors take control of Kiel,

and the mutiny spreads to naval bases at Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg, Brunswick

and Hanover. The army refuses to put the mutiny down. Military authority

collapses.

c. The government sends Gustav Noske, the military expert of the Social

Democratic party, who establishes authority over them largely by agreeing with

them.

d. The sailors did not challenge the parties, but the authority of the Kaiser

and the military caste.

e. Revolution and disorder spreads to Cologne and other key

transportation centers.

10. Kurt Eisner, an Independent Socialist (who was also a Jew) leads a successful revolution

in Munich on November 7.

11. November 9, the Berlin workers walk off the job.

12. Abdication of Wilhelm II

a. That same day, Wilhelm proposes gathering the army and marching to

reconquer Germany

b. Ludendorff's successor, Wilhelm Gröner, recognizes that the Social

Democrats will have to organize a government, bluntly tells Wilhelm that the

army would not obey him.

13. The Social Democrats demand control of the government, and Max agrees.

Friedrich Ebert becomes Chancellor.

14. On November 11, 1918, in the forest of Compiegne, Matthias Erzberger signed

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the Armistice agreement. At 11:00, the guns fell silent.

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IX The Cost

France British Empire

Population in 1914 40,000,000* 45,000,000*

Armed Forces 1914

(incl. reserves) 1,250,000 711,000

Total Number Mobilized

1914-1918 8,410,000 8,904,467

Dead 1,357,800 908,371

Wounded 4,266,000 2,090,212

Prisoners/Missing 537,000 191,652

Total Casualties 6,160,000 3,190,235

Percentage of Population

Mobilized 21.0 19.7

Percentage of Mobilized

as Casualties 73.3 35.8

Percentage of Population

as Casualties 15.4 07.0

Italy Russia

Population in 1914 35,000,000 164,000,000

Armed Forces 1914

(incl. reserves) 750,000 1,200,000

Total Number Mobilized

1914-1918 5,615,000 12,000,000

Dead 650,000 1,700,000

Wounded 947,000 4,950,000

Prisoners/Missing 600,000 2,500,000

Total Casualties 2,197,000 9,150,000

Percentage of Population

Mobilized 16.0 07.3

Percentage of Mobilized

as Casualties 39.1 76.3

Percentage of Population

as Casualties 06.2 05.5

U.S.A.

Population in 1914 92,000,000

Armed Forces 1914

(incl. reserves) 150,000

Total Number Mobilized

1914-1918 4,355,000

Dead 116,516

Wounded 204,002

Prisoners/Missing 4,500

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Total Casualties 323,018

Percentage of Population

Mobilized 04.7

Percentage of Mobilized

as Casualties 08.1

Percentage of Population

as Casualties 00.35

Austria- Germany

Hungary

Population in 1914 50,000,000 65,000,000

Armed Forces 1914

(incl. reserves) 812,000 2,200,000

Total Number Mobilized

1914-1918 7,800,000 11,000,000

Dead 1,200,000 1,773,700

Wounded 3,620,000 4,216,058

Prisoners/Missing 2,200,000 1,152,800

Total Casualties 7,020,000 7,142,558

Percentage of Population

Mobilized 15.6 16.9

Percentage of Mobilized

as Casualties 90.0 64.9

Percentage of Population

as Casualties 14.0 10.9

Ottoman

Empire

Population in 1914 20,000,000

Armed Forces 1914

(incl. reserves) 360,000

Total Number Mobilized

1914-1918 2,850,000

Dead 325,000

Wounded 400,000

Prisoners/Missing 250,000

Total Casualties 975,000

Percentage of Population

Mobilized 14.25

Percentage of Mobilized

as Casualties 34.2

Percentage of Population

as Casualties 04.8

* The population of Great Britain in 1914 was 45,000,000. The estimated population of the British Empire was 390,000,000.

Casualty figures, however, are for the Empire (including Canadian, South African, and Indian casualties, for instance). I do not have a

breakdown by Dominion and colony.

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* The population of metropolitan France was 40,000,000. The population of the French Empire was 58,000,000. Casualty figures are

for the Empire.

Britain's overseas empire provided a larger proportional contribution than did France's overseas empire, and casualties would reflect

this.

Sources: Different authorities have different figures. It is impossible to obtain truly accurate figures. This table is adapted from the

Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 29 p. 987 and Kagan, Ozment, and Turner p. 888.

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Works Cited

Barnett, Corelli. The Swordbearers: Supreme Command in the First World War. New York: Signet, 1963.

Ferro, Marc. The Great War: 1914-1918. New York: Routledge, 1973.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tender Is the Night. New York: Scribner, 1933.

Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany: 1840-1945 Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,

1969.

Horne, Alistair. The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916. New York: Penquin Books, 1964.

Johnson, Paul. Modern Times. Rev. Ed. New York: Harper, 1991.

Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven, and Turner, Frank M. The Western Heritage. 2nd Ed. New York: MacMillan,

1983.

Liddell Hart, Capt. Basil H. The War in Outline: 1914-1918. New York: Award Books, 1965.

Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of World War I. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1981.

"The World Wars." Encyclopedia Britanica Vol. 29 Chicago: Encyclopedia Britanica Inc. 1993. 961-987.

Works Consulted

Albrecht-Carrié, René. The Meaning of the First World War. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1965.

Bernstein, Paul and Green, Robert W. History of Civilization. Vol II. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams and Co.,

1971.

Blum, Jerome, Cameron, Rondo, and Barnes, Thomas G. The European World Since 1815: Triumph and

Transition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1966.

Messenger, Charles. The Art of Blitzkrieg. London: Ian Allan Ltd., 1991.

Silkin, Jon, ed. The Penquin Book of First World War Poetry. 2nd Ed. (New York: Penguin,1981.

IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon

World War I Essay Questions

I will select SEVEN of the following ELEVEN and ask you to choose ONE essay to write:

1 "Scientific and technological advance play an important part in the nature and outcome of wars." Discuss

the First World War with this claim in mind. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

2 The one consistent winner of modern warfare has been technology; the consistent loser has been humanity.”

(Ziegler) Discuss with reference to new technology in the First World War. (Modified from 1996) (HL)

3 Discuss the First World War from the point of view of the impact of weaponry on (a) tactics and strategy

(b) the role and involvement of civilians. (Modified from 1987)

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World War I Page 23

4 Choose TWO battles or campaigns from the First World War, and show how they affected the subsequent

course and eventual outcome of the war. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

5 "War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men." (Talleyrand). With reference to the First

World War, estimate the importance of generals in (a) influencing the decisions to go to war, (b) shaping military

strategy, and (c) establishing war aims. (Modified from 1994) (HL)

6 How comprehensively are the characteristics of "total war" illustrated by the First World War? (Modified

from 1990) (HL)

7 "War is the locomotive of history" (Leon Trotsky). With reference to the First World War, consider to what

extent war has acted as an accelerator/catalyst of (A) technical; (B) economic; (C) social, and (D) political change.

(Nov. 1990) (HL)

8 Discuss the mobilization of society in the (A) political (B) economic (C) social and (D) intellectual/cultural

dimensions during the First World War.

9 Apply the following quote to the First World War:

"To introduce into the philosophy of war a principle of moderation would be an absurdity. War is an act of

violence pushed to its utmost bounds. . . . Each of the adversaries forces the hand of the other, and a

reciprocal action results which in theory can have no limit."

Carl von Clausewitz

10 On the eve of war in 1914, all nations involved expected a short war. Instead they experienced the

bloodiest war of attrition thus far in history. Why was this the case?

11 The First World War began as a primarily European conflict over a purely European issue (Serbia). It

ended as a world-wide cataclysm that collapsed empires, shattered a civilization and brought the U.S. into the

mainstream of world affairs. Trace the course AND causes of this radicalization.

IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon

World War I Essay Examination

Form A

Choose ONE of the following to write!

1 "Scientific and technological advance play an important part in the nature and outcome of wars." Discuss

the First World War with this claim in mind. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

3 Discuss the First World War from the point of view of the impact of weaponry on (a) tactics and strategy

(b) the role and involvement of civilians. (Modified from 1987)

4 Choose TWO battles or campaigns from the First World War, and show how they affected the subsequent

course and eventual outcome of the war. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

5 "War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men." (Talleyrand). With reference to the First

World War, estimate the importance of generals in (a) influencing the decisions to go to war, (b) shaping military

strategy, and (c) establishing war aims. (Modified from 1994) (HL)

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World War I Page 24

6 How comprehensively are the characteristics of "total war" illustrated by the First World War? (Modified

from 1990) (HL)

8 Discuss the mobilization of society in the (A) political (B) economic (C) social and (D) intellectual/cultural

dimensions during the First World War.

10 On the eve of war in 1914, all nations involved expected a short war. Instead they experienced the

bloodiest war of attrition thus far in history. Why was this the case?

IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon

World War I Essay Examination

Form B

Choose ONE of the following to write!

2 The one consistent winner of modern warfare has been technology; the consistent loser has been humanity.”

(Ziegler) Discuss with reference to new technology in the First World War. (Modified from 1996) (HL)

3 Discuss the First World War from the point of view of the impact of weaponry on (a) tactics and strategy

(b) the role and involvement of civilians. (Modified from 1987)

4 Choose TWO battles or campaigns from the First World War, and show how they affected the subsequent

course and eventual outcome of the war. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

5 "War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men." (Talleyrand). With reference to the First

World War, estimate the importance of generals in (a) influencing the decisions to go to war, (b) shaping military

strategy, and (c) establishing war aims. (Modified from 1994) (HL)

6 How comprehensively are the characteristics of "total war" illustrated by the First World War? (Modified

from 1990) (HL)

7 "War is the locomotive of history" (Leon Trotsky). With reference to the First World War, consider to what

extent war has acted as an accelerator/catalyst of (A) technical; (B) economic; (C) social, and (D) political change.

(Nov. 1990) (HL)

11 The First World War began as a primarily European conflict over a purely European issue (Serbia). It

ended as a world-wide cataclysm that collapsed empires, shattered a civilization and brought the U.S. into the

mainstream of world affairs. Trace the course AND causes of this radicalization.

IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon

World War I Essay Examination

Form C

Choose ONE of the following to write!

1 "Scientific and technological advance play an important part in the nature and outcome of wars." Discuss

the First World War with this claim in mind. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

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World War I Page 25

3 Discuss the First World War from the point of view of the impact of weaponry on (a) tactics and strategy

(b) the role and involvement of civilians. (Modified from 1987)

4 Choose TWO battles or campaigns from the First World War, and show how they affected the subsequent

course and eventual outcome of the war. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

5 "War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men." (Talleyrand). With reference to the First

World War, estimate the importance of generals in (a) influencing the decisions to go to war, (b) shaping military

strategy, and (c) establishing war aims. (Modified from 1994) (HL)

6 How comprehensively are the characteristics of "total war" illustrated by the First World War? (Modified

from 1990) (HL)

8 Discuss the mobilization of society in the (A) political (B) economic (C) social and (D) intellectual/cultural

dimensions during the First World War.

10 On the eve of war in 1914, all nations involved expected a short war. Instead they experienced the

bloodiest war of attrition thus far in history. Why was this the case?

IB Contemporary World History Mr. Blackmon

World War I Essay Examination

Form D

Choose ONE of the following to write!

2 The one consistent winner of modern warfare has been technology; the consistent loser has been humanity.”

(Ziegler) Discuss with reference to new technology in the First World War. (Modified from 1996) (HL)

3 Discuss the First World War from the point of view of the impact of weaponry on (a) tactics and strategy

(b) the role and involvement of civilians. (Modified from 1987)

4 Choose TWO battles or campaigns from the First World War, and show how they affected the subsequent

course and eventual outcome of the war. (Modified from 1989) (HL)

5 "War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men." (Talleyrand). With reference to the First

World War, estimate the importance of generals in (a) influencing the decisions to go to war, (b) shaping military

strategy, and (c) establishing war aims. (Modified from 1994) (HL)

6 How comprehensively are the characteristics of "total war" illustrated by the First World War? (Modified

from 1990) (HL)

7 "War is the locomotive of history" (Leon Trotsky). With reference to the First World War, consider to what

extent war has acted as an accelerator/catalyst of (A) technical; (B) economic; (C) social, and (D) political change.

(Nov. 1990) (HL)

11 The First World War began as a primarily European conflict over a purely European issue (Serbia). It

ended as a world-wide cataclysm that collapsed empires, shattered a civilization and brought the U.S. into the

mainstream of world affairs. Trace the course AND causes of this radicalization.

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World War I Page 26