Important People In World War One  

World War One involved nearly all the nations in Europe and several other nations across the world, like Japan, the US, Canada and Brazil. Hence, with so many nations fighting one another, it is but natural that many important people, who had an impact on the outcome of the war, would be involved.

Some of the important people in World War One are as follows:

Prince Max von Baden was the chancellor of Germany. He assumed temporary leadership of the country during the last few months of the war after Kaiser Wilhelm II lost complete control over Germany.

Winston Churchill, although more popular as the British prime minister during the Second World War, played an important role in the First World War. He was the admiral of the British navy until his demotion in the year 1915 due to the navy's failure at the Dardanelles. Thereafter, Churchill resigned and went to the western front where he served as a battalion commander.

Constantine I was the king of Greece. Although as a nation, Greece was neutral, the king was known for his pro-German feelings, while his government was for the Allies. On 12th June 1917, the King Constantine I abdicated after being threatened by the Allies of an invasion, and shortly thereafter, Greece joined the war siding with the Allies.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and it was his assassination on 28th June 1915 in Sarajevo, Serbia, that cascaded into World War One.

General Paul von Hindenburg was responsible for defeating the Russian in the Battle of Tannenburg, which was fought in August 1914. A month after this decisive victory, he was made into the commander-in-chief of the German army, a position he held till the end of World War One.

Tsar Nicholas II was responsible for sending the Russian troops to Serbia when the country was attacked by the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the assassination of the archduke. He abdicated in March 1917 and was later murdered with the rest of his family in July 1918 by the Bolsheviks.

General John J Pershing had the command of the US forces sent to Europe when the US joined the war. However, he was against his forces serving in the front, but then did send a few soldiers to fight alongside British and French soldiers.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was the emperor of Germany when Germany entered the war in response to the Russians coming to the aid of Serbia.

President Woodrow Wilson maintained a neutral position during the initial stages of the war. He even tried to intermediate between the warring sides. However, he changed his position due to the German submarine warfare tactics and the Zimmermann telegram sent by German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, to Mexico where the Germans put forth a proposal that Mexicans attack the US in return for financial aid and military alliance.

Events

June 28 , 1914  Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo

July 5  Austria requests and receives Germany’s “blank check,” pledging unconditional support if

Russia enters the war

July 23  Austria issues ultimatum to Serbia

July 25  Serbia responds to ultimatum; Austrian ambassador to Serbia immediately leaves Belgrade

France promises support to Russia in the event of war

July 28  Austria declares war on Serbia

July 30  Russia orders general mobilization of troops

August 1  Germany declares war on Russia France and Germany order general mobilization

August 3  Germany declares war on France

August 4  Britain declares war on Germany

The Archduke’s Assassination

On June 28 , 1914 , the archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were on an official visit

to the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Serb-dominated province of Austria-Hungary.

During the visit, Serbian militants, seeking independence for the territory, made two separate

attempts on the archduke’s life. In the first attempt, they threw a bomb at his car shortly after he

arrived in town, but the bomb bounced off the car and failed to kill or injure the intended victim.

Later that day, while the archduke was en route to a hospital to visit an officer wounded by the

bomb, his driver turned down a side street where Gavrilo Princip, a nineteen-year-old militant

Bosnian Serb who had been part of the assassination attempt that morning, happened to be

standing. Seizing the opportunity, Princip stepped up to the car’s window and shot both the archduke

and his wife at point-blank range.

Reaction to the Assassination

The archduke’s assassination had an incendiary effect throughout Central Europe. Tensions

between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which had already been rising for several years over territorial

disputes, escalated further. Despite limited evidence, Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian

government for the assassination. Furthermore, it blamed Serbia for seeding unrest among ethnic

Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a province of Austria-Hungary that shared a border with Serbia.

Russia and Serbia

Austro-Hungarian leaders decided that the solution to the Serbian problem was an all-out invasion of

the country. However, there was a major obstacle to this plan: Russia, which had close ethnic,

religious, and political ties to Serbia, was likely to come to its defense during an invasion. Though

poorly armed and trained, Russia’s army was huge and capable of posing a formidable threat to

Austria-Hungary.

Germany’s “Blank Check”

Aware of the threat from Russia, Austria-Hungary held off on its attack plans and turned to its well-

armed ally to the north, Germany. On July 5 , 1914 , Austria-Hungary sent an envoy to meet

personally with the German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to convey Austria’s concerns about Russia.

The kaiser felt that Russia was unlikely to respond militarily, as its forces were utterly unprepared for

war. He also had a close personal relationship with TsarNicholas II (the two were cousins), so he

hoped to smooth things over diplomatically. Nevertheless, the kaiser pledged that if Russian troops

did in fact advance on Austria-Hungary, Germany would help fight off the attackers. This guarantee

is often referred to as Germany’s “blank check.”

Austria’s Ultimatum

On July 23 , 1914 , the Austro-Hungarian government issued an ultimatum to Serbia containing ten

demands. The ultimatum insisted that Austria-Hungary be allowed to participate in Serbia’s

investigation of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and, in particular, to take direct part in the

judicial process against the suspects. The demands also required Serbia to stamp out all forms of

anti-Austrian activism and propaganda emanating from the country. The ultimatum, written by

members of the Austrian Council of Ministers, was specifically intended to be humiliating and

unacceptable to Serbia.

On July 25 , however, Serbia accepted Austria-Hungary’s demands almost entirely—aside from just

a few conditions regarding Austria’s participation in the judicial process against the criminals.

Austria-Hungary’s response was swift: its embassy in Serbia closed within a half hour of receiving

Serbia’s answer, and three days later, on July 28 , Austria declared war on Serbia. On July 29 , the

first Austrian artillery shells fell on Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.

The Other Sides Enter the War

After this first military action, a series of events followed in quick succession. With news of Austria’s

attack on Belgrade, Russia ordered a general mobilization of its troops on July 30 , 1914 . Germany,

interpreting this move as a final decision by Russia to go to war, promptly ordered its own

mobilization. Although the Russian tsar and German kaiser were communicating feverishly by

telegraph throughout this time, they failed to convince each other that they were only taking

precautionary measures. Britain made an attempt to intervene diplomatically, but to no avail. On

August 1 , the German ambassador to Russia handed the Russian foreign minister a declaration of

war.

On August 3 , Germany, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan (see Terms, p. 11 ), declared war

on France as well. Germany made clear its intention to cross the neutral nation Belgium in order to

reach France’s least fortified border, in violation of its own treaty in respect to neutral countries.

Therefore, Britain, which had a defense agreement with Belgium, declared war on Germany the next

day, August 4 , bringing the number of countries involved up to six. There would soon be more.

Explaining the Start of the War

Some early accounts of World War I treat its start as a chain of almost coincidental events: a mix of

unfortunate lapses in judgment on the part of political and military leaders, combined with a tangled

web of alliances and defense treaties that triggered declarations of war between countries that really

had little reason to be at war with each other. Although these factors were crucial, a number of other

important factors were involved.

After all, most of the countries that came to be involved in World War I had enjoyed relatively friendly

interrelations right up to the start of the war. For the most part, they shared strong economic

interdependencies, and trade between them was brisk, making the prospect of a large-scale war

highly unattractive.

Moreover, though several treaties in force at the time did compel certain countries to join the war, it

is a mistake to assume that any of them joined the war “automatically.” Leaders in each country

debated whether to enter the war and generally made their decisions only after evaluating their own

concrete interests and risks. Many of these countries had hidden motives and, at the same time,

mistakenly assumed that some of the others would stay out of the conflict.

German Motives

Though Germany had little interest in Austria’s problems with Serbia, it had significant ambitions

regarding its other neighbors. In recent years, Russia had become increasingly involved in European

affairs, while simultaneously modernizing and expanding its military. German military leaders felt that

war with Russia was inevitable at some point. Therefore, they argued, it would be far better to fight

Russia now, while its army was still poorly armed and untrained, rather than to wait until it could

pose a greater threat. Some historians claim that Germany deliberately encouraged Austria to go to

war with Serbia in order to set off a war with Russia.

Furthermore, German military leaders believed there was a good chance that Britain would remain

neutral and that France also might stay at arm’s length, despite its treaty with Russia. This wishful

thinking helped the German military leaders convince themselves that the war would be winnable

and also helped them to sell their plan to the kaiser.

British Motives

For centuries, Britain had been the greatest naval power in the world and also had the largest

collection of colonies. In the first years of the twentieth century, however, Germany made a massive

and costly effort to build up a comparable naval fleet of its own, with the specific goal of matching

Britain on the high seas. Germany also had recently shown a stronger interest than before in

acquiring new colonies. Britain, seeing these developments as a dangerous threat to the balance of

power in Europe, argued to Germany (through diplomatic channels) that the country had no need for

a large navy or a large number of colonies. Germany ignored Britain’s rebuffs and continued as

before. Just as some German leaders favored an “anticipatory” war against Russia, some British

leaders felt similarly about Germany.

French Motives

In 1871 , France had lost the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany in a war—a bitterly

humiliating blow that left France desperate to regain these lands. While fearful of an all-out German

invasion, some French leaders felt that if Germany were distracted by a war with Russia, France

might have a chance to seize Alsace and Lorraine.

Russian Motives

Russia’s motives for entering the war are less clear-cut. The period just prior to the war was a time

of great instability in Russia: never before in the nation’s history had the tsar’s grip on power been so

fragile. On the other hand, there was support in Russia for the Serbian cause, and a military victory

would likely help the tsar politically. Nevertheless, war was a risky proposition given the poor state of

the Russian military at the time. Tsar Nicholas II, who was personally hesitant about joining the war,

briefly flip-flopped over ordering mobilization. Ultimately, however, he caved under pressure from

overly optimistic Russian military leaders and advisers who had strong nationalistic leanings.

Opening moves

Events

August 3 , 1914  German troops enter Belgium

August 4  German troops enter Poland (Russian territory) and take three towns

August 5  Germans encounter first serious fighting at Liege, Belgium

August 10  France declares war on Austria-Hungary

August 12  First British troops cross English Channel into France Britain declares war on Austria-

Hungary Austrian troops enter Serbia at Sabac

August 15  Liege falls

August 17  Russian troops enter East Prussia (Germany)

August 18  Russian troops enter Austria-Hungary

August 20  Germans enter Brussels, completing occupation of Belgium

August 23  Japan declares war on Germany

August 26  Battle of Tannenberg begins on eastern front

August 30  Russian forces under Samsonov defeated at Tannenberg

September 9  Battle of the Masurian Lakes begins

September 14  Russian forces retreat after defeat at Masurian Lakes

Key People

Radomir Putnik -  Serbian general who ambushed Austro-Hungarian forces in the Jadar Valley

Alexander Samsonov -  Russian general who committed suicide after disastrous loss at

Tannenberg

Paul von Hindenburg -  More experienced German general who replaced Prittwitz and routed

Russians at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes

Maximilian von Prittwitz -  German general who ordered a hasty retreat from Russian forces but

was replaced by Hindenburg before his plan could be implemented

Paul von Rennenkampf -  Russian general who sustained massive casualties retreating from the

Masurian Lakes

Germany’s Attack on Belgium

After the initial round of war declarations, events unfolded quickly as each side tried to position itself

advantageously. Germany’s troops were the first to move, and their initial target was Belgium. The

first German troops crossed the border on the night of August 3 , 1914 , expecting to overtake the

little nation quickly and to move on to their main objective of France.

The Germans found more resistance than anticipated, however, especially amongcivilian snipers who fired on them from hidden positions. In retaliation, the Germans burned a number of

towns and villages to the ground and executed large numbers of civilians, including women and

children. The heaviest fighting was around the fortress at Liege; the capital, Brussels, did not fall

until August 20 . All the time, however, additional German armies were gathering along the

remainder of France’s eastern borders.

Russia’s Attack on Germany

Undermining Germany’s Schlieffen Plan, Russian troops attacked Germany much sooner than

expected. Two Russian armies, under generals Alexander Samsonov and Paul von Rennenkampf, crossed Germany’s border in East Prussia on August 17 . With the brunt of German

forces focused on France, the Russians advanced quickly at first and soon threatened the regional

capital ofKönigsberg (present-day Kaliningrad).

Vastly outnumbered and initially overwhelmed, the German commander in the region,

General Maximilian von Prittwitz, panicked and tried to call a retreat, against the advice of his staff.

To deal with the emergency, German military leaders quickly replaced Prittwitz with a more

experienced leader, GeneralPaul von Hindenburg, and recalled some of the troops from the

western front to help in the east.

The Battle of Tannenberg

Reinforced and under new leadership, the German forces in the east struck back decisively at the

invading Russian forces. Because the armies of Samsonov and Rennenkampf were operating

separately, without mutual coordination, the Germans were able to deal with them one at a time.

Two German armies engaged Samsonov’s forces at Tannenberg on August 26 . Eventually,

weakened by constant pounding from German artillery, Samsonov’s troops were forced to retreat.

As they did so, a second German army cut off their path, completely entrapping them. A slaughter

ensued in which over30 ,000  Russian soldiers were killed and an additional 92 ,000  taken prisoner.

General Samsonov committed suicide that same day.

The Battle of the Masurian Lakes

On September 9 , Hindenburg’s troops took on Rennenkampf’s army at the nearby Masurian Lakes,

for a near repeat performance of Tannenberg. Though Rennenkampf’s army did manage to retreat

successfully, they did so only with another 125 ,000  casualties. Between Tannenberg and the

Masurian Lakes, Russia lost approximately 300 ,000  soldiers in less than a month of fighting.

Austria-Hungary’s Losses

While Russia was suffering huge loses against Germany, it did win a victory againstAustria-Hungary. On August18 , a third Russian army entered Galicia, a region along Austria-Hungary’s

eastern border. The general of the Austrian forces misjudged where the main Russian attack would

fall, so the armies passed each other and ended up literally chasing each other around in a circle. As

a result, the Russian army was able to push deep into enemy territory and force the Austro-

Hungarian forces to retreat one hundred miles with massive casualties.

In the meantime, Austria-Hungary was also losing its first major battle againstSerbia. On August 12 ,

Austria launched a ground invasion into Serbia at the town of Sabac. Though the town was quickly

captured, the Austrian army soon ran into a brick wall as Serbian forces under General Radomir Putnikadvanced up the Jadar Valley, ambushing the Austro-Hungarian forces. After a battle of

several days, the Serbian armies forced the Austrians to retreat all the way back to the border.

Japan’s Entry into the War

On August 23 , 1914 , Japan declared war on Germany in solidarity with Britain. One reason for this

action was Japan’s intent to retake some islands in the Pacific Ocean that Germany had seized as

colonies in recent decades.

Assessing the First Month of the War

The bold, risky steps that Germany and Russia took in the war’s opening month had a profound

effect on the dynamics of the rest of the war and provided early hints that the war might last much

longer than expected. Even in the first days of the war, Germany’s much-touted Schlieffen Plan

began to unravel, as Russian troops arrived at the German borders faster than anticipated. Although

Germany successfully thwarted the Russians, it was forced to divert armies from its advance to the

west. Meanwhile, the stiff resistance from Belgium during that western advance indicated that the

conquest of France might likewise be more difficult than expected. On the other side, the massive

losses that Russia suffered in the first month offered a similar warning sign of how costly and difficult

the war might turn out to be.

World War 1 lasted just over four years, and included many belligerent nations. Consequently, there are a lot of famous names involved. This listing is a guide to the key figures you need to know about.

1. Prime Minister Herbert AsquithPrime Minister of Britain since 1908, he oversaw Britain’s entry into World War One when he underestimated the scale of the July crisis and relied on the judgement of colleagues who had supported the Boer war. He struggled to unite his government, and after the disasters of the Somme and a rising in Ireland was forced out by a mixture of press and political pressure.

2. Chancellor Bethmann HollwegAs Chancellor of Imperial Germany from 1909 until the start of war, it was Hollweg’s job to try and prise apart the triple alliance of Britain, France and Russia; he was unsuccessful, thanks partly to the actions of other Germans. He managed to calm international events in the years before the war, but seems to have developed a fatalism by 1914 and he gave Austria-Hungary backing. He appears to have tried to direct the army east, to meet Russia and avoid antagonising France, but lacked the power. He was in charge of the September Programme which spelt out enormous war aims, and spent the next three years trying to balance the divisions in Germany and maintain some diplomatic weight despite the actions of the military, but was worn down into accepting Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and ousted by the military and the rising Reichstag parliament.

3. General Aleksey BrusilovThe most talented and successful Russian commander of the First World War, Brusilov started the conflict in charge of the Russian Eighth Army, where he contributed greatly to success in Galicia in 1914. By 1916 he had stood out enough to be put in charge of the south-west Eastern Front, and the Brusilov offensive of 1916 was hugely successful by the standards of the conflict, capturing hundreds of thousands of prisoner, taking territory and distracting the Germans from Verdun at a key moment. However, the victory was not decisive, and the army began to lose further morale. Russia soon fell to revolution, and Brusilov found himself with no army to command. After a period of difficultly, he later commanded Red forces in the Russian Civil War.

4. Winston ChurchillAs First Lord of the Admiralty when war broke out, Churchill was instrumental in keeping the fleet safe and ready to act as events unfolded. He oversaw the movement of the BEF perfectly, but his interventions, appointments and actions made him enemies and undermined his previous reputation for successful dynamism. Associated heavily with the Gallipoli expedition, in which he made key mistakes, he lost in job in 1915, but decided to command a unit on the Western Front, doing so in 1915-16. In 1917, Lloyd George bought him back to government as Minister of Munitions, where he made a great contribution to supplying the army, and again promoted tanks.

5. Prime Minister Georges ClemenceauClemenceau had established a formidable reputation before the First World War, thanks to his radicalism, his politics and his journalism. When war broke out he resisted offers to join the government and used his position to attack any faults he saw in the army, and he saw many. By 1917, with the French war effort apparently failing, the country turned to Clemenceau to halt the slide. With

boundless energy, iron will and fierce belief, Clemenceau drove France through total war and the successful conclusion of the conflict. He wished to inflict a brutally harsh peace on Germany, and has been accused of losing the peace.

6. General Erich von FalkenhaynAlthough Moltke tried to use him as a scapegoat in 1914, Falkenhayn was chosen to replace Moltke late in 1914. He believed victory would be won in the west and only sent troops east with reservation, earning him the enmity of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, but did enough to ensure the conquest of Serbia. In 1916 he unveiled his coldly pragmatic plan for the west, the war of attrition at Verdun, but lost sight of his objectives and saw the Germans suffer equal casualties. When an under-supported east suffered setbacks, he was further weakened and replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. He then took command of an army and defeated Romania, but failed to repeat the success in Palestine and Lithuania.

7. Archduke Franz FerdinandIt was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Habsburg throne, which sparked off the First World War. Ferdinand wasn’t well liked in Austria-Hungary, partly because he was a difficult man to deal with, and partly because he wished to reform Hungary to give the Slavs more say, but he acted as a check on Austrian actions immediately before the war, moderating a response and helping avoid conflict.

8. Field Marshall Sir John FrenchA cavalry commander who made his name in Britain’s colonial wars, French was the first commander of the British Expeditionary Force during the war. His early experiences of modern warfare at Mons gave him the belief that the BEF was at risk of being wiped out, and he may have grown clinically depressed as the war continued in 1914, missing chances to act. He was also suspicious of the French, and had to be persuaded by a personal visit from Kitchener to keep the BEF fighting. As those above and below him grew frustrated, French was seen to fail greatly in the battles of 1915 and replaced by Haig at the end of the year.

9. Marshal Ferdinand FochBefore the war broke out, Foch’s military theories – which argued the French soldier was disposed to attacking – heavily influenced the development of the French army. At the start of the war he was given troops to command, but made his name in collaborating and co-ordinating with other allied commanders. When Joffre fell he was sidelined, but made a similar impression working in Italy, and won over allied leaders enough to become the Allied Supreme Commander on the Western Front, where his sheer personality and guile helped him maintain success for just about long enough.

10. Emperor Franz Josef Habsburg IHabsburg Emperor Franz Josef I spent much of his sixty-eight year reign keeping an increasingly fractious empire together. He was largely against war, which he felt would destabilise the nation, and the capture of Bosnia in 1908 was an aberration. However, in 1914 he appears to have changed his mind after the assassination of his heir Franz Ferdinand, and it’s possible the weight of family tragedies, as well as the pressures of holding the empire intact, made him allow a war to punish

Serbia. He died in 1916, and with him went a great deal of the personal support that had held the empire together.

11. Sir Douglas HaigA former cavalry commander, Haig worked as Commander of the British 1st Army in 1915, and used his political connections to criticise the BEF’s commander, French, and have himself named replacement at the end of the year. For the remainder of the war Haig led the British army, mixing faith that a breakthrough could be achieved on the Western Front with a total imperturbability at the human cost, which he believed was inevitable in modern war. He was certain victory should be actively pursued or else the war would last decades, and in 1918 his policy of wearing the Germans down and developments in supply and tactics meant he oversaw victories. Despite a recent turn to his defence, he remains the most controversial figure in the English historiography, for some a bungler who wasted millions of lives, for others a determined winner.

12. Field Marshall Paul von HindenburgHindenburg was called out of retirement in 1914 to command the Eastern Front in tandem with the formidable talents of Ludendorff. He was soon just the gloss on Ludendorff’s decisions, but was still officially in charge and given total command of the war with Ludendorff. Despite the failure of Germany in the war he remained hugely popular, and would go on to become the President of Germany who appointed Hitler.

13. Conrad von HötzendorfThe head of the Austro-Hungarian army, Conrad is perhaps the individual most responsible for the outbreak of World War One. Before 1914 he had called for war perhaps over fifty times, and he believed strong action against rival powers was needed to maintain the empire’s integrity. He wildly overestimated what the Austrian army could achieve, and put in place imaginative plans with little regard to reality. He started the war by having to divide his forces, thus making little impact on either zone, and continued to fail. He was replaced in February 1917.

14. Marshal Joseph JoffreAs Chief of the French General Staff from 1911, Joffre did much to shape the way France would respond to a war, and as Joffre believed in a strong offence, this involved promoting aggressive officers and pursuing Plan XVIII: an invasion of Alsace-Lorraine. He advocated full and fast mobilization during the July Crises of 1914, but found his preconceptions shattered by the reality of war. Almost at the last minute he changed plans to stop Germany just short of Paris, and his calmness and unflustered nature contributed to this victory. However, over the next year a succession of critics eroded his reputation, and he fell open to heavy attack when his plans for Verdun were seen to have created that crisis. In

December 1916 he was removed from command, made a Marshal, and reduced to performing ceremonies.

15. Mustafa KemalA professional Turkish soldier who predicted that Germany would lose a major conflict, Kemal was nonetheless given a command when the Ottoman Empire joined Germany in the war, albeit after a period of waiting. Kemal was sent to the Gallipoli Peninsula, where he played a key role in defeating the Entente invasion, propelling him to the international stage. He was then sent to fight Russia, winning victories, and to Syria and Iraq. Resigning in disgust at the state of the army, he suffered from health problems before recovering and being sent to Syria again. As Ataturk, he would later lead a rebellion and found the modern state of Turkey.

16. Field Marshall Horatio KitchenerA famed imperial commander, Kitchener was appointed British War Minister in 1914 more for his reputation than his ability to organise. He almost immediately bought a realism to the cabinet, claiming the war would last years and require as large an army Britain could manage. He used his fame to recruit two millions volunteers through a campaign which featured his face, and kept French and the BEF in the war. However, he was a failure in other aspects, such as securing Britain’s turn to total war, or providing a coherent organisational structure. Slowly sidelined during 1915, Kitchener’s public reputation was so great he couldn’t be fired, but he drowned in 1916 when his ship, travelling to Russia, was sunk.

17. LeninAlthough by 1915 his opposition to the war meant that he was only the leader of a terribly small socialist faction, by the end of 1917 his continued call for peace, bread and land had helped him take charge of a coup d’etat to lead Russia. He overruled fellow Bolsheviks who wanted to continue the war, and entered into talks with Germany which turned into the Brest-Litovsk treaty.

18. British Prime Minister Lloyd-GeorgeLloyd-George’s political reputation in the years before the First World War was one of a vocal anti-war liberal reformer. Once conflict broke out in 1914 he read the public mood and was instrumental in getting the Liberals to support intervention. He was an early ‘Easterner’ – wanting to attack the Central Powers away from the Western Front – and as Minister for Munitions in 1915 intervened to improve production, throwing open the industrial workplace to women and competition. After politicking in 1916 he became Prime Minister, determined to win the war but save British lives from his commanders, of whom he was deeply suspicious and with whom he warred. After victory in 1918 he personally wanted a careful peace settlement, but was pushed into harsher treatment of Germany by his allies.

19. General Erich LudendorffA professional soldier who had gained a political reputation, Ludendorff rose in esteem in seizing Liege in 1914, and was appointed Hindenburg’s Chief of Staff in the east in 1914 so he could make an

impact. The pair – but chiefly Ludendorff with his great talents – soon inflicted defeats on Russia and pushed them right back. Ludendorff’s reputation and politicking saw he and Hindenburg appointed in charge of the entire war, and it was Ludendorff who drew up the Hindenburg Programme to allow Total War. Ludendorff’s power grew, and he both authorised Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and tried to win a decisive victory in the west in 1918. The failure of both – he innovated tactically, but drew the wrong strategic conclusions – caused him a mental collapse. He recovered to call for an armistice and to create a German scapegoat, and effectively started the ‘Stabbed in the Back’ Myth.

20. Field Marshal Helmuth von MoltkeMoltke was the nephew of his great namesake, but suffered an inferiority complex to him. As Chief of Staff in 1914, Moltke thought war with Russia was inevitable, and it was he who had the responsibility of implementing the Schlieffen Plan, which he modified but failed to plan through properly pre-war. His changes to the plan and the failure of the German offensive on the Western Front, which owed a deal to his inability to cope with events as they developed, opened him up to criticism and he was replaced as Commander in Chief in September 1914 by Falkenhayn.

21. Robert-Georges NivelleA brigade commander in the early part of the war, Nivelle rose to command first a French division and then 3rd Corps at Verdun. As Joffre grew wary of Petain’s success Nivelle was promoted to command the 2nd Army at Verdun, and had great success in using creeping barrages and infantry attacks to retake land. In December 1916 he was chosen to succeed Joffre as head of the French forces, and his belief in artillery supported frontal assaults was so persuasive the British put their troops under him. However, his grand attack in 1917 failed to match his rhetoric, and the French army mutinied as a result. He was replaced after just five months and sent to Africa.

22. General John PershingPershing was selected by US President Wilson to command the American Expeditionary Force in 1917. Pershing immediately confounded his colleagues by calling for a million strong army by 1918, and three million by 1919; his recommendations were accepted. He kept the AEF together as an independent force, only putting US troops under allied command during the crisis of early 1918. He led the AEF through successful operations in the later part of 1918, and survived the war reputation largely intact.

23. Marshal Philippe PetainA professional soldier, Pétain moved slowly up the military hierarchy because he favoured a more offensive and integrated approach than the all-out attack popular at the time. He was promoted during the war, but came to national prominence when he was chosen to defend Verdun once the fortress complex seemed in danger of failing. His skill and organisation allowed him to do so successfully, until a jealous Joffre promoted him away. When the Nivelle offensive in 1917 led to munity, Pétain took over and calmed the soldiers into remaining a working army – often through personal intervention - and

commanded successful attacks in 1918, although he showed signs of a worrying fatalism that saw Foch promoted above him to keep a grip. Sadly, a later war would ruin all he achieved in this one.

24. Raymond PoincaréAs President of France from 1913, he believed war with Germany was inevitable, and prepared France appropriately: improve the alliance with Russia and Britain, and expand conscription to create an army equal to Germany. He was in Russia during much of the July crisis, and was criticised for not doing enough to stop the war. During the conflict he tried to keep the union of government factions together, but lost power to the military, and after the chaos of 1917 was forced to invite an old rival, Clemenceau, into power as Prime Minister; Clemenceau then took the lead over Poincaré.

25. Gavrilo PrincipA young and naïve Bosnian Serb from a peasant family, Princip was the man who succeeded – at the second attempt – to kill Franz Ferdinand, the trigger event for World War One. The extent of the support he received from Serbia is debated, but it’s likely he was heavily supported by them, and a change of mind higher up came too late to stop him. Princip doesn’t appear to have held much of an opinion about the consequences of his actions, and died in 1918 during a twenty year prison sentence.

26. Tsar Nicholas Romanov IIA man who wished for Russia to gain territory in the Balkans and Asia, Nicholas II also disliked war and tried to avoid conflict during the July crisis. Once war began, the autocratic Tsar refused to allow the liberals or elected Duma officials a say in the running, alienating them; he was also paranoid of any criticism. As Russia faced multiple military defeats, Nicolas took personal command in September 1915; consequently, the failures of a Russia unprepared for modern war were associated firmly with him. These failures, and his attempt to crush dissent by force, led to a revolution and his abdication. He was killed by Bolsheviks in 1918.

27. Kaiser Wilhelm IIThe Kaiser was the official head (Emperor) of Germany during World War 1, but lost much practical power to military experts early on, and almost all to Hindenburg and Ludendorff in the final years. He was forced to abdicate as Germany rebelled late in 1918, and he didn’t know the announcement was being made for him. The Kaiser was a leading verbal sabre rattler before the war – his personal touch caused a number of crises and he was passionate about gaining colonies - but calmed down notably as the war progressed and he was sidelined. Despite some Allied demands for a trial, he lived in peace in the Netherlands until his death in 1940.

28. US President Woodrow WilsonUS President from 1912, Wilson’s experiences of the US Civil War gave him a lifetime enmity towards war, and when World War One started he was determined to keep the US neutral. However, as the Entente powers grew in debt to the US, the messianic Wilson became convinced he could offer mediation and establish a new international order. He was re-elected on the promise of keeping the US neutral, but when the Germans started Unrestricted Submarine Warfare he entered the war

determined to impose his vision of peace on all the belligerents, as governed by his Fourteen Points plan. He had some effect at Versailles, but couldn’t totally negate the French, and the US refused to support the League of Nations, ruining his planned new world.