World War I-The War to end all Wars

The British were led by Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig. The German commanders included General Rupprecht (the Crown Prince of Bavaria), General Max von Gallwitz, and General Fritz von Below. For nearly two years since the First Battle of the Marne, the two sides had been engaged in trench warfare along the western front. The front had hardly moved. The two sides had come to a standstill. The British and French were planning a major offensive attack at the Somme in hopes of breaking the stalemate and pushing the Germans out of France.

The Royal Irish Rifles on the first day of The Battle of The Somme

However, their plans were changed when the Germans went on the offensive and attacked the French at the Battle of Verdun. French troops were sent to Verdun to hold off the Germans. The French also demanded that the British push up the attack at the Somme from August 1st to July 1st in hopes that German forces would be diverted from Verdun to the Somme. Before the actual attack, the Allies began by bombarding the German lines with bombs. They believed that this bombardment would destroy the front lines of the German trenches allowing the soldiers to walk in and take over. They bombarded the Germans constantly for eight straight days with 3,000 guns. They fired over 1,600,000 shells.

It is hard to give one clear reason for World War I starting. For centuries the countries of Europe had fought with each other sometimes winning and sometimes losing. The main countries in Europe at the time were Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. Some of these countries were friendly towards each other. But one event set in motion a chain of events that led to War being declared. This was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.

One of the most interesting events to happen during the war was The Christmas Truce of 1914. In the midst of war and fighting, soldiers along the western front stopped fighting in an unofficial cease fire on christmas Day. The truce took place along the western front in France where the Germans were fighting both the British and the French. Since it wasn&apos;t an official cease fire, the truce was different along different points of the front. In some places, the soldiers continued to fight, but in many areas they stopped fighting and agreed to a temporary truce.  All along the western front, the soldiers behaved differently. It probably depended on what their local commander allowed them to do. In some areas, the soldiers just stopped fighting for the day. In other areas, they agreed to let each other recover their dead. However, at some points along the front, it almost appeared like the war was over. Soldiers from each side met and talked to each other. They gave each other gifts, shared food, sang Christmas carols, and even played games of soccer with each other. 

Remembrance Day marks the anniversary of the end of the First World War (the Armistice) on 11 November, 1918.

The Allied Powers were made up of France, Britain and Russia. They were also known as the Triple Entente. At this point the United States was not involved in the war and felt that it was a European problem and best ignored.

British and German Troops meeting in No Mans Land, Christmas 1914

Interesting Facts about The Christmas Truce

In an attempt to stop the truces and communication with the German soldiers, British High Command issued a warning to officers that the Germans were going to attack on Christmas. At Christmas, British troops received a gift from Princess Mary, the daughter of King George V. It contained cigarettes, tobacco, a picture of Mary, pencils, and some chocolates. Songs sung by the soldiers included O Come All Ye Faithful, The First Noel, Auld Lang Syne, and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks at Night. There is a Christmas Truce Memorial located in Frelinghien, France. The Christmas Truce has been portrayed in many movies and plays over the years. It has also been the inspiration for many songs.

Trenches of the 11th Cheshire Regiment at the battle of the Somme, July 1916.

It began when German troops began to light candles and sing Christmas Carols. Soon British troops across the lines began to join in or sing their own carols. Brave soldiers began to make their way into the area between the two lines called &quot;No Man&apos;s Land.&quot; They met up with enemy soldiers to exchange gifts and souvenirs. Some of the generals and leaders didn&apos;t want the soldiers to engage in the unofficial truce. Orders came down from the commanders on both sides that the soldiers should not &quot;fraternise&quot; or communicate with the enemy. The generals were afraid that this would cause the soldiers to be less aggressive in future engagements. In future years of the war, truces at Christmas were much more guarded and had basically stopped by 1917.

When the war first started, the planes were just regular planes without any military markings. Unfortunately, ground troops would try to shoot down any plane they saw and sometimes shot down their own plane. Eventually, countries began to mark their planes under the wing so that they could be identified from the ground. Here are some of the markings used during the war.

The first use of airplanes in World War I was for reconnaissance. The airplanes would fly above the battlefield to see where the enemy was. One of the first major contributions of airplanes in the war was at the First Battle of the Marne where Allied reconnaissance planes spotted a gap in the German lines. The Allies attacked this gap and were able to split the German armies in two and drive them back. 

After Germany was defeated, President Wilson published a plan with Fourteen Points to be followed by the rest of Europe and the Allies. Wilson wanted all of Europe to be able to recover quickly from the war, including Germany. France and Britain disagreed and placed harsh reparations on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. The United States did not sign the Treaty of Versailles, but established their own peace treaty with Germany. 

The U.S. army in Europe was under the command of General John J. Pershing. At first, the U.S. had few trained troops to send over to Europe. However, the army was quickly built up through the draft and volunteers. By the end of the war around 2 million U.S. troops were in France. The U.S. troops arrived just in time to turn the tide of the war in favor of the Allies. Both sides were exhausted and running out of soldiers. The influx of fresh troops helped to boost the morale of the Allies and played a major role in the defeat of the Germans.

 Floating airships were also used during World War I for both reconnaissance and bombings. These were called Zeppelin&apos;s after their builder Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Germany, France, and Italy all used airships. The Germans made the most use of airships, using them extensively in bombing campaigns over Britain. Airships were often used in naval battles as well.

Although World War I began in 1914, the United States did not join the war until 1917. The United States had a policy of neutrality. Many people in the U.S. saw the war as a dispute between &quot;old world&quot; powers that had nothing to do with them. Also, the US was made up of immigrants from all of the countries involved and some found it hard to pick a side. In 1915 one event was to change that. 

In 1915 the Germans sank a passenger ocean liner called the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland with 159 Americans on board. Public opinion in the United States quickly changed and there were calls to join the war. In total 1,198 passengers were killed on the Lusitania. When the United States finally entered the war two years later, the cry &quot;Remember the Lusitania&quot; was used on recruitment posters and to unite the people against the Germans. The impact of the United States joining the war was significant. The additional firepower, resources, and soldiers of the U.S. helped to tip the balance of the war in favour of the Allies.

When World War I broke out Home Rule was put on hold. Many in Ireland felt that we should not take part. They believed that while Britain was busy fighting in Europe there was an opportunity to gain independence for Ireland. Others saw this as a chance to show the British that we were on their side and deserved Home Rule. Estimates of how many Irish men fought in the First World War vary, but it is now generally accepted that around 200,000 soldiers from the island of Ireland served over the course of the war. The majority of these were not professional soldiers, but volunteers. Some joined for these political reasons. Others joined thinking this was a great adventure. One volunteer, Tom Barry (who later fought for Irish Independence) enlisted (joined) in June 1915 “to see what war was like, to get a gun, to see new countries and to feel like a grown man”. It is believed that over 35,000 Irishmen lost their lives during World War I.

The type of war being fought during World War I was different to any previous war. New weapons were used and a new type of warfare called Trench warfare began.

Trench warfare is a type of fighting where both sides build deep trenches as a defence against the enemy. These trenches could stretch for many miles and make it nearly impossible for one side to advance. During World War I, the western front in France was fought using trench warfare. By the end of 1914, both sides had built a series of trenches that went from the North Sea and through Belgium and France. As a result, neither side gained much ground for three and a half years from October 1914 to March of 1918. The two sides spent much of this time looking across the trenches at each other. Occasionally one side would try to make ground but it was often at the expense of many many soldiers.

Germany - Germany had the largest army and was the primary leader of the Central Powers. Germany&apos;s military strategy at the start of the war was called the Schlieffen Plan. This plan called for the quick takeover of France and Western Europe. Then Germany could concentrate its efforts on Eastern Europe and Russia. Austria-Hungary - World War I essentially began when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated. Austria-Hungary blamed the assassination on Serbia and subsequently invaded Serbia setting off a chain of events that resulted in the war. Ottoman Empire - The Ottoman Empire had strong economic ties to Germany and signed a military alliance with Germany in 1914. The entrance into the war led to the eventual downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the country of Turkey in 1923. Bulgaria - Bulgaria was the last major country to join the war on the side of the Central Powers in 1915. Bulgaria claimed land held by Serbia and was eager to invade Serbia as part of the war.

However, the Germans were warned of the bombardment. They took shelter and waited. Little real damage was done to the German fortifications and many of the British shells were duds and never even exploded. The Allied commanders refused to take warning that the bombardment didn&apos;t work. After eight days, on July 1, 1916, they ordered the attack. Thousands of British soldiers got out of their trenches and began to advance on the German lines. They were easily gunned down by the Germans. It was the worst day in the history of British warfare. They suffered around 60,000 casualties including 20,000 dead on that first day of battle.

The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles that occurred during World War I. It took place near the Somme River in France and lasted from July 1 to November 18 in 1916. The battle was fought between the Allies (British and French) on one side and the German Empire on the other. Many of the British soldiers saw their first fighting at the Battle of the Somme. They were part of a volunteer army called Kitchener&apos;s Army because they were recruited by Lord Kitchener. Groups within the army were called Pal&apos;s battalions because the volunteers were guaranteed to be placed in battalions with their friends and neighbours.

Soldiers negotiating their way through barbed wire at The Somme

British Soldiers resting before heading to the Front

<a href="https://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_i/">Ducksters</a>

The Haunting Soldier-St Stephens Green Picture from Irish Independent

<a href="https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/history/general-history/first-world-war/">National Geographic</a>

The trenches were not nice, clean places. They were actually quite disgusting. There were all sorts of pests living in the trenches including rats, lice, and frogs. The rats were everywhere and got into the soldiers&apos; food and ate just about everything, including sleeping soldiers. Lice were also a major problem. They made the soldiers&apos; itch horribly and caused a disease called Trench Fever. The weather also contributed to rough conditions in the trenches. Rain caused the trenches to flood and get muddy. Mud could clog up weapons and make it hard to move in battle. Also, the constant moisture could cause an infection called Trench Foot that, if untreated, could become so bad that a soldier&apos;s feet would have to be amputated. Cold weather was dangerous, too. Soldiers often lost fingers or toes to frostbite and some died from exposure in the cold.

Soldiers generally rotated through three stages of the front. They would spend some time in the front line trenches, some time in the support trenches, and some time resting. They almost always had some sort of job to do whether it was repairing the trenches, guard duty, moving supplies, undergoing inspections, or cleaning their weapons.

France - Germany declared war on France on August 3, 1914. France had been preparing for war after Germany and Russia went to war. The majority of the fighting along the Western Front took place inside of France. Britain - Britain entered the war when Germany invaded Belgium. They declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914. British troops joined French troops on the Western Front to stop the advance of Germany across Western Europe. Russia - The Russian Empire was an early entry into the war. Germany declared war on Russia on July 31, 1914. They expected that Russia would defend Serbia against the invasion of Serbia by Germany&apos;s ally Austria-Hungary. The Russian Empire also included Poland and Finland. After the Russian Revolution, Russia left the Allied Powers and signed a peace treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918. United States - The United States tried to remain neutral during the war. However, it entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers on April 6, 1917 when it declared war on Germany. Around 4,355,000 American troops were mobilised during the war with around 116,000 losing their lives. Other Allied countries included Japan, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia making it the first war to have countries all over the world fighting.

By 1914 tensions between all of these countries was mounting and it was not going to take much to start an all out war.

“If Austria attacks Serbia, Russia will fall upon Austria, Germany upon Russia, and France and Britain upon Germany.”

In the years leading up to the war, the nations of Europe were constantly looking for more power. In 1881 Germany made an alliance (an agreement) with Austria-Hungary and Italy. These countries all agreed to protect each other in the event they were attacked by France. Italy, however then went and made a secret alliance with France saying they would not help Germany if war broke out. In response to Germany&apos;s alliances, France and Russia established an alliance in 1892. In 1904, Britain and France signed an agreement. The Triple Entente was formed between France, Britain, and Russia in 1907. Germany now felt it was surrounded by enemies.This was also a time when many countries in Europe also had Empires. They ruled over other countries throughout the world. Britain and France in particular had very large empires. Germany and Russia too wanted empires. This led to many smaller arguments breaking out throughout the world as these large European countries tried to expand their empires. Ireland was ruled over by Britain at the time and was part of the British Empire.

As the war progressed, both sides began to use aircraft to drop bombs on strategic enemy locations. The first planes used for bombings could only carry small bombs and were very vulnerable to attack from the ground. By the end of the war, faster long-range bombers were built that could carry a much larger weight of bombs.

The Central Powers began as an alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Later the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria became part of this alliance. 

With more planes taking to the skies, enemy pilots began to fight each other in the air. At first, they tried throwing grenades at each other or shooting with rifles and pistols but this didn&apos;t work very well. Pilots soon found that the best way to shoot down an enemy plane was with a mounted machine gun. However, if the machine gun was mounted at the front of the plane, the propeller would get in the way of the bullets. An invention called an &quot;interrupter&quot; was invented by the Germans that allowed the machine gun to be synchronised with the propeller. The bullets were timed to travel between the blades of the propellors. Soon all fighter planes used this invention. With mounted machine guns, pilots often fought enemy pilots in the air. These fights in the air were called dogfights. The best of the pilots became famous and were nicknamed &quot;aces.&quot;

Austria-Hungary issued a number of demands on Serbia, threatening to invade if Serbia did not agree. They gave them just 48 hours to respond. Serbia could not meet all the demands of Austria-Hungary and so on the 28 of July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. 

Interesting Facts about The Battle of The Somme

Because many men from the same town were grouped together in the British Pal&apos;s battalions, when a battalion was wiped out, often this meant that all the men from a given town in Britain were killed. The first tanks to engage in battle were at the Battle of the Somme. The British commanders were so confident the German defences were destroyed that they loaded down the attacking soldiers with supplies and ordered them to walk. These soldiers were quickly gunned down. The Allies lost around 89,000 men per mile of territory gained. The attack ended in November mostly due to heavy snow in the region.

Austria-Hungary hoped to defeat Serbia quickly. Serbia had an ally in Russia but the Austria-Hungary government felt that Russia would not risk going to war over such a small country. However, they figured wrong. Russia immediately began to mobilise its troops and prepared for war. In response, Germany, Austria-Hungary&apos;s close ally, declared war on Russia on August 1st. A few days later, Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Britain then declared war on Germany and World War I had begun. It seemed that everyone had simply been looking for an excuse to start a war. The War had two main sides, The Allied Powers and the Central Powers.

The Zimmerman Telegram before it was decoded

In January of 1917, the British intercepted and decoded a secret telegram sent from the German Foreign Secretary, Arthur Zimmerman to the German ambassador in Mexico. He was trying to get Mexico to attack the United States and side with Germany in the war. He promised them the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if they did. This was the final straw. President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to Congress on April 2, 1917 asking for them to declare war on Germany. In his speech he said that the U.S. would go to war to &quot;fight for the ultimate peace of the world.&quot; On April 6, 1917 the U.S. officially declared war on Germany. 

The Unknown Soldier is intended to represent all men killed during war, especially those with no known resting place. The original Unknown Soldier was buried at Westminster Abbey in London on Remembrance Day 1920. On the same day, France buried an Unknown Soldier below the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The trenches were dug by soldiers. Sometimes the soldiers just dug the trenches straight into the ground. This method was called entrenching. It was fast, but left the soldiers open to enemy fire while they were digging. Sometimes they would build the trenches by extending a trench on one end. This method was called sapping. It was safer, but took longer. The most secret way to build a trench was to make a tunnel and then remove the roof when the tunnel was complete. Tunnelling was the safest method, but also the most difficult. 

German Soldiers of the 11th Hussar Regiment fighting from a Trench on the Western Front, 1916.

Despite the heavy casualties, the Allies continued to attack. They didn&apos;t let up on the attack until November 18. During that time they gained only seven miles of territory, but suffered around 623,000 casualties including 423,000 British and 200,000 French. The Germans had around 500,000 casualties. At the end with over 1,000,000 total casualties on each side, the Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

The land between the two enemy trench lines was called &quot;No Man&apos;s Land.&quot; This land was sometimes covered with barbed wire and land mines. The enemy trenches were generally around 50 to 250 yards apart. The typical trench was dug around twelve feet deep into the ground. There was often an embankment at the top of the trench and a barbed wire fence. Some trenches were reinforced with wood beams or sandbags. The bottom of the trench was usually covered with wooden boards called duckboards. The duckboards were meant to keep the soldiers&apos; feet above the water that would collect at the bottom of the trench. The trenches weren&apos;t dug in one long straight line, but were built in more of a zigzag pattern.

World War I was the first major war where airplanes were used as a significant part of the military. The airplane was invented by the Wright Brothers just 11 years before in 1903. When the war first began, aircraft played a small role in warfare, but, by the end of the war, the air force had become an important branch of the armed forces. 

The Wright Brothers Plane. The first flight.

It is estimated that if all the trenches built along the western front were laid end-to-end they would total over 25,000 miles long. The trenches needed constant repair or they would erode from the weather and from enemy bombs. The British said it took 450 men 6 hours to build about 250 meters of a trench system. Most of the raids took place at night when soldiers could sneak across the &quot;No Mans Land&quot; in the dark. Each morning the soldiers would all &quot;stand to.&quot; This meant that they would stand up and prepare for an attack as most attacks took place first thing in the morning. The typical soldier in the trenches was armed with a rifle, bayonet (a knife at the end of a rifle), and a hand grenade.

Manfred von Richtofen: German, 80 victories. Also known as the Red Baron. Ernst Udet: German, 62 victories. Famous for using a parachute to survive getting shot down. Edward Mannock: British, 73 victories. The most victories of any British ace. William A. Bishop: British, 72 victories. Rene Fonck: French, 75 victories. The most victories of any Allied ace. Eddie Rickenbacker: American, 26 victories. The most victories of any American ace.

The fighting ended on November 11, 1918 when a general armistice (agreement to stop) was agreed to by both sides. The war officially ended between Germany and the Allies with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in Paris. More than 65 million men fought in the War to end all Wars. It left Europe devastated. It is estimated that almost 17 million people died (7 million civilians and 10 million military personnel. Almost 2 million of these are thought to have died from disease which spread throughout Europe at the time.  The total number of both civilian and military casualties is estimated at around 37 million people. To put this into perspective the population of Ireland in 2018 is 4.8 million people.

Tanks roll through London to celebrate the end of the War

<a href="bookcreator://page/10kEfOglSyiNImLwzeijkA">Europe Before the War</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/W0hbhxLLSLyg0lZGG8ArHA">Life in the Trenches</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/ZMFMPDvLTFKXIcjQ83sUXQ">Alliances and Politics</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/UhvHaixeTTeB8zvC0JsMow">Conditions in the Trenches</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/HbexG3QTQF6tP9eSONtkbA">After the War</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/ziPDbYuCTsi-EwmSja1qzw">Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/sV4NCNLpSn2QMjD-wReJjw">Interesting Facts-Trenches</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/sE2ZcljBSxiqnI6tIt76Ew">Aviation in WWI</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/g766fXhoS1yaxHfPn3TzNA">Austria-Hungary Declare War</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/T1Yii6_iSHWAXddrCkpfow">Battle of The Somme</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/2jgrWMy1QOOHPVNUN73x3w">Christmas Truce</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/4RDV5QZdSFuwlFQnN_zMYg">Allied Powers</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/hmtVBPTrSDKW-KVv1GLVag">Interesting Facts-The Somme</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/xICvc12IShiTu_agtTrW8g">Ireland and WWI</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/eCMyqxdhQw6sI9Gc1RkaLg">Central Powers</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/3M3GGoo6SkCYyHeDE3BTgg">Remembrance Day</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/OlYTrtbIRZqj8fQpdh784A">Trench Warfare</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/UhGunTddQ3aI5IkMt8g6aA">Links</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/J9lgPytqSmOMMWElAwKtTA">The Lusitania</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/lAC297wPToqHxM479PgTLQ">Zimmerman Telegram</a>

In summer 1914 Ireland was part of the British Empire but many people in Ireland at the time wanted independence. The British Parliament had just voted to give Ireland Home Rule. This gave some powers to an Irish government to partly run the country. Some were happy with this but others were not and wanted full independence. One result of this was that both those in favour of Home Rule and those against it organised their own armies. The anti-Home Rule Ulster Volunteer Force and the pro-Home Rule Irish Volunteers.

Recruitment Poster urging Irishmen to join the army

Every year, nations around the globe fall silent for one minute at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month to remember those who have served their country during the war.

The Flanders poppy was one of the first plants to grow on the blood-soaked battlefields of France and Belgium. In nineteenth century English poetry, poppies often symbolised sleep or oblivion. After WWI, silk poppies were worn by people to remember the Great War.

The best fighter pilots in World War I were called &quot;aces.&quot; Every time a fighter pilot shot down another plane, he claimed a &quot;victory.&quot; Aces kept track of their victories and became heroes in their respective countries. Here are a few of the most decorated and famous fighter pilots.

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo. The Austrian government believed that the assassination was organised by the Serbian government. They also saw this as an opportunity to regain control of Serbia. 

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