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At the start of the war, the German Empire had cruisers scattered across the globe, some of which were subsequently used to
attack Allied merchant shipping. The British Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment
from its inability to protect allied shipping. For example, the German detached light cruiser Emden, part of the East-Asia
squadron stationed at Tsingtao, seized or destroyed 15 merchantmen, as well as sinking a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer.
However, the bulk of the German East-Asia squadron consisting of the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, light cruisers
Nürnberg and Leipzig and two transport ships did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when
it encountered elements of the British fleet. The German flotilla, along with Dresden, sank two armoured cruisers at the Battle
of Coronel, but was almost completely destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, with only Dresden
escaping
In April 1914 the Serbian Civilian Government attempted to establish its authority over the Serbian Military. The Military
resisted. After several moves and counter moves, the Military, in alliance with the King of Serbia and parliamentary opposition
forced the Serbian Civilian Government's resignation at the beginning of June. The Military's victory was shortlived as Russian
Ambassador Hartwig intervened, the King reversed himself, reinstalled the old government, called new elections, and, drawing
the appropriate conclusion, retired in favor of his second son, Prince Aleksandar. It is in the midst of this political crisis
that politically powerful members of the Serbian Military armed and trained three Bosnian students as assassins and sent them
into Austria-Hungary.The assassins departed Belgrade on May 28.
Joseph Stalin (December 18, 1878 March 5, 1953) (Russian was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's
Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. During that time he established the regime now known as Stalinism. As
one of several Central Committee Secretariats, Stalin's formal position was originally limited in scope, but he gradually
consolidated power and became the de facto party leader and ruler of the Soviet Union.
Stalin launched a command economy in the Soviet Union, forced rapid industrialization of the largely rural country and
collectivization of its agriculture. While the Soviet Union transformed from an agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse
in a short span of time, millions of people died from hardships and famine that occurred as a result of the severe economic
upheaval and party policies. At the end of 1930s, Stalin launched the Great Purges, a major campaign of repression. Millions
of people who were suspected of being a threat to the party were executed or exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of
Siberia or Central Asia. A number of ethnic groups in Russia were also forcibly resettled.
Trench warfare is nearly as old as warfare itself; however, because of the relatively small size of the armies and the lack
of range of the weapons, it was traditionally not possible to defend more than a short defensive line or isolated strong point.
Although both the art of fortification and the art of weaponry advanced a great deal in the second half of the second millennium,
the traditional rule remained; a fortification required a large body of troops to defend it. Small numbers of troops simply
could not maintain a volume of fire sufficient to repel a determined attack.
Trenches did impede an attacking enemy's movement and provided a psychological benefit for the men manning them. With
this in mind, it became common practice for Roman legions to entrench their encampments every night. A fortified camp was
extremely hard to assault directly, and a Roman commander who did not wish to engage an enemy could often simply remain encamped.
No other war had changed the map of Europe so dramatically four empires disappeared: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman
and the Russian. Four defunct dynasties, the Hohenzollerns, the Habsburg, Romanovs and the Ottomans together with all their
ancillary aristocracies, all fell after the war. Belgium was badly damaged, as was France with 1.4 million soldiers dead,
not counting other casualties. Germany and Russia were similarly affected. The war had profound economic consequences. In
addition, a major influenza epidemic that started in Western Europe in the latter months of the war, killed millions in Europe
and then spread around the world. Overall, the Spanish flu killed at least 50 million people
The social trauma caused by years of fighting manifested itself in different ways. Some people were revolted by nationalism
and its results, and so they began to work toward a more internationalist world, supporting organisations such as the League
of Nations.
Pacifism became increasingly popular. Others had the opposite reaction, feeling that only strength and military might
could be relied upon in a chaotic and inhumane world. Anti-modernist views were an outgrowth of the many changes taking place
in society.
The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 had a humiliating effect on the German people. Germany had once been a powerful nation; the
second biggest industrial power in the world, after the USA. After its defeat in World War I, Germany was forced to accept
the crippling terms enforced upon them by the Allies. This involved Germany losing their overseas colonies in Africa and Asia,
as well as parts of German territory. Germany was also forced to accept guilt for starting the war.
Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain initiated a naval blockade of Germany. The strategy proved effective, cutting
off vital military and civilian supplies, although this blockade violated generally accepted international law codified by
several international agreements of the past two centuries.Britain mined international waters to prevent any ships from entering
entire sections of ocean, causing danger to even neutral ships.Since there was limited response to this tactic, Germany expected
a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
The 1916 Battle of Jutland (German: Skagerrakschlacht, or "Battle of the Skagerrak") developed into the largest
naval battle of the war, the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war. It took place on 31 May June 1916, in the
North Sea off Jutland. The Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, squared off against
the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, led by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The engagement was a standoff, as the Germans, outmaneuvered
by the larger British fleet, managed to escape and inflicted more damage to the British fleet than they received. Strategically,
however, the British asserted their control of the sea, and the bulk of the German surface fleet remained confined to port
for the duration of the war.
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One of the goals of the foreign policies of the Great Powers in the pre-war years was to maintain the 'Balance of Power' in
Europe. This evolved into an elaborate network of secret and public alliances and agreements. For example, after the Franco-Prussian
War (1870&71), Britain seemed to favor a strong Germany, as it helped to balance its traditional enemy, France. After
Germany began its naval construction plans to rival that of Britain, this stance shifted. France, looking for an ally to balance
the threat created by Germany, found it in Russia. Austria-Hungary, facing a threat from Russia, sought support from Germany.
When World War I broke out, these treaties only partially determined who entered the war on which side. Britain had no
treaties with France or Russia, but entered the war on their side. Italy had a treaty with both Austria-Hungary and Germany,
yet did not enter the war with them; Italy later sided with the Allies. Perhaps the most significant treaty of all was the
initially defensive pact between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which Germany in 1909 extended by declaring that Germany was
bound to stand with Austria-Hungary even if it had started the war
After the war, the Allies imposed a series of peace treaties on the Central Powers. The 1919 Versailles Treaty, which Germany
was kept under blockade until she signed, ended the war. It declared Germany responsible for the war and required Germany
to pay enormous war reparations and awarding territory to the victors.
Unable to pay them with exports (a result of territorial losses and postwar recession), she did so by borrowing from the
United States, until the reparations were suspended in 1931. The "Guilt Thesis" became a controversial explanation
of events in Britain and the United States. The Treaty of Versailles caused enormous bitterness in Germany, which nationalist
movements, especially the Nazis, exploited.
The treaty contributed to one of the worst economic collapses in German history, sparking runaway inflation in the 1920s.
The Ottoman Empire was to be partitioned by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920. The treaty, however, was never ratified by the
Sultan and was rejected by the Turkish republican movement. This led to the Turkish Independence War and, ultimately, to the
1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
Austria-Hungary was also partitioned, largely along ethnic lines. The details were contained in the Treaty of Saint-Germain
and the Treaty of Trianon.
The Hindenburg Line was a vast system of defences in northeastern France during World War I. It was constructed by the Germans
during the winter of 1916&17. The line stretched nearly 160 km (100 miles) from Lens near Arras to the Aisne River near
Soissons.
The decision to build the line was made by Field-Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff, who had taken
over command of Germany's war effort in August 1916, during the final stages of the First Battle of the Somme. The Hindenburg
Line was built across a salient in the German front, so that by withdrawing to these fortifications the German army was actually
shortening its front. The total length of the front was reduced by 50 km (30 miles) and enabled the Germans to release 13
divisions for service in reserve
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, duchess
of Hohenburg, were assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, which Austria-Hungary had administered since 1878 and
had annexed in 1908. They were shot by Gavrilo Princip, one of the three assassins sent from Belgrade. Princip was part of
a group of six assassins under the coordination of Danilo. The assassins' goal was the violent separation of Bosnia-Herzegovina
and possibly other provinces from Austria-Hungary and attachment to Serbia to form a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia. The assassins'
goals and methods are consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia.
Austria-Hungary immediately undertook a criminal investigation.and five of the assassins were promptly arrested and interviewed
by an investigating judge. The three assassins who had come from Serbia told almost all they knew. Serbian Major Vojislav
Tankosi had directly and indirectly given them six bombs (produced at the Serbian Arsenal), four revolvers, training, money,
suicide pills, a special map with the location of gendarmes marked, knowledge of an infiltration channel from Serbia to Sarajevo,
and a card authorizing the use of that channel. In their training and on their way they were assisted by other members of
the Serbian Military including three sergeants, two captains and a major who the assassins fingered in addition to Major Tankosi.
The full extent of Serbia's role in the plot was obscured from the investigators by Ilis silence regarding his contacts with
the Chief of Serbian Military Intelligence and Montenegro and France suppressing the confession of the sixth assassin (who
had escaped to Montenegro). While the investigators had not found the whole truth, what they had found warranted the interview
of witnesses and the arrest of participants in Serbia.
Plans for the joint offensive on the Somme had barely begun to take shape when the Germans launched the Battle of Verdun on
21 February 1916. As the French committed themselves to defending Verdun, their capacity to carry out their role on the Somme
disappeared, and the burden shifted more to the British. France would end up contributing three corps to the opening of the
attack (the XX, I Colonial, and XXXV Corps of the 6th Army). As the Battle of Verdun dragged on, the aim of the Somme offensive
changed from delivering a decisive blow against Germany, to relieving the pressure on the French army, as the balance of forces
changed to 13 French and 20 British divisions at the Somme.
The experiences of the war led to a collective trauma for all participating countries. The optimism of the 1900s was gone
and those who fought in the war became known as the Lost Generation. For the next few years, much of Europe mourned. Memorials
were erected in thousands of villages and towns. The soldiers returning home from World War I suffered greatly from the horrors
they had witnessed. Many returning veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, called shell shock at the time.
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