WW1: Intro, technological development, and extent of mobilisation of human and economic resources

Intro to WW1 

1. Central Powers - German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria 

Allied Powers - British Empire, France, Russia, Italy, Japan and later, the USA 

2. Triple Entente - France, Russia, UK

Triple Alliance - Germany, A-H, Italy

Italy switched sides in 1915 after remaining neutral due to territorial incentives of A-H promised by the Allies. 

1914 - 1916

• On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian assassin.

• This caused extreme tension between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, as A-H now had the opportunity to crush Serbia.

• They needed assurances from allies if they were going to go to war with Serbia.

• On July 5, 1914, Germany offered A-H a “blank cheque,” giving A-H unconditional support from Germany.

• A-H sent an ultimatum to Serbia, Serbia failed which is what A-H wanted and then A-H went to war with Serbia.

• Russia had an alliance with Serbia, so it was Russia and Serbia vs Austria-Hungary.

• Germany had the blank cheque deal with Austria-Hungary so then Germany declared war on Russia and began to mobilize the schlieffen plan.

• Germany then declared war on France after they failed and offered an ultimatum.

• With the Schlieffen plan, Germany had to march through Belgium to avoid the heavily armed French and get to Russia.

• Britain had an alliance with Belgium, and wanted to protect them, therefore Britain declared war on Germany.

• WW1 had begun.

• The people of Europe generally believed the war to be just and necessary. The general ideology of the time was that fighting would be short-lived due to quick mobilisation of armies. However, the war lasted for 4 long years, during which time 18 million people, including about 8 million civilians were killed. Declarations of war followed the July Crisis of 1914 and by the end of the war, over 60 such declarations had been made by countries. There were several ‘fronts’ where fighting took place. The most important were the Western Front, which stretched from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps, and the Eastern Front of Germany facing Austria-Hungary and Russia. It was a ‘total war’, where all the people of the involved powers, soldiers and civilians, contributed to their country’s fighting in one way or another, and the impact was borne by all.

• Japan and Turkey entered the war in 1914.

• Fighting also took place in the colonies 

• Failure of the Schlieffen Plan:

• Belgian resistance was unexpectedly strong and it took the Germans more than two weeks to take over Brussels (too long).

• The attack on Belgium brought in Britain, who was guarantor of Belgian neutrality,  who fought with Germany

• German delay gave the British time to mobilize.

• Russia has mobilised faster than expected and German troops marching to France were weakened by this deployment - Germans marched into Paris too early.

• Germans were exhausted from travel, lack of food and ammunition and were then stopped by British and French troops at the battle of Marne on Sep 9

• This battle ensured that war would not be short

• Stalemate (1915):

• Followed by a ‘race to the sea’ where each side tried to outflank the other army in order to get them behind and cut them off

• This eventually resulted in building of continuous trenches from Alps to the channel coast (refer to map)

• These trenches determined the type of warfare for the western front for the rest of the war

• Both sides continued to failed to breakthrough and a stalemate situation was in place by end 1914 

• A stalemate is a situation in which further action or progress by opposing or competing parties seems impossible

• The way that the war was set up, made a stalemate inevitable.

• Both sides had tons of machine guns, making trench warfare the go-to strategy.

  • Trench warfare resulted in both sides just hiding in their trenches and making occasional runs towards nomads land but then getting knocked down by machine guns or bombs.

  • This created a dynamic in which nations were moving centimeters at a time and nobody could really make any progress.

• Second Battle of Ypres - poisonous gas used for the first time by germans - The first significant gas attack occurred at Ypres in April 1915, when the Germans released clouds of poisonous chlorine. The gas inflicted significant casualties among the British and Canadian forces at Ypres and caused widespread panic and confusion amongst the French colonial troops.

• Battle of Verdun - 8,00,000 casualties when Germany launched attack against French fortress at Verdun 

• Battle of Somme - Britain against Germany - no wins - 1,00,000s of casualties 

• Battle of Jutland - refer to map major naval confrontation b/w Germany and Britain - Germany wanted to lure out only a few ships of British fleet however, signals were intercepted and british came out in large numbers - no side took victory - however, british were undefeated and this naval supremacy was central in importing 8.5 million troops across Britain and France - imports to Britain continues - Allies were able to establish a blockade on Germany 

1917 - 1918

• USA joins the war

At the beginning of the war, the USA had maintained a policy of neutrality. President Wilson had even attempted to negotiate a ‘peace without victory’ in Europe. Isolationism - keeping America out of Europe’s affairs - was strongly supported by public opinion in the USA. However, this became difficult when it was trading with the combatants, particularly the Allies. Germany responded to this by using submarines to attack ships carrying American passengers or American ships without warning, which led to the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania in 1915 and caused popular protests in the US. To keep America out of the war, Germany suspended its attacks. However, Germany’s failure in the battle of Jutland led to a new decision to renew the campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic in February 1917. Since Germany knew that this might draw the USA into the war on the side of the Allies, in January 1917, Zimmerman, Foreign Secretary of Germany, wrote a telegram to the German ambassador of Mexico to approach the Mexican government with a military alliance and attack the USA, offering US territories in return. This telegram was intercepted by the British and its publication in the US media outraged the public opinion. This helped swing the public favour towards entering the war. America declared war on Germany on April 4, 1917. However, it took months for American troops to arrive in Europe. 

• French mutinies 

The French and British continued offensive actions without any major breakthrough. Failure in the French Nivelle Offensive (April 1917) proved intolerable to many soldiers. The French government was faced with mutiny, resulting in the court martial of about 300-400 ringleaders. By the end of the year and the time the US entered the war, the French Army was still recovering from the mutinies.

• Russian withdrawal 

Monarchy abolished - socialist system - Lenin took over Russia in October 1917 following the Bolshevik Revolution. He was determined to end the war with Germany. An armistice or ceasefire was signed between Germany and Russia on December 15, 1917. This led to Russian troops being withdrawn from the Eastern Front, which meant that Germany could now focus attention on fighting in Western Europe. After months of negotiations, Russia formally withdrew from the war with the signing of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. However, this ‘robber peace’ was extremely harsh on Russia. It lost 6 of its territories - Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia and Finland. These losses included ⅓ of farming land, ⅓ of population, ⅔ of coal mines and half of Russia’s industry. Russia also had to pay an indemnity of 5 billion gold roubles. 

• End of War

Oct 3 - Turkish Armistice 

Nov 3 - AH Armistice

Germany was on the verge of starvation due to the Allied blockade. There was also the threat of US troops arriving to join the Allies. The German commander, Ludendorff, decided to risk everything for a quick victory in his ‘Peace Offensive’ (Friedenstrum). Initial attacks were very successful. The usual preliminary artillery bombardment was followed by attacks of smaller bands of specially trained and lightly equipped ‘storm troops’ rather than the usual waves of infantry. Attacking along the entire frontline, Germany broke the Allied lines in many places. German troops also reached the Marne river so that they were only 80 km from Paris. However, Germany sustained about 8,00,000 casualties in the offensive and it had overstretched itselves so that it had no reserves to call on and could not replace them. No progress was made between May and August. Meanwhile, the Allied forces were now under the coordinated control of General Ferdinand Foch, and used planes and tanks to mass their growing forces around theGerman  salient. The last German offensive in July was unable to make any progress. Instead, the French counter-attack made a breakthrough, forcing German units back. On 8 August, what Ludendorff called ‘The Black Day’ - the Allies achieved their furthest advance since the beginning of the war, and had reached the Hindenburg Line by late September. By October, the Germans were in full retreat. Germany suffered from low morale, hunger, blockade, indiscipline and the surrender of its Allies. In September, Ludendorff had lost his nerve and urged the Kaiser to ‘request an Armistice without any hesitation’, believing that only a ‘quick end’ could save the army from destruction. An Armistice is a formal agreement to stop conflict or fighting. 

On November 11, 1918, the Armistice was signed by the German delegation in Foch's railway siding on 11 November, to come into effect at 11.00am Paris time . Thus, on the eleventh (hour) of the eleventh (day) of the eleventh (month), the fighting came to an end.

The terms contained the following major points:

• Termination of military hostilities within six hours after signature.

• Immediate removal of all German troops from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Alsace-Lorraine.

• Removal of all German troops from territory on both sides of the Rhine, with ensuing occupation by Allied troops.

• Removal of all German troops from the Eastern Front, leaving German territory as it was August. 

• Renouncement of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia and of the Treaty of Bucharest with Romania.

• Internment of the German fleet and surrender of other weapons.

Treaty of Versailles -

Signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles to come into effect on Jan 10, 1920

• Germany had to accept full blame for the war. This was known as the ‘war guilt clause.’

• Germany had to pay full reparations for the damage caused by the war. This was later calculated to be £6.6 billion.

• Alsace-Lorraine, which had been taken from France by Germany in the 1871 war, was returned to the French.

• Germany was only allowed to have 100,000 soldiers, no tanks and no air force. Their navy could only have 6 battleships.

• The Rhineland, an area of Germany on the border with France, was demilitarised.

• A Union of Germany and AH was banned.

• Woodrow Wilson’s idea for a League of Nations was agreed. Its aim was to avoid the mistakes that helped cause World War One, although it was largely seen as unsuccessful. Germany had a restricted role in LoN.

AIR  - 

• Fighter aircrafts: The German Fokker Eindecker gave synchronized firing through propeller blades

• Aerial surveillance : helped in making more accurate plans for strategies.

• During the start of the war, aircrafts were only used for reconnaissance (exploring an area) but much later they were used to move troops and weapons.

• They gave info about trenches, movements and position of the enemy’s tanks.

• Due to aerial surveillance the schlieffen plan failed because the enemy’s were aware of Germany's position.

• Early aircraft were unarmed, but by 1915, machine guns were mounted on planes, leading to aerial dogfights.

• Controlling the skies became essential for protecting reconnaissance planes and securing intelligence.

• By 1917, both sides developed bomber aircraft, shifting air warfare from battlefield support to strategic bombing.

• Germany used Zeppelins and Gotha bombers to attack British cities, aiming to weaken morale and disrupt industrial production.

• The Allies retaliated with bombing raids on German supply lines, factories, and infrastructure.

• Though limited in impact due to the early stage of aviation technology, these bombings marked the beginning of strategic aerial warfare, which would become crucial in later conflicts.

• By 1918, aircraft were used to support ground offensives by strafing enemy trenches and disrupting supply lines.

• The Battle of Amiens (1918) saw a coordinated attack where aircraft played a key role in assisting the Allied advance, marking a shift in warfare tactics.

Tactical Advantage: Air reconnaissance allowed better battlefield strategies, leading to improved defensive and offensive planning.

Weakening Enemy Morale: Bombing campaigns, though not as destructive as in later wars, had psychological effects on both soldiers and civilians.

Technological Innovation: The rapid development of aircraft during WWI laid the foundation for air warfare in future conflicts.

Contributing to Allied Victory: While not the decisive factor, airpower played a supporting role in breaking German defenses in the final stages of the war, aiding the Allied offensives of 1918.

LAND (western eastern front)  -

Background: After the introduction of the trench warfare tactic the war quickly became static and reached a stalemate, over the course of many months troops and industries worked tirelessly to create new innovations within warfare technology and weapons in order to break this stalemate. 

• Trench Warfare definition

  • Static/positional warfare

    • Ending the era of “war of movement”

  • In order to hold position and keep out of the way of  machine-gun fire lines and artillery fire, soldiers begun using trenches as a means of defence and protection

    • Trenches were dug along the length of battle fronts

    • Over time trenches evolved from simple dug up holes into long term complex defensive systems 

    • The area between opposing trenches knows as “no man's land” 

      • No man’s land filled with barbed wire and mines 

      • This was the beginning of technological advancements since people could no longer attack traditionally from close range

This period of the war became mostly defensive as no one dared to cross into no man’s land and weapons/gear was lousy. This resulted in very little change in position from all sides and an overall stalemate until offensive technologies began to evolve to be more powerful and yield higher ranges of attack.

Tanks: In an attempt to break the stalemate, the British and French developed the first tank to crush barbed wire fences and attack trenches with cannon fire. However, since it was in the early stage of development it was extremely slow and sometimes unreliable so most tanks broke down before reaching the german trenches. 

• Tanks

  • Armour plating of tanks wasn't strong enough to resist shots from artilleries 

  • Appalling conditions for tank operators

    • Tremendous heat and fumes from tank engine which nearly suffocated the men inside

Artillery: Other long-range firearms were developed during this time such as the artillery which is one of the earliest versions of the “siege engine”. They were considered the top advancement in weaponry as they were responsible for around 70% of casualties during the whole of WW1. In their early stages of development they were inaccurate in terms of aim but they could launch munitions far beyond the range and power of any other firearm during the great war.

• Artillery

• Weapon that launches munitions far beyond range and power of handheld firearms

• Since war was static, these weapons could be put in permanent and strategic strategies where they could launch many highly explosive shells 

  • Used to overcome defences of the opposition

    • However artillery wasn't accurate enough to fully destroy enemy trench systems (unless a shell fell directly into a trench) 

    • Artillery wasn't mobile enough to be brought forward along with attackers

• serious impacts on victims (brain damage, bleeding ears, shell shock)

Poison gasses: In 1915 a new type of warfare was introduced and known as chemical warfare. It was a revolutionary use of a non-firearm weapon with devastating efficiency. Gas attacks could disable up to 6.5km of trenches due to the distribution of the wind which carried the poison further into enemy territory. However, this revolution was short lived as troops soon found out that poison gasses could only be used in certain wind direction conditions and in addition gas masks were quickly developed by scientists, making the weapon much less threatening.

• Poison Gasses

• Chlorine gas

  • Filled victims lungs with fluid and drown them from the inside

• Phosgene gas

  • 18 times stronger than chlorine gas

  • Highly toxic, disrupts blood-air barrier leading to suffocation

• Mustard gas

  • burns, blinds, or slowly kills victims over several weeks

Guns: Handheld guns were one of the first weapons used in WW1 before the technological advancement in warfare machinery. 

• Guns

  • .303in bolt-action lee-enfield rifle

    • Main weapon of British soldiers 

    • 10 rounds of ammunition

    • Most armies used variations of rifles in the early stages of war

• Machine gun

  • First major advancement in firearms

  • Rifles fire 25 rounds of ammo per minute vs machine gun that fired 600 rounds a minute 

  • Lethal against mass targets 

• Submachine gun

  • Lightweight automatic handheld gun 

  • Rapid fire and high power 

  • Given nickname of “trench sweeper” because it had heavy firepower from close range making it highly effective during trench assault

Conclusion: After the war there was much controversy on whether mechanical warfare truly offered an effective substitute for manpower since the limitations of the various weapons were so unpredictable and underdeveloped. While these land weapons may not have been very effective in their early uses they created the basis for the extremely powerful and destructive weapons used in WW2 which granted it the title of the deadliest war in history.   

WATER -

• Control of sea was crucial

• Britain needed to be able to transport their army (from places like australia and canada) 

• Also to transport supplies from other countries (Usa mostly) - was key to survival as britain is an island 

• Germany needed food and other supplies from overseas

• Also stopped enemies from getting supplies]

• Britain did this in 1914 and destroyed one of the main german squadrons (Falkland Islands)

• Allies started blockading German Ports 

• Britain and allies used a right to search neutral vessels to make sure germany was getting no supplies 

• Mines and Submarines:

  • After attacked by Royal Navy - Germans turned to submarines

  • Tried to make their own blockade using U Boats (Unterseebooten - underwater boats) to sink merchant ships

  • Use of submarines and sea mines changed the game

  • Previously just on the surface naval action

  • Torpedoes and submarines made large battleships defenseless 

  • Some sunken ships were of neutral countries 

  • Ex. the Lusitania was sunk by a torpedo attack and 1000 lives were lost including 128 americans - caused strong protests in the USA

  •  Germans scaled down use of u-boats but a failure to harm the British Grand Fleet made them re do it

  • Germany hoped the underwater blockade would starve britain and france before the USA became a major player in the war

  • Feb - 1917 - Britain lost 464,000 tons of shipping 

  • April - lost 834,000 tons 

  • Britain was down to six weeks of corn 

• Success of U-boat blockade vs getting over it

  • Success due to them attacking defenseless merchant ships 

  • The idea of a convoy system with the merchant boats was put out

  • Large number of merchant ships with a naval escort 

  • Oct 1917 - 99 homeward bound convoys reached the harbor safely 

  • Only 10 vessels were lost 

  • Last ¼ of 1917 - 235 ships lost - second quarter of 1917 - 413 ships lost

  • Convoy system made fewer losses

  • Tonnage of allied ships increased and u-boat campaign did not made a large dent in volume of allied shipping

  • Weapon tech produced so surface vessels could locate and attack u-boats

  • Hydrophone passive listening devices allowed ships to listen for the engine noises of U -boats 

  • Depth charges were made to attack submarines

The extent of the mobilisation of human and economic resources

Controlling Manpower:

•  To control manpower more effectively, conscription was introduced in most countries. In the UK it was introduced in 1916. This decision was taken not just because of the need for more men, but also because British industry could not afford to lose its skilled workers; so many miners had joined up, for example, that many had to be sent back in order to maintain the essential supplies of coal. The controlled direction of manpower was necessary to ensure that both industry and the armed forces were provided for; it has been estimated that it took three civilian workers to keep a soldier fighting in World War I. The government also took the lead in negotiating with the trade unions to get women to work in the munitions factories 

Controlling Production: 

• To increase the efficiency of production, governments started to exercise more control over industry. In the UK, this involved nationalizing key industries such as coal mining and shipping and also regulating wages and prices to ensure that inflation did not get out of hand. In Germany, industrialist Walter Rathenau also tried to bring industry under the control of the War Boards to oversee production, but he was never as successful at achieving this as the British government, and faced frustrating interference from the German military.

• In Britain, involvement in the workplace by the government extended to intervention in areas such as canteens and child care, and the setting up of various committees such as the Health of Munitions Workers Committee.

• By 1918, the Ministry of Munitions owned more than 250 factories, administering a further 20,000 and the government employed 5 million workers. A huge experiment in state capitalism' was under way, and the significance of this was not lost on workers, employers, unions and Labour politicians. The change in attitude is aptly illustrated by Lloyd George's famous promise of 'habitations for the heroes who have won the war' the day after the armistice, and the subsequent establishment of the Ministry of Health.

Controlling Morale: 

• In order to motivate the home fronts and keep up morale, governments also spent a great deal of time and energy on wartime propaganda. At first, propaganda was used to emphasize the defensive nature of the war; each side produced propaganda to show that it was simply defending its soil and national pride. Later, propaganda became more important to justify the length of the war and to counter opposition to its continuation. Propaganda portrayed the enemy as an inhuman force that must be defeated at all costs. The British government also created a Ministry of Information, making propaganda a key element of its war policy.

Controlling the Economy: 

• In order to pay for the war, Britain increased direct taxation. It also abandoned its 19th-century policy of free trade by adopting tariffs on certain types of imported goods. All countries borrowed immense sums to pay for the war. The Russians, French and Italians borrowed heavily from the British and the Americans; the British also borrowed massive amounts from the USA. The governments of all combatants borrowed from their own people through war loans, which would be paid with interest after the war.

• In Russia, borrowing led to rapid inflation as the amount of money in circulation increased; this contributed to the disastrous economic situation in Russia leading to revolution in 1917. In Germany, money for the war was raised almost entirely through loans and government savings bonds, which the government intended to repay when victory came.

• Only 6 per cent was raised by taxation as against 20 per cent in Britain. Germany planned to pay for the war through the imposition of severe treaties on its defeated enemies and did not plan for defeat. When defeat came, however, Germany was bankrupt and thousands of Germans lost their savings.