In 1914, Europe was a powder keg waiting to explode. A continuing arms race between nations fueled burgeoning tensions that desperately sought an outlet. That outlet came on June 28, 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The archduke and his wife Sophie were visiting Sarajevo, which was located in a region that had been annexed from Serbia 16 years earlier. The loss of this territory to Austria-Hungary had been a source of contention among Serbian nationalists ever since. One such nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, fatally shot the couple as their car passed by the opportunistic assassin. Ironically, the pair had escaped an attempt on their lives earlier that day. The double murder served as an excuse for Austria-Hungary to commence hostilities against Serbia, and in less than two months' time, the battle lines had been drawn, and the bloodiest war to date had begun.
The sinking of the Lusitania
Allied claims that the RMS Lusitania was simply carrying mundane supplies were not true; among the cargo were munitions bound for Great Britain, a fact not disclosed until years later. In addition, the Imperial German Embassy had issued an official warning to ships traveling in the vicinity that the ongoing war might subject English vessels to attack. Many ships had already been destroyed by enemy u-boat patrols. On May 7, 1915, German submarine commander Walter Schwieger ordered his crew to fire on the Lusitania, which was heading west in the Irish Channel. A single torpedo took down the 762-foot ship. Nearly 1200 passengers were killed, among them 128 Americans. Although the sinking of the Lusitania enraged the American public, the incident alone was insufficient to bring the United States into the Great War.
The Battle of Verdun
A bold, brutal strike near the town of Verdun would effectively finish French resistance, and force the English to capitulate, thus ending the war with a Central Powers victory. This was the rationale of German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn, whose failed initiative eventually cost a combined one million casualties, and Falkenhayn his position. The February 21, 1916 attack commenced with a day of artillery bombardment, followed by a German infantry surge. One of the main reasons for Falkenhayn's choice of Verdun as a target was a salient, or protrusion, in the French line, effectively exposing the defenders to attacks on three sides. In ten months, the Germans captured key fortifications and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, but were eventually repulsed by an Allied counterattack and an unanticipated Russian offensive on the eastern front. Paul von Hindenburg replaced Falkenhayn as Chief of Staff, and the Germans withdrew, having lost over 300,000 men. Verdun was the longest battle of the First World War.
The Battle of the Somme
Overlapping the brazen German assault on Verdun was an Allied attack spearheaded by British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) Chief of Staff Sir Douglas Haig. Employing similar opening tactics to that of the Germans at Verdun, Haig directed an artillery barrage at entrenched enemy positions along the Somme River in Northern France, but this eight-day shelling served mainly to warn the enemy of the Allied approach. Many of the artillery rounds failed to detonate. As a result, 20,000 unprepared British troops were cut down by machine gun fire as they attempted to cross into enemy territory on July 1, 1916. Tanks were first employed by the BEF at the Battle of the Somme, but half of them broke down before they reached their destinations. The fighting ended in November with what was basically a Pyrrhic victory for the Allies, who managed to push the Germans back only a few miles. Total casualties equaled or rivaled those at Verdun.
The Russian Revolution
In March of 1917, growing discontent with the war and Czar Nicholas II's leadership led to revolution, the resignation of Nicholas and subsequent slaughter of him and his family, and the negotiation of a separate peace with Germany by Russia's Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. The exodus of Russia from World War One conceivably could have tipped the balance in the Central Powers' favor, but this was offset by America's entrance the following year. However, withdrawal from the First World War did not bring an end to the unrest in Russia: a bloody civil war pitted Bolsheviks against "White Russians," those opposed to Lenin's government. The former eventually triumphed (A&E Television Networks).
The Zimmermann Telegram
Ironically, the sinking of the Lusitania was far less significant in deciding America's entry into World War One than the interception by British intelligence of an encrypted message sent by German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmermann, to Mexico. In his despatch, Zimmermann advised Mexico that Germany intended to resume its practice of unrestricted submarine warfare, and if this prompted America to join the conflict, urged Mexico to side with the Central powers against the United States and Britain. In the event of a Central victory, Mexico would, be awarded territory previously lost to the United States. Six weeks after being informed of Germany's subterfuge, America declared war on April 6, 1917.
America's entrance into World War One
Many Europeans saw America's entrance into World War One as too little, too late. President Woodrow Wilson had vowed to keep the U.S. neutral, but after the Zimmermann Telegram revelation, was forced to change course. The American Expeditionary Force (AEF), under the command of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, landed in France in June 1917. Another year was to elapse before his troops experienced any significant ground fighting. Still, U.S. participated in six major offensives, granting some relief to her beleaguered allies. American losses during the Great War exceeded 100,000.
"The war to end all wars" concluded on November , 1918, with the treaty being signed at Versailles, France the following. But hopes for avoiding a repeat of the widespread carnage were dashed when World War Two erupted two decades later.
© February 11, 2013 by Allan M. Heller
*Published online at www.helium.com.
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