SCHLIEFFEN PLAN: FIRST STAGE OF WAR.

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1 WORLD WAR ONE. Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia set off a chain reaction. The countries of Europe supported one or anor alliance. As a result, nearly all nations of Europe were soon at war. In responde to Austria's declaration of war, Russia, Serbia's ally, began moving its army toward Russian-Austrian border. Expecting Germany to join Austria, Russia also mobilized along German border. On August 1st, German government declared war on Russia. Two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany also declared war on France. SCHLIEFFEN PLAN: FIRST STAGE OF WAR. In event of a two-front war, German High Command Plan was to attack first France and n Russia. General Schlieffen had reasoned that Russia, with its lack of railroads, would have difficulty mobilizing and moving its troops. Under this plan, a large part of German army would attack and defeat France and n return to fight Russia in east (German Government would achieve this plan of war thanks to its railroad net). Speed was vital to German plan. The French had troops all along ir border with Germany. As Germans knew it, y would attack through France's norrn border with Belgium, that was unprotected. When Germany invaded Belgium, a neutral country, Great Britain declared war on August 4 th. Schlieffen Plan worked good. By September 3, German troops were close to Paris. But on September 5th, Allies attacked Germans norast of Paris, in valley of river Marne. After four days of fighting, German generals ordered to retreat. A quick victory in west was no longer possible. In east, Russian forces had already invaded Germany. Germany had to fight a long war on two fronts. The German High Command sent thousands of troops from France to aid its forces in east. Meanwhile, war on Western Front settled into a stalemate. NEW ALLIANCES. By mid-august 1914, in one side were Germany and Austria-Hungary, known as Central Empires. Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire would later join alliance in hopes of regaining territories. In or side were Great Britain, France and Russia, known as Allies. Japan would join Allies within weeks. Italy which at first was neutral, joined Allies nine months into war. In august of 1914, millions of soldiers marched happily to battle, convinced that war would be short.

2 EASTERN FRONT. Here, Russian and Serbs battled against Germans, Austrians and Turks. After ultimatum, Autria declared war and bombed Belgrade, capital city of Serbia. Two weeks later, Austria invaded Serbia. By end of year 1914 Serbians had resisted austrian attacks and inflicted heavy losses to Austria. French and British supplied Serbian forces. Early in 1915 Bulgaria entered in war on Central Empires side. On october 1915 Germans, Austrians and Bulgarians attacked Serbia simultaneously. Serbian Army ordered a full retreat to Montenegro and Albania Serbs reached Adriatic Cost and embarked on Allied Ships. At beginning of war, Russian attacked both Austria and Germany. By end of August 1914, german general Paul Von Hindenburg led a counterattack near town of Tannenberg (East Prussia). After a four day battle, Russian had to retreat and Germany gained control of East Prussia. Against Austrians, Russian forces defeatead m twice in September Austrian had to fight in ir own territory. By end of year, Austrian army, with German full assistance, defeated Russians and expelled m from austrian territory. On August 1916 Romania attacked Austrian forces. Romania wanted to take control of Transylvania and part of Hungary. Despiste of some initial victories, by end of year romanian forces were fighting in ir own country to stop german counterattack.

3 WESTERN FRONT: STALEMATE. By early 1915, opposing armies on Western Front had dug miles parallel of trenches to protect mselves from enemy fire: trench warfare. The space between opposing trenches was called man's no land. When officers ordered an attack, soldiers went to top of trench and re y have to face rounds of machine-gun fire and shells of all calibers. Most of offensives, most of attacks to enemy trenches failed and tens of thousands of soldiers died for nothing. For example, in july 1916 British Army attacked germans at valley of Somme River british soldiers were killed.. to gain less than 10km. In February 1916 Germans launched a massive attack. After months of war, Germans and French suffered more than deaths each side. Germans advanced only five km.

4 The Western Front became a huge trench. Nearly 700 km were dug from North Sea to Swiss Border. New weapons such as machine guns, poison gas, artillery kill huge numbers of people more effectively. SOUTHERN FRONT. When Bulgaria attacked Serbia (1915), greek prime minister Venizelos thought that Greece could join Allied Side if Allies landed troops in Salonika (north Greece). But King Constantine I was bror-in-law of Kaiser Wilhem II, emperor of Germany. So king was opposed to primer minister Venizelos. Venizelos was expelled from government and Greece declared neutral. Later, Greece was force to allow arrival of a franco-british army based in Salonika. French and British fought war from greek territory and forced Bulgarian to invade Greece (august 1916). In august 1916 former prime minister Venizelos staged a coup d'etat and set up a rival government in Salonika supported by Allies. As French and British had failed to persuade king Constantine to join m in war, finally French and british troops disarmed greek forces and force king to abdicate from throne. Venizelos assumed control of country and declared war on Austria and Germany. The Ottoman Empire: to end stalemate in Western Front, Allies attacked a region in Ottoman Empire called Dardanelles.This narrow sea strait was gateway to Ottoman Capital,

5 Istambul. Taking Dardanelles Allies thought y would take Istambul, defeating Ottomans, securing a suplying line to Russia and maybe to attack Austrian heartland by way fo Danube River. The Allies disembarked in Dardanelles in February British and French troops made repeated assaults on Gallipoli Peninsula. Ottomans troops, some commanded by German officers, defended region. By May, Gallipoli had turned into a bloody stalemate with both sides digging trenches. In December Allies gave up campaign and evacuate its troops after losing men. Despite Allies failure at Gallipoli, y continue ir efforts to crash Ottoman Empire. British helped Arab nationalist to rebel against Ottomans. A British soldier, known as Lawrence of Arabia, led some guerrilla attacks against Ottomans. With help of Arabs, Allied armies took control of Baghdad, Damascus and Jerusalem. AFRICA AND ASIA. In Africa and Asia, Germany's colonial possessions came under assault. Japan quickly took control of Germans outposts in China and captured Germany's Pacific Islands colonies. In Africa French and British troops attacked german colonies By 1916, Russia war effort was near to collapse. Russia was not an industrialized nation. As a result, Russian army was continually short of food, guns, ammunition, clos or boots. The Allies were unable to establish a supply line with Russia: in north German Navy blocked Baltic

6 Sea and in south Ottomans controlled straits between Mediterranean and Black Sea. The Russian Army had only one asset: its number, its great population. But by 1916 Russian had suffered 2 million dead and more than five million wounded. In March 1917, demonstrations in Petrograd culminated in abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and appointment of a weak Provisional Government, which shared power with Petrograd Soviet socialists. This arrangement led to confusion and chaos both at front and at home. The army became increasingly ineffective. Discontent and weaknesses of Provisional Government led to a rise in popularity of Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, which demanded an immediate end to war. The successful armed uprising by Bolsheviks of November was followed in December by an armistice and negotiations with Germany. At first, Bolsheviks refused German terms, but when German troops began marching across Ukraine unopposed, new government acceded to Treaty of BrestLitovsk on 3 March The treaty ceded vast territories, including Finland, Baltic provinces, parts of Poland and Ukraine to Central Empires. USA enter in war: on May 7th, 1915, a german submarine sank British passenger ship Lusitania. The attack left almost people dead, including 128 US citizens. President of USA Woodrow Wilson sent a strong protest to Germany and y agreed to stop attacking neutral or passenger ships. But in 1917 Germany intensified submarine warfare in Atlantic Ocean. Since beginning of war British Navy had imposed a naval blockade around Germany which had caused severe food shortage in Germany.

7 Desperate to strike back Germany decided to establish its own naval blockade around Great Britain. Germans knew that this measure might lead to war with United States but y thought that blockade would defeat Great Britain even before United States could mobilize its troops. In February 1917 british intercepted a telegram from Germany foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, to German ambassador in Mexico. The messenger said that Germany would help Mexico to reconquer land it had lost to United States (California, New Mexico, Texas, etc) if Mexico would ally with Germany. Obviously, British sent message to government of USA. Then, on April 2nd, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declared war on Germany. 1918: USA in, Russia out. Russia's withdrawal from war allowed Germany to send all its forces to Western Front. In March 1918 Germans launched a massive attack. As in firsts weeks of war, Germans advanced. By May Germans reached Marne River, again. Paris was less than 60 km away. But effort to reach Marne River had exhausted men and supplies and for first time in war, american soldiers were ready for a counterattack. In July 1918 Allies led by 350 new tanks and 2 million american troops broke germans front lines and advance toward Germany. Bulgarians and Ottomans surrendered. In October a revolution in Austria-Hungary collapsed empire. In Germany soldiers rebelled. On November 9th, Kaiser Wilhem II resigned and Germany declared a Republic. A representative of new german republic met Head of Allied High Command, Marshal Ferdinand Foch and in a railway car near Paris signed an agreement to stop fighting. November 11st, World War I ended.

8 VERSAILLES PEACE TREATY. Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919 by Germany and Allied powers at Palace of Versailles. A sizeable document, treaty featured some 440 Articles, with addition of numerous Annexes. Begun in early 1919 and completed in April after several months of hard bargaining, it was presented to Germany for consideration on 7 May The German government was given three weeks to accept terms of treaty (which it had not seen prior to delivery). Its initial response was a list of complaints, most of which were simply ignored. The Versailles treaty deprived Germany of around 13.5% of its 1914 territory (some seven million people) and all of its overseas possessions. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France, and Belgium was enlarged in east with addition of formerly German border areas of Eupen and Malmedy. Among or territorial re-arrangements, an area of East Prussia was handed over to Lithuania, and Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia. The German army was limited to a maximum of 100,000 men, and a ban placed upon use of heavy artillery, gas, tanks and aircraft. The German navy was similarly restricted to shipping under 10,000 tons, with a ban on submarines. Germany was to pay substantial reparations for 'civilian damage', because it was held responsible, along with its allies, for causing war with its heavy losses. However, a definite sum was not specified in treaty, but would be decided upon after conference by a Reparations Commission. In 1921, sum of 6,000 million was set. SAINT GERMAIN PEACE TREATY. The Treaty of St. Germain, strictly Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, was signed with Austria after World War Onehad ended. The treaty was

9 signed on September 10th The Treaty of St. Germain formally dissolved AustroHungarian Empire recognising independence of Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. In case of Czechoslovakia, three million German-speaking Sudetens were included within new Czech borders. In Balkan region of former empire, Slovenes, Croats and Serbs lived within a new nation Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes later to be called Yugoslavia. The Austrian army was limited to just 30,000 men. Austria was also required to pay for war reparations. TRIANON TREATY. The Treaty of Trianon was signed with Hungary On June 4th When compared to its pre-war borders, what Hungary was within seen as Austro- Hungarian Empire, lost nearly 75% of its territory. This land was redistributed to newly created states of Romania, Czechoslovakia and what was to become Yugoslavia. Nearly 33% of ethnic Hungarians found that y no longer lived in Hungary with nearly 900,000 living in new Czechoslovakia, 1.6 million in Transylvania region of Romania and 420,000 in Serbia. NEUILLY TREATY. The Treaty of Neuilly, strictly Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, was signed with Bulgaria on November 27th Western Thrace was handed to Greece. Land in western Bulgaria was given to future Yugoslavia.

10 A STAB IN THE BACK. But large sections of population in Germany did not believe that ir country had been honourably defeated on battlefield. They believed in rumours that Germany that push for victory of ir valiant troops on Western Front had been sabotaged by traitors and pacifists at home who had spread disaffection and revolution. This 'stab in back' had prevented army from securing victory. NAVAL WAR. The threat from torpedoes and mines led British to adopt a strategy of distant blockade, basing ir major units in Scotland. British shut Germans up in North Sea, controlling access of merchant shipping to Germany and preventing German surface warships from having access to world ocean. Neir side was willing to risk ir fleets, British because ir superiority already commanded world ocean, Germans because y faced almost certain defeat against British Fleet. The Germans used submarines to neutralise British control of sea by attacking both warships and merchant ships. German submarines, or U-boats (Unterseebooten), were turned against merchant ships supplying Britain in February This was in retaliation for increasingly tight British blockade preventing ships carrying vital supplies from reaching Germany. The U-boats' most notable victim was linern Lusitania, sunk on 7 May 1915; this caused loss of 1,201 lives, with 128 Americans among m. Subsequent American complaints led to orders not to sink liners, but on or attack German sank anor ship, Arabic, killing more Americans. Pressure from Washington now forced Germans to give up se attacks. In October 1916, U-boats began anor campaign against commerce. At first y operated under various restrictions, but se were withdrawn on 1 February By April 1917, Allied shipping losses were over 860,000 tons. This was unsustainable, and Allies found y could solve problem by putting merchant ships into defended convoys. The system was introduced slowly, and proved very successful. Monthly losses were halved by end of year. The U-boats had been neutralised. LIFE IN THE TRENCHES. Trench warfare becomes necessary when neir side was able to advance and overtake or. The first major trench lines were completed in November By end of that year, more than 600 km of trenches were built, starting at North Sea, running through Belgium and norrn France, and ending in Swiss frontier.

11 Most of trench were built according to same basic design. The front wall of trench, known as parapet. Lined with sandbags from top to bottom. These provided protection. Periscopes and mirrors were also used to see above sandbags. The rear wall of trench, known as parados, was lined with sandbags as well, protecting against a rear assault. Because constant shelling and frequent rainfall could cause trench walls to collapse, walls were reinforced with sandbags, logs, and branches. Trenches were dug in a zigzag pattern so that if an enemy entered trench, he could not fire straight down line. The main trench lines were connected by communicating trenches, allowing for movement of messages, supplies, and soldiers. The trenches were protected by fields of dense barbed wire. The area between two opposing armies' front lines was known as "no man's land." Some trenches contained dugouts below level of trench floor. Most of se underground rooms offered more conveniences, such as beds, furniture and stoves. The German dugouts were generally more sophisticated; one such dugout captured in Somme Valley in 1916 was found to have toilets, electricity, ventilation, and even wallpaper. Soldiers were regularly rotated through a basic sequence: fighting in front line, followed by a period of time in reserve or support line, n later, a brief rest period. Each morning and evening, just before dawn and dusk, troops climbed up almost to top of trench with rifle and bayonet at ready. This served as preparation for a possible attack from enemy at a time of day -- dawn or dusk -- when most of se attacks occured. Following this, officers conducted an inspection of men and ir equipment. Breakfast was n served. Most offensive maneuvers were carried out in dark, when soldiers were able to climb out of trenches clandestinely to conduct surveillance and carry out raids. The relative quiet of daylight hours allowed men to repair of shell-damaged walls, removal of standing water, creation of new latrines, and movement of supplies. During brief rest periods men were free to nap, read, or write letters home, before being assigned to anor task. Heavy rainfall flooded trenches. The mud made it difficult to get from one place to anor. Many times, soldiers became trapped in mud and even, y often drowned. Trench foot developed as a result of men being forced to stand in water for several hours, even days, without a chance to remove wet boots and socks. In extreme cases, gangrene developed and a soldier's toes -- even his entire foot would have to be amputated. Multitudes of rats shared trenches with soldiers and, even y fed upon remains of dead. Rats bred by tens of thousands and lived on fat of land. When we were sleeping in funk holes things ran over us, played about, copulated and fouled our scraps of food, ir young squeaking incessantly. There was no proper system of waste disposal in trench life. Empty tins of all kinds were

12 flung away over top on both sides of trench. Millions of tins were thus available for all rats in France and Belgium in hundreds of miles of trenches. During brief moments of quiet at night, one could hear a continuous rattle of tins moving against each or. The rats were turning m over. What happened to rats under heavy shell-fire was a mystery, but ir powers of survival kept place with each new weapon, including poison gas. The noises that surrounded soldiers during heavy shelling were terrifying. In midst of a heavy bombing, dozens of shells per minute might land in trench, causing ear-splitting explosions. Few men could remain calm under such circumstances; many suffered emotional breakdowns. The "shell shock" term referred to what was believed to be result of an actual physical injury to nervous system caused by exposure to constant shelling. Symptoms ranged from tics and tremors, impaired vision and hearing, and paralysis to emotional manifestations like panic, anxiety, insomnia,. Patrols and raids took place at night, under cover of darkness. For patrols, small groups of men moved forward into no man's land. They made ir way through dense barbed wire. Once men reached or side, ir goal was to get close enough to gar information by eavesdropping or to detect activity in advance of an attack. Despite se different strategies, nature of trench warfare made it almost impossible for eir army to overtake or. Attacking infantry was slowed down by barbed wire and bombed-out terrain of no man's land, making element of surprise very unlikely. Later in war, Allies did succeed in breaking through German lines using newly-invented tank. VOCABULARY: - GAS MASK: - AMMUNITION: - BULLETS: - CAPE: - GRENADES: - WATERBOTTLE: - SHOVEL: - BOOTS: - PUTTEES: - BAYONET: - EATING TIN: - HELMET: - HAVERSACK: - RIFLE: TECHNOLOGY. In April 1915, Germans unleashed a

13 new weapon at Ypres in northwestern Belgium: poison gas. Hundreds of French soldiers died. Victims died a slow, horrible death as ir lungs filled with fluid. The Allies began producing gas masks to protect ir men, while at same time adding poison gas to ir arsenal of weapons. The initial tanks of World War I were devised to counter frustrating stalemate of trench warfare on Western Front. Tanks were introduced by British in These armored vehicle was equipped with machine guns and sometimes light cannon. Tanks were able to crush barbed wire and cross trenches and moved forward through machine gun fire. Toward end of World War I British and French troops scored a significant victory over Germans in Western Front due to ir advanced tanks. First airplanes were primarily made of canvas, wood, and wire. At first y were used only to observe enemy troops. As ir effectiveness became apparent, both sides shot planes down with artillery from ground and with rifles, pistols, and machine guns from or planes. In 1916, Germans armed planes with machine guns. The Allies soon armed ir airplanes same way, and war in air became a deadly business. These fighter planes attacked each or in wild air battles. Pilots who were shot down often remained trapped in ir planes because y had no parachutes. Airmen at front did not often live long. Germany also used its fleet of huge dirigibles, or zeppelins, and large bomber planes to drop bombs on British and French cities. Britain retaliated by bombing German cities. ARMENIAN GENOCIDE. In 1915, leaders of Turkish government set in motion a plan to expel and massacre Armenians living in Ottoman Empire. Most sources agree that re were about 2 million Armenians in Ottoman Empire at time of massacre. By early 1920s, when massacres and deportations finally ended, some 1.5 million of Turkey s Armenians were dead. In 1914, Turks entered World War I on side of Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire. Military leaders began to argue that Armenians were traitors: If y thought y could win independence if Allies were victorious, this argument went, Armenians would be eager to fight for enemy. As war intensified, Armenians organized volunteer battalions to help Russian army fight against Turks in Caucasus region. These events, and general Turkish suspicion of Armenian people, led Turkish government to declare removal of Armenians from war zones along Eastern Front. On April 24, 1915, Armenian genocide began. That day, Turkish government arrested and executed several hundred Armenian intellectuals. After that, ordinary Armenians were expelled out of ir homes and sent on death marches through Mesopotamian desert without food or

14 water. Armenians were forced to walk under scorching sun until y dropped dead. At same time, Turks created a Special Organization, which in turn organized killing squads or butcher battalions to carry out, as one officer put it, liquidation of Christian elements. These killing squads were often made up of murderers and or ex-convicts. They drowned people in rivers, threw m off cliffs, crucified m and burned m alive. Records show that during this Turkification campaign government squads also kidnapped children, converted m to Islam and gave m to Turkish families. In some places, y raped women and forced m to join Turkish harems or serve as slaves. Muslim families moved into homes of deported Armenians and seized ir property. In 1922, when genocide was over, re were just 388,000 Armenians remaining in Ottoman Empire BRITISH CHEATING ARABS AND JEWS. As stalemate continued in Western Front while Germans were defeating Russians forces in East, British needed a rebellion in Ottoman rear: a new front of War. The Arab revolt began in 1916 with an estimated 30,000 Bedouins and or tribesmen attacked Ottomans in Arabia. But without a regular army and heavy artillery, Arab forces could not defeat powerful Ottomans. So British supplied Arabs to fight against Ottomans: British equipment artillery, machine included guns, explosives, and 4,000 rifles.the Arab revolt was led by Emir Feisal. The British operated closely with Feisal's Army. Chief among m was Capt. Thomas Edward Lawrence. Behind scenes, imperial politics were at work. In 1915 and 1916, Sir Mark Sykes, a key British adviser on Middle East, and French diplomat François Georges Picot secretly negotiated divison of region after war. Under terms of Sykes-Picot Agreement of May 1916, Britain was to control

15 Mesopotamia, Transjordan (Jordan), and Palestine. The French would rule Lebanon, Syria, while Russians would receive Kurdish and Armenian lands to norast. Naturally, this deal was not revealed to Arabs. But in November 1917, Arabs found or cause for concern: What became known as Balfour Declaration. The Declaration stated: "His Majesty's Government view with favor establishment in Palestine of a national home for Jewish people." In words, " British government would control Palestine after war with a commitment to build Jewish national home re. With war over Feisal, Lawrence, and Arab leaders attended Paris Peace Conference in 1919, expecting to enjoy fruits of ir sacrifices. But in 1920, France and Britain took control of Middle East. They called se states "mandates" instead of what y really were: colonies. It appeared that war would continue in Middle East, which neir Britain nor France could afford. Winston Churchill, Britain's colonial secretary, rewarded Feisal and Abdullah (leaders of Arab Revolt) with kingdoms fabricated from "lines drawn on an empty map. Churchill and his staff renamed Mesopotamia as Iraq. The British proclaimed Feisal king. Abdullah was made king of Transjordan.