Continuous Internal Assessment – III

World War I: Summary of Events

Submitted to:
DR. AVINASH SAMAL

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Science

Submitted By:
ABHISHEK MISHRA
B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)
Semester V, Section - B
Roll No. 5

Submitted On:
03.11.2022

Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur

 THE FIRST WORLD WAR: SUMMARY OF EVENTS

The First World War (WW1) can best be described as a global conflict fought with 20 th century
equipment and 19th century tactics. The immobile offensives and trench warfare of the ‘War to
End All Wars’ was a far cry from the combined-arms blitzkrieg and war of manoeuvre of the
Second World War. The events of the Great War are briefly mentioned in the following
paragraphs sorted by year.

1914

On the eve of WW1, politics of Europe was a tangled-mess of alliances. The French, Russian,
and British Triple Entente was balanced by the Triple Alliance of Austria-Hungary, Germany,
and Italy. The latter withdrew from the alliance and claimed neutrality till April, 1915, when it
joined the Allied war effort. Thus, the two factions of WW1 came to be; the Central Powers
when the Ottoman Empire joined the Triple Alliance and the Allies when Serbia and Italy joined
the Triple Entente. The Balkan ‘powder keg’ burst when on 28 June, 1914, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand was assassinated and Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July, 1914. Due
the said entanglement of alliances, Germany joined the war on 4 th August preceded by Russia on
the 1st. France joined the war on 3rd August and Britain Joined on 5th after Germany invaded
neutral Belgium. The War on the Serbian front quickly turned into a disaster for Austria-
Hungary. On the Western Front, Germany advanced rapidly, occupying Luxembourg, Belgium
and Northern France. The Ottoman fronts remained stable while Germany inflicted heavy
casualties on Russia, even while Austria-Hungary suffered setbacks in Polish lands.

1915

By 1915, the Western Front was a network of trenches extending from the English Channel to
Switzerland. The Immobile warfare continued till 1916. The naval war raged relentlessly with
the Royal Navy taking heavy losses from German U-Boats. The latter even sunk a civilian
vessel, RMS Lusitania, drawing the United States’ ire. The Eastern Front remained fluid, with
Russia losing territory to Germany and gaining against Austria-Hungary. The Italian Front and
the African Front remained static. Germany suffered territorial loses in the Pacific. While in the
Dardanelles, ANZAC forces landed in Gallipoli which turned out to be a disastrous campaign.

1916

The Western Front remained static despite offensives in Verdun, Somme and Ypres. The
Germans continued inflicting more casualties on the British and the French. The naval warfare
took a decisive turn with the Battle of Jutland, when the German Navy was forced to sit in their
ports. In the Balkans, Serbia brought stabilisation of the front with the Montasir Offensive. The
Turks suffered repeated set-backs on the Caucasian Front and British-backed Arabs ran amok in
the Arabian Peninsula. The Italian Front remained static too with minor Italian gains in Albania.

1917

The Western Front saw the entry of American troops after the botched diplomatic efforts of
Germany and the deciphering of the Zimmermann Telegram. Their numbers reached 667,000 by
June, 1918. The French experienced several mutinies after the Nivelle and Passchendaele
offensives bogged down. The Pope made a peace proposal that was rejected by all sides. In the
Middle East, the Central Powers stopped the advancing British in Gaza, however they were
defeated in Jerusalem. In the sea, the German Navy resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. The
results were no longer the same with the Allies employing convey system. There were no
changes in the African Theatre. On the Eastern Front, however, Russia capitulated
unconditionally and ceded territory to Germany after the November Revolution in the treaty of
Brest-Litovsk.

1918

Germany launched one last offensive on the Western Front before the full mobilisation of
American troops. The Spring Offensive made initial gains but ran out of steam soon. With the
arrival of American troops, the Allies launched the Hundred Days Offensive and achieved
breakthrough in the Hindenburg Line. With the looming German revolution, the war had reached
an outcome. The revolt by German sailors was final nail in the coffin. The Germans were forced
to sign an armistice in a railway coach followed by a humiliating Treaty of Versailles. The
Ottomans were made to sign the Treaty of Saint Germaine and Austria-Hungary signed the
Treaty of Trianon. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh month of 1918, the guns fell silent. On
the murderous poppy fields lay dead 11 million men of various nationalities.