War War One (1914-1918) Recap By 1914 the great powers of Europe had formed a complicated set of alliances Two opposing alliances formed: The Central Powers: Germany, Austro-Hungary and Turkey The Triple Entente: Russia, France and Britain (the USA would join this alliance in 1917) Each alliance distrusted the other. As a result each Alliance armed itself with massive quantities of weapons and formed huge armies. These armies were meant to deter any attacks, but arguably they made the Alliances more aggressive In July 1914 the mistrust and aggression finally erupted in war. Germany declared war on Russia and France and invaded Belgium, which forced the British to declare war on Germany.

Nightmare in the Trenches The machinegun and modern artillery would slaughter any men caught in the open. Snipers also forced you to keep your head down. Barb-wire and landmines slowed or prevented any movement forward As a result soldiers were forced to dig deep into the earth to survive World War 1 will always be known for these trenches and the stalemate they represent The generals (on both sides) were unable to develop effective offensive strategies The war on the Western Front became a war of ATTRITION. The objective was horrifyingly simple: cause more casualties to the enemy than your forces suffer During the war poison gas was used effectively for the first time WW1 also saw the widespread use of the flamethrower Soldiers shared their trenches with rats who often grew fat on the flesh of the dead.

What was the outcome of the “War to end all Wars”? By the end 1918 the Central Powers were no longer able to keep fighting. They were outnumbered and could no longer supply their armies with ammunition, equipment or even food. They had come close to victory, but the Central Powers were forced to surrender to the Allies (most important members were Britain, France and the USA). The fighting stopped on November 11 1918 at 11am. The last soldier killed, a Canadian, died at 10:58am. Despite their surrender, Germany had never been invaded. No Allied soldier set foot in Germany. The agreement that ended the war was called the Treaty of Versailles and was signed in 1919.