The First World War Review

The First World War Review Click on each image to find out more.

The beginnings The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary . This events set about a chain of events ; Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia then mobilised to protect Serbia and France prepared to support her ally Russia. With Germany’s invasion of Belgium (to get into France) Britain entered the war also. Who was to most / least blame?

The Soviet union Russia had fought on the side of Britain and France when the war started in 1914. Russia suffered badly on the battle field and its leader Tsar Nicholas faced further problems on the home front. In 1917, Tsar Nicholas was overthrown in the Russian Revolution. The new Communist leaders renamed the country the Soviet Union and pulled out of the war. The Communists signed a treaty with Germany called the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. In this treaty Germany took almost 25 % of The Soviet Union’s land.

The Role Of The USA When the First World War broke out in 1914 the USA had followed a policy of isolationism and had stayed out of the war. However, by 1917 the USA made the decision to join in. Can you remember the reasons why? The USA was developing into the most powerful country n the world and the resources she provided helped turn the tide of the war in the favour of the Allies. Importantly, the USA did not see any fighting on its own soil and lost much fewer men than most other major nations involved. When the war was coming to a close, the American president, Woodrow Wilson, proposed an armistice based on his 14 Points. His idea was not to treat Germany too severely and to create a better safer world that would never get itself into such a mess again.

The Armistice The German Kaiser, Wilhelm refused to sign the Armistice that ended the war and was exiled to Holland. In his place the Armistice was signed by a German delegate named Matthias Erzberger and authorised by the leader of the German Social Democrat Party, Friedrich Ebert. Ebert would be the next leader of Germany and sign the treaty that would follow.

The End game for Germany By the beginning of 1918 it was clear that Germany could not continue to fight the war. The British naval blockade meant Germany and her allies were being starved of vital food and supplies needed to continue their war effort. After a last offensive (the Ludendorff offensive) failed, Germany was on her knees. Protests, riots and revolutions sprang up throughout Germany and the fear of a communist revolution was a real one. The Allies threatened to invade Germany if she did not surrender. Despite protest from certain German hardliners, Germany had little choice but to surrender and accept peace terms.

THE fighting The First World War was primarily a European conflict but fighting spread to many parts of the world. This was because many European countries had empires or colonial lands. Although many countires lost many men and suffered damage none were affected as badly as France on the Western Front. Britain too had paid heavily in terms of deaths of soldiers and the ordinary people of these countries were eager to make Germany pay for the war.

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