World War One: History in an Hour. Rupert Colley

      WORLD WAR ONE

      History in an Hour

      Rupert Colley

       About History in an Hour

      History in an Hour is a series of ebooks to help the reader learn the basic facts of a given subject area. Everything you need to know is presented in a straightforward narrative and in chronological order. No embedded links to divert your attention, nor a daunting book of 600 pages with a 35-page introduction. Just straight in, to the point, sixty minutes, done. Then, having absorbed the basics, you may feel inspired to explore further. Give yourself sixty minutes and see what you can learn . . .

      To find out more visit www.historyinanhour.com or follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/historyinanhour

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      About History in an Hour

      Introduction

      Assassination of an Archduke

      The Schlieffen Plan

The Eastern Front

Global War

The War in Britain

The Western Front

Gallipoli

       The Ottoman Empire

       Verdun

       Trenches

       Change at the Top

       Air and Sea

       Ireland and Easter Monday

       Russia and Revolution

       USA

       Passchendaele

       The Spring Offensive, 1918

       The Hundred Days

       Armistice

       Paris Peace Conference

       The War to End War?

       Appendix 1: Key People

       Appendix 2: Timeline of World War One

       Copyright

       Got Another Hour?

       About the Publisher

       Introduction

      The ‘Great War’, as it was originally called, lasted 1,568 days from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918, and was without parallel. It brought to an end four dynasties, ignited revolution, and forged new nations. Modern warfare introduced killing on an unprecedented scale, costing an estimated nine million lives. This was a war of new technology and terrifying new weapons. It was the war that killed the idealistic notion of battle – a war without chivalry, romance or glory – a war that shattered mind and body.

      This, the first ‘world’ war, was not just about armies winning and losing battles, but whole populations mobilized for war, at the mercy of the enemy, civilians starved and bombed. It was an industrial war where a country’s whole economic output was geared to war; a war of empires that pulled in combatants from nations across the globe. It was a war of land, air and sea, a war of politics, espionage, and also the Home Front. For the first time in history, this was total war.

      And this, in an hour, is World War One.

       Assassination of an Archduke

      It all began with two deaths.

      On Sunday, 28 June 1914, the heir to the Austrian–Hungarian (Habsburg) throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Countess Sophie, paid an official visit to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, to inspect troops of the Austrian–Hungarian army.

       Moments before their death – Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo, 28 June 1914

      Bosnia had been a recent and unwilling addition to the Habsburg Empire. Resentful Bosnian Serbs dreamt of freedom and incorporation into the nation of Serbia. Nationalistic groups formed, determined to use violence to strike terror at the heart of the Austrian–Hungarian empire. One such group, the sinisterly named ‘Black Hand’, included among its number a nineteen-year-old named Gavrilo Princip. It was in Sarajevo that Princip would change the world.

      Princip and a handful of his Black Hand comrades arrived, each armed with a bomb and, in the event of failure, a vial of cyanide. They joined, at various intervals, the throng of onlookers lined along a 6-km route and waited for the six-car motorcade to come into view. The first two would-be assassins lost their nerve, while the third managed to throw his bomb causing injury to a driver but leaving the Archduke and his wife unharmed. Racked with a sense of failure, Princip trudged to a nearby tavern.

       Gavrilo Princip wrested to the ground

      The Archduke, having delivered a speech, decided to visit the wounded driver in hospital. On his way, his driver took a wrong turning down a one-way street, a street named after Franz Ferdinand’s uncle the emperor, Franz Joseph, along which was a tavern. Princip, astonished to see the royal car, acted on impulse. Jumping onto the running board as the driver tried to engage the reverse gear, he fired two shots. Mortally wounded, Franz Ferdinand’s last words were: ‘Sophie, stay alive for the children’. It was not to be. The Archduke and his wife died together. It was their fourteenth wedding anniversary.

      The Road to War

      The assassination of Franz Ferdinand had very much been the work of Princip and his band of Black Hand conspirators but the Austrian–Hungarian empire saw an opportunity to assert its authority over Serbia. First it sought reassurance from its powerful ally, Germany. Together, they had formed the Dual Alliance in 1879 which, three years later, became the Triple Alliance when Italy added its signature. Now, the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, gave Austria-Hungary the assurance it needed, then promptly went off on a cruise around Norway.

      It took the Austrian–Hungarian government three weeks but the ultimatum they sent Serbia was, in the words of Britain’s foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, the ‘most formidable document ever sent from one nation to another’. Serbia was given forty-eight hours to comply with ten demands, specifically designed to humiliate and therefore be rejected. Although the Serbs agreed to eight, it was never going to be enough for the bellicose Austrian–Hungarians and on 28 July they declared war on Serbia.

      Events now moved quickly, one triggering off another. In response to this declaration of war, Russia, which saw itself as protector of Serbia, began to mobilize. France, Russia’s ally since 1892, offered her its support. In response, the Germans gave Russia twelve hours to halt its mobilization. The deadline