In 1914, the war to end all wars began; it would later become known as World War 1. Every major power in Europe became involved in it at some point. What all these powers had were individual war plans which stated how they would rise above their enemies and claim victory. Unfortunately for some, not all of these plans were created equally. Unlike the other powers of Europe, Germany had created only one plan known as the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan had been created to be used as the perfect tool to winning a war, unfortunately the plan had been born from the arrogance of Alfred von Schlieffen and later altered by Helmuth von Moltke. Due to how the Schlieffen Plan was both created and altered, both von Schlieffen and von Moltke were doomed to bring Germany only failure in a multi-front war.
In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended to the throne of the German Empire and began a new era of foreign affair policies for Germany. Two years later, in 1890, Wilhelm dismissed the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck had united the various nineteenth century German Kingdoms and created the German Empire of the late nineteenth century. Bismarck had also helped to forge various alliances throughout Europe in order to maintain the German political and military position favorable with numbers. In less than two decades time, Wilhelm had essentially destroyed most of the alliance systems Bismarck had created and put Germany in a position where it was both allied with the weaker major powers of Europe and at a disadvantage when it came to numbers. Wilhelm went from having France, the enemy of Germany in the nineteenth century, isolated to having Germany nearly isolated politically and surrounded by enemies.
In 1904, the altered d...
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The First World War, also known as the Great War, began in about 1914 and went on until 1918. This brutal war was an extremely bloody time for Europe and the soldiers that fought in it. These men spent their days in trenches holding down bases and taking in attacks from all sides. The soldier's only free time was consumed with writing letters to those on the home front. The letters they wrote contain heart breaking stories of how their days were spent and the terrible signs of war. The War consumed them and many of them let out all their true feelings of war in their letters to loved ones. In The First World War: A brief History With Documents we can find some of these letters that help us understand what the First World War might have been like for these young and desperate soldiers.
After establishing a unified Germany after several continental crises, Bismarck retreated to conservatism and preservation of the established order . Bismarck had isolated a revolutionary France, pinned Russian interests against British policy in the deteriorated Ottoman Empire, and propped up the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the refortified Dual Alliance3. All of these measures were calculated and precisely timed thanks to Bismarck’s uncanny political capabilities. Wilhelm II’s forced dismissal of Bismarck signaled the end of rational negotiations with all the great world powers, but also the beginning of the pursuit to win over the British as a lasting ally3.
In conclusion, the First World War was a conflict fated by history for primarly three reasons (although a plethoric amount of other reasons exist, assuredly): intense militarism, European Nationalism, and the increasing entanglement of the European alliance system. After 1914, the world was plunged into one of the largest and deadliest wars that ever had the grace to avail itself to the world. Indeed, it was only after about four years of stalemate that the nations and powers to be finally dropped their weapons and discussed peace. Whatever the outcome, it is always, naturally, a pertinent idea to study such a history as the First World War and its causes, as to better relieve ourselves of such a torment in the future. It can be only be our choice if the “war to end all wars,” is truly the war to end all wars.
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Stephane Audoin-Rouzeau and Annette Becker, authors of 14-18: Understanding the Great War, are directors of the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne, an international museum and research center near the Somme. Audoin-Rouzeau graduated from Jules Verne University of Picardy, and Becker graduated from the University of Paris, X-Nanterre. Both have completed a high volume of research and writings on World War I. Each has also published one book relating to World War I before writing 14-18: Understanding the Great War.
The Schlieffen Plan is one of the first military plans people learn about when studying World War I. Despite, the plan being common knowledge to individuals who have studied Western military, there is much controversy over why the plan failed for the Germans. In recent decades the main question over Schlieffen’s war plan, whether the plan was meant to be used as a military strategy or not. Since, the reunification of Germany in 1989, document that were once lost are now resurfacing, and with more information, there are more arguments about the reason the Schlieffen Plan failed. The recent argument on why the Schlieffen Plan failed was because Schlieffen was not creating a military plan to follow for war and destroy the French military in one blow, instead he was sketching out the possible ways Germany could defend themselves
“The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916” is based on the true events of the Battle of Verdun, during WW1. From the French or German viewpoint, Verdun could have been the crucible in which the French army perished. The battle’s origin goes back to the war of 1870 when a German victory humiliated the French army to the point where they couldn’t bare a single memory of it. With this in mind the French had made the strategy of Grandmaison; imposing its will upon the enemy with catastrophic consequences. French casualties were enormous, but it seemed that little had been learned by the French HQ when Falkenhayn was made Chief of the German General Staff having surpassed many senior generals. However he had the ear of the Kaiser, and that was enough for Falkenhayn to convince him that he could bleed the French forces to death by attacking certain places that the French would be compelled to defend. Verdun, however, was the place the French would not give up whatever the cost and so it proved. The Kaiser agreed with Falkenhayn's plans and the scene was set for the great tragedy of Verdun. Based on the thought of heavy guns blasting a gap in French defences, 1200 guns were massed for the attack
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Many countries throughout the war used many strategies to advance themselves towards victory. France adopted a tactic to regain Alsace and Lorraine, territories taken by Germany with Plan 17. While Germany used the Schlieffen plan to avoid a two-front war against France and Russia, and they schemed to decrease the supplies Britain was getting by launching unrestricted submarines in secret attacks. Lastly all the countries that fought in the war used trench warfare; tunnels dug into the ground where most battles took place. Tactics used during World War One including Plan 17, the Schlieffen plan, blockades, and Trench Warfare limited the success of the countries in the war and were major components on the large number of deaths and injuries.
mobilise - he estimated it would take them 6 weeks to do so. Thus, to