Between April and May 1916, many World War I battles were fought, especially
on French and Dutch territory. April and May 1916 was the high point and climax of the
war, with all countries continuing their vicious battles in order to protect their territory.
One article “The Battle of Verdun”, written by a Parisian reporter, describes the horror
of the longest battle of World War I. (http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-
bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DOM19160603.2.18.1).
This battle was between the German and French armies, and given how superior the
German army was, I was very surprised to learn that the French were victorious. Because
the media reporting was French, it is easy to assume that the reporting was biased in the
French army’s favor. At the same time, they most likely reported news and updates
relatively quickly, because it was fought on northeastern French soil. Page 1 of the article
states: “in these attacks, it is estimated that several army corps were employed, and the
assaults were extremely violent. The carnage was frightful, the Germans being
decimated, but the other troops replaced the slaughtered. It was a veritable hecatomb, for
which the Germans did not gain an inch of ground.”
This quote is verifiable because Verdun was such a concentrated piece of land,
with so much fighting for a very long period of time. The French were on the offensive,
leading the German to not gain much ground, if any. The lack of land and battleground is
Josephson 2
easily verifiable. The city of Verdun is only 11.98 square miles, and given the large
amount of casualties (roughly 970,000 deaths), all of the information in that article
appear legitimate and verifiable. However, it may be ...
... middle of paper ...
... army would be victorious, but the British were warned and fought back hard,
eventually claiming a huge victory over Germany.
The Western Front, which was originally founded by Germany by invading
Belgium and Luxembourg, and then by gaining military control of vital parts of France,
was a pivotal location during World War I. Because at the time, America was neutral and
not involved in the war, the main focus was strictly Europe at the time. Weaponry such as
tanks, gas attacks, machine guns, hand grenades, and pistols dominated most of the
battles on the Western Front, as well as World War I in general. These articles based on
Western Front events seemed accurate, and were backed up in facts by alternative
websites. World War I was a war of hostility, and reading these newspaper articles
confirmed the bloodiness of many battles throughout the war.
"Queen's University Archives - World War I." Queen's University Archives - Home. Web. 23 July 2010.
In the late May in 1918, the German forces put together four divisions and launched the Aisne offensive. The bombardment began at one in the morning on May 27th. The British and French front lines were torn apart by the current waves of German infantry and artillery. Both armies began to disintegrate before the might of the Germans, and were unable to halt the advancement of their awesome force. The Germans didn’t press further after the Marnes River, giving the French time to call in reinforcements and American assistance. When the American forces arrived, a French office asked Marine Colonel Wendell C. Neville if a tactical retreat would be in order, he replied with th...
The French and Indian war, also better known as the seven year war, was in 1754. It all began in the early spring of 1754 through 1763, when George Washington and some 160 Virginians and hand full of Mingo Indians started to move when they were concerned about the French military presence in their county. The battle first started when a Mingo chief, the Indian leader that was with George Washington in his campaign, led a unit of soldiers into a small French encampment in the woods. It was a very small battle but, the fight ended up with 14 French men wounded. While Washington was trying to get all the available information from their French dying commander to help their plans in the war, the Indians killed and scalped the remaining survivors including the commander.
Between 1428 and 1429 during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England, the city of Orleans was besieged by English forces. The 5000 English soldiers lead by Thomas de Montecute, attacked for months. Around this time, Joan of Arc Appeared in at the court of Charles, and lifted the siege in 1429. This was the major turning point for the French in the war.
The Battle of Verdun took place in France and was the longest single battle to transpire in World War I. It was also known to the world as the deadliest battle of World War I. The battle commenced on February 21, 1916 and lasted until December 18, 1916. Since the beginning of the battle, the armies suffered substantial losses. The tragic loss of many men also classified this battle as the bloodiest of World War I. Although both sides endured harsh fatalities, the strategies and technology of the French were remarkable in their victory over the German Army in the Battle of Verdun.
The ensuring factor of France’s victory was deeply seeded from the start of the revolution. On top of having an edge early on due to the enemies’ naiveté, which was making the detrimental mistake of severely under estimating the allied force’s true power. This vital underestimation was extremely important, for the fact that it left the enemy stunned for a decent amount of time, due to the fact that they believed that they ...
Trench warfare was going on the whole of WWI, yet the the bigger battles only occurred at specific times. In the book, Trench Warfare 1914-1918, Ashworth focuses on trench warfare since he believes that it is “the larger part of the total war experience” (p. 2).
Field, Frank. British and French Operations of the First World War. Cambridge (England); New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
As students of history in the 21st century, we have many comprehensive resources pertaining to the First World War that are readily available for study purposes. The origin of these primary, secondary and fictional sources affect the credibility, perspective and factual information resulting in varying strengths and weaknesses of these sources. These sources include propaganda, photographs, newspapers, journals, books, magazine articles and letters. These compilations allow individuals to better understand the facts, feeling and context of the home front and battlefield of World War One.
the Germans, but in the end they had a lot of soldiers at the front
Before the war started, European countries felt a force pushing them towards war. As these feelings started to rise the Great Powers of Europe started to form alliances. The first alliance consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary they called themselves the Triple Alliances. The second alliance consisted of France, Britain, and Russia and they called themselves the Triple Entente. International tensions start to build up between the European countries. Each country trying to prove itself as more superior compared to the other countries. An increase in nationalism within certain countries. During the war, countries created new weapons and increased technological advancement. Such creations included rapid machine gun, artillery gun, aircraft, tanks, poison gas, u-boats, etc.
The French placed their defense in old, outdated tactics of static warfare. Gone were the days of two sides slugging it out against prepared reinforced defense structures. Closely integrating concentrated armor, infantry, and closely supported by aviation assets all combined to crush France in a matter of only six weeks. France was simply not prepared for this new age of warfare.
World War 1 World War 1 was called “The Great War”, “The war to end all wars”, and “The first modern war”. It has many causes and a few repercussions and I will describe them in detail. The most widely known reason for the start of World War 1 was the assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in the Serbian capital of Sarajevo. The ArchDuke was there to talk to the Serbian leaders about peace on the Balkan Peninsula. After a Serbian was arrested for the assassination, Austria-Hungary pulled out of the peace talks and declared war on Serbia.
Grayzel, Susan R. The First World War: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Clearly throughout this paper as I talk about all of the things the Allies did to the Germans you can infer that they Allies did in fact win, which they did. Hitler thought this surprise attack would be a great victory for the Germans. Hitler’s plan was to cut off their supplies, but things didn’t go anywhere close to how he planned them. In the beginning the surprise attack did work on the Allies, they kept fighting and eventually won this battle. Germany was severely weakened by the fact they didn’t have enough fuel and the fact the Allies had killed many of their experienced soldiers. Throughout this hard battle the Allies won and it was a great victory for them.