Download World War I

World War I
Anatomy of a stalemate
Initial expectations v. realities:
• A short war: belligerents would run out of men
and materiel
• Failure of initial offensives
– Inadequacy of mass rushes
– Shortages of supplies
• Digging in on the western front: offence gives
way
– Trench warfare
– Tunnelling
• Movement on the eastern front
Reasons for stalemate
• Machine guns
– Artillery
• Trenches as only defence
– Ease of filling gaps
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Limits of known military tactics
Dense railway network
Industrial capabilities put to work
Supply of men…
Western Front, 1916
Battle of Somme-1
Battle of Somme-2
Costs in human life
• Total for WWI 9,000,000
• Battle of the Somme
– Allies: 600,000
• July 1 alone: 60,000
– Germans: 615,000
Casualties
Failure of peace initiatives
• Desire of France and Germany to maintain
buffer states on borders
• Incorporation of new allies with demands
on territory of belligerents
Determining factors:
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Supply of food and raw materials
Exhaustion of combatants
Success of British naval blockage
American entry (triggered by German
submarine warfare)
Changes in government as result of
the war
• Need to plan and manage domestic
economies
– Intensive regulation
• Incorporation of trade unions and business
associations in Britain, Germany
• Effective military takeover by 1917 in
Germany
• Growing indebtedness
Changes in societies
• Recourse to propaganda, demonization of
the enemy
• Extensive mobilization
• Massive disillusionment, disaffection
Consequences: an initial view
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Toppling of multinational empires
Revolution in Russia
Widespread disillusionment
Economic dislocation:
– Shifts in trade patterns
– Indebtedness of European countries to the
United States