Part 1
THE WELTKRIEG
THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE
June 28th, 1914 started out fairly normally in the city of Sarajevo. Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir-presumptive of the Austro-Hungarian throne, had supposedly been sent to the city to inspect the military units stationed there, although in truth Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, planned on opening a state museum in the city.
Knowing that Ferdinand planned on going to the city, members of the Serbian terrorist group, the Black Hand, plotted to assassinate him. In total, 7 members of the group lined the streets of the city, waiting for Ferdinand. The assassins failed in their mission. One would-be assassin threw a bomb at the wrong car, resulting in some injuries but not the death of Franz Ferdinand. Most of the rest simply lost heart before they were supposed to kill the archduke and fled.
However, the cab driver’s wrong turn would change the course of history forever. The cab driver ended up turning onto a street where one of the would-be assassins, named Gavrilo Princip, was waiting. Wasting no time, Princip fired his pistol twice, killing both Ferdinand and his wife right then and there.
THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE
The Austro-Hungarian Kaiser Franz Joseph was furious. Before taking any action, however, he asked the German Empire, led by Kaiser Wilhelm II, for assistance in the case that war broke out. Wilhelm II agreed, and Franz Joseph took action.
Believing that Serbia had been involved in Ferdinand’s assassination, Franz Joseph sought to punish the Serbian government. Thus, he sent an ultimatum to the Serbian government on July 23rd, demanding that Serbia ban anti-Austrian propaganda and Serbian nationalist groups, hand over those suspected of being linked to the assassination to Austria-Hungary, and to allow the Austrian police to investigate the assassination on Serbian soil. Franz Joseph, however, secretly wanted a war with Serbia, and sent the demands to the country, knowing them to be completely ridiculous. Serbia, for its part, accepted all of the demands except for allowing Austrian police onto its soil. This was not good enough for Franz Joseph, and Austria-Hungary prepared for war. On July 28th, Franz Joseph sent a declaration of war to Serbia, beginning the Weltkrieg.
THE WESTERN FRONT IN 1914
Immediately following the Austrian declaration of war, the network of alliances within Europe kicked off, with Russia and France supporting Serbia and with the German Empire supporting Austria-Hungary. The Allied Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) were now about to face a war on three fronts.
The German General Staff, led by Helmuth von Moltke, had prepared for exactly this type of war, however, and prepared to enact their Schlieffen Plan. The plan called for a quick German invasion of France through Belgium and Luxembourg to force France into capitulation, which would leave the German Army free to focus on Russia. On August 4th, German soldiers entered Belgium.
Belgium counted on the United Kingdom to honor the Treaty of London, which guaranteed the independence of Belgium against any invasion. True to their word, the same day that Belgium was invaded, King George V issued an official declaration of war against the German Empire. Despite this, the German Army under von Moltke advanced rapidly through Belgium and France, forcing the Entente into a general retreat towards Paris. On September 2nd, Moltke ordered a change of plans- rather than push directly towards Paris, the German Army would attempt to surround and destroy the French soldiers between Paris and Verdun. Karl von Bulow’s 2nd Army would be the primary striking force against the French, while Alexander von Kluck’s 1st Army would protect Bulow’s flank. The plan was agreed upon by all involved generals, and immediately began to be implemented.
On the Entente side, the French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre decided to replace the general of the French 5th Army, Charles Lanrezac, with Louis Franchet d'Espèrey. The Fifth Army was directly in the path of the German 1st Army, and Joffre ordered d'Espèrey to hold the front against von Kluck at all costs. The British Expeditionary Force, under the command of John French, soon joined with the 5th Army on their left flank, further strengthening the front against the Germans.
Unfortunately for the Entente, this plan would still fail. The German 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Armies smashed into the French 9th, 4th, and 3rd Armies respectively, and von Kluck’s 1st Army punched through the French screening force on September 7th, further threatening the Entente line. Joffre saw the writing on the wall, and decided to retreat yet again from the pocket the Germans were about to trap them inside of, rather than attempt to hold out against the German assault. Throughout September, the French fought as they fled, making sure to inflict as many casualties on the Germans as possible. Finally, on September 21st, the Entente halted just behind the Seine River, establishing a defensive line from the French-Swiss border to the suburbs of Paris. The German Army engaged this defensive line between September 23rd and September 29th, but were so overstretched that their offensive was swiftly halted by the French and British forces, and the Germans had to dig in across from the Entente.
While the eastern portion of the Western Front had stabilized, the area between Paris and the English Channel was left wide open, and both sides immediately began trying to outflank one another in what became known as the Race to the Sea. After a brief period of repositioning of both armies, the German 2nd and 6th Armies assaulted the French 10th Army and the BEF north of Paris on the 17th of September in an attempt to surround the city from both the north and south. While the southern advance was halted along the Seine, the 2nd and 6th Armies were able to make impressive gains against the significantly more open northern front early on. As the front south of Paris stabilized, however, more and more soldiers were moved to prevent Germany from surrounding Paris, and by the 21st of October the German advance had been halted along the Somme River. Despite being able to stop the German offensive, all of Belgium and a sizable portion of the French northern coast had been lost before the stalemate began.
Along the Western Front, the war devolved into a stalemate as both sides dug lines of trenches to defend against attacks from the other side. Human wave assaults were common against the opposing trenches, and hundreds of thousands of casualties were taken as they were mowed down by machine guns and artillery strikes. Both sides told their soldiers that they “would be home by Christmas”; yet as Christmas neared, the stalemate showed no sign of breaking, and the war appeared as though it would never advance beyond its current state.
THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE
June 28th, 1914 started out fairly normally in the city of Sarajevo. Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir-presumptive of the Austro-Hungarian throne, had supposedly been sent to the city to inspect the military units stationed there, although in truth Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, planned on opening a state museum in the city.
Knowing that Ferdinand planned on going to the city, members of the Serbian terrorist group, the Black Hand, plotted to assassinate him. In total, 7 members of the group lined the streets of the city, waiting for Ferdinand. The assassins failed in their mission. One would-be assassin threw a bomb at the wrong car, resulting in some injuries but not the death of Franz Ferdinand. Most of the rest simply lost heart before they were supposed to kill the archduke and fled.
However, the cab driver’s wrong turn would change the course of history forever. The cab driver ended up turning onto a street where one of the would-be assassins, named Gavrilo Princip, was waiting. Wasting no time, Princip fired his pistol twice, killing both Ferdinand and his wife right then and there.
THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE
The Austro-Hungarian Kaiser Franz Joseph was furious. Before taking any action, however, he asked the German Empire, led by Kaiser Wilhelm II, for assistance in the case that war broke out. Wilhelm II agreed, and Franz Joseph took action.
Believing that Serbia had been involved in Ferdinand’s assassination, Franz Joseph sought to punish the Serbian government. Thus, he sent an ultimatum to the Serbian government on July 23rd, demanding that Serbia ban anti-Austrian propaganda and Serbian nationalist groups, hand over those suspected of being linked to the assassination to Austria-Hungary, and to allow the Austrian police to investigate the assassination on Serbian soil. Franz Joseph, however, secretly wanted a war with Serbia, and sent the demands to the country, knowing them to be completely ridiculous. Serbia, for its part, accepted all of the demands except for allowing Austrian police onto its soil. This was not good enough for Franz Joseph, and Austria-Hungary prepared for war. On July 28th, Franz Joseph sent a declaration of war to Serbia, beginning the Weltkrieg.
THE WESTERN FRONT IN 1914
Immediately following the Austrian declaration of war, the network of alliances within Europe kicked off, with Russia and France supporting Serbia and with the German Empire supporting Austria-Hungary. The Allied Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) were now about to face a war on three fronts.
The German General Staff, led by Helmuth von Moltke, had prepared for exactly this type of war, however, and prepared to enact their Schlieffen Plan. The plan called for a quick German invasion of France through Belgium and Luxembourg to force France into capitulation, which would leave the German Army free to focus on Russia. On August 4th, German soldiers entered Belgium.
Belgium counted on the United Kingdom to honor the Treaty of London, which guaranteed the independence of Belgium against any invasion. True to their word, the same day that Belgium was invaded, King George V issued an official declaration of war against the German Empire. Despite this, the German Army under von Moltke advanced rapidly through Belgium and France, forcing the Entente into a general retreat towards Paris. On September 2nd, Moltke ordered a change of plans- rather than push directly towards Paris, the German Army would attempt to surround and destroy the French soldiers between Paris and Verdun. Karl von Bulow’s 2nd Army would be the primary striking force against the French, while Alexander von Kluck’s 1st Army would protect Bulow’s flank. The plan was agreed upon by all involved generals, and immediately began to be implemented.
On the Entente side, the French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre decided to replace the general of the French 5th Army, Charles Lanrezac, with Louis Franchet d'Espèrey. The Fifth Army was directly in the path of the German 1st Army, and Joffre ordered d'Espèrey to hold the front against von Kluck at all costs. The British Expeditionary Force, under the command of John French, soon joined with the 5th Army on their left flank, further strengthening the front against the Germans.
Unfortunately for the Entente, this plan would still fail. The German 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Armies smashed into the French 9th, 4th, and 3rd Armies respectively, and von Kluck’s 1st Army punched through the French screening force on September 7th, further threatening the Entente line. Joffre saw the writing on the wall, and decided to retreat yet again from the pocket the Germans were about to trap them inside of, rather than attempt to hold out against the German assault. Throughout September, the French fought as they fled, making sure to inflict as many casualties on the Germans as possible. Finally, on September 21st, the Entente halted just behind the Seine River, establishing a defensive line from the French-Swiss border to the suburbs of Paris. The German Army engaged this defensive line between September 23rd and September 29th, but were so overstretched that their offensive was swiftly halted by the French and British forces, and the Germans had to dig in across from the Entente.
While the eastern portion of the Western Front had stabilized, the area between Paris and the English Channel was left wide open, and both sides immediately began trying to outflank one another in what became known as the Race to the Sea. After a brief period of repositioning of both armies, the German 2nd and 6th Armies assaulted the French 10th Army and the BEF north of Paris on the 17th of September in an attempt to surround the city from both the north and south. While the southern advance was halted along the Seine, the 2nd and 6th Armies were able to make impressive gains against the significantly more open northern front early on. As the front south of Paris stabilized, however, more and more soldiers were moved to prevent Germany from surrounding Paris, and by the 21st of October the German advance had been halted along the Somme River. Despite being able to stop the German offensive, all of Belgium and a sizable portion of the French northern coast had been lost before the stalemate began.
Along the Western Front, the war devolved into a stalemate as both sides dug lines of trenches to defend against attacks from the other side. Human wave assaults were common against the opposing trenches, and hundreds of thousands of casualties were taken as they were mowed down by machine guns and artillery strikes. Both sides told their soldiers that they “would be home by Christmas”; yet as Christmas neared, the stalemate showed no sign of breaking, and the war appeared as though it would never advance beyond its current state.
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