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Technology and War A Quick L ook at World War I . When: 1914-1918 Where: Europe, Africa, The Middle East, Asia Why…a series of unfortunate decisions, events, and… Extreme Nationalism, Extreme Militarism, Extreme Imperialism and Alliances That Were a Result of the “Extremes”
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When: 1914-1918 • Where: Europe, Africa, The Middle East, Asia • Why…a series of unfortunate decisions, events, and… Extreme Nationalism, Extreme Militarism, Extreme Imperialism and Alliances That Were a Result of the “Extremes” • The Allied Powers vs. The Central Powers • Outcomes…The “So What” Factor When, Where, Why, Who…Outcomes orSo What Factor??? Politicians create wars, soldiers then must fight them! War is a failure of Statesmanship!
The Allied Powers The Triple Entente The Central Powers The Triple Alliance Key Players Great Britain Germany France Austria-Hungary Russia Italy Italy Ottoman Empire The United States
Tsar Nicholas II Romanov Kaiser Wilhelm Hohenzollern George V House of Battenburg (Mountbatten) The Rulers Mehmed V Franz Joseph II Habsburg
Von Clausewitz Sun Tzu Jomini Key Theories on War • All war is based on deception • Move around the enemy’s strengths • If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. • War is a science • Employ maximum combat power to defeat the enemy’s strength • Logistics is the practiced art of moving armies • The Fog of War • The Seething Cauldron of Fire • The Center of Gravity • The Operational Art of War
Improved Artillery Electronic Communications Aviation New Technologies On Land Armored Warfare (Tanks) Poison Gas Machine Guns and Automatic Weapons Modern Logistics???
Poison Gas • Chlorine • Phosgene • Mustard
The British Empire Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum General Sir John French, Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Forces
French Leadership Marshall Joffre Hero of the Battle of the Marne Marshall Petain Hero of Verdun Marshall Foche Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies
Germany’s Leadership Von Schleiffen Kaiser Wilhelm II Von Moltke Von Falkenhayn Von Hindenburg Ludendorff
Verdun 1916 “They Shall Not Pass”
Verdun/Ft DouamontJan-Dec 1916 >700,000 Casualties
The US Enters the War and Engages on the Western Front • American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)…Port of Newport News • GEN Pershing will not allow US Soldiers to be used as replacements • The Tsar falls and Germany and Russia sign a Peace Treaty • The German Final Offensive • The American’s engage • Cantigny • Meuse-Argonne • Belleau Wood • St Mihiel 1917-1918
America’s Entry into the War Lafayette, We are here!
German Collapse at home (later called the knife in the back) • The General Staff advises the Kaiser to abdicate • Germany agrees to a cease fire on 11/11/11/11 …the Rail Car at Compeigne • Revolution in Russia • Demands for reparation and for Germany to be neutralized (economically, militarily … buffers to prevent future wars) 1917-1918
June 28, 1919 • Germany is responsible for the war? • Germany is to pay reparations and is forbidden to have: • A Navy • An Air Force • The Army is limited to 100K and may not have tanks, artillery, limited machine guns, etc. • German territories in Africa and China (to Japan) are taken The Treaty of Versailles Orlando, Lloyd –George, , Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson • The 14 Points: • The League of Nations (Wilson’s Dream), Alsace-Lorraine, Poland established, freedom of the seas, Italy, the Balkans (Serbia free access to the sea, Austria-Hungary is dissolved (new countries along ethnic lines sort of), De-militarization, Turkey vice Ottoman Empire, Russia withdraws (creating Poland and the Baltic States), Self-determination, no secret alliances/treaties, etc. etc.
Poland is re-born • Polish Corridor to the Baltic • Germany is split • Saar Region • Rhineland De-militarized • Alsace returned to France • The Baltic States • Austria, Hungary, • Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia The New Map of Europe
Germany’s new government is confronted with revolution… Spartacists, Communists, Nationalists (Germany was never defeated and was stabbed in the back at home) • Rampant inflation in Germany • The rise of National Socialism • The Strictures of Versailles are circumvented, renounced and ignored • France has suffered horrific losses of young men which in the 30’s creates the “hollow years” • The need for protection creates the application of technology… The Maginot Line • Weak governments, weak leaders, passivism • The Soviet Union is created • Great Britain retains much of its Empire but is in a weakened state • Italy is in chaos … not unusual for any of the new or revamped states which creates opportunity for a new order • Mussolini and Fascism rise in Italy • Declaration of a New Roman Empire • Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Finland, the Baltic States, etc. • Japan emerges again as a winner and expands footprint in China • Treaties, agreements, Kellogg-Briand Pact to ban war • The United States reverts to isolationism • Global Financial Crisis Outcomes…a very short list of many
“We have a pause of twenty years before the next war” Ferdinand Foch, Marshall of France, commenting on the Treaty of Versailles 1919-1939 1918 Politicians create wars, soldiers then must fight them! War is a failure of Statesmanship!