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World War I was a war which began in July, 1914. It was initially thought to be the 'war to end all wars', but as we all know, this would not be the case, because in 1939, World War II began. However, this book is about World War I - more specifically, the trenches and the part they played in the war. This book will take you through life as it was for a soldier living in the trenches.
The war began after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Bosnian terrorist. This terrorist was part of a society called the Black Hand Gang who campaigned for freedom from the Austrian-Hungarian rule. After the Archduke and his wife were shot, there was outrage; the Austrians had lost their future king and now there was one thing they wanted; revenge.
Austria-Hungary sent Serbia a tough ultimatum, to which there was nothing that Serbia could agree to, and as a result of this, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia, who had previously pledged to help Serbia should the need arise, were obliged to defend against the Austrian-Hungarian advances, alongside the Serbians. This is where the snowball effect comes into play. Germany decides to go to war with Russia, knowing that France would then go to war with them. Their plan (the Schlieffen plan) was to go through Belgium and attack France that way, securing the Channel ports. If that had happened, then Germany would have very likely won the war. Just as well their plan didn't work, else we'd all be speaking German instead of this lovely language, which we call English. Anyway, When Germany invaded Belgium, Great Britain joined the war too, in order to defend Belgium and thus making sure that the Germans wouldn't get anywhere near the French channel ports. When the Germans marched to Paris, the French army stopped them and both sides dug trench networks - what is known today as the Western front.
This kind of warfare was new - instead of swords and horses, guns and tanks were used, making the casualty number soar far above any before; using long-distance weapons made the war much less personal and men who may have had a guilty conscience, had the war been man to man, never saw the damage they did, so they couldn't feel guilty as easily. In such a short space of time, new weapons were being introduced; gas, artillery and machine guns were but a few modern war inventions.
Over time, as the war spread throughout Europe, more and more countries were pulled in; quite a few countries boasted a large empire and called on the countries within that to supply men and arms. As more trench networks were formed, the countries who occupied the trenches found themselves at a stalemate; nobody dared to advance on the other. The stretch of land in between the trenches was nicknamed 'No man's land' and generals would send men over the barbed wire and across the land to the other side, attempting to infiltrate the enemy lines. This was pointless; the machine gun was very effective at killing. However, men were still sent over in waves, locking the countries in a battle of attrition.
When Germany started using submarines, this broke all kinds of war rules, which led to America getting involved.
In 1918, Russia was faced with a civil war and signed a treaty with Germany, allowing them to pull out of the war. They took with them the Russian troops, meaning that the allied armed forces were greatly diminished. In their place, America sent new troops over to fight alongside the British forces. American troops continued to arrive, and in such great number that Germany couldn't hold its ground and was forced back. As troops advanced to the Western front, Germany called an armistice to stop the fighting, which brought victory to the allies. The fighting stopped at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, 1918 and that is why we call that day Armistice Day.
Author's Note: Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3UjJ5kxiLI
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