Lets Tackle World Affairs #3

 World War I (1914-18) or The Great War

"I declare World war I open"

                                    Gavrilo Princep on shooting Archduke Francis Ferdinard (not really!)

The Allies (Triple Entente) - UK, France, Russian Empire, Italy ( was part of Central powers but later shifted sides for getting  Terentina and Triesta of Austro-Hungarian Empire)

The Central powers (Triple Alliance) - German Empire, Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire

• The immediate trigger was Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia (an ally of Russia) for the murder of Archduke
• The main feature of the war was the slow nature of Trench warfare, only Tanks provided mobility of some sort
• The Schlieffan Plan was the German plan to attack Russia on eastern front and France on western front  through Belgium
• The Battle of Tannerberg was a major defeat for Russian Empire against Germany in 1914
• The first battle of Merne saw Germany reaching within 30 miles of Paris but were defeated by both France and Britain
• The Second Battle of Yepres in 1915 saw the first use of Chlorine gas by Germans 
•  Gallipoli campaign was a joint Anglo-French operation to take over Constantinople (capital of Ottoman empire) in 1915 but failed miserably. It created a huge dent to Winston Churchill who had a major role in offensive to Turkey. 
• The Allied troops in Bulgaria is known as "forgotten army" since they didn't see any actual action against Serbs
• German submarines or "U-boats" caused major destruction to Allied shipping but was countered using "Convoy system"
• The Zeppelins were hot air vehicles used to bomb London by Germans. The Paris Gun (William's gun) was a massive rail gun with 130km range used by Germans to target Paris.
• Battle of Jutland, biggest naval battle of World war I, saw the first use of aircraft carriers
• Lord Kitchner, was the British Secretary of War, and used the famous "Britain wants You !  Join your Country's Army" poster for recruiting people
• Battle of Verdun between Germany and Anglo French joint force in 1916 was the longest battle in WW1
• US entered war under President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 following sinking of passenger ship RMS Louistania killing many Americans and reports of German assistance to Mexico
• Nivelle Offensive was planned by French General Nivelle which promised to end the war in 48 hours with hardly 10000 casualties but ended up in huge failure causing his dismissal
• General Petatin was credited for diffusing a major mutiny in French armed forces during 1917
• The war caused downfall of Russian empire and a provisional government was established in Petrograd (St.Petersburg) under Alexander Kerensky following February revolution
• Germans sent Lenin to Russia in a sealed train strengthening the October revolution that overthrew the provisional government in Russia and executed the Tsar Nicholas II with his family, and signed peace treaty with Germany
•  Colonel T.E Lawrence of British army had a major role in organizing Arab revolt against Ottoman empire. His life was portrayed by Peter Toole in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia"
• Battle of Vettorio Veneto in 1918 between Italy and Austro Hungarian Empire caused the downfall of the empire
• 11 November 1918 Armistice was signed. Woodrow Wilson put down '14 points' under which League of Nations was formed with Headquarters in Geneva
• The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty signed to officially end World War I
• Paul Von Hindenburg became the president of Weimer Republic which was followed after abdication of throne by Kaiser William I of German Empire
• Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a Field Marshal established the secular republic of Turkey on the ruins of Ottoman Empire

Media

• Shoulder Arms (1914) was a Charlie Chaplin satirical film on WW1
• "They shall not be forgotten" is a 2018 restored documentary feature on Trench warfare by Peter Jackson
• "For the Fallen" is a poem by Lawrence Binyon, sang usually on anniversary of Armistice

Some more peace treaties

• Treaty of St. Germaine - for Austria
• Treaty of Trianon - for Hungary
• Treaty of Neuliy - for Bulgaria
• Treaty of Sevres- for Turkey