The First World War

Introduction

IN SEVERAL CRUCIAL RESPECTS, the twentieth century began in August 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War. Soldiers marched into battle with the confidence and ambition bred by nineteenth-century successes. The leading nations of Europe were at the height of their power. Europe was the center of the world economy and commanded far-flung empires. Many Europeans entered the war with faith in modernity, in its ability to deliver not only prosperity but all the advantages of "civilization," especially peace and progress.

Despite those expectations, many people harbored fears about the future. The war justified that quiet dread. The "Great War" introduced the ugly face of industrial warfare and the grim capacities of the modern world. It caught Europeans unprepared not only militarily, but economically and politically. In a catastrophic combination of old mentalities and new technologies, the war left 9 million dead soldiers in its wake.

But by the war's end in 1918, soldiers were not the only casualties. World War I was waged against entire nations, not just armies. Devastation stretched across the countryside. Four years of fighting left Europe exhausted and anxious to avoid further bloodshed. Those years also exposed the -weaknesses of European society; divisions among classes, nations, and generations intensified under the strains of battle. Victory and defeat created new ambitions and antagonisms that made stability impossible, and that would eventually lead to the Second World War. Postwar Europe faced more problems than peace could manage.

F0CUS QUESTIONS

• What were the causes of World War I?

• Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?

• Why did the war become a stalemate?

• Why did the Allies persist with an offensive strategy?

• What was the role of empire in World War I?

• How did the war change women's lives?

• How did the Bolsheviks seize power?

• How did the Allies win the war?

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 748