The Hundred Days Offensive

This was the last stage of the First World War and was a series of offensives resulting in huge loss of lives. The casualties almost added up to 1,855,369 soldiers and civilian populace. The German line was eventually broken. It resulted in a decisive Allied victory and the collapse of the German Empire.

Colonel Rene Fonck

WW1 ACE Colonel Rene Fonck

Rene Fonck - Early Life:

Born on March 27, 1894, René Fonck was raised in the village of Saulcy-sur-Meurthe in the mountainous Vosges region of France. Educated locally, he had an interest in aviation as a youngster. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Fonck received conscription papers on August 22. Despite his earlier fascination with aircraft, he elected not to take an assignment in the air service and instead joined the combat engineers. Operating along the Western Front, Fonck constructed fortifications and repaired infrastructure. Though a skilled engineer, he reconsidered in early 1915 and volunteered for flight training.

Rene Fonck - Learning to Fly:

Ordered to Saint-Cyr, Fonck commenced basic flight instruction before moving to more advanced training at Le Crotoy. Progressing through the program, he earned his wings in May 1915 and was assigned to Escadrille C 47 at Corcieux. Serving as an observation pilot, Fonck initially flew the ungainly Caudron G III. In this role, he performed well and was mentioned in dispatches twice. Flying in July 1916, Fonck downed his first German aircraft. Despite this triumph, he did not receive credit as the kill went unconfirmed. The following month, on August 6, Fonck achieved his first credited kill when he used a series of maneuvers to force a German Rumpler C.III to land behind French lines.

Rene Fonck - Becoming a Fighter Pilot:

For Fonck's actions on August 6, he received the Medaille Militaire the following year. Continuing observation duties, Fonck scored another kill on March 17, 1917. A highly veteran pilot, Fonck was asked to join the elite Escadrille les Cigognes (The Storks) on April 15. Accepting, he commenced fighter training and learned to fly the SPAD S.VII. Flying with les Cigognes Escadrille S.103, Fonck soon proved to be a lethal pilot and achieved ace status in May. As the summer progressed, his score continued to increase despite taking leave in July.


Having learned from his earlier experiences, Fonck was always concerned about proving his kill claims. On September 14, he went to the extreme of retrieving the barograph of an observation aircraft he downed to prove his version of events. A ruthless hunter in the air, Fonck preferred to avoid dogfighting and stalked his prey for prolonged periods before striking quickly. A gifted marksman, he often downed German aircraft with extremely short bursts of machine gun fire. Understanding the value of enemy observation aircraft and their role as artillery spotters, Fonck focused his attention on hunting and eliminating them from the skies.

Rene Fonck - Allied Ace of Aces:

During this period, Fonck, like France's leading ace,Captain Georges Guynemer, began flying the limited production SPAD S.XII. Largely similar to the SPAD S.VII, this aircraft featured a hand-loaded 37mm Puteaux cannon firing through the propeller boss. Though an unwieldy weapon, Fonck claimed 11 kills with the cannon. He continued with this aircraft until transitioning to the more powerful SPAD S.XIII. Following Guynemer's death on September 11, 1917, the Germans claimed that the French ace had been shot down by Lieutenant Kurt Wisseman. On the 30th, Fonck downed a German aircraft which was found to have been flown by a Kurt Wisseman. Learning this, he boasted that he had become "the tool of retribution." Subsequent research has shown the aircraft downed by Fonck was most likely flown by a different Wisseman.


Despite poor weather in October, Fonck claimed 10 kills (4 confirmed) in only 13 hours of flying time. Taking leave in December to be married, his total stood at 19 and he received the Légion d'honneur. Resuming flying on January 19, Fonck scored two confirmed kills. Adding another 15 to his tally through April, he then embarked on a remarkable May. Goaded by a bet with squadron mates Frank Baylies and Edwin C. Parsons, Fonck downed six German aircraft in a three hour span on May 9. The next several weeks saw the Frenchmen rapidly build his total and by July 18 he had tied Guynemer's record of 53. Passing his fallen comrade the next day, Fonck reached 60 by the end of August.


Continuing to have success in September, he repeated his feat of downing six in one day, including two Fokker D.VII fighters, on the 26th. The final weeks of the conflict saw Fonck overtake leading Allied ace Major William Bishop. Scoring his final victory on November 1, his total finished at 75 confirmed kills (he submitted claims for 142) making him the Allied Ace of Aces. Despite his stunning success in the air, Fonck was never embraced by the public in the same way as Guynemer. Possessing a withdrawn personality, he seldom socialized with other pilots and instead preferred to focus on improving his aircraft and planning tactics. When Fonck did socialize, he proved to be an arrogant egotist. His friend,Lieutenant Marcel Haegelen stated that though a "slashing rapier" in the sky, on the ground Fonck was a "a tiresome braggart, and even a bore."

Rene Fonck - Postwar:

Leaving the service after the war, Fonck took time to write his memoirs. Published in 1920, they were prefaced by Marshal Ferdinand Foch. He also was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1919. He remained in this position until 1924 as a representative for Vosges. Continuing to fly, he performed as a racing and demonstration pilot. During the 1920s, Fonck worked with Igor Sikorsky in an attempt to win the Orteig Prize for the first nonstop flight between New York and Paris. On September 21, 1926, he attempted the flight in a modified Sikorsky S-35 but crashed on takeoff after one of the landing gear collapsed. The prize was won the following year by Charles Lindbergh. As the interwar years passed, Fonck's popularity fell as his abrasive personality soured his relationship with the media.

Returning to the military in 1936, Fonck received the rank of lieutenant colonel and later served as Inspector of Pursuit Aviation. Retiring in 1939, he was later drawn into the Vichy government by Marshal Philippe Petain during World War II. This was largely due to Petain's desire to utilize Fonck's aviation connections to Luftwaffe leaders Hermann Göring and Ernst Udet. The ace's reputation was damaged in August 1940 when a spurious report was issued stating that he had recruited 200 French pilots for the Luftwaffe. Eventually escaping Vichy service, Fonck returned to Paris where he was arrested by the Gestapo and held at the Drancy internment camp.

With the end of World War II, an inquiry cleared Fonck of any charges pertaining to collaboration with the Nazis and he was later awarded the Certificate of Resistance. Remaining in Paris, Fonck died suddenly on June 18, 1953. His remains were buried in his native village of Saulcy-sur-Meurthe.

Manfred von Richthofen

The Red Baron - Top Ace of WWI, 80 victories

Born on May 2, 1892 to a Prussian noble family,junker landholders, Manfred von Richthofen, learned to hunt at an early age.

Growing up in Silesia (now part of Poland) young Manfred learned from his father, a Uhlan career officer, and his maternal Schickfuss relatives. In the protected game forests, he and his brothers, Lothar and Bolko, hunted wild boar, elk, birds, and deer, collected and displayed their trophies in their castle. Later, the great ace would bring the same love of the hunt and love of victory to his aerial battles. He entered the Prussian cadet corps (military school) at age eleven, where he was an indifferent student. In 1911, he entered Uhlan Regiment Number 1, which he enjoyed, at least insofar as the opportunities it gave him to ride horses. He first fought on the Russian front, where the highlight of his cavalry exploits seemed to be capturing and locking up a Russian priest in his own bell tower. Transferred to the West, his Uhlan regiment spent several enjoyable, peaceful months in the rear areas. An assignment to the quartermaster corps didn't satisfy Richthofen."My dear Excellency," he wrote, "I have not gone to war to collect cheese and eggs ..." He asked to serve with a flying unit. In May, 1915, his request was granted.

Flier

Soon, he was back in the East, as a reconnaissance flier and then a bomber. During June, July and August, 1915, he remained with the 69th Flying Squadron which participated in Mackensen's advance from Gorlice to Brest-Litovsk. He had joined it as quite a junior observer and he had no special expertise. As a cavalryman his business had consisted in reconnoitering. So the Aviation Service as an observer was in his line and he enjoyed the long reconnoitering flights which they undertook nearly every day.

Still dissatisfied, he complained again and was removed to Ostend on the Western front, as a back-seat observer in a reconnaissance plane. With pilot Lt. Zeumer, they patrolled over the North Sea, and once spotted a submarine beneath the water, but did not bomb it as they could not determine its nationality.

His first encounter with an English airplane, on September 15, 1915, ended without real damage to either plane; but gunner Richthofen and pilot Zeumer both thought that the other could have handled the combat better.

Transferred to the Champagne front, he flew with pilot Osteroth. With his ring-mounted machine gun, he managed to shoot down a Farman aircraft, but could not get credit for the kill, as it fell behind Allied lines. His hunter's instinct had been awakened.

Still determined to join the great hunt in the skies, he started pilot training in October, 1915, making his first solo on the 10th. He damaged the plane on landing and had to take more training at Doberitz.

On Christmas Day, 1915, he passed his examination. In connection with it, he flew to Schwerin, where the Fokker works are situated. From Schwerin flew to Breslau, to Schweidnitz, to Luben and then returned to Berlin. During his tour, he landed in many places in between, visiting relatives and friends. Being a trained observer, he did not find it difficult to find his way. In March, 1916, he joined KampfGeswchader 2 before Verdun and learned learned how to handle a fighting two-seater airplane.

Assigned a two-seat Albatros BII reconnaissance plane (max speed 66 MPH, 100 HP engine, ceiling 9,840 feet), he rigged a machine gun on the upper wing, much like the Nieuport 11. Piloting this Albatros over Verdun on April 26, 1916, he sighted a French Nieuport and opened up at 60 yards. The stricken French fighter dived into Fort Douamont; Von Richthofen had his first kill, although he would gain no official credit. While in France, he had a few opportunities to fly a Fokker single-seat fighter, further whetting his appetite to fly fighters.

Again switched back to the Russian front, he continued to fly "C" class reconnaissance/light bombers. As the Russians had few planes, flying and bombing there was agreeable duty, relatively safe and with readily accomplished missions, like bombing the Manjewicze railway station, strafing Cossack cavalry, knocking out the Stokhod River bridge, etc..

In August, he met the great ace Oswald Boelcke (40 kills), who was in the East recruiting fliers for a new Jagdstaffel (Jasta 2). After a brief interview, Boelcke took Richthofen back with him, to the Somme.

Boelcke's Pupil

While the well-organized British air arm held command of the air over the bloody battlefield of the Somme, Boelcke's new group, Jasta 2, made an immediate impact. On Sept. 17, 1916, in Jasta 2's first mission, the baron shot down an FE-2 two-seater. (Built by the Royal Aircraft Factory, FE-2's frequently fell to von Richthofen. The FE-2 biplane featured a pusher propeller, mounted aft of the short pod containing the observer, the pilot, and the 160HP Beardmore engine. Used both as a fighter and a reconnaissance plane, both of its crew had a machine gun, giving it a certain strength in redundancy.)

On the morning of the 17th, Boelcke led his squadron up and spotted the English planes first. They were heading toward Cambrai, with Jasta 2 between them and their own lines. Richthofen approached one, maneuvering to get behind it, where he would have the advantage. The English pilot twisted and turned expertly, but briefly let Richthofen behind him. Richtofen described the action:.

In a fraction of a second I was at his back with my excellent machine. I gave a few bursts with my machine gun. I had gone so close that I was afraid I might dash into the Englishman. Suddenly, I nearly yelled with joy for his propeller had stopped turning. I had shot his engine to pieces; the enemy was compelled to land, for it was impossible for him to reach his own lines. The English machine was curiously swinging to and fro. Probably something had happened to the pilot. The observer was no longer visible. His machine gun was apparently deserted. Obviously I had hit the observer and he had fallen from his seat.
The Englishman landed close to one of our squadrons. I was so excited that I landed also and in my eagerness, I nearly smashed up my machine. The English airplane and my own stood close together. I had shot the engine to pieces and both the pilot and observer were severely wounded. The observer died at once and the pilot while being transported to the nearest dressing station. I honored the fallen enemy by placing a stone on his beautiful grave.

For the next month, Jasta 2 "found a happy hunting ground over the Somme battlefield." Ironically, Boelcke did not live long to enjoy the success of his new elite Jasta. He was killed in early November, in a collision with another German flier; von Richthofen carried the great ace's decorations on a pillow in his funeral. By Nov. 9, von Richtofen had increased his score to ten.

Death of Major Hawker, V.C.

Like any great hunter, Manfred von Richthofen reveled in bagging the largest game. On November 23, 1916, he encountered Major Lanoe George Hawker, V.C., "the British Boelcke," in Richthofen's words, big game indeed. Hawker was one of the first fliers to take a pistol with him in the air and was also the first to arm an early Bristol scout with a Lewis gun. He downed a German two-seater over Ypres in July, 1915. Flying constantly, he downed one German plane after another. (In those early days, British records of aerial victories were not kept as carefully as later.) Hawker was decorated with the Victoria Cross and given command of Number 24 squadron.
On the morning of the 23rd, Hawker led three planes in an attack on some German two-seaters. But it was an ambush. The bait promptly fled, while Richthofen's fighters dived after the British fliers. Lieutenants Andrews and Saunders were hit, but managed to escape. Hawker stayed to fight; against him were Richthofen and the best pilots of Jasta 2.
Starting at 6,000 feet, the airplanes tore at each other, twisting and turning in descending circles, down to 2,000 feet. Desperate to gain an advantage, Hawker looped and got off a burst. He missed and fled for home, now at tree-top level. But the German aircraft was faster and Richthofen was determined.
In Richthofen's own words:

Our speed is terrific. [Hawker] starts back for his front. He knows my gun barrel is trained on him. He starts to zigzag, making sudden darts right and left, confusing my aim and making it difficult to train my gun on him. But the moment is coming. I am fifty yards behind him. My machine gun is firing incessantly. We are hardly fifty yards above the ground - just skimming it.
Now I am within thirty yards of him. He must fall. The gun pours out its stream of lead. Then it jams. Then it reopens fire. That jam almost saved his life. One bullet goes home. He is struck through the back of the head. His plane jumps and crashes down. It strikes the ground just as I swoop over. His machine gun rammed itself into the earth, and now it decorates the entrance over my door [to the family castle at Schweidnitz]. He was a brave man, a sportsman, and a fighter.

Hawker was Richthofen's eleventh victim. Another order went to his Berlin silversmith, for a plain, silver cup, just two inches high, engraved briefly with the aircraft and date of his victory.

The Flying Circus

After victory number 16, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite (the Blue Max). He then organized his own Jagdstaffel 11, dubbed by journalists "The Flying Circus." His qualities showed. He was methodical; he figured the odds; with mathematical precision, he calculated position, angles, and fire control to kill his prey. He led his group with order and discipline, requiring his fliers to study and follow his tactics. About this time (late 1916), he painted his aircraft red, and began to be known as "The Red Baron."
But even Richtofen, in his new all-red Albatros D III, didn't always have it his own way. On January 23, 1917, the Richthofen Circus pounced on some British camera planes of the 25th Squadron (FE-2 two-seater, pusher planes). Richthofen fired into an airplane piloted by Capt. Grieg, with 2nd. Lt. J. E. MacLenan as observer. His bullets tore into Grieg's leg, who struggled heroically to regain control of the aircraft. Oil splattered all over the wounded craft. MacLenan tossed the camera over and began firing his Lewis gun. He and the nearly blinded Grieg kept shooting back at the relentless Red Baron, and eventually their bullets crippled the Albatros, cracking its wing. Both aircraft crash-landed near Vimy. As German infantry approached, Grieg fired a flare pistol into his downed plane, setting it afire, thus denying it to the Germans.
In mid-March, he got it again, this time when his group of five planes attacked fifteen British machines over Lens. As the enemies had seen each other at a great distance, both groups flew right at each other for several nerve-tingling minutes. When one of the British scouts peeled off, Richthofen thought he had an easy kill. Closing to fifty meters on the straggler, he test-fired his guns, and calmly planned his enemy's destruction. He suddenly realized that he had been ambushed when his Albatros was hit by machine gun fire. His fuel tank was holed, so he switched off his engine promptly. Even one drop on the hot engine could have fatally ignited his plane. He managed to bring his aircraft down behind German lines, but had difficulty persuading an officer that he had, in fact, shot down twenty-four airplanes.
By March 26, 1917, the Baron had downed thirty-one Allied planes. He had become a cold, ruthless hunter and killer; machine guns helpless pilots of crashed aircraft and blasting his victims as they tried to escape the cockpits of doomed airplanes. He carried with him a gruesome photograph of a British flier he had horribly shot apart, the photograph given to him by an admiring German infantry colonel.

Bloody April

The British airmen were obsessed with the Red Baron and were determined to destroy him, one way or another. On April 5, they planned a massive bombing raid on his aerodrome at Douai. German intelligence alerted Richthofen, but he choose to stay put. A few hours before the raid was due, he and his senior pilots sat down to a splendid dinner. While they puffed their after-dinner cigars, the phone rang, "English bombers on the way." In the dugout bomb shelter, he entertained his men with wine, ribald stories, jokes, and tales of aerial combat. Meanwhile, no British bombers came over. Finally, seventeen of the bombers found the Baron's field and loosed their destruction. The bombs found fuel and ammunition stores, setting huge explosions. The hangars were hit by the second wave. But Manfred von Richthofen and his crack pilots were unhurt.
In the month of April, Jasta 11 shot down 89 British airplanes. As winter weather had cleared, both sides were able to fly a lot. The Germans could employ their group fighting tactics. And their Albatros D.III scouts over-matched the British pusher biplanes and the French Nieuport 11's. Manfred von Richthofen alone claimed 20 in the month.

Wounded, July 1917

The German press, eager for any good news or for any hero from the mindless, muck and blood-filled horror of the stagnant trenches, showered the Red Baron with adulation. After a short leave in May, he hurried back to rejoin The Flying Circus. By the end of June, 1917, his collection of little silver cups totaled fifty-six.
Then, on July 2, he encountered the British RFC 20th Squadron, and two of its pilots: Flt. Cdr. A. E. Woodbridge and Capt. Pilot D. C. Cunnell. Woodbridge described the action:

Cunnell handled the old FE for all she was worth, banking her from one side to the other, ducking dives from above and missing head-on collisions by bare margins of feet. The air was full of whizzing machines, and the noise from the full-out motors and the crackling machine guns was more than deafening ... Cunnell and I fired into four of the Albatroses from as close as thirty yards, and I saw my tracers go right into their bodies. Those four went down ... Some of them were on fire - just balls of smoke and flame - a nasty sight to see.
Two of them came at us head-on, and the first one was Richthofen. There wasn't a thing on that machine that wasn't red, and how he could fly! I opened fire with the front Lewis and so did Cunnell with the side gun. Cunnell held the FE on her course and so did the pilot of the all-red scout [Richthofen]. With our combined speeds, we approached each other at 250 miles per hour ... I kept a steady stream of lead pouring into the nose of that machine.
Then ... The Albatros' pointed her nose down suddenly and passed under us. Cunnell banked and turned. We saw the all-red plane slip into a spin. It turned over and over, round and round, completely out of control. His motor was going full on, so I figured I had at least wounded him. As his head was the only part that wasn't protected by his motor, I thought that's where he was hit.

Indeed, a British bullet had creased and partially splintered his skull. Despite the best treatment available for the national hero, the wound never properly healed; the scar tissue, bone splinters and even thorns continued to cause Richthofen maddeningly painful headaches. He went home on leave, but when he returned, his skills were off. He went two weeks without a kill.
By September, now flying the famous red Fokker Dr.I triplane, he had recovered enough to reach the 60 victory milestone, an unprecedented achievement.

powered by Thulin-built Le Rhône 9J 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary 110 HP engine,

weighed 1,289 lbs., max. speed of 103 MPH, max. ceiling of 19,685 feet,

2 synchronized Spandau machine guns.

Winter, 1917-18

After a Christmas leave, hunting in the Bialowicka forest with Lothar, he resumed his pursuit of aerial quarry. When he downed 2nd Lt. H. J. Sparks, his 64th, he sent the hospitalized British flier a box of cigars. In March and April of 1918, he shot down 17 airplanes, while flying his trademark all-red Fokker Triplane.

Richthofen's last victory was number 80; Lt. D. E. Lewis walked away from his wreck.

Last Dogfight

Canadian Capt. Roy Brown led a flight fifteen Sopwith Camels on the morning of April 21, 1918, flying cover for some photo planes. When some Fokkers and Albatroses jumped the camera planes, a huge dogfight ensued, over thirty planes twisting, shooting, and tearing at each other. A scarlet Albatros got behind a young Canadian, Lt. Wilford May. Seeing his plight, Capt. Brown went after the Baron, firing his Lewis gun.

And then the aircraft of the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, dived and crashed near Sailly-le-Sac, an area held by Australian infantry. The Aussies immediately recovered the plane and were astonished to discover inside Richtofen's body. Almost as quickly, the event became the subject of confusion. The low-key Captain Brown never officially claimed the kill; and some Australian gunners did. To this day, no one knows for sure who brought down the greatest ace of The Great War.

Funeral

The British decided to hold a grand funeral for their late adversary. Laid out on a lorry, covered with flowers, escorted by RAF officers, his body was taken to a hangar, where it lay in state for a day. Hundreds of British soldiers filed past to view the Red Baron. The next day, the burial itself was another military pageant, with six RAF Captains as pallbearers, a fourteen-man firing party with rifles reversed, a flower-draped coffin, a service conducted by a robed chaplain, and a bugler blowing "The Last Post."

Photographs were taken of the funeral, and British planes dropped them over his airdrome at Cappy with the message:

TO THE GERMAN FLYING CORPS:

Rittmeister Baron Manfred von Richthofen was killed in aerial combat on April 21st, 1918. He was buried with full military honours.

From the British Royal Air Force

Why Britain went to war in 1914

 Unlikely Allies

After decades of unbroken prosperity and peace in Europe, and with a very small army in comparison with her neighbours, why did Britain enter into a continental war in 1914?As early as January 1902, William Robertson, then a Lieutenant Colonel and head of the foreign section of military intelligence, enquired of the Foreign Office regarding Britain's treaty obligations to Belgium in the event of a breach of that country's neutrality by either France or Germany. He was becoming aware of a growing antagonism in Europe and by October of that year said: "That instead of regarding Germany as a possibly ally we should recognise her as our most persistent, deliberate and formidable rival ..."

The extraordinary "Wully" Robertson rose from Private to Field Marshal of the British army. Quartermaster to the BEF in 1914, he was made Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1915. He strongly disagreed with David Lloyd George's strategic ideas in late 1917 and was soon replaced by Sir Henry Wilson.

Robertson's warning was noted in Government circles, although many considered France - so recently confronting Britain at Fashoda - and Russia, the traditional risk to India - to be equally threatening to British interests. These long-term enemies became unlikely friends when Britain and France signed an agreement in April 1904 formally titled the Declaration between the United Kingdom and France Respecting Egypt and Morocco, Together with the Secret Articles Signed at the Same Time but best known as the Entente Cordiale. The agreement specifically covered the interests of the two parties in Egypt and Morocco but was to prove sufficiently robust as a basis of friendly relations to ward off German challenges until 1914. France was already in alliance with Russia.

After their 1906 landslide election victory, Liberal leaders Asquith, Grey and Haldane were politically disposed to taking action to defend the interests of Britain and empire, being among the "small minority of Ministers in the cabinets of Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith [who] were convinced that the gains to be derived from the entente with France outweighed the liabilities attached to it". Churchill and to a lesser extent Lloyd George could also be counted into this minority.

10 YEARS ON:France and Britain celebrate the years of Entente,in the Spring of 1914

Why did Germany lose World War 1

The war ended with the allies of Britain, France and Russia winning the war successfully. There were many reasons to why the Allies won the war. Some of the reasons were the effects of the long war on the German Economy, the Alliance Systems, The Allied Naval Blockade on Germany, The Development of the Tank towards the end of the war, and the leadership.After Germany became united as one country, they were becoming one of the wealthiest and powerful countries in the world. Their industries were mainly based on stuff like steel and coal which played big parts in the lead up to becoming very rich. Since they became so strong, they wanted more colonies, more land and more money. They thought they deserve colonies like any other countries. So the Germans started the war on the upper hand. But as the war started, all started to go wrong for Germany.First since Germany had to fight on two fronts France and Russia, Germany wanted to destroy France quickly then turn on Russia and underestimated Britain and thought they will be effective at sea but would play little part in a European war. However, Germany’s Schlieffen plan completely failed. It was very hard to break down the French resistance. France wanted vengeance on Germany as they stole Alsace-Lorraine away from France when France lost the war in 1870 against Germany. So Germany was attacked from two fronts. The British, who Germany underestimated at the start of the war, were in fact well trained to fight on land causing Germany problems. So the economy declined as the on going attritional warfare at the fronts was wearing down the Germans very quickly.

Another reason was the Alliance problems. Britain had strong allies which served Britain well. For example, the Dominions and Colonies provided great manpower and supplied food. Also in 1917, U.S.A joined the war which provided great manpower and brought resources useful in war. However, Germany’s allies were more or less useless. They did little to pressurize the enemies and unable to provide huge resources. Also, the Italians changed sides as soon as war broke out which was a shock. A big problem for Germany was the Allied Naval blockade. As only the northern part of Germany faced the sea and there were only few major ports, Britain took advantage and stopped all supplies getting into Germany through sea. As the Germans couldn’t get any supplies from their allies and Britain could get lots of supplies from their allies and even neutral countries like the U.S, Germany was on the verge of starvation. So the morale within German citizens was falling everyday.Then Germany made two horrible mistakes which basically made them lose the war possibly because of bad leadership. First they used U-boats (submarines) and attempted to starve Britain into submission by destroying all ships heading to Britain meaning supplies wouldn’t be able to get through. It seemed effective at first, but as the war went on, the allies invented anti-submarine weapons like depth charge to locate the submarines and bomb them. They also used aircrafts to do that as well. Also Germany destroyed a U.S ship heading towards Britain which killed many Americans and angered the U.S. Then the Zimmermann telegram caused America to join the war. The Germans suggested a German-Mexican alliance meaning Mexico will march to the U.S and recover their lost territories such as Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. This telegram was intercepted by the British and the British told the Americans. The U.S was furious and joined the war for world peace to end the war. The Germans’ worst mistake throughout this war. The allies’ leaders like Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Wilson were clever people who were courageous and brilliant leaders. The German leaders like Zimmermann and Schlieffen were no match for them and made horrible blunders which led Germany to a loss. Also as the attritional warfare continued, the leaders didn’t come up with anything new which could end the war. They thought of great defensive weapons like machine guns and poisonous gases but couldn’t build an offensive weapon until the development of tanks.Most people think that the development of tanks had less impact on the war than people suggest it has but it actually added a lot of pressure on the Germans. It was one of the only major offensive weapons so it did some great damages.Looking at all these mistakes which Germany made, it isn’t really that surprising it all went wrong for Germany. So in the end, it was a disastrous war for Germany.

World War I: A Stalemate Ensues

 

 

 

The Strategic Outlook in 1915

With the beginning of trench warfare, both sides began assessing their options for bringing the war to a successful conclusion. Overseeing German operations, Chief of the General Staff Erich von Falkenhayn preferred to focus on winning the war on the Western Front as he believed that a separate peace could be obtained with Russia if they were allowed to exit the conflict with some pride. This approach clashed with Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff who wished to deliver a decisive blow in the East. The heroes of Tannenberg they were able to use their fame and political intrigue to influence the German leadership. As a result, the decision was made to focus on the Eastern Front in 1915.
In the Allied camp there was no such conflict. Both the British and French were eager to expel the Germans from the territory they had occupied in 1914. For the latter, it was both a matter of national pride and economic necessity as the occupied territory contained much of France's industry and natural resources. Instead, the challenge faced by the Allies was the matter of where to attack. This choice was largely dictated by the terrain of the Western Front. In the south, the woods, rivers, and mountains precluded conducting a major offensive, while the sodden soil of coastal Flanders quickly turned into a quagmire during shelling. In the center, the highlands along the Aisne and Meuse Rivers too greatly favored the defender.
As a result, the Allies focused their efforts on the chalklands along the Somme River in Artois and to the south in Champagne. These points were located on the edges of the deepest German penetration into France and successful attacks had the potential to cut off the enemy forces. In addition, breakthroughs at these points would sever German rail links east which would compel them to abandon their position in France.


 The Fighting Resumes

While fighting had occurred through the winter, the British renewed the action in earnest on March 10, 1915, when they launched an offensive at Neuve Chapelle. Attacking in an effort to capture Aubers Ridge, British and Indian troops from Field Marshal Sir John French's British Expeditionary Force (BEF) shattered the German lines and had some initial success. The advance soon broke down due to communication and supply issues and ridge was not taken. Subsequent German counterattacks contained the breakthrough and the battle ended on March 13. In the wake of the failure, French blamed the result on a lack of shells for his guns. This precipitated the Shell Crisis of 1915 which brought down Prime Minister H.H. Asquith's Liberal government and forced an overhaul of the munitions industry.

Gas Over Ypres
Though Germany had elected to follow an "east-first" approach, Falkenhayn began planning for an operation against Ypres to begin in April. Intended as a limited offensive, he sought to divert Allied attention from troop movements east, secure a more commanding position in Flanders, as well as to test a new weapon, poison gas. Though tear gas had been used against the Russians in January, the Second Battle of Ypres marked the debut of lethal chlorine gas.

Around 5:00 PM on April 22, chlorine gas was released over a four-mile front. Striking a section line held by French territorial and colonial troops, it quickly killed around 6,000 men and forced the survivors to retreat. Advancing, the Germans made swift gains, but in the growing darkness they failed to exploit the breach. Forming a new defensive line, British and Canadian troops mounted a vigorous defensive over the next several days. While the Germans conducted additional gas attacks, Allied forces were able to implement improvised solutions to counter its effects. Fighting continued until May 25, but the Ypres salient held.


Artois & Champagne

Unlike the Germans, the Allies possessed no secret weapon when they began their next offensive in May. Striking at the German lines in Artois on May 9, the British sought to take Aubers Ridge. A few days later, the French entered the fray to the south in an effort to secure Vimy Ridge. Dubbed the Second Battle of Artois, the British were stopped dead, while the General Philippe Pétain's XXXIII Corps succeeded in reaching the crest of Vimy Ridge. Despite Pétain's success, the French lost the ridge to determined German counterattacks before their reserves could arrive.

Reorganizing during the summer as additional troops became available, the British soon took over the front as far south as the Somme. As troops were shifted, General Joseph Joffre, the overall French commander, sought to renew the offensive in Artois during the fall along with an assault in Champagne. Recognizing the obvious signs of impending attack, the Germans spent the summer strengthening their trench system, ultimately constructing a line of supporting fortifications three miles deep.

Opening the Third Battle of Artois on September 25, British forces attacked at Loos while the French assaulted Souchez. In both cases, the attack was preceded by a gas attack with mixed results. While the British made initial gains, they were soon forced back as communication and supply problems emerged. A second attack the next day was bloodily repulsed. When the fighting subsided three weeks later, over 41,000 British troops had been killed or wounded for the gain of a narrow two-mile deep salient.

To the south, the French Second and Fourth Army attacked along a twenty-mile front in Champagne on September 25. Meeting stiff resistance, Joffre's men gallantly attacked for over a month. Ending in early November, the offensive at no point had gained more than two miles, but the French lost 143,567 killed and wounded. With 1915 coming to a close, the Allies had been bled badly and had showed that they had learned little about attacking trenches while the Germans had become masters at defending them.

 

World War I: Opening Campaigns

 

The Schlieffen Plan

 

With the outbreak of World War I, the armies of Europe began mobilizing and moving towards the front according to elaborate timetables. In Germany, the army prepared to execute a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan. Devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen in 1905, the plan was a response to Germany's likely need to fight a two-front war against France and Russia. In the wake of their easy victory over the French in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Germany viewed France as less of a threat than its large neighbor to the east. As a result, Schlieffen decided to mass the bulk of Germany's military strength against France with the goal of scoring a quick victory before the Russians could fully mobilize their forces. With France defeated, Germany would be free to focus their attention to the east.
Anticipating that France would attack across the border into Alsace and Lorraine, which had been lost during the earlier conflict, the Germans intended to violate the neutrality of Luxembourg and Belgium to assault the French from the north in a massive battle of encirclement. German troops were to defend along the border while the right wing of the army swung through Belgium and past Paris in an effort to destroy the French army. In 1906, the plan was altered slightly by Chief of the General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who weakened the critical right wing to reinforce Alsace, Lorraine, and the Eastern Front.

The Rape of Belgium

 

After quickly occupying Luxembourg, German troops crossed into Belgium on August 4 after King Albert I's government refused to grant them free passage through the country. Possessing a small army, the Belgians relied on the fortresses of Liege and Namur to halt the Germans. Heavily fortified, the Germans met stiff resistance at Liege and were forced to bring up heavy siege guns to reduce its defenses. Surrendering on August 16, the fighting delayed the Schlieffen Plan's precise timetable and allowed the British and French to begin forming defenses to oppose the German advance.
While the Germans moved on to reduce Namur (August 20-23), Albert's small army retreated into the defenses at Antwerp. Occupying the country, the Germans, paranoid about guerilla warfare, executed thousands of innocent Belgians as well as burned several towns and cultural treasures such as the library at Louvain. Dubbed the "rape of Belgium," these actions were needless and served to blacken Germany's and Kaiser Wilhelm II's reputation abroad.

The Battle of the Frontiers

 

While the Germans were moving into Belgium, the French began to execute Plan XVII which, as their adversaries predicted, called for a massive thrust into the lost territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Guided by General Joseph Joffre, the French army pushed the VII Corps into Alsace on August 7 with orders to take Mulhouse and Colmar, while the main attack came in Lorraine a week later. Slowly falling back, the Germans inflicted heavy casualties on the French before halting the drive. Having held, Crown Prince Rupprecht, commanding the Sixth and Seventh German Armies, repeatedly petitioned for permission to go on the counter-offensive. This was granted on August 20, even though it contravened the Schlieffen Plan. Attacking, Rupprecht drove back the French Second Army, forcing the entire French line to fall back to the Moselle before being stopped on August 27.

Battles of Charleroi & Mons

 

As events were unfolding to the south, General Charles Lanrezac, commanding the Fifth Army on the French left flank became concerned about German progress in Belgium. Allowed by Joffre to shift forces north on August 15, Lanrezac formed a line behind the Sambre River. By the 20th, his line extended from Namur west to Charleroi with a cavalry corps linking his men to Field Marshal Sir John French's newly arrived, 70,000-man British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Though outnumbered, Lanrezac was ordered to attack across the Sambre by Joffre. Before he could do this, General Karl von Bülow's Second Army launched an assault across the river on August 21. Lasting three days, the Battle of Charleroi saw Lanrezac's men driven back. To his right, French forces attacked into the Ardennes but were defeated on August 21-23.
As the French were being driven back, the British established a strong position along the Mons-Condé Canal. Unlike the other armies in the conflict, the BEF consisted entirely of professional soldiers who had plied their trade in colonial wars around the empire. On August 22, cavalry patrols detected the advance of General Alexander von Kluck's First Army. Required to keep pace with the Second Army, Kluck attacked the British position on August 23. Fighting from prepared positions and delivering rapid, accurate rifle fire, the British inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. Holding until evening, French was forced to pull back when the French cavalry departed leaving his right flank vulnerable. Though a defeat, the British bought time for the French and Belgians to form a new defensive line.