13.11.07
The First World War was like no other war that had gone before it.
The First World War of 1914-1918, also known as the Great War was the first global war in the history. War began because of conflicts between European empires. Europe was spitted in two great alliances the triple alliance of France, Britain and Russia on one side and the central powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other. The conflict in Europe caused the war that involved the imperial powers of Europe and their colonies and lands such as the Ottoman Empire, Japan and the United States. The number of countries involved in the conflict is enough to describe the First World War as a mass war, what makes it total is the fact that it was waged not only against the enemy armies, but also against the civilian population. The First World War was represented by new war technologies, new strategies and tactics, greatest battles in the history, number of countries involved what makes this war different form other wars that had gone before it.
The number of countries involved in the war was the greatest in history. It involved more countries than any previous war. It used new technology into warfare, and caused destruction on an unequalled scale. It was global war that involved the mobilization not just of vast armies, but of whole nations. Thanks to the new and developed transportation system trough the seas and land the First World War not only involved European empires and countries, but also the colonies. Altogether about thirty-two nations were involved in the war. Many numbers soldiers were sent from colonies like New Zeeland, Australia, Canada, India and South Africa to support the imperial powers in the conflict. The war affected not only people in Europe, but also in other continents that’s why we can call it a world war.
The First World War was special because it involved the largest number of people in the history. It started as a competition between European empires to get the largest army and show how powerful they are and get respect. In the First World War were involved altogether 66,032,000 soldiers and 2,813,000 soldiers form colonies. The largest armies had Russia 12,000,000; Germany 11,000,000; Great Britain 8,905,000; France 8,410,000; Austria-Hungary 7,800,000; Italy 5,615,000 and USA 4,355,000. Not only soldiers were involved in the war but also unarmed civilians.
The First World War caused the biggest casualties that history had never seen before. The number of World War I casualties, both military and civilian was above 40 million — 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. This includes 9.7 million military deaths and about 10.0 million civilian deaths. The Entente Powers lost more than 5 million soldiers and the Central Powers about 4 million soldiers.
The First Word War set a new record in numbers of battles. There was together 146 battles form the 5th August 1914 till 29th October 1918. The battles were not only on the land but also in the sea and air.
No other war had been as mobile as the World War one. Thanks to twentieth century delivery system it was very easy and quick to transport troops form one place to another. The delivery systems of armies were the railway network of Europe and speedily transport ships. Trains where used to transport troops to the fronts and also supply them with food and ammunition and equipment. It was quite faster and easier to transport heavy arterially by railway instead of human or animal force. Without railways armies could move only at the speed of a marching a man and horse pulling a heavy artillery.
The First World War was like no other war in the history because of new weapons of war. The reason why this war caused so many deaths was thanks to developed gun and artillery technology. Trenches, machineguns, grenades, flamethrowers, trench mortars, tanks, air reconnaissance and attacks, barbed wires, and modern artillery with new type shells helped to bring more death in battle lines. The biggest turn in the war was after Brits invited the first tank. The race was not only on battlefield but also in weapon advancement. Countries spend lots of funds in weapon development for example in chemical weapons.
Thanks to industrialization and the application of mass production methods it was possible to produce enough weapons to arm all soldiers. Countries like Germany, UK, France and USA geared their industries to the new markets of human destruction and turned out weapons and ammunition in unbelievable quantities.
The First World War was not only on the battle fields but also in diplomacy between countries and alliances. The success of the war was dependent of tactics and strategies.
Modern technologies like telephone lines and telegraphs provided fast information exchange between front lines and headquarters. The First World War was also very special because of new strategies used in it. The need of new combat strategies was because of new combat technologies used in it. It was not a smart move to send soldiers against machineguns or tanks. Colonels, generals and captains had to be smarter then ever to defeat the enemies.
The First World War was not only on the land but also in the sea and in air. The main battles in the sea were between British and German navies. Great Britain’s navy was the largest in the world and it had control about all important seaways. Germans used submarines and torpedoes to attack British ships.
The First World War was so unique because no other war that had gone before it was similar to it. This war affected all areas of life-social, political and economical. This war was first global war in the history; it involved four continents and amazing number of people. The usage of new type of war technologies caused horrible consequences and innocent human death.