A horrendous, unexpected war, like a 'clap of thunder in a cloudless sky', cost 10 million lives and brought about the end of four great, long standing empires - Germany, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian. Not only was the beginning of WWI mismanaged to get it started, but it was mismanaged at the end that directly led to the start of WWII.
Every summer I pick a big sprawling topic to wrap my mind around - and this summer, I tried reading and researching this fascinating 'war to end all wars'. I do have a few more weeks to go this summer - but other than maybe reading 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves, I think I am ready to but a bow-tie on this topic!
I have attempted to describe the entire war and its implications through 10 pictures and brief summaries. If it sparks an interest, I have also listed a set of entertaining and informative references at the end.
(The fun and editorial challenge here is to keep this piece easy to absorb and interesting, tell the story in its essence, understand the scope is too vast to cover in its nuance and pick a point of view from within the cacophony of view points, propaganda and analysis).
Hope you like these 10 pictures of WWI from beginning to end, attendant descriptions and one more picture to draw out implications for today ....
Side note: Bismarck is the first in the world to start a retirement pension system.
Side note: The Harvard historian Niall Ferguson who is of British origin, argues that Britain got into the war not because of their treaty with Belgium, but because of high unemployment at home and the labor party afraid of being branded as weak, right before the upcoming elections.
Side note: my all time favorite quote from WWI. After the complete disaster of the Gallipoli campaign where the allies lost to the Ottoman Turks, and where Winston Churchill was demoted, the saying regarding inept officers (Ian Hamilton in particular) who sent brave soldiers to their death was, "Lions Led by Donkeys"
Side note: The Big Bertha Callaway golf driver is named after the huge super heavy howitzer German gun that caused a lot of damage and deaths including smashing forts.
Side note: Unlike WWI, WWII is not a story of Lions led by Donkeys. It is indeed, a story of a Pride of Lions guarding freedom and democracy against totalitarian tyranny - The four lions being FDR, Churchill, Truman, Eisenhower.
Side note: I really, really feel like using this pun. So please pardon me in advance. The guru of drones is, 'Dronacharya'! (A seriously seasoned military arts teacher in the Indian Epic, Mahabharata).
References:
The literature on WWI is epic in scale. Here is a sample that I went through this summer.
Books
World War I - John Keegan A great one volume summary of the war. Well written by the eminent military historian. Who has written even better narrative on WWII. But, whew, that is for another summer!
Sleepwalkers - Christopher Clark Rather than assign blame (Germany did it!), this book explores the sequence of events that led to the start of WWI in 1914.
The Pity of War - Niall Ferguson. Argues that Britain got into the war for all the wrong reasons.
Lawrence in Arabia - Good accompaniment to the movie Lawrence of Arabia.
Movies
All is quiet on the western front - Great anti-war movie from German perspective
Paths of glory - Searing movie starring Kirk Douglas about snobbish and out of touch French leaders (the Donkeys!)
Gallipoli - Churchill's WWI disaster. Singular event that caused Australia and New Zealand to emotionally become their own nations. Horrifically inept British officers (famous saying 'Lions led by Donkeys')
Grand Illusion - Grand daddy of war movies. Inspired great escape and stalag 17 decades later. Poignantly shows the upcoming social change and the demise of the great families.
Lawrence of Arabia - Arabs unite to overthrow the ottomans with the help of Lawrence. He and Churchill carve up the middle east after the war.
Sergeant York - A good example of America to the rescue!
Downton Abbey - The wildly popular TV soap that just finished its third season that generated a lot of interest in how WWI changed the Edwardian English society.
Documentaries and online learning
Khan Academy - Easy to digest 10 minute chunks of the entire epic disaster.
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/euro-hist/world-war-I-tutorial/v/empires-before-world-war-i
National Geographic and BBC - Well done documentaries on all aspects of the war available on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaRaL5Pqz68
Every summer I pick a big sprawling topic to wrap my mind around - and this summer, I tried reading and researching this fascinating 'war to end all wars'. I do have a few more weeks to go this summer - but other than maybe reading 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves, I think I am ready to but a bow-tie on this topic!
I have attempted to describe the entire war and its implications through 10 pictures and brief summaries. If it sparks an interest, I have also listed a set of entertaining and informative references at the end.
(The fun and editorial challenge here is to keep this piece easy to absorb and interesting, tell the story in its essence, understand the scope is too vast to cover in its nuance and pick a point of view from within the cacophony of view points, propaganda and analysis).
Hope you like these 10 pictures of WWI from beginning to end, attendant descriptions and one more picture to draw out implications for today ....
I. Bismarck
Before WWI begins, the stage is set when the great uniter of Germany, Otto Von Bismarck bites off a piece of France, the Alsace-Lorraine province and integrates it into Germany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. This is a full 40 years prior to the beginning of WWI.
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| Bismarck (in helmet) and the defeated Napoleon III |
Side note: Bismarck is the first in the world to start a retirement pension system.
II. Black Hand
The Serbians were chafing under the Austro-Hungarian rule. On June 28, 1914 Gavrilo Princip, a member of a covert rebel outfit named the Black Hand, assassinate the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand
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| Archduke Franz Ferdinand touring Serbia against vociferous advice not to do so |
Side note: Serbia wanted a 'greater Serbia' that far back - not just during the Clinton years in the 1990s. When we hear anyone wants a 'greater anything' - watchout!
III. Schleiffen Plan
Austro-Hungary persuades Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm to support their attack of Serbian Nationalists and does so on July 28, 1914 - exactly a month after the assassination of the Archduke. And Germany agrees to support and responds .... by attacking France and Russia. This is a true story!
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| "Let's crush France quickly, then take care of Russia," said Field Marshall Herr Alfred Graf von Schlieffen |
Side note: Otto Von Bismarck had a real bad feeling about Kaiser Wilhelm's leadership and feared a world war, since he, over fifty years managed carefully a 'balance of power' between the empires; and Kaiser Wilhelm was just upsetting the apple cart.
IV. All in
At this point everyone jumped in. Britain because Germany had to go through Belgium to get into France and Britain had a treaty with Belgium. France and Russia were attacked. The Ottomans had an alliance with Germany - so they jumped in. And Japan wanted to take advantage of the distraction and grab German possessions in the pacific.
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| A tangled web of alliances that drew everyone in. |
V. Trenches & Stalemate
Unlike WWII, WWI was largely a war fought in rural areas. So the major urban centers did not suffer nearly as much damage. However, the defining characteristic of WW1 was stalemate due to trench warfare.
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| Mel Gibson in the movie on 'Gallipoli' - A searing national experience for Australia and New Zealand |
VI. Technology
This was the first war of mass death primarily because of the new horrifying weapons (machine guns, poison gas, tanks, airplanes, submarines) combined with old tactics such as cavalry and trench warfare. A true example of generals fighting the last war.
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| Bodies would be thrown at the opposition only to be 'mowed down' by machine guns. |
VII. To the rescue
The US stayed out of the war until the very last year. President Wilson even campaigned on not getting into the war. But when he joined, the war decisively turned in the allies favor.
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| Gary Cooper playing Sergeant York |
Side note: It is very much in the American mythology to have the image of riding to the rescue. Think of all the Cavalry's to the rescue in Westerns. Come to think of it, Hans Solo coming to Luke Skywalker's rescue in Star Wars, after declining to fight the battle to bring down the Death Star.
VIII. Empires Lost
Four Empires that between them ruled a vast majority of the world population over centuries, just evaporated at the end of WWI - Germany, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Russian Empires.
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| David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia - the Sykes Picot secret agreement carved up the Ottoman Empire after false promises to the Arabs who fought the Ottomans |
Side note: In a act signifying his disagreement about the treatment of Arabia after WWI, T.E. Lawrence refuses Knighthood after being the rare person invited to private audience with the King and Queen for this honor. (Am reminded of Tagore renouncing his title).
IX. The King of Bad Deals
Everything about this disaster is bad - but the Paris Talks that produced the Treaty of Versailles was the most unkindest cut of all. Georges Clemenceau, against the express wishes of both Woodrow Wilson and Lloyd George insisted on punishing the defeated Germany to the fullest - loss of empire, huge reparations, restrictions on defending itself. (France did recover the Alsace-Lorraine province that they had lost to Bismarck 50 years earlier).
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| The Big Four - Wilson, George, Clemenceau, Orlando |
Side note 1: Wilson succeeded in getting the world to sign on to the League of Nations idea - but failed at home. Not having the world's most powerful nation to emerge out of WWI as a signatory, was a big reason why the League of Nations failed. Franklin Roosevelt was in the Wilson administration at that time and learned these lessons. He went on to setup the United Nations after WWII, when he was President.
Side note 2: Mahatma Gandhi was deeply disillusioned that India's support of Britain in the war did not lead to independence talks. He then resolves to find other means to lead India's march to Independence.
X. Seeds of destruction
There is no debate on this point that the unfair burdens imposed by the Paris Talks (thank you Clemenceau!) directly led to the rise of The Third Reich.
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| In times of deep economic trouble and dislocation - extreme groups will find appeal. Let's be warned |
Side note: Unlike WWI, WWII is not a story of Lions led by Donkeys. It is indeed, a story of a Pride of Lions guarding freedom and democracy against totalitarian tyranny - The four lions being FDR, Churchill, Truman, Eisenhower.
Implications for Today
We hope our generals don't 'fight the last war'. Drones, Cyber Warfare, Mobile weapons of mass destruction, Virulent ideology - this is the new order of the day. The Korean Peninsula, India-Pakistan, Israel-Iran, China-Taiwan - any of these can be a trigger to set off a new powder keg. What geo-politcal structures are needed now (not after) to prevent a conflagration?
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| Unmanned drone delivering a 'payload' - Are we ready for this brave new world? |
References:
The literature on WWI is epic in scale. Here is a sample that I went through this summer.
Books
World War I - John Keegan A great one volume summary of the war. Well written by the eminent military historian. Who has written even better narrative on WWII. But, whew, that is for another summer!
Sleepwalkers - Christopher Clark Rather than assign blame (Germany did it!), this book explores the sequence of events that led to the start of WWI in 1914.
The Pity of War - Niall Ferguson. Argues that Britain got into the war for all the wrong reasons.
Lawrence in Arabia - Good accompaniment to the movie Lawrence of Arabia.
Movies
All is quiet on the western front - Great anti-war movie from German perspective
Paths of glory - Searing movie starring Kirk Douglas about snobbish and out of touch French leaders (the Donkeys!)
Gallipoli - Churchill's WWI disaster. Singular event that caused Australia and New Zealand to emotionally become their own nations. Horrifically inept British officers (famous saying 'Lions led by Donkeys')
Grand Illusion - Grand daddy of war movies. Inspired great escape and stalag 17 decades later. Poignantly shows the upcoming social change and the demise of the great families.
Lawrence of Arabia - Arabs unite to overthrow the ottomans with the help of Lawrence. He and Churchill carve up the middle east after the war.
Sergeant York - A good example of America to the rescue!
Downton Abbey - The wildly popular TV soap that just finished its third season that generated a lot of interest in how WWI changed the Edwardian English society.
Documentaries and online learning
Khan Academy - Easy to digest 10 minute chunks of the entire epic disaster.
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/euro-hist/world-war-I-tutorial/v/empires-before-world-war-i
National Geographic and BBC - Well done documentaries on all aspects of the war available on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaRaL5Pqz68
7 comments:
Good stuff. Great graphics and your ten choices for telling the tale are probably as good as any. Certainly they’d be included in most.
Since the one book I have recently read about the period, Frederic Morton’s A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889, is still on my mind, I just can’t help adding it to the list of books that might explain at least the lead up to that war. It’s the story of the end of an era. An end which can already be seen even as it attained what is arguably its cultural heights. At least the heights found in the dazzling capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna.
It’s primary focus is the final year in the life of the prince who would have been its next emperor, Crown Prince Rudolf. A modern man, by that period’s standards, he wanted to drag the empire into the coming twentieth century. But his father, Emperor Franz Joseph, was a hidebound conservative who would have none of it. So Rudolf worked behind the scenes to advance classical liberalism even as his contemporary, an allied prince, and a bête noir since boyhood, and soon to become Kaiser Wilhelm II, ridiculed and undermined his efforts throughout Europe. He ridiculed them as he saw himself as the one who would not only not liberalize his empire but rather would double-down on it; he would build his “Greater – ever and ever Greater – Reich.”
Seeing no future for himself, Rudolph committed suicide. Leaving many to speculate as to what might have been had Franz Joseph died earlier leaving the empire to Rudolph, a man who was much more amenable to giving autonomy to Serbia and other nationalities of the polyglot Hapsburg Empire.
And, it is speculated, his liberalism would likely have offered more room for the flowering of what many considered the great paradox of Vienna: this rigid, aristocratic, wedding cake of a city also “bred the geniuses who foretold the modern world.” Living in Vienna at the time of the Crown Prince’s suicide were Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Theodor Herzl (who started Zionism), Gustav Klimt and the playwright Arthur Schnitzler – in addition to Bruckner, Brahms and Strauss.
Instead, the book ends with this scene after Rudolf’s suicide on the 30th of January, 1889:
On Saturday, April 20, [1889], the day before Easter, at 4 P.M., Mozart’s “Te Deum” was sung in the Court Chapel, a few yards from Rudolf’s old apartment. Professor Anton Bruckner drew great chords and holy harmonies from the organ to celebrate the Resurrection. While the master’s august music rose among the vaultings, a different sound was heard in Bruckner’s native Upper Austria at Braunau. It was the thin cry of a baby born that afternoon. The parents were Alois and Klara Hitler. They named the little one Adolph.
And as for the “Implications for Today”:
1. Is the Blue Model of democratic socialism today’s regime, desperately trying to hold on well past its prime?
2. Is the EU today’s multicultural Hapsburg Empire, falling apart before our eyes?
3. Is multiculturalism as an ideology experiencing the same fate?
But of course, folks have been arguing about that war ever since it broke out.
And we may well be arguing about it well past WWIII… if we’re still around to argue.
Very funny... shared by a friend: Speaking of world wars ...
If Facebook existed during World War 2
http://damnxd.org/view.php?fid=1020
Fun read. There are far more "powder keg" moments today that a century ago and they transcend traditional border dispute issues. In particular I am thinking about the growing economic imbalance that exists in the world and how that could spark conflict.
Enjoyed this overview, Surya - as someone who was not well versed in WWI's origins. In addition to the economic imbalances that lead to wars, I also took away that the concentration of power in the hands of a few can be so damning... "Lions led by donkeys" indeeed. Thanks for sharing.
I liked this. Reading even extensively about this war leaves me floundering. One knows the bare facts but this was a good way to "bullet point".
Interesting stuff for sure, and it is a reminder of how transient countries / empires etc. have been throughout history.
Makes one wonder when the next shoe will drop...
Bravo! this was awesome ... in 10 pics ..Well done!!!!!!
war is ugly and
#4 saddens me
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