World War I. Almanac

234 Pages·2001·10.4 MB·English

by  Sara Pendergast

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World War I
Almanac
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World War I
Almanac
Tom Pendergast
and Sara Pendergast
Christine Slovey,Editor
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c Tom Pendergast
a Sara Pendergast
n
Staff
a
Christine Slovey, U•X•L Senior Editor
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Elizabeth Shaw Grunow, U•X•L Contributing Editor
l Carol DeKane Nagel, U•X•L Managing Editor
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Tom Romig, U•X•L Publisher

: Shalice Shah-Caldwell, Permissions Associate (Pictures)
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Robyn Young, Imaging and Multimedia Content Editor
r Pamela A. Reed, Imaging Coordinator
a
W Rita Wimberly, Senior Buyer
Evi Seoud, Assistant Manager, Composition Purchasing and
Electronic Prepress
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Pamela A.E. Galbreath, Senior Art Designer
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r Jennifer Wahi, Art Designer
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Linda Mahoney, LM Design, Typesetting
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Cover Photos: Woman welder, reproduced courtesy of the Library of
Congress; United States Army Signal Corps, reproduced by permission of
AP/Wide World Photos; Celebrating the Armistice, reproduced by
permission of the Corbis Corporation (Bellevue).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pendergast, Tom.
World War I almanac / Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast ; edited by Christine Slovey.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-7876-5476-0 (alk. paper)
1. World War, 1914-1918. I. Title: World War One almanac. II. Title: World War 1
almanac. III. Pendergast, Sara. IV. Slovey, Christine. V. Title.
D521 .P37 2001
940.3—dc21 2001053012
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copy-
right laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition,
and other applicable laws. The editors of this work have added value to
the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the follow-
ing: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement,
and classification of the information. All rights to this publication will be
vigorously defended.
Copyright © 2002 U•X•L, an imprint of the Gale Group
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part
in any form.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Reader’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Words to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Research and Activity Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Chapter 1: Buildup to War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2: Setting the World on Fire:
The Start of World War I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Memorial Day,
Brookwood, Surrey.
Chapter 3: Settling in: The First Years
Reproduced by permission
on the Western Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
of Archive Photos, Inc.
Chapter 4: Changing Tides of War
on the Western Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 5: The War in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Chapter 6: The Far-Flung War:
Fighting on Distant Fronts . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Chapter 7: The War at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
v
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Chapter 8: Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Chapter 9:The Home Front:
Fighting a Total War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 10: Reluctant Warriors:
The United States in World War I . . . . . . . . . 171
Chapter 11: The Failed Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Chapter 12: Conclusion: The Costs of War . . . . . . 198
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix
vi World War I:Almanac
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Reader’s Guide
World War I was truly one of the most tragic events of the
twentieth century. The war began over a terrorist act in
the provinces of the fading Austro-Hungarian Empire and
could have been avoided if Germany, Russia, and France hadn’t
felt compelled to obey secret treaties they had signed years
before. Those secret treaties turned a small conflict into one
that involved every major country in Europe and eventually
many other nations from around the world. In the course of
just over four years of war, nearly ten million soldiers and civil-
ians lost their lives; billions of dollars were spent on killing
machines—guns, tanks, submarines—and the economies of
most of the warring countries were severely disrupted; two
great empires—the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the
Ottoman Empire—collapsed in defeat.
At the end of this terrible conflict, little had changed.
Ethnic conflicts in the Balkan region continued to pit neigh-
bor against neighbor. Attempts to create an international orga-
nization that would ensure world peace collapsed when the
United States withdrew its support. Germany, though
defeated, remained at odds with its rivals, France and England,
vii
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and military leaders within Germany longed to avenge their
defeat. Within twenty years of the end of World War I these
simmering tensions sparked another war, World War II, which
returned death and destruction to the continent of Europe and
to battlefields all over the world.
Features
World War I: Almanac covers the war in twelve the-
matic chapters, each geared toward offering an understanding
of a single element of the conflict, from the underlying causes
of the war to the many battles fought on the various fronts to
the anguished attempt to establish world peace at the war’s
end. More than 70 black-and-white photos and maps illustrate
the text. Numerous sidebars highlight interesting individuals
and fascinating facts. The volume also includes a glossary, a
timeline, research and activities ideas, sources for further read-
ing, and a subject index.
Related Reference Sources
World War I: Biographies(one volume) presents biogra-
phies of thirty men and women who were involved in World
War I. Profiled are readily recognizable figures, such as U.S.
president Woodrow Wilson and German leader Kaiser Wil-
helm II, as well as lesser-known people like Jewish spy Sarah
Aaronsohn and English nurse Edith Cavell.
World War I: Primary Sources(one volume) offers thirty-
three full or excerpted documents from the World War I era.
Included are Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” speech;
excerpts from Ernest Hemingway’s novel Farewell to Arms;
poems from leading war poets such as Alan Seeger and Rupert
Brooke; and the “Dual Alliance” secret treaty between Ger-
many and Austria-Hungary. A sampling of propaganda posters
and numerous first-person accounts from soldiers at the front
are also present.
Dedication
To our children, Conrad and Louisa.
viii World War :Almanac
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Special Thanks
We’d like to thank several people who have con-
tributed to the creation of this book. We could ask for no bet-
ter editor than Christine Slovey at U•X•L, who saw this book
through most of its creation and always helped make our job
easier. Dick Hetland—chair of the social studies department
and teacher of twentieth-century American history at Sno-
homish High School in Snohomish, Washington—offered
invaluable advice on how to shape the content of this book to
fit the needs of students.
There are many others who contributed to this book
without even knowing it. They are the historians and scholars
who contributed their skills to writing books and articles on
one of the most tragic events in human history. Their names
can be found in the bibliographies of every chapter, and our
debt to them is great.
Suggestions
We welcome any comments on the World War I:
Almanac. Please write: Editors, World War I: Almanac, U•X•L,
Gale Group, 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, Michigan,
48331-3535; call toll-free: 800-877-4253; or fax to: 248-699-
8097; or e-mail via www.galegroup.com.
Reader’s Guide ix
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Timeline
1871 German states unify after defeating France in 1870; the
Franco-Prussian war is the source of some of the hatred
between France and Germany
1872 The emperors of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Rus-
sia pledge their friendship to each other in the League
of the Three Emperors
1879 Germany and Austria-Hungary create the Dual Alliance
1904 Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale, an agree-
ment settling long-running arguments over colonial
Police apprehending
territories and promising future cooperation in mili-
Gavrilo Princip after
tary affairs
he assassinated Crown
1908 Austria-Hungary annexes the provinces of Bosnia and Prince Franz Ferdinand.
Herzegovina, angering Serbia, which wanted to domi- Reproduced by permission
nate the Balkan region of the Corbis Corporation
(Bellevue).
1914 June 28 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassi-
nated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo
July 23 Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum con-
cerning the investigation of the assasination to Serbia;
Serbia refused to comply with its terms
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