THE FIRST WORLD WAR was so terrible and so titanic a struggle that its memory haunts us still, even in the 21 st century. No previous conflict had ever been as brutal or as vast in scale and its scars were so deep that it came to be known simply as "The GreatWar".
The battles fought so ferociously on land, sea and in the air, form the narrative core of this study, with some challenging new interpretations of the military events. However, distinguished historian H.P. Willmott has also focused his penetrating investigation beyond the military chronicle to produce a discerning analysis of the war's labyrinthine causes and its wider consequences for politics, economics, culture and society.
The scale of the world's first global war is accurately reflected in this panoramic survey which shows how a conflict that began amongst European powers swiftly escalated to embroil their colonial empires.
A vast range of original documentary and visual sources has been assembled to offer the reader a unique perspective on all aspects of the war. Vivid personal impressions of the fighting, letters home from the front and haunting war poetry add a startling clarity to this incisive account and remind the reader of the most important aspect of"the war to end all wars"- its appalling human cost.
THE ROAD TO WAR 1878 1914 8
The Years of Plenty 14
What is Declared 26
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR, 1914 34
The Invasion of Belgium and France 40
The Eastern Front: Serbia, Tannenberg and Galicia 46
The Battle of the Marne 52
The Race to the Sea 58
The First Battle of Ypres 61
New Offensives in the East 64
THE WIDENING WAR 1914- 1916 70
The Dardanelles Expedition 76
Caucasus, Egypt, Mesopotamia 84
The Italian Front 88
German Possessions in the East 90
War in Africa 92
WAR AND THE RISE OF THE STATE 1915 96
Deadlock in the West 102
The Eastern Front: Poland, Galicia and Serbia 114
The Home Front 122
BATTLES OF ATTRITION 1916 132
The Battle of Verdun 138
The Eastern Front: the Brusilov Offensive 146
The Battle of the Somme 158
EVENTS BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD 1914 1918 170
The War at Sea 176
The War in the Air 188
The US and the War 196
DISILLUSION, MUTINY AND REVOLUTION 1917 202
The Western Front: The Nivelle Offensive, French Mutinies,
and the Third Battle of Ypres 208
Russia and the Eastern Front: Revolution and Civil War in Russia 226
The Italian Front 232
Mesopotamia and Palestine 236
THE LAST GREAT BATTLES 1918 244
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 250
The German Spring Offensives 252
The Allied Counter-Offensives 262
Collapse of Germany's Allies: Salonika, Middle East, Vittorio Veneto 270
The German Search for an Armistice 282
A NEW WORLD ORDER 1919 1923 290
Aftermath of the War: Peace Talks and Settlements 292
Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, Turkey and the Middle East 296
The Legacy of the War 306
Glossary 310
Index 311
Acknowledgements 318
