the lamps are going out all over europe we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime so remarked the british foreign secretary sir edward gray as the european continent geared up for war in the summer of 1914 although at first glance his words appear somewhat fantastic the fact is that what would transpire over the following four years would so dramatically change the world that the consequences of which would not be fully resolved until the end of the century when all key figures involved had long since died including grey himself even today the consequences of that summer are still being felt and we all live in the shadow of the great war the first world war [Music] welcome to wars of the world today's episode is sponsored by magellan tv if you're a fan of history and if you're watching this you probably are you might have run into a problem that i certainly have with the same old subject matters getting reworked to death yes we know about rome yes we know about the second world war and although these are important stories to tell you might find yourself hoping that someone somewhere would launch an entirely new catalogue of historical content the likes of which you've never seen well magellan tv is the answer magellan tv is a state-of-the-art documentary and docu-series streaming service both created and cultivated by a team of filmmakers it includes an incredible blend of history related films and featured shows the most unique and magnificent ever created online the sub-genres range anywhere from ancient to modern history to the art of war which if you're a fan of wars of the world would be right up your alley there are also countless hours of content covering other subjects like true crime or science too there are 15 to 20 hours of new content uploaded to the site every week featuring absolutely no advertisements and available on any electronic device be it a television or telephone the magellan tv app is also compatible with services like roku amazon fire tv apple tv and google play one title that really captured our history driven hearts is kadoka the spirit lives a 94-minute documentary detailing the passion and courage by the diggers who secured australia's independence during the pacific wars it is sure to have you standing and cheering by the end and gives those directly affected by war an empathetic look at their story just as we aim to do here on wars of the world sign up for magellan tv today using the link in the description and get your first month completely free new history content awaits so just what did spark this great calamity of history at the dawn of the 20th century europe was at a crossroads on the one hand it still clung to the old victorian ideas of monarchy class culture and empire however on the other new ideas such as socialism nationalism and greater democracy coupled with the application of technology particularly in terms of communication such as an expanding train network which made continental travel fast and safe as well as greater literacy rates meant that in almost every country there were calls for change of some kind or another one man that seemed to realize that the old ways were slowly dying out was archduke franz ferdinand of the austro-hungarian empire in an age of regal conformity ferdinand was something of a rebel he surrendered his claim to the austro-hungarian throne in order to marry for love rather than secure his position and he also worked to stabilize the security of his family's empire often through comparatively radical policies he engaged in a diplomatic effort with imperial russia under tsar nicholas ii in order to end simmering hostilities between the two empires while at the same time he recognized that internally the austro-hungarian empire was going to have to change this empire extended into eastern europe and the balkan regions and thus being under one banner it was composed of various ethnic and religious factions many of whom distrusted or actively hated the other leading to an epidemic of violence and terrorism in the 1900s in the balkan holdings especially ethnic tensions were high as were nationalist ideals of independence which were exacerbated by neighboring serbia whose interests lay with the many ethnic serbs within austro-hungarian controlled territory in the balkans furthermore serbia was allied with imperial russia who were in turn allied with france russia viewed the serbian people as their fellow slavs and vowed to defend them against the austro-hungarians if war should break out which would also see france drawn into the fighting but austro-hungary had their own allies in the form of neighboring germany despite germany's position as one of the younger nations in europe at the time coming into being in 1871 it was a prosperous country in 1914 that was quickly overtaking its european neighbors however it was ruled by the egotistical kaiser wilhelm ii a grandson of england's queen victoria who clung on to increasingly obsolete ideals such as militarism and imperialism he and his close governments viewed the 20th century as the time of germany's rise to true superpower level but to do that he needed to challenge the powers of all namely britain france and russia as such wilhelm ii built up a huge army and a powerful navy with which he could exert his influence on the world stage strengthening german possessions in africa china and the pacific while brutally cracking down on any opposition there germany's arms program triggered an almost out of control and costly arms race in europe from the 1890s britain was still the largest empire in the world and as such relied upon a massive royal navy to protect and police it for the royal navy and the british people numbers of ships were more important than anything else thus despite its strength on paper much of the british fleet comprised of older vessels since it was simply too expensive to replace all of them with the modern types that were appearing consequently by the 1910s the fleet which outnumbered any other in europe was a mix of ultra-modern dreadnoughts backed up by aging cruisers some of which had originally been launched with masts for sales although these had now been removed on land the french army was a major thorn for germany's ambitions in europe being one of the largest standing military forces numbering over 777 000 professional troops plus some 38 000 colonial troops compared to the kaiser's seven hundred thousand french forces were also one of the most modern equipped with machine guns modern artillery pieces and the growing number of these newfangled aeroplanes but it was on the other side of germany that the kaiser saw his biggest opponent in imperial russia whose army was reported to have 5.7 million within its ranks the largest in the world however this impressive figure was completely offset by a number of factors that would inhibit its effectiveness still a largely agricultural country its war manufacturing base paled in comparison to germany's and so vast amounts of russia's equipment was out of date therefore in any war between moscow and berlin it would be a question of russia's quantity versus germany's quality and in that regard kaiser wilhelm ii was supremely confident that his own men would more than make up for the shortfall in numbers even with france in the fighting on the west there was also the ever-present threat of revolution in an increasingly turbulent russia yet despite this arms race and the old game of military brinksmanship being played on the european continent few truly believed war would actually come instead relying on the concept of deterrence with each side building up vast armies and navies with which to counter one another the ongoing problem of terrorism and revolution however was not so easily kept in check for his part in attempting to address the growing problems within his country's empire franz ferdinand even suggested a new monarchy be established with the three main factions one of whom were the slavs sharing the throne equally the austro-hungarian ruling elites were appalled at the suggestion and even went as far as to label him insane due to inbreeding within his dynasty their alternative was simply to crack down on any descent which only further fueled resentment nevertheless ferdinand continued to push for change in order to save the increasingly fractured empire then in 1914 he decided to accept an invitation to visit the empire's territory of bosnia disregarding warnings concerning a nationalist movement in operation there named the black hand ferdinand and his wife's train arrived in bosnia's capital on june 28 1914 something that sparked outrage from the serb population within bosnia for each year june 28th is a national day of commemoration for it marks the anniversary of the serb victory over the turks at the battle of kosovo in 1389. for members of the black hand therefore there could be no greater symbol for their cause than to assassinate a member of the austro-hungarian monarchy that was oppressing them on that date at 10 10 a.m ferdinand and his wife sophia were traveling in an open top car so they could wave to the crowds lining the streets when a grenade was thrown at them this attack failed as ferdinand's driver saw the weapon being hurled and sped up leading it to detonating beneath the car behind theirs however by some incredible twist of fate later in the day as ferdinand and sophia were being driven back to the palace where they would be staying the driver took a wrong turn into a side streets and into the path of gavrilo princip a member of the black hand seizing his opportunity he took out a pistol and shot the couple the two died on the way to hospital ferdinand clutching the woman he loved until his last breath the nationalists celebrated their victory but they had no idea what they had just unleashed on the world given that it was serb nationalists that were responsible for the killing the kaiser told the austro-hungarians that they would fully support any measures they decided to take in punishing serbia the now famous blank check but behind closed doors wilhelm was secretly pushing for war he wanted the austro-hungarians to invade serbia even though it would likely spark off war with russia who he believed could be defeated quickly since the russian army while large was tactically and technologically inferior and russia itself seemed constantly on the brink of revolution he also believed that the combined might of germany and austro-hungary could keep france at bay if they honored their alliance with russia and intervenes this would in his mind finally allow him to achieve military dominance over europe and establish germany as a true superpower militarily and not just economically the question nobody in the kaiser's government could seem to answer however is what would britain do if war erupted on the continent britain's army was comparatively small but could call upon troops from australia canada india and new zealand while the royal navy could seriously damage germany's empire abroad despite his ascertation of his army's superiority even the kaiser had to accept that fighting russia france and the british empire and supporting austro-hungary in the balkans was too much but while britain had shown its support for france in face of german aggression it was wary of france's russian allies london and moscow had similar aims in europe which should have made them neutral allies however they were staunch rivals in the far east as such britain remained out of any formal treaties that would drag her into a war that was primarily a russian concern such as the invasion of serbia but also couldn't ignore the situation in europe therefore britain entered into an entent with france saying it would support her if attacked but an ontance was in no way binding on july 23 1914 a month after ferdinand's assassination the austro-hungarians delivered an outrageous ultimatum to serbia that every country observing the situation was convinced was designed to be rejected and was suspected to have been dictated to them by the kaiser the ultimatum had six key points to it including forcing serbia to distance itself from the national goal in austro-hungarian territory serbian forces should clamp down on nationalist groups in serbia that threaten austro-hungarian rule and have austro-hungarian officials lead the investigation the serbians appealed to russia for help but realizing time was not on their side they agreed to all parts of the ultimatum namely the austro-hungarians being involved in internal investigations of the assassination and other groups opposed to austro-hungary in bosnia this seemed reasonable to the world but not having all of its demands met and at the insistence of germany austro-hungary used this one rejection as an excuse and invaded on july 28 1914 over the coming days events would dramatically spiral out of control russia had begun to mobilize in the wake of the ultimatum and germany responded in kind before the kaiser declared war on russia on august 1st the next day a skirmish broke out between french and german troops at the french town of johnshary in what was the first battle of the western front and the next day the kaiser declared war on france france now turned to britain for support but britain although alarmed at the situation was more preoccupied with an impending uprising in ireland than events in europe and remained undecided about what to do kaiser wilhelm wanted a swift victory against france and attacked the so-called iron gates of paris at longwood knowing that if the french were defeated there then the country could be flooded with german troops and forced to surrender to his terms however he made the mistake of sending his troops through belgium which had declared itself neutral when the fighting broke out britain had a treaty with belgium safeguarding their neutrality which the kaiser dismissed as little more than a piece of paper this blatant disregard for britain's word forced london to finally declare war on germany and austro-hungary on august 4th on august 7 1914 the first troops of the british expeditionary force landed in france and marched towards the advancing germans in belgium and northeastern france unlike the brutal trench warfare that would come later the early days of the war were quite fluid in nature where a rapidly changing strategic picture making reconnaissance a top priority for both sides and new technologies would provide the answer however while this was happening unbeknownst to anyone the kaiser had secretly entered into an agreement with the ottoman empire led by modern-day turkey bringing them in on his side together germany austro-hungary and the ottoman empire formed the triple alliance with the ottoman empire bursting into the war on october 28 1914 by attacking russian ports in the black sea leading to britain france and russia formally declaring war on them on november 4th the kaiser had seduced the ailing ottoman empire into joining germany by his forces string of early victories and the promise of territorial gains while at the same time warning of the consequences if they didn't join thus every major power in europe was now thrown together in war together the kaiser's germany and his allies became known as the central powers with many of those countries having empires the fighting inevitably spilled over into other parts of the world eventually encompassing parts of africa as well as the middle east and far east proof of this was provided barely a week later after the start of hostilities when the german ship ss false was fired on and captured by australian forces south of melbourne eight and a half thousand miles away from serbia just a few days after that british empire and french forces invaded and captured durman tuggerland in west africa the great powers of europe had not engaged in a full-scale war for over 60 years during which time the industrial revolution had flourished as such the technology of war had dramatically changed the dimensions of battle but sadly military tactics often failed to keep pace even to the extent that in the opening battles many french troops still adorned themselves in the traditional blue tunic rather than the subdued colours they would later use to prevent them standing out to snipers perhaps the most significant development in weaponry was the machine gun while there are variations of machine guns they all work in a similar manner whereby the energy created in one bullet being fired helps reload the next bullet almost instantaneously the result is a weapon that allows one man to fire 400 to 500 rounds a minute whereas before using traditional bolt action rifles he could only discharge at best 10 to 20. this had a major impact on traditional tactics that still prioritize the importance of the massed cavalry charge with soldiers on horseback over open planes when the war was barely a month old nearly three-quarters of a million casualties had already been suffered by the major combatants on the eastern and western fronts and it was thanks largely to the perfect storm of obsolete tactics in the face of this new dreaded weapon never before had such death been inflicted in war on such a scale and the war itself was barely 30 days old another tool for war that would come to the fore very quickly was the aeroplane despite having been invented by the wright brothers just 11 years previously early skepticism of the aeroplane in a military role quickly gave way to enthusiasm as military leaders realized it was a useful tool for locating the enemy and coordinating artillery attacks on september 2nd 1914 with the allies on the western front in full retreats and paris seemingly on the verge of falling a french aircraft spotted a weakness in the german lines and this allowed the allies to successfully counter attack in doing so they saved paris and possibly france itself from falling dramatically changing the course of the war it was the first time in history an aircraft had overwhelmingly affected the course of a war in fact aeroplanes on both sides became so good at reconnaissance and artillery spotting that both sides realized they were going to have to come up with a way to stop them pilots therefore began experimenting with ways to destroy an enemy aircraft they encountered in the air and this led to some bizarre experiments such as using an anchor to snag enemy planes the obvious answer was to fit guns on the aircraft but many of the early machines were too underpowered to carry machine guns instead their crews tried firing pistols and rifles at enemy pilots which was sometimes enough to only warn an enemy off since actually hitting the plane was all but impossible the outbreak of war saw a dramatic increase in the pace of aircraft and weapon development leading to the first true fighter aircraft known then as fighting scouts and these would turn the skies into a brutal killing field the problem however was that the machine gun couldn't fire through the propeller and instead was mounted around it which made it difficult to aim some aircraft put the propeller at the rear of the aircraft so it would not be an issue but the germans would later introduce the idea of synchronizing the gun to the turning of the propeller this meant that the bullets fired between the blades as they turned stopping as the blade passed in front of the gun and firing again when the blades were clear fighter pilots became celebrities during the war with the most famous being manfred von richthoven a man whose name would forever be remembered by the accolade of being the red baron richtofen's legacy went beyond his own score of 80 confirmed kills what made him so great was his ability to teach his subordinates the skills he learned in combat and he wrote some of the earliest training manuals on air combat the principles of which are still taught to fighter pilots today bombing from the air also came to fruition during the war initially it was used as an extension of the army's artillery but as the war progressed aircraft became heavier and more powerful and began carrying out the first true strategic bombing raids against enemy cities while pilots took the war into the skies sailors were taking the war under the sea the first world war was the first major conflict involving the widespread use of submarines submarine warfare was not a new concept with the first ever submarine attack taking place during the american revolutionary war but it came of age at the beginning of the 20th century and its influence on the war was both spectacular and totally unexpected a taste of the power the submarine offered was witnessed on september 22nd 1914 the german submarine u9 attacked and sank three british cruisers as after striking the first the others in the area believed it had suffered a malfunction and went over to help this made them easy prey for the u9 which sank all three of them in quick succession over 1 000 men died and britain's once seemingly invincible royal navy appeared helpless while the submarine's role in naval warfare was secured germany's u-boats attempted to starve britain of food and war supplies from her empire by intercepting the cargo ships bringing them to britain which were so important to maintaining the war effort with little real defense against their attacks the only hope was to catch them on the surface with aircraft and bomb them or coordinate naval gunfire from nearby ships contrary to public perception of world war one and two submarines they actually spent 95 of their time on the surface using conventional diesel engines and charging their batteries which powered them when they were submerged and this weakness was fully exploited by the allies who began using powered balloons and later aircraft to patrol the sea lanes and hunting them down with bombs working in very cramped conditions submarine duty was a psychologically taxing job and often their submarines were just as dangerous as the enemy with many being lost in accidents especially involving their batteries which could leak poisonous gas after a series of setbacks encountering the german army in eastern france the british and french began withdrawing towards the river man in what became known as the great retreat upon reaching the mark the british and french repelled the german army effectively grinding their advance to a halt both sides then tried outflanking one another to the north but this only further extended the battle lines until by mid-october both sides reached the north sea forcing them to first consolidate their positions and then try and break through enemy lines this involved digging trenches which would protect the two sides from opposing gunfire and maintain their front lines the two sides fought a series of pitched battles through late october and into november in what is remembered as the first battle of ipra the british french and belgians all fought the german army and although successful once more in repelling them the allies paid a heavy toll suffering nearly 130 000 killed or wounded the germans themselves sustained 134 000 casualties and while they could still match the allied armies in the west the casualty rate coupled with the demands of fighting a war in the east as well meant that the planned big offensive to win the war had to be pushed back until 1950. this delay meant both sides had time to build bigger longer and more intricate trenches that would only make the job of breaking the stalemates even more difficult the austro-hungarian army who entered serbia to take its revenge for france ferdinand's killing thus starting the war were beaten back by serbian troops but not before they committed a series of well-publicized atrocities on the serbian people the serbians garnered a lot of sympathy following their victory and received aid and even troops from other countries but ultimately the country would be defeated in the coming months by a combined austro-hungarian german and bulgarian force although the serbian army continued fighting with the allies for the duration of the war among its ranks was mancillo gavrik a seven-year-old boy whose family was massacred by the austro-hungarians and was adopted by a serbian army unit at eight years old he was given the rank of corporal and ended the war as a ten-year-old lance sergeant having impressed one of the army's most senior figures by tales of his exports including getting wounded in a trench elsewhere japan joined the war on the side of the british and a joint british japanese force captured german-controlled territory in china the german navy shelled madras in british india and papiti in french polynesia but were defeated in engagements with the royal navy of tanzania in africa and then again in the falklands later that year australian troops captured german new guinea while new zealand's troops also captured german samoa in the western pacific while the germans had been halted in the west the austro-hungarian and german armies enjoyed more success in the east against the russians the russians suffered a string of defeats in 1914 which only fueled the growing resentment of the tsar in his own country however the austro-hungarians and germans failed to capitalize on their successes and with the onset of winter just like in the west and the bulklands the two sides ground to a halt not even a surprise attack by the ottoman army against russian forces in the black sea could break the eastern stalemate for britain the year ended with the nature of the war changing forever when german warships shelled scarborough and hartlepool on december 16 convinced of their naval superiority the attack proved that britain's fleet couldn't guarantee her protection and the civilians killed became almost martyrs for the recruitment of new soldiers to replenish losses this was further exacerbated by the first air attacks on britain the following year by german zeppelins amidst the growing tragedy a story of human compassion unfolded when on christmas day 1914 troops from both sides got out of their trenches and greeted each other in no man's land declaring an unofficial truce they talked sang songs shared rations and even played football the generals were furious however believing that this was fraternizing with the enemy and would foster hesitation before an attack the truce ended and the next day shooting began again life in the frontline trenches was extremely taxing on the troops both physically and mentally it would take around 450 men six hours to dig just 275 yards and this often occurred at night so as not to alert the enemy that a trench was being extended although the size and design of the trenches vary depending on what could be dug by hand a typical british trench was seven foot deep and six foot wide which was deemed sufficient enough to offer a degree of protection from enemy shells and machine gun fire mud and flooding during rainy periods was forever a problem because not only did it cause injuries such as trench foot where the skin has rubbed away against the sides of the soldier's boots but it also proved to be a breeding ground for disease the damp also weakened the trench walls meaning there was a constant fear of them collapsing destroying a narrow trench with an artillery shell was an extremely difficult thing to do with the only effective method being to saturate the area with heavy shells thus the men often found themselves standing around in the mud and water in cramped and claustrophobic conditions while shells exploded around them all the while wondering if the next shell would score a critical hit when a shell did land inside a trench it was carnage with the trench no longer offering any protection and instead directing the blast towards the men later trenches would be dug in zigzag patterns to limit this problem as well as prevent enemy soldiers who invaded the trench firing straight down the line the misery of trench life was often compounded by the poor quality of food served to the troops particularly in the early days of the war british troops famously learned to despise the biscuits dished out to them which were often so tough to eat that they cracked the soldier's teeth whenever they bit into them an often overlooked part of trench life were the prolonged periods of boredom which was a real fear for the military leadership because they were worried that this would encourage pacifist or even revolutionary ideas a typical day in a trench would see the soldiers awakened before sunrise and stand too meaning they would ready their weapons for an attack this would usually last two hours before standing down and having breakfast they would then spend the next few hours repairing any damage to the trench and cleaning their equipment before lunch in the afternoon they would get a few hours down time where they could read or write letters or get some rest before returning to stand to again around dusk and then sleeping while being in the trench provided protection the moment the troops began leaving it to conduct an attack was when a huge percentage of them would be killed finally the men would have to climb out of the trench using ladders which left them exposed to enemy fire as they went over the top and left them unable to retaliate the men then had to walk across no man's land between the trenches because the generals believed that if the men ran then discipline would break down and the attack would fail but all this did was leave them exposed to machine gun fire needlessly wasting lives until the enemy was simply overwhelmed by the numbers of men walking towards them it was hell on earth between december 1914 and march 1915 the allies attacked german positions in the champagne region in an effort to break through the german lines the operation was a success but the gains were extremely minute on the grand scheme of things and cost 93 000 allied soldiers killed or wounded and 46 000 germans as the campaign came to a close the british began the battle of nerve chappelle which was aimed at relieving the german-occupied city of lille a german counter-attack halted the british advance before they could achieve their goal and both sides dug in once more a few weeks later the british achieved a breakthrough by digging a tunnel under the german lines on hill 60 and planting explosives the resulting explosion caught the germans off guard and allowed the british to capture the hill only to have it recaptured by the germans a few days later the tactic of digging under the enemy trench and placing explosives there would be repeated again and again as the war went on in an effort to break the stalemate the germans unleashed a new and deadly weapon in the form of chlorine gas on april 22nd during the second battle of ipra the gas was released by the germans against the french army who thought it was a smokescreen to cover a german advance as such the french commanders ordered their men to stand to ready for an attack but this only exposed men to the poison the effects of chlorine gas are horrific and within seconds of inhaling it the victim's respiratory organs were all but destroyed resulting in choking fits of blood until they died the french lines completely collapsed and while the world condemned such attacks both sides were quick to grasp the effectiveness of gas as a weapon and it became just another part of the war in april 1915 french and british empire forces mostly comprising of australians and new zealanders planned a major landing at galapagos in turkey to open up a new front and divert the ottoman forces attention away from russia it was conceived by winston churchill but when the royal navy conducted a reconnaissance of the landing zone they found it heavily defended and advised against the operation churchill proved too proud to call off his plan and ordered the landings to take place anyway the result was one of the most drawn out and futile battles of the entire war lasting eight months and ending with the allies having to retreat after sustaining 302 000 casualties the tragedy of galapagos is so burned into the consciousness of australians and new zealanders that many historians have argued that it gave rise to the birth of nationalism in those countries calling for their independence from britain and the crown a debate that still continues on today on may 7 1915 an incident occurred that would have dramatic consequences for the course of the war later when the germans sank the british cruise liner in lusitania despite warnings issued by the germans there were large numbers of americans on board who were killed and this pushed americans closer to the allies before they eventually joined the war in 1917 against the germans on may 23 1915 having thus far remained out of the war italy declared war on the central powers and launched an attack against neighboring austro-hungary hoping surprise would lead to a quick victory and territorial gains however like on the western front the fighting became bogged down into near static trench warfare but at much higher altitudes where the extreme cold claimed thousands of lives and the frequent snowfall meant that the trenches would fill up with snow wounded or dead soldiers would often simply disappear and as late as 2015 bodies of soldiers who died on this brutal battlefront continue to be found on the eastern front the situation was no better for the russians 1915 saw defeat after defeat for the tsar's armies culminating in the capture of warsaw in modern day poland on august 5th as 1916 arrived the british could no longer rely on volunteers as their ranks dwindled and a fresh summer offensive approached as such conscription was introduced for the first time primarily concerning fit unmarried young men however military service could be refused on the grounds of religious or political viewpoints known as conscientious objectors these men were frowned upon by their communities such was the patriotic tone of the time and their names would be put in local newspapers in order to shame them and discourage others by may 1916 the war at sea was about to reach its zenith as the german navy's high seas fleets planned to ambush the royal navy's battleships and battle cruisers in the north sea this they hoped would help them wrestle dominance over the sea lanes out of europe away from britain their plan involved attacking a fleet of british battle cruisers under the command of admiral sir david beatty destroying them quickly and luring out british battleships into open conflict however british code breakers had already learned of this plan and so the british fleet was already mobilized the two sides met in the battle of jutland on may 31 1916. the battle was the biggest naval engagement of the war involving 250 ships of various sizes and 100 000 men despite the german fleets under the command of admiral reinhard shear possessing some of the most modern ships in the world and having generally better weapons the royal navy was ultimately victorious due to the sheer weight of numbers on their side the british lost 14 ships and over 6 000 men but were still able to field a sizable battle-ready force whereas the germans who lost 11 ships 2 500 men and suffered many other damages were on the verge of complete destruction and so steamed for home never again did the german fleets attempt to break the royal navy in a pitched battle instead the war at sea became primarily fought by germany's u-boats that continued to inflict heavy losses on british shipping the kaiser's u-vote campaign would prove remarkably successful right up to the end of the war almost starving britain into submission as summer came so too did the great offensive on july 1 1916 british forces went into action against the germans over the somme river the battle was preceded by an intense artillery barrage and several underground mines detonated from the tunnels dug under the german trenches that left craters 93 feet wide on the first day alone the british army lost over 19 000 troops with another 40 000 wounded the worst day for the british army in its entire history the fighting for the somme continued into november resulting in a strategically important victory for the allies but the battle cost both sides over 1.2 million men the continued need to break through the trenches saw the introduction of another new weapon the tank based on an agricultural tractor and actually developed by a royal navy engineer the first tanks were thus known as land ships but they were so secret that the men building them were told they were making water carriers as such the name tank stuck the tank saw its debut on september 15 1916 during the somme offensive and immediately made its presence known knocking over barbed wire and plowing through enemy positions with near impunity their impact was so great that they became a vital part of any future battle plan the germans attempted to build their own super tanks but when these proved unwieldy they began using captured british and french ones as the bloodiest year of fighting so far drew to a close 1917 would see the start of the beginning of the end not just of the war but of the empires that began it wars of empire in europe were nothing new but never before had it been seen on such a scale with so much death and suffering at home as well as on the battlefield coupled with new ideas of socialism and nationalism the great powers found themselves facing the prospect of revolution at home as the war dragged on and losses mounted britain would see the first open rebellion when over easter of 1916 irish republicans rose up in dublin in an effort to overthrow the british rule they believed that with britain committed to fighting in europe they would be unable to suppress the uprising but they were proven wrong and after almost a week of fighting the uprising was put down leaving over 450 dead despite this the uprising sowed the seeds for the founding of the republic of ireland in 1919 but excluded an area of northeastern ireland which remained under british rule an issue that would see years of republican and loyalist terrorism and remains contentious even today in the wake of britain's decision to leave the european union while the republic remains a member a few months later in 1916 the ottoman empire found itself facing an arab revolt calling for a new arab kingdom to be created from syria to yemen free of the ottoman turks the fighting lasted until the end of the war and not only helped ease the fighting on the eastern and southern fronts but also saw the empire start to break up until it collapsed in 1922 in russia the tsar's hold on his country had been tenuous throughout his reign but the war had only fueled the call for revolution particularly from the marxists led by vladimir lenin in the army order and discipline was breaking down as the russians suffered one terrible defeat after another which saw officers resort to extreme measures such as mass shootings of deserters or drunks meanwhile the russian economy came to the brink of collapse and in 1917 workers across the country went on strike finally grinding russia to a halt having no choice tsar nicholas ii stood down and handed the country over to a provisional government in what is known as the february revolution for the next few months russia appeared to be in limbo since the provisional government proved too weak to hold the country together seizing his opportunity lenin led his bolshevik forces in yet another revolution in october of 1917 and this in turn led to the russian civil war breaking out in the months that followed lens bolsheviks knew they couldn't fight the central powers as well as a civil war at home and so began negotiating with the kaiser signed on march 3rd 1918 their treaty saw large areas of russian territory ceded to the germans that was hoped would aid their ongoing war in the west the end of hostilities on the eastern fronts also saw more german and austro-hungarian troops committed to the west the russian revolutions of 1917 had a potentially greater impact on the western front when during the spring and summer of 1917 there were a series of mutinies within the french army discouraged by their lack of success and spurred on by russian revolutionaries fighting within the french ranks french inventory began protesting against their commanding officers or refusing to return to their trenches to relieve frontline units while open fighting between french units was avoided the mutinies only further lowered morale amongst the french army and it would not be until the arrival of american forces later in the year that it was re-energized under president woodrow wilson the united states had maintained an officially neutral stance when the fighting broke out which ultimately proved profitable since american industry was contracted out to produce war materials for both sides although ultimately due to the british blockade much of the supplies earmarked for germany would never make it following the sinking of the lusitania and the high loss of american life opinion in washington began to change and the campaign was begun to get america into the war on the side of britain and france this campaign was ultimately successful with congress voting for war on germany on april 6 1917. however american mobilization was initially slow echoing the british deployment the americans formed the american expeditionary force on july 5th 1917 under general john pershing and began shuttling troops to france however it would not be until october 21st that the american troops would fire their first shots of the war despite this slow start in 1918 american troops were finally arriving in significant numbers which at times reached 10 000 fresh troops a day in 1918 the central powers were beginning to falter under the strain of war effectively blockaded at sea and with the demands of feeding an army fighting on so many fronts at once a food shortage began to take hold which was worsened in austro-hungary by an influenza outbreak that overwhelmed medical resources stretched to their limits the austro-hungarian army had effectively been under german control aged emperor free to address these problems but he failed miserably and the cause for revolution grew louder by autumn 1918 until finally he stood down and transferred power to a series of national councils these councils all sought to act in their own interest and austro-hungary collapsed finally and most significantly by late 1918 the kaiser began to lose his grip on germany in march of 1918 the germans suffered badly fighting that year's spring offensive that included a large number of u.s forces on the western front over 1.5 million men were killed or wounded over 680 000 of whom were german then later in the year the allies launched a final bid to end the war which saw somewhat appropriately the most bloody battle of the war the hundred days offensive was a series of pitched battles fought between august and november 1918 and would see a staggering 1.8 million casualties including a further 785 000 germans with austro-hungary now virtually out of the war and the ottomans making peace with the allies in october of 1918 no one country could hope to sustain such losses just like in austro-hungary germany faced food shortages influenza outbreaks as well as the loss of millions of wounded or dead soldiers with his authority waning and the end of the war in sight american president woodrow wilson publicly stated that any peace negotiations would no longer include the kaiser and with uprisings in berlin and a german navy mutiny taking place he abdicated the throne on november 9th 1918. the new civilian government that replaced him sued for peace and at 11 o'clock on november 11th the guns fell silent the great war was over over 17 million people died as a direct result of the first world war over 20 million more were wounded many in life-altering ways the problem with these figures however is they ignore the deaths that continued as a result of the war in the years and decades after the war had finally given the bolsheviks in russia the opportunity to seize power and this sparked a civil war that would last another year and involve american british french and even german troops fighting on effectively the same side against them ultimately they would fail and lenin would create the soviet union out of what was left of imperial russia the russian civil war would see an estimated 3 million people die through fighting or starvation additionally the birth of this communist superpower would also see it at odds with the west and eventually give rise to the cold war that in turn led to a series of proxy wars fought around the world it would even bring the world to the brink of nuclear armageddon while we can't be sure the russian revolution wouldn't have happened anyway it is clear that world war one speeded up lenin's plans the collapse of the ottoman empire would also see wide-scale genocide particularly against christians within its borders while the two countries where the great war began serbia and bosnia would be led into a forced marriage to form yugoslavia after the end of the austro-hungarian empire's rule in the balkans yugoslavia was mired by ethnic tensions throughout its lifetime resulting in a series of bloody and brutal civil wars in the 1990s in which wide-scale ethnic cleansing was carried out on an almost industrial scale even the victorious powers of britain and france would suffer a difficult post-war period the expense of the war in economical and material terms had greatly diminished their power and the rebuilding process saw them in competition with one another the old anglo-french rivalry and suspicion quickly reared its head again and both sides quietly began preparing for what they saw as the possible next war being between them this sentiment was particularly felt in france who believed that britain was conspiring to weaken french currency on the international markets in favor of the british sterling on the other side of the world britain and france's ally japan also felt betrayed by the west who began imposing arms limitations on the world stage through treaties such as the washington naval treaty which limited warship production these treaties were intended to prevent another arms race but overwhelmingly favored the us and britain souring japanese opinion and bringing forth calls for japan to begin expanding its own empire in asia while the blame for the great war was put squarely on the kaiser it would be the german people who would suffer for it while he went into exile in holland in the treaty of versailles that outlined the terms of peace germany was not only forced to accept the guilt of having started the war but it was also humiliated and broken by some of the harshest terms ever inflicted on a country one man loathed the terms of the treaty perhaps more than anyone else he would go on to leave a growing political party in germany that vowed that the treaty of versailles would be abolished and germany would once more rise to greatness his name was adolf hitler