The battles of the First World War between great world powers opened new frontiers in the international war. From 1914 to 1918, many horrible battles were experienced during the First World War.
The assassination of Archduke François Ferdinand by 1918 at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, aged X, is considered to be the catalyst for the outbreak of war. Throughout the war, the world’s central powers fought terrible battles, compounded by the relatively recent invention of the machine gun. In this list, we look at some of the battles of war that have had deep lasting repercussions.
10. Battle of Tannenberg (August 1914)
The month of August of the 1914 battle of Tannenberg took place between Russian and German soldiers. It is remarkable to be the first battle of the war to be fought on the Eastern Front. The Russian army was under the command of Grand Duke Nicolas, who had come to the aid of French soldiers attacked by the Germans. Although it was predicted that the Russian army would have a slippery victory, given that it was larger and more powerful, the Germans did rule. By the end of the month, the Germans had taken 92,000 prisoners and destroyed half of the 2nd Russian army. The Germans then turned to General Rennenkampf’s army in September and drove it out of East Prussia.
In total, the Russians lost about 250,000 men and military equipment. The only positive element of the battle of Tannenberg was to prevent the Germans from attacking France. This allowed the French to counter the attacks of the first battle of the Marne.
9. First Battle of Marne (September 1914)
In September 1914, the first battle of the Marne marked the end of the German incursions in France and the start of the trench warfare so widely associated with the First World War. Alfried Von Schlieffen, the German marshal, devised a plan to conquer France by his armies which invaded him from Lille. The army then turned west near the English Channel before turning south to cut the French retreat. If the plan worked, the German armies surrounded the French army in the north and captured Paris. But a French offensive in Lorraine thwarted the attack of the Germans and threw the French on a fortified barrier. The French defense was strengthened and they sent their troops to strengthen the left flank. German troops
When the German 1st army, led by general Alex von Kluck, targeted points north of Paris, they had to pass through the Marne valley and thus cross the French defenses. On September 3, French general Joseph Joffre ordered the French retreat to stop, but three days later, he strengthened the left flank and launched an offensive. This forced General Kluck to stop his advance to support his weak flank at Meaux. When on September 9, German Ambassador Bernhard Bullow learned that British forces were advancing between his 2nd army and the 1st army, he ordered Kluck’s men to withdraw. A counterattack by the French and British armies 5th and 6th led to the first battle of the Marne. This forced the Germans in combat not to have to fall back around September 11 and to withdraw north along the Basse-Aisne. By saving Paris from the German capture and pushing them 45 km away, it was a great strategic victory for France and allowed them to continue the war.
8. Battle of Gallipoli (1915-1916)
For eight months, the 1915-1916 battle of Gallipoli was launched by British, French, Indian, New Zealand, Australian and Canadian forces to eliminate those of the Turkish Ottoman Empire alongside Germany. The British and its allies planned to sail a huge fleet in the 65-mile Dardanelles, which linked the Mediterranean and Istanbul, the Ottoman capital they planned to capture. The plan was to force the Ottoman Empire to surrender. The plan failed miserably in part because of the fleet of obsolete allies and the numerous ships sunk by Ottoman cannons and mines. A young admiral, Winston Churchill, who planned the attack, was humiliated.
The Battle of Gallipoli saw the victims of 58,000 Allied soldiers. These included 29,000 British and Irish soldiers and 11,000 Australians and New Zealanders. There were also about the Ottoman Turkish troops who died and about the wounded 300,000 soldiers on each side. The Battle of Gallipoli was immortalized in the 1981 film Gallipoli with Mel Gibson. The Ottoman victory propelled Lieutenant Colonel of the 19th Turkish division Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He later became the founding father of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923.
7. Battle of Jutland (spring of 1916)
Considered the biggest naval battle of the First World War, during the 31st of May and the 1st of June in 1916, the battle of Jutland opposed the British to the German fleet with their alleged battleships “dreadnought”. It was a bloody battle involving 250 ships and 100,000 troops. The battle took place in the North Sea and the German admiral Reinhard Scheer planned to recruit both Admiral Sir David Beatty Battlecruiser Force and the Grand Fleet of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. Scheer’s plan was to destroy Beatty’s strength before Jellicoe’s arrival. This was thwarted when the British were alerted by their code breakers and placed their forces on the high seas, according to the records of the Imperial War Museum.
The Germans destroyed Beatty’s flagship, the HMS Lion , and also sank HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary. They exploded after German shells hit their ammunition stores. Beatty’s defeat withdrew until Jellicoe arrived with the main fleet. The outlawed Germans withdrew to their homes. The British lost 14 ships and suffered 6000 losses, while the Germans lost 11 ships and 2500 men. Therefore, the Germans never seriously challenged British control of the North Sea. He also ensured British control of the shipping lanes, which enabled Britain to put in place a blockade which resulted in the defeat of Germany in 1918. The Battle of Jutland has been described in several documentaries, notably by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2016.
6. Battle of Verdun (1916)
The Battle of Verdun, which began on the 21st in February and ended on the 19th on December 12, was one of the longest and wildest of all the battles of the First World War. Nearly three quarters of the French army participated in this battle. According to reports from the Verdun Memorial Museum, the German army, commanded by General Erich Von Falkenhayn, began attacking French forts and trenches with artillery fire. The general intended to end the trench war that began in 1916 to allow his troops to move. In the early days, the Germans crossed the French front lines and took control of Fort Douaumont without fighting. However, the French infantry, despite heavy bombardments, did not leave its positions and pushed back the Germans. French General Henri Pétain is appointed to defend Verdun and command the troops. It increased the volume of traffic on the road from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun, which brought men, basic supplies and artillery to the battlefield. About 1200 trucks, 1914 cars, 4000 ambulances, 2000 buses and vans. This ensured that when 800 March 200, when the Germans attacked on the left bank of the Meuse, regardless of the intense battles on Le Mort Homme that spanned April, they could not cross the French front. But by the end of June, the Germans had captured Fort Vaux. It increased the volume of traffic on the road from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun, which brought men, basic supplies and artillery to the battlefield. About 1200 trucks, 1914 cars, 4000 ambulances, 2000 buses and vans. This ensured that when 800 March 200, when the Germans attacked on the left bank of the Meuse, regardless of the intense battles on Le Mort Homme that spanned April, they could not cross the French front. But by the end of June, the Germans had captured Fort Vaux. It increased the volume of traffic on the road from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun, which brought men, basic supplies and artillery to the battlefield. About 1200 trucks, 1914 cars, 4000 ambulances, 2000 buses and vans. This ensured that when 800 March 200, when the Germans attacked on the left bank of the Meuse, regardless of the intense battles on Le Mort Homme that spanned April, they could not cross the French front. But by the end of June, the Germans had captured Fort Vaux. 2000 buses and vans. This ensured that when 800 March 200, when the Germans attacked on the left bank of the Meuse, without worrying about the intense battles on Le Mort Homme which spanned April, they could not cross the French front. But by the end of June, the Germans had captured Fort Vaux. 2000 buses and vans. This ensured that when 800 March 200, when the Germans attacked on the left bank of the Meuse, without worrying about the intense battles on Le Mort Homme which spanned April, they could not cross the French front. But by the end of June, the Germans had captured Fort Vaux.
On July 13, the French and the British launched an offensive on the Somme, thereby relieving German pressure on the French troops in Verdun. The Germans tried to take control of Verdun in July on 1 and 11 and failed. In autumn 12, the French trading post attacked and retook Fort Douaumont and, a few days later, entered Fort Vaux, which the Germans had deserted. From December 1916 to 15th, the French attacked and almost regained the territory they had lost since February 18st. After the end of the battle, there were over 21,000 victims – 700,000 dead or missing and about 305,000 wounded on both sides.
5. Battle of Passchendaele (1917)
Also called the third battle of Ypres, the battle of Passchendaele acquired notoriety not only for its numerous victims, but also for the widespread mud. This battle took place in Ypres, a city located along the British lines. Marshal Douglas Haig wanted a British offensive in Flanders after warning that a German blockade would paralyze British war efforts. He wanted to go to the Belgian coast and destroy the German submarines stationed there. The British were stimulated by the success of an attack on Messines Ridge on June 13 and its capture. British infantry began attacking the 1917st of July at Ypres. The constant bombardment transformed the clay into soil and destroyed the drainage systems. The left wing of the attack was successful unlike the right wing. In the next few days, the most abundant rains of the 31s turned loose soil into mud that blocked guns and stopped the movement of tanks. Many men and horses drowned in this mud.
As of August 16, British attacks resumed without result. There was a deadlock for a month, but when weather conditions improved, attacks resumed on September 20. The battles of Menen, Road Ridge and Polygon Wood on September 26, as well as the Battle of Broodseinde on October 4, enabled the British to capture the ridge east of Ypres. On November 13, the little that was left of the village of Passchendaele was captured by British and Canadian forces. This gave Haig an excuse to stop the offensive and claim victory. This was despite the fact that Passchendaele was less than five miles beyond the offensive led by Haig. The Battle of Passchendaele, which lasted three months, had 6 British and Allied casualties and 325,000 German casualties.
4. Battle of Caporetta (Fall of 1917)
Also known as the 12th Battle of Isonzo, the Battle of Caporetta saw Austro-Hungarian and German forces break through Italian defenses north of Isonzo after catching the Italian soldiers by surprise. The Italian defeat resulted in the dismissal of Luigi Cadorna as chief of staff and a change of government. When Austria and its Hungarian allies were crushed in Gorizia after the 11th battle of Iszozo led by Cadorna, their commander Arz Von Straussenberg asked the assistance of the German Third Supreme Command led by Paul von Hindenbrug and Erich Ludendorff to lead a combined operation. When Cadorna crossed deserters and an aerial reconnaissance learned of the Germans’ involvement, he canceled his own attacks in mid-September 1917 and adopted a defensive position. Six German divisions under the command of Otto vob Below completed the three divisions of the Austrian Supreme Army.
The Germans chose a line 25 in front of Caporetta, north of Gorizia, along Isonzo, as the preferred point of attack where the Italians were weak for the combined offensive. Italian commander Luigi Capello was ordered to prepare a line of defense but massed his troops to attack the southern flank of the von Below army, east of Gorizia. 2 in Tolmino, at 24 October 13, the combined Austrian, Hungarian and German forces attacked and surprised the Italians. The assault immediately crossed the lines of the second Italian army. By the end of the day, German, Austrian, and Hungarian forces had crossed the 1917 kilometers and violated the Italian lines, using grenades and flame throwers, and adopting undercover tactics. Below the attacks on the Tagliamento river endangered much of the Italian forces, which led Capello to recommend his withdrawal, but was canceled by Cadorna. Cadorna made most of the Italian forces cross the river which lasted four days to peak on the 25th of October, 30. The supplies to the Austrians, the Hungarians and the Germans were starting to run out and they could not launch a new one offensive. As a result, Cadorna ordered Italian forces to withdraw to the Piave river. The Italians suffered losses in 1917 of which 300,000 percent were prisoners. As a result, Cadorna was sacked and Marshal Armando Diaz replaced him. A new Prime Minister, Vittorio Orlando, took office and replaced the outgoing President, Paolo Boselli.
3. Battle of Cambrai (1917)
The battle of Cambrai, in the north of France, between the British and the Germans, was the first time that battle tanks were used on a large scale in combat. The use of tanks was combined with air power and heavy artillery. The nineteen British divisions assembled were equipped with 20 tanks, 4 of which were battle tanks, supply and service vehicles. The battle began at the dawn of November 1917, 476, when the British Third Army launched an attack targeting the Germans at Cambrai. Initially, eight British divisions attacked three German divisions by surprise and took prisoners 324. The third army, commanded by General Julian Byng, attacked the German defense line Hindenburg, in order to relieve the French forces. Although the British made gains early on, they were overrun by German counterattacks, in part because of the bad weather.
British forces had advanced 5 miles and taken a series of villages. But by the end of the first day, more than half of the British tanks were destroyed. This slowed British progress as the fighting intensified. On October 13, the British reached the summit of Bourlon Ridge. But two days later, the German forces launched a counter-offensive using heavy artillery and using infantry tactics. This forced the British army to withdraw after capturing only the villages of Havrincourt, Ribécourt and Flesquières, according to the Imperial War Museum. The Battle of Cambrai paved the way for the use of sophisticated weapon tactics and armored warfare in the years that followed. The
2. The German offensives on the western front (1918)
In the spring of 1918, German General Erich Ludendorff ordered his forces to attack the Western Front, a strip more than a kilometer across France and Belgium, and from the Swiss border to the North Sea. The Russians contributed 400 troops, the confident Ludendorff commanded. Knowing that a German attack was imminent, the British were strengthening their coasts, as were the French south of the British. But at Cambrai, an incomplete British trench system left a weakness in the British line, led by the Fifth Army commanded by General Hubert Gough. On 500,000st 21 of March, the Germans attacked and, in five hours, fired a million artillery shells at the Fifth Army. The Germans intensified their attacks with soldiers elite armed with large flame throwers who panicked the British. On the first day of the attack, the 1918 British soldiers were captured as the Germans crossed the lines of the Fifth Army. The German attack was the biggest breakthrough in three years of war on the Western Front, and Gough ordered the Fifth Army to withdraw. The British also delivered the Somme region to the Germans. This placed Paris in the target of the Germans as they moved their three Krupp guns which they had used to bomb the miles of Paris 21,000. About 120, shells landed in Paris and residents began to desert the city. Their impulse in Paris made the German emperor Friedrich William II, on March 13, a success with many Germans assuming the war was over. But their advance in Paris by the Germans experienced difficulties because of the little supply they had, bar weapons.
Ludendorff ordered the highly efficient 18th German Army to advance on Amiens, an important railway town, believing that this would harm the British and their allies. But the 18th army broke down in supplies and the horses which were to be used in Amiens advanced and the transports were killed for food. On their way to Amiens, the Germans passed near Albert where hell was unleashed among them while they looted the stores because of hunger. With their discipline over, the advance to Amiens stopped, which shocked Ludendorff, exhausted. The German spring offensive conquered a lot of territory but in March and April, the Germans had 230,000 in losses. These figures were too high for the German army. At the end of March, 1918, 250,000 Americans, joined the Western Front to join their British allies. Their effectiveness was however hampered by their general John Pershing, refusing to have his forces commanded by French or British officers. Despite these conflicts between allies, the German army in June had been weakened by numerous casualties. When Ludendorff, disillusioned, ordered the last German offensive of the First World War in July on 1918 15, the Germans suffered heavy losses at the Marne after a French ambush and a counterattack. From March to July, the Germans had lost a million men. refusing to have forces ordered by French or British officers. Despite these conflicts between allies, the German army in June had been weakened by numerous casualties. When Ludendorff, disillusioned, ordered the last German offensive of the First World War in July on 1918 15, the Germans suffered heavy losses at the Marne after a French ambush and a counterattack. From March to July, the Germans had lost a million men. refusing to have forces ordered by French or British officers. Despite these conflicts between allies, the German army in June had been weakened by numerous casualties. When Ludendorff, disillusioned, ordered the last German offensive of the First World War in July on 1918 15, the Germans suffered heavy losses at the Marne after a French ambush and a counterattack. From March to July, the Germans had lost a million men. the Germans suffered heavy losses at the Marne after a French ambush and a counterattack. From March to July, the Germans had lost a million men. the Germans suffered heavy losses at the Marne after a French ambush and a counterattack. From March to July, the Germans had lost a million men.
1. Battle of the Somme (1916)
From July 1 until November 18 in 1916, a massive joint operation between British and French forces against the Germans took place in the Somme region, in northern France. Nicknamed the Battle of the Somme, French Allied commanders Joseph Joffre and British General Douglas Haig planned in December to counter the German offensive in Verdun. The British led the offensive and faced a German defense developed over several months, according to the archives of the Imperial War Museum. Despite a seven-day bombing before the 1915 attack in July, the British failed to convince General Haig’s military leaders to send men of 1 to capture the German trenches. Sum has been a battle of attrition,
Collectively, the opposing sides saw more than a million wounded, injured, captured or killed. But what blocked the British psyche were the losses suffered by the 57,470 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, killed by men from the 19,240 army. This made it the bloodiest day in British military history. On that day, the German army also suffered numerous losses at the hands of the French forces stationed in the south of the Somme. According to experts, the losses suffered by the British during the Battle of the Somme were due to the use of untrained volunteers as soldiers and the inadequate artillery used during the seven days of bombing. . The British also underestimated the German boreholes and armed forces, German forces hardened in these trenches. German forces were thus able to regroup, counter the attacks and retake much of the lost territory. In five months, more than a million soldiers from the French, British and German armies had been killed or injured.