World War I

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[edit] The First World War

This Course is Currently Being Revamped

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Welcome to this page about the First World War. This course is for everyone who wants to know more about why there was a World War I, who were the key players in the war, what are seen as some of the causes of the war, the events of the war and the effects afterwards.

If you want to join, please put your name under the participants tagline.

Contents


[edit] Introduction

The First World War (1914-1918) was the first global war in which many countries participated. The countries involved were divided into 2 alliances: the Central Powers and the Allies . The Allies were formed by the Russian Empire, France and the British Empire were just some of the Allies. At the start of the war, with the invasion of Belgium, some more countries joined, including Belgium itself. The Central powers were composed of Austria-Hungary, the German Empire and Italy. Italy was initially alligned with the Central Powers but did not go to war on the side of the Central Powers.

The Great War, as the war is sometimes called, is mostly remembered for the trench warfare in France and Belgium. Death was a constant companion to those serving in the line, even when no raid or attack was launched or defended against. In busy sectors the constant shellfire directed by the enemy brought random death, whether their victims were lounging in a trench or lying in a dugout (many men were buried as a consequence of such large shell-bursts).Similarly, novices were cautioned against their natural inclination to peer over the parapet of the trench into No Man's Land.

Many men died on their first day in the trenches as a consequence of a precisely aimed sniper's bullet.

It has been estimated that up to one third of Allied casualties on the Western Front were actually sustained in the trenches. Aside from enemy injuries, disease wrought a heavy toll. Rats in their millions infested trenches. There were two main types, the brown and the black rat. Both were despised but the brown rat was especially feared. Gorging themselves on human remains (grotesquely disfiguring them by eating their eyes and liver) they could grow to the size of a cat.

Men, exasperated and afraid of these rats (which would even scamper across their faces in the dark), would attempt to rid the trenches of them by various methods: gunfire, with the bayonet, and even by clubbing them to death.

It was futile however: a single rat couple could produce up to 900 offspring in a year, spreading infection and contaminating food. The rat problem remained for the duration of the war (although many veteran soldiers swore that rats sensed impending heavy enemy shellfire and consequently disappeared from view).

[edit] Course Information

  • All Lessons will be available for people to access. It is recommended that people follow the lesson plan in numerical order (ie: starting with lesson 1, proceeding to lesson 2, etc.)
  • In the introduction, people can post their expectations of the course.
  • In the lessons proceeding the introduction will contain:
    • Lesson Content
    • Questions pretaining to the Lesson Content
    • Any Questions that people have about the Lesson Content
    • Suggested Reading
    • Appendices/extra content if required

[edit] Participants

  • Slong 12:05, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Dctrainor 20:40, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Lessons

People are encouraged to post questions that they have before studying the content about World War I. This section also contains information about the events, before the outbreak of war, which influenced World War I.

The intension of this lesson is to read important articles of the Treaty of Versailles, then analyse and evaluate their impacts on the European states.

The planned result of this lesson is to answer open questions and to collect important achievements we've made during the course.

       Info. Bar

Natonalism is the extreme patriotic feeling of a nation. World War I began in Europe in 1914. Russia, France and Great Britain were called the Allies. Germany and austria-hungary called themselves the Central Powers. The Schliefen Plan was the strategy that called for the Germans to attack France first and then march east to defeat Russia.

[edit] Literature

• Churchill, Winston, The World Crisis. 1911-1918 (2007)
• Keegan, John, The First World War (2002)
• Fussell, Paul, The Great War and Modern Memory (2000)

[edit] Links

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Maps:

Sources:

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