World War 1 (All Parts)

1914 the great powers of Europe are divided into two rival alliances the triple onon France Britain and Russia United by fear and suspicion of Germany Europe's new strongest power and the triple alliance Germany which fears encirclement by its Rivals austro Hungary Clinging On to a fragile Empire and Italy seeking gains at French [Music] expense the spark comes on the 28th of June in the city of Saro Arch Duke France Ferdinand heir to the austr Hungarian Throne is assassinated by a 19-year-old slav nationalist named gabilo Prince austro Hungary accuses its Balan rival Serbia of having aided

the Assassin and sends an ultimatum demanding humiliating concessions Serbia rejects the ultimatum and austro Hungary declares war within hours Austrian forces are shelling Belgrade the Russian Zar Nicholas II feels HonorBound to defend Serbia a fellow slav nation and orders the Russ Russian army to mobilize German Emperor vilhelm II has promised his support to austr Hungary he and his generals see conflict with Russia as inevitable and the sooner the better as Russian strength grows year on year Russian mobilization is used to justify German mobilization followed by a declaration of war on Russia Germany knows war with

Russia Means War with Russia's Ally by France it has developed the schen plan to meet this threat of a war on two fronts first its armies will advance rapidly through neutral Belgium to encircle and Destroy French armies near Paris and win a quick Victory then its forces can move East to deal with Russia whose huge Army will take much longer to mobilize and so Germany declares war on France 6 million men are now marching to War across Europe Italy however remains neutral the terms of the Triple Alliance don't bind it to join an offensive War

the United States also declares its neutrality President Wilson and the American public have no desire to get entangled in Europe's War Britain is France's Ally but at first it's not clear if it will join the war against Germany but when German troops invade Belgium whose neutrality Britain has guaranteed an ultimatum is sent from London to Berlin demanding they withdraw it's ignored and Britain declares [Music] war a British expeditionary Force lands in France while the German invasion is held up for crucial Days by by Belgian resistance at The Fortress city of liage German troops commit several

massacres against Belgian civilians the atrocities are inflated by Allied propaganda and help turn public opinion in neutral countries against Germany France unaware of Germany's great encircling attack launches plan 17 an offensive into German territory but in the battle of the Frontiers they're driven back with enormous losses on both sides the British expeditionary Force clashes with the German Army at mons but the British are heavily outnumbered and soon join the French in Retreat the Allies make their stand at the river Mahn 40 m outside Paris their desperate Counterattack saves the city and drives the Germans back

both sides suffer a quarter of a million casualties the race to the Sea begins as both sides try to outflank each other to the north a series of clashes leads to the first battle of e where the Allies desperately cling on and prevent a German breakthrough there are more heavy losses on both sides the two armies then dig in along the entire 3 50-m front seeking shelter from deadly machine gun fire and artillery shells trench warfare has [Music] begun British warships win the first naval battle of the war at heligoland bite sinking three German Cruisers

Britain has the most powerful Navy in the world 29 modern battleships to Germany's 19 they now impose a naval blockade on Germany preventing Contraband Goods including food from reaching it by sea the aim is to bring Germany's economy to its knees and force it to surrender but a week later the British Cruiser HMS Pathfinder becomes the first victim in history of a lethal new weapon the submarine launched torpedo German submarines or U boats have a surface range of 9,000 M and can attack undetected from beneath the waves they Herald a deadly new challenge to Britain's

command of the Seas on the Eastern Front Russian armies invade East Prussia but they blunder into disaster at the Battle of tannenburg where General von Hindenberg and his chief of staff Eric ludendorf Mastermind a brilliant German Victory taking 990,000 prisoners and destroying an entire Russian army the Russians contribute to their own defeat by transmitting uncoded Wireless messages a second massive German victory at Muran Lakes forces the Russians into retreat in just 6 weeks the Russian army suffers nearly a third of a million casualties meanwhile austr hungary's invasion of Serbia suffers a humiliating reverse at the

Battle of s austro hungary's offensive against Russia also ends in disaster and retreat with the loss of more than 300,000 men The Fortress town of shemel is cut off and besieged Ed by the Russians the Germans are forced to come to the rescue launching a diversionary attack towards Warsaw it leads to weeks of brutal Winter fighting around the Polish city of wood but there is no clear winner meanwhile the Turkish Ottoman Empire has joined the Central Powers declaring war on its old enemy Russia Turkish warships bombard the Russian ports of Odessa and vopo while in

the caucuses Russian troops cross the Turkish [Music] Frontier Beyond Europe the war rages on the world's oceans and in farflung European colonies German troops cross into British East Africa modern Kenya and occupy tavataa while Allied Forces seize the German Colony of togoland modern Togo but British forces invading German Cameroon are defeated at garua and nangong while a 3,000 strong force attacking German Southwest Africa modern Namibia is captured at San Fontaine a month later British Landings at Tanga end in chaos and defeat at the hands of a much smaller German Force led by Colonel Von LOF

verbeck cut off from Germany leof verbeck goes on to wage a highly successful Guerilla war against the Allies tying down huge numbers of [Music] troops in Asia Japan honors its treaty with Britain and declares war on Germany Japanese forces go on to seize the German Naval Base at Singa the German colonies of MOA and New Guinea surrender to troops from New Zealand and [Music] Australia but in the Pacific off the coast of Chile German Admiral Von's powerful East Asia Squadron sinks two British cruisers at the Battle of colonell both ships are lost with all hands

5 weeks later he runs into a British Naval Task Force at the Faulkland Islands Four of the five German Cruisers are sunk Von goes down with his Flagship meanwhile in the Middle East British troops seize control of the Ottoman Port of Basra securing access to the vital Persian oil that fuels the British [Music] Fleet that winter Austrian troops finally capture Belgrade but the serbs then Counterattack and drive them back once more the fighting in Serbia has already cost around 200,000 casualties on each side in the North Sea German warships mount a hit and run raid

against English coastal towns shelling harol Whitby and scarber and killing more than 100 [Music] civilians on the west front the French launch their first major offensive against the German lines but the first battle of champagne leads to small gains at a cost of 990,000 casualties while in the caucuses an ottoman offensive through the mountains in midwinter ends in disaster at sarikamish Turkish casualties total 60,000 many frozen to death on the Western Front that first Christmas is marked in some sectors by a short truce and games of football in No Man's Land The Killing Zone between

the trenches January 1915 World War I is just 5 months old and already around 1 million soldiers have fallen a war that began in the Balkans has engulfed much of the world the Central Powers Germany Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire fight the Allies Britain France Russia Serbia and Montenegro Belgium and Japan in Poland and the Baltic the Russian army has suffered a string of massive defeats but continues to battle German and austr Hungarian forces austr Hungarian troops have also suffered huge losses and are humiliated by their failure to defeat Serbia in the caucuses mountains

Russian and ottoman Forces fight each other in freezing winter conditions while on the Western Front French British and Belgian troops are dug in facing the Germans in trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland [Music] as part of the world's first strategic bombing campaign Germany sends two giant airships known as Zeppelins to bomb Britain they hit the ports of Kings Lin and Great Yarmouth damaging houses and killing four civilians at sea at the Battle of dogger Bank the British Navy sinks one German Cruiser but the rest of the German Squadron escapes command of the Seas

has allowed Britain to impose a naval blockade of Germany preventing vital supplies including food from reaching the country by sea Germany now retaliates with its own blockade it declares the waters around the British Isles to be a war zone where its UB boats will attack Allied Merchant ships without warning Britain relies on imported food to feed its population Germany plans to starve her into surrender on the Eastern Front German field Marshal Von Hindenburg launches a winter offensive and inflicts another massive defeat on the Russian army at the Second Battle of Missourian Lakes the Russians lose

up to 200,000 men half of them surrendering amid freezing winter [Music] conditions the Russians have more success against Austria Hungary the city of shamshel Falls after a 4-month Siege netting the Russians 100,000 prisoners Austria hungary's total losses now reach 2 million meanwhile the British and French send warships to the dardanel to threaten Constantinople capital of the Turkish Ottoman Empire they believe a show of force will quickly cause turkey to surrender they bombard Turkish Shore forts in the narrow Straits but three battleships are sunk by mines and three more damaged the attack is called off [Music]

on the Western Front the British attack at ner Chapelle but the advance is soon halted by German barbed wire and machine guns British and Indian units suffer 11,000 casualties about a quarter of the attacking Force 6 weeks later at the Second Battle of era the Germans attack with poison gas for the first time on the Western Front a cloud of lethal chlorine forces Allied troops to abandon their trenches but the Germans don't have enough reserves ready to exploit the advantage soldiers on both sides are quickly supplied with crude gas masks as a chemical weapons arms

race Begins the Allies land ground troops at galipoli including men of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp the anzacs their goal is to take out the shore forts that are preventing Allied warships reaching Constantinople but they immediately meet Fierce Turkish resistance and are pinned down close to the [Music] shore the day before The Landings the Ottoman Empire Begins the systematic deportation and murder of ethnic Armenians living within its borders the Armenians are a long persecuted ethnic and religious minority suspected of supporting turkey's enemies tens of thousands of men women and children are transported to

the Syrian desert and left to die in All more than a million Armenians perish the Allies condemn the events as a crime against humanity and civilization and promise to hold the perpetrators criminally responsible to this day the Turkish government disputes the death toll and that these events constituted a genocide on the Eastern Front a joint German austr Hungarian offensive in galsia breaks through Russian defenses recapturing shemel and taking a 100,000 person prisoners it is the beginning of a steady Advance against Russian forces at Sea the British passenger liner Lucitania sailing from New York to Liverpool

is torpedoed by a German uboat off the coast of Ireland without warning 1,198 passengers and crew perish including 128 Americans US President woodro Wilson and the American public are outraged but Germany insists the ler was a fair Target as the British used her to carry military supplies in May the Allies launched the Second Battle of artoa in another effort to break through the German lines the French make the main attack at VII Ridge while the British launched supporting attacks at oer Ridge and festu the Allies sustain 130,000 casualties and Advance just a few thousand yards

that summer above the Western Front the fuer inder helps Germany win control of the air it's one of the first aircraft with a machine gun able to fire forward through its propeller thanks to a new invention known as interruptor gear Allied aircraft losses Mount rapid rid l in what becomes known as The fuer Scourge Italy swayed by British and French Promises of territorial gains at Austria hungary's expense joins the Allies declaring war on Austria Hungary and later the Ottoman Empire and Germany the Italian Army makes its first assault against austr Hungarian positions along the aanso

river but is repulsed with heavy losses meanwhile the Allies face a crisis on the Eastern Front the Russians have begun a general Retreat abandoning Poland German troops enter Warsaw on the 5th of August Zar Nicholas II dismisses the Russian Army's commanderin-chief Grand Duke Nicholas and takes personal command it will prove disastrous for thear as he becomes more and more closely tied to Russian military defeat at galipoli the Allies land reinforcements at Sula Bay but neither they nor a series of fresh attacks by the anzacs can break the deadlock conditions for both sides are terrible troops

are tormented not only by the enemy but by heat flies and sickness in the Atlantic a German uboat sinks the liner SS Arabic 44 are lost including three Americans in response to further us warnings Germany ends all attacks on passenger ships on the Western Front the allies Mount their biggest offensive of the war so far designed to smash through the front and take pressure off their beleaguered Russian Ally the French attack in the third battle of artoa and Second Battle of champagne the British with the help of poison gas attack at loss despite initial gains

the attacks soon get bogged down with enormous losses on all sides Allied troops land at salonica in Greece to open a new front against the Central Powers and bring Aid to Serbia but the Allies are too late Bulgaria joins the Central Powers and their joint offensive overruns Serbia in 2 months that winter the remnants of the Serbian Army escaped through the Albanian mountains their losses are horrific by the end of the war a third of Serbia's Army has been killed the highest proportion of Any [Music] Nation Fierce fighting continues on the Italian front as Italian

troops launch the third and fourth battles of the aanso austr Hungarian forces though outnumbered are dug in on The High Ground and impossible to dislodge in the Middle East a British Advance on Baghdad is blocked by Turkish forces at the Battle of Tesson 25 Mi south of the city the British withdraw to Kut where they are besieged the Allies abandon the Gip campaign 83,000 troops are secretly evacuated without alerting Turkish forces not a man is lost it's one of the best executed plans of the war the campaign has cost both sides a quarter of a

million casualties 1915 is a bad year for the Allies enormous losses for no tangible gains but there is no talk of Peace instead all sides prepare for even bigger offensives in 1916 with new tactics developed from earlier failures all sides still believe a decisive Battlefield Victory is within grasp World War I was supposed to have been a short and glorious War but by 1916 a new kind of industrialized Warfare had seen the death toll soar into the millions with no end in sight Naval blockades were beginning to cause shortages of food and fuel across Europe

while thousands of women had entered the workforce replacing the men sent to fight in their Millions all sides were preparing for a long War the war has raged for a year and a half as the Allies continue to battle the Central Powers recently joined by Bulgaria at Sea the British maintained their Naval blockade of Germany preventing the the import of food and other vital raw materials Germany has retaliated with a ubot blockade of Britain but has to limit its attacks to avoid provoking the neutral USA whose citizens have already been caught in the crossfire on

the Western Front French British and Belgian troops are dug in opposite the Germans both sides trapped in the bloody stalemate of trench warfare on the Eastern Front the Russians have ended their long retreat and stabilized the line but their army has suffered huge losses on the Italian front Italian troops have launched a series of costly unsuccessful attacks against strong austr Hungarian defenses while on the Balan front the Central Powers have overrun Serbia whose Army is forced to make a bitter Retreat through the Albanian [Music] mountains now on the 5th of January Ostro Hungarian troops attack

Montenegro they are delayed at the Battle of movat but 3 weeks later Montenegro is forced to surrender on the Caucasus front the Russians launch a surprise winter offensive against ottoman Turkish forces 6 weeks later Russian troops occupy the city of uram in April they capture the Black Sea port of trebizond meanwhile the British transport two motorboats to lake tanganika in Africa they finally arrive after a 10,000m trip by sea and land and help the British seize control of the Strategic Lake from local German forces the same month in German Cameroon German troops besieged on Mora

Mountain for 18 months finally surrender to the Allies it marks the end of The Cameroon [Music] campaign on the Western Front the Germans unleash a devastating assault on the French Fortress town of Verdan German General Eric Von falconinsgroup [Music] in Britain 1 million men have already volunteered for military service but the government realizes it won't be enough Britain becomes the last major power to introduce conscription that spring on the Western Front British troops are the last to be issued with steel helmets the nature of trench warfare produces a high proportion of head wounds the German

stal Helm the French Adrien helmet and the British Mark 1 steel helmet offer limited protection from Shell splinters and shrapnel neutral Portugal has been cooperating with the British which seems to offer the best chance of holding on to her African Colony Portuguese Angola on the 9th of March Germany retaliates by declaring war on [Music] Portugal on the Eastern Front Russia launches an attack near Lake narok to relieve pressure on the French at verun but it's a disaster there are 100,000 Russian casualties and the attack fails to divert any German troops from the fighting at Verdan

in Dublin Irish Republicans launch an armed revolt against British rule it becomes known as the Easter rising and is put down after 6 days of street fighting in the Middle East after a 5mon Siege British forces at K surrender General towns end leads 9,000 British and Indian soldiers into captivity about half later die from starvation or disease Britain wants Arab support in its fight against the the Ottoman Empire so it's promised Arab leaders an independent Arab state after the war but now Britain and France secretly sign the Sykes Pico agreement planning after the war to

divide the Middle East into British and French zones of control unaware of this deal Hussein bin Ali Sherif of Mecca leads the Arabs in revolt against Turkish ottoman rule in the Battle of Mecca his forces seese control of the holy city on the Italian front austr Hungarian forces launch a surprise attack at Asiago Italian defenses give way austr Hungarian troops are poised to break through into Northern Italy that month in the North Sea the German high seas Fleet clashes with the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in the only m major naval battle

of the War the British suffer heavier losses but claim victory as the German Fleet withdraws and does not reemerge from its base for the rest of the [Music] war for the summer of 1916 the Allies have planned major simultaneous offensives against the central powers from east and west now they are needed more than ever to relieve pressure on the French at veran and the Italians at Asiago the Russians launched their attack first on the Eastern Front General alexe brusilov has carefully maintained the element of surprise his troops break through the Enemy Lines in some places

advancing 60 Mi and taking 200,000 prisoners this brilliant though costly Russian attack achieves its aim as the central powers are forced to redeploy troops from other fronts to shore up the line at Sea British Cruiser HMS Hampshire on route to Russia hits a mine and sinks off orne among the 650 dead is Britain's iconic Secretary of State for war Lord k 3 days later in the Adriatic Italian troop ship pipe Umberto is sunk by a German submarine it's the deadliest sinking of the war with 1,900 lives lost on the Western Front Britain and France launched

their major summer offensive the battle of the song hopes are high for a breakthrough but the first day is a disaster a long Allied artillery bombardment fails to knock out German defenses and waves of British infantry are cut down by Machine Gun fire as they Advance into no man's land in the space of a few hours the British suffer 57,000 casualties a third of them killed it's the worst day in the history of the British army but more attacks are ordered and the battle will rage for another 5 [Music] months encouraged by the Russian Advance

Romania joins the Allies but despite an initially successful Advance into Transylvania Romania quickly faces a counter offensive from German Bulgarian and austr Hungarian forces the allies Force at salonica tries to support Romania by launching their own offensive towards monaster with Serbian troops in the lead there are small gains but dogged Bulgarian resistance prevents a breakthrough on the Western Front General von falconinsgroup [Music] they shall not pass but Victory comes at a terrible price 365,000 casualties the Germans lose almost as many Verdun remains one of the bloodiest battles in human history for his defeat at Verdan

Falcon Hine is sacked and Germany's Heroes of the Eastern Front Von Hindenberg and ludendorf take command in the West [Music] meanwhile the battle of the song continues near the village of flare the British introduce a new weapon they hope can break the deadlock of the trenches it is called the tank but despite some small successes the first tanks are too few in number and too prone to Mechanical failure to make any real impact on the Eastern Front Russia's brusiloff offensive comes to an end casualty estimates vary wildly but it's clear both sides have suffered catastrophic

losses neither the Russian nor the austr Hungarian army ever fully recovers on the Italian front heavy fighting rages throughout the Autumn as Italian forces make repeated costly assaults against austr Hungarian positions along the aanso river the battle of the Som comes to an end amid Autumn rain and mud the Allies have advanced 10 mil at the cost of 600,000 casualties German losses are about 450,000 the Allies reassure themselves that this is a winning strategy because at this rate Germany will run out of men first meanwhile disaster engulfs Romania as the country is overrun by the

Central Powers Romanian forces suffer a quarter of a million casualties the remnants of its army take position alongside the Russians on the Eastern Front that winter France Joseph emperor of Austria since 1848 dies he is succeeded by Carl in Britain prime minister Herbert aswith is forced from office and succeeded by David Lloyd George while General jafra is replaced as French commanderin-chief by General Nel who promises Victory through bold aggressive action amid the comings and goings US President Woodrow Wilson's attempts to mediate a peace settlement come to nothing neither side is willing to make concessions [Music]

in 1916 World War I became a war of attrition both sides began to focus Less on winning Victory on the battle field than grinding down the enemy and inflicting such enormous losses they would be forced to surrender in 1917 the strategy will push Europe's major powers to the brink of [Music] collapse Germany knows it will lose a long War of Attrition against the Allies who have greater resources so its leaders gamble they resume unrestricted submarine warfare believing their OTS can cut off Britain's food ports by sea and starve the country into surrender within 6 months

but the new shoot on site tactics mean neutral American ships will inevitably be caught in the crossfire risking America joining the war on the Allied side just 2 days into the campaign the SS honic an American steamer carrying wheat from galvaston Texas to England is by a uboat the British then passed to the US government a telegram they've intercepted from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman to the German ambassador in Mexico Germany is encouraging Mexico to attack America if America and Germany end up at War the so-called Zimmerman Telegram puts yet more pressure on US President

Wilson to declare war on [Music] Germany in Russia enormous casualties and bread shortages lead to riots and Revolution thear abdicates a provisional government takes charge pledging to continue the war but at the front Russian troops begin to Desert on [Music] mass after a string of German provocations the US finally declares war on Germany it brings immense resources to the Allied cause but they will take many months to mobilize and the German gamble of unrestricted submarine warfare may still pay off April is the uo's most successful month of the war they sink 88 6,000 tons of

Allied Shipping an average of 17 ships a day all packed with urgently needed food and supplies Britain will face starvation if the uots are not defeated [Music] soon on the Western Front the British launched the Battle of Aris a diversion to support a major upcoming French offensive after heavy fighting Canadian troops Seize The High Ground of vime Ridge it's a limited Allied Victory but costs 15,000 Allied casualties to 130,000 German above the trenches the first air War has reached new levels of sophistication and deadliness reconnaissance aircraft are crucial for spotting enemy positions and directing artillery

fire onto them Scout aircraft or Fighters try to shoot them down before they can execute their mission new models of aircraft are developed every few months but that spring the superiority of German aircraft leads to heavy Allied losses in what becomes known as bloody [Music] April three days after the fall of VII Ridge French General Robert Nel launches his main offensive expectations are high but after initial success the advance bogs down and casualties quickly mount on both sides the Apparently senseless losses cause morale in the French Army to collapse whole units Mutiny refusing to attack

General Nel is sacked as French commanderin-chief and replaced by General pan hero of Verdan who promises no more suicidal attacks that summer at messine Ridge the British tunnel under the German lines and detonate 19 enormous mines under the enemy position it's the largest man-made explosion in history to date and paves the way to a brilliant but highly local British [Music] victory in Greece king Constantine who has favored neutrality is forced to abdicate and Greece joins the allies [Music] Russia's provisional government orders a new attack but the July offensive is a disaster the morale and discipline

of the Russian army has collapsed it can no longer be relied on to fight and the Central Powers Counterattack is almost unopposed at Sea the Allies begin to group their merchant ships into convoys which sail under Naval escort the new system leads to a steady fall in losses The Tide is turning in the ubot [Music] war as discontent with the war grows in Germany the German Parliament the Reich stag passes a peace resolution calling for a piece of understanding and Reconciliation it's ignored by the German High command which now effectively rules the country as a

military dictatorship in Belgium the British launched their major offensive of 1917 the third battle of EA it will be remembered as passion Dale heavy shelling rain and broken irrigation channels turned the battlefield into a sea of mud in these impossible conditions all hopes of a breakthrough soon fade the attack is called off after 3 months by which point the British have suffered 240,000 casualties the Germans 200,000 on the Italian front at the 11th Battle of the aanso Italian and austr Hungarian Ian forces batter each other into exhaustion there are 150,000 Italian casualties 100,000 austr Hungarian

that year 1917 the list of Allied Nations grows Brazil Liberia China and sayam all declare war on Germany as a result of German ubo attacks or to carry favor with the Allies China will contribute many thousands of laborers working for the Allies in Europe the Middle East and [Music] Asia that year in the Middle East British forces avenge their 1916 humiliation at K by defeating the ottoman Turks and marching on to occupy Baghdad British forces in Egypt Advance across the Sinai desert but are thrown back by ottoman forces at the first and second battles of

Gaza in July Arab Rebels capture the Strategic ottoman Port of akaba they are accompanied by British military adviser Captain TE Lawrence better known as Lawrence of Arabia that Autumn British foreign secretary Arthur balur issues the balur Declaration expressing support for the creation of a national home for the Jews in Palestine the aim is to Rally Jewish support for the Allies but the Declaration contradicts existing pledges to Arab [Music] leaders in October the British finally win at Gaza clearing the way for an advance into Palestine 6 weeks later General Allenby leads British troops into Jerusalem ending

400 years of Ottoman rule [Music] with Russian forces in disarray Germany is able to move troops from the East to the Italian front at the Battle of caparo they helped to smash through the Italian Army advancing 70 Mi and taking a quarter of a million prisoners British and French divisions desperately needed on the Western Front have to be redeployed to shore up the line in Russia a second revolution brings Lenin's Bolshevik party to power he is determined to end Russia's involvement in the war in France Jorge clono becomes prime minister nicknamed The Tiger he promises

Total War and total victory but for the Allies in late 1917 final Victory looks uncertain Russia has stopped fighting French armies are recovering from Mutiny the Italian front has almost collapsed and American reinforcements still seem a long way off for the time being the British are the only effective Allied force in the field so the British attack at Cambra with the first major tank assault in history on the first day nearly 400 tanks spearhead an advance of several miles through German defenses but then the tanks break down or are knocked out the Germans rush in

reinforcements and the gains are lost [Music] Finland declares independence from Russia Romania isolated by the Russian collapse signs an Armistice with the Central Powers 6 days later Russia also signs an Armistice the Allied Eastern Front is no more 1917 has seen one major Allied Power Russia knocked out of the war but the arrival of a fresh new ally America Germany knows only military Victory can now save it from being overwhelmed by Allied resources and begins planning one last massive Onslaught for the spring of [Music] 1918 after 3 and A2 years of war the Allies are

in crisis Russia has been rocked by Revolution and its new Bolshevik government assigned an Armistice with the Central Powers thousands of German troops will be freed up to fight on the Western Front where the Carnage of trench warfare has already claimed more than a million lives but Germany is also desperate Britain's long Naval blockade has led to shortages and social unrest at home while America's entry into the war brings fresh Manpower and vast resources to the Allied cause Germany faces Inevitable Defeat unless it can win a quick Victory on the Western [Music] Front US President

Wilson announces his 14 points they outline his vision for a post-war world including an end to secret treaties a reduction in the size of armed forces self-determination for the people of the austr Hungarian Empire and an international organization to settle future disputes but most European leaders dismiss his ideas as wishful thinking [Music] at breast lovk Bolshevik Russia signs a peace treaty with the Central Powers Russia gives up vast amounts of territory in exchange for peace half a million German troops can now be redeployed from the East to the Western Front where German General Eric luden

plans an allout last ditch offensive to win the war luden dorf's spring offensive catches the Allies off guard German Storm Troopers using new infiltration tactics help to overwhelm the British Fifth Army which is soon in full Retreat the German Advance threatens to split the British and French armies with disastrous consequences so French General Ferdinand fosch is appointed Supreme Commander commander of Allied Forces to coordinate strategy outside Amal British and Australian troops improvise a defense and finally halt the German [Music] Advance the German offensive switches to the north targeting the channel ports but the British inflict

heavy losses on the Germans and prevent a breakthrough [Music] [Music] above the trenches the first air War continues to escalate each side now has more than 3,000 aircraft in service on the Western Front but by 1918 the Allies have won air superiority thanks to Greater resources on the 21st of April Germany's most famous pilot Manfred Von Roven the Red Baron is shot down and killed near Amon with 80 victories he's the war's highest scoring Ace and is buried by the allies with full military honors Britain's new independent bombing Force launches a daylight raid against cologne

it marks the beginning of Britain's own strategic bombing campaign on the ground luden dorf's offensive switches South targeting the French German troops Advanced 30 Mi but are halted at the River MN just as fresh American divisions enter the line the US first division is the first to see combat at the Battle of con 3 days later the US second division wins victory at the Battle of bellow wood by now there are nearly a million American soldiers in France with 10,000 more arriving every day the fourth phase of the German offensive leads to a 9M advance

but is finally halted by a French Counterattack in Italy Austria Hungary launches an attack at Asiago and the PVE River to support ludendorf offensive in France but it's repulsed with heavy losses and morale amongst the austr Hungarian Army [Music] collapses British and French troops land at morans in Northern Russia it's the beginning of Allied intervention in Russia's Civil War on the side of so-called white or anti-bolshevik forces on the Western Front the Germans final attack is defeated in the Second Battle of the mar luden dorf's offensive has cost the Germans more than 600,000 casualties and

has failed to make a decisive breakthrough Germany's final gamble has failed [Music] the Allies now go on the attack at the Battle of Amon British Australian Canadian and French troops supported by tanks and aircraft Advanced 7 miles in a single day General ludendorf calls the 8th of August the black day of the German Army German troops are exhausted hungry and demoralized and begin to surrender in their [Music] thousands the Battle of amang Begins the Allies 100 days offensive trench warfare is over the Germans are in full retreat in the Balkans a new Allied offensive ad

dool breaks through Bulgarian position officials the overstretched Bulgarian Army collapses and 2 weeks later Bulgaria signs an [Music] Armistice in the Middle East British Le forces defeat the Turks at the Battle of megido taking 25,000 prisoners Allied troops soon occupy Damascus and Aleppo on the Western Front Marshall fos orders a general attack British French and American armies reach the Hindenburg line a line of reinforced German defenses and break [Music] through ludendorf informs the Kaiser that the military situation is hopeless and that Germany must seek an armistice [Music] Germany sends a request to US President woodro

Wilson who in return demands German withdrawal from all occupied territory and the Kaiser's abdication on the Italian front the Allies deliver the final blow to Austria Hungary at the Battle of Victorio venito the the austr Hungarian Army disintegrates and 300,000 prisoners are taken with the Central Powers facing collapse the Ottoman Empire signs an Armistice with the Allies at mudros 4 days later Austria Hungary signs an Armistice with the Allies at Villa GUI at K the German high seas Fleet is ordered to make a suicidal attack back on the British Navy but instead it mutinies Revolution

spreads through Germany the Kaiser abdicates and a German Republic is proclaimed on the 11th of November 1918 a German delegation signs an Armistice with the Allies inside Marshall for's Railway Carriage at compen it comes into Force at 11:00 a.m. but fighting continues until the last moment American private Henry Gunter is killed charging a German machine gun at 1059 he is thought to be the last Soldier killed during World War I 3 days later in East Africa German general vonlov verbeck surrenders his army on the chambesy river for 4 years as he has tied down huge

numbers of Allied troops remaining undefeated while cut off from home he is still considered one of History's Greatest Guerilla [Music] leaders the Paris peace conference opens at the palace of versailes just outside the French Capital delegates sucess cept a proposal to create a League of Nations to settle future international disputes the Versa treaty signed in June imposes harsh terms on Germany its military is restricted in size it must pay War reparations to the Allies it loses territory to its neighbors and its colonies are seized by the victors Germany must also accept responsibility for the war

in a war guilt clause a source of lasting resentment in Germany the boundaries of Europe are redrawn Poland reemerges after a 100 Years of foreign rule while Austria Hungary Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia and an enlarged Romania emerged From the Ashes of the austr Hungarian Empire the Ottoman Empire is dismantled new states most under European control are created in the Middle East here as in Europe the seeds of future conflict are sown while in the Far East former German possessions in China are handed to Japan to China's [Music] outrage World War I claimed the lives of 9 and

a half million soldiers one in eight of those who fought 21 million more were wounded 7 million civilians also lost their lives huge areas of Europe were left devastated old Empires vanished new states were born lives across the world were [Music] transformed the world was never the same [Music] again if you enjoyed this video please remember to like it and subscribe to the channel and find out how you you can help us make more videos at our patreon page [Music] [Music]