For one ,world War I was like no other conflict, and no other war since has equaled it in terms of futility and sheer needless slaughter. In a military sense it began almost exactly like previous European wars, especially the , between France and what was soon to become a unified Germany, was fought from July of 1870 to May of 1871, which was the model that everyone in Europe expected the war to follow. Prussia had a clear military advantage. They had better railroads for supplies and more advanced artillery. They were pretty much able to walk in to France and get what they wanted.
The British had engaged in a couple of shorter wars themselves. The First Boer War, fought in South Africa against the Dutch-descended Afrikaners, lasted only from December of 1880 to March of 1881. The Second Boer War was a bit longer, from October of 1899 to May of 1902. This was the war that Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey fought in, by the way, where Mr. Bates served as his assistant. But even this war took place in phases with breaks in between.
Even the United States had had a short little war preceding The Great War. The Spanish-American War took place from April to August in 1898.
In all of these cases the winning side saw themselves as technologically and nationalistically more advanced. They saw victory as their right as much as anything else. This is that whole Nationalism thing I mentioned last week in my post about the Causes of WWI.
The armies of Germany, France, and Russia mobilized so mind-bogglingly quickly that many at the time speculated that once the process started there would be no politically or economically feasible way to stop it. These were nations that committed and committed hard. As German troops crossed the Belgian frontier on 4 August 1914, most people in Europe believed that the "boys will be home by Christmas." If they meant Christmas 1918, they were right. But of course, no one believed the war could possibly drag on so long. Previously, various authors had opined that, due to the massive expense of modern war, any future European hostilities would be short. But perhaps the biggest reason everyone thought that the war would be over by Christmas was because that was what the government wanted people to believe. Internal war correspondence and wires of the time suggests that at heart the military leaders probably knew they were in for the long haul. But most nations tried to keep the public opinion light and positive. Keeping a light-hearted attitude about the war, painting a rosy picture of the call to glory that it represented, meant that recruiters had an easier time convincing young men to join up. There is some evidence to suggest that some military leaders actually thought things would be over quickly. Germany, for example, only stocked about 6 months’ worth of chemicals needed to make gunpowder. Any Russian officers that suggested the war would be longer than six weeks were derided as pessimists. It was only the British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, who went on record as saying the war would last at least three to four years. He was criticized for being negative.
There is some evidence to suggest that some military leaders actually thought things would be over quickly. Germany, for example, only stocked about 6 months’ worth of chemicals needed to make gunpowder. Any Russian officers that suggested the war would be longer than six weeks were derided as pessimists. It was only the British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, who went on record as saying the war would last at least three to four years. He was criticized for being negative.
So the troops marched off to fight in 1914 believing they were off for adventure and fun. Instead, they got hell.
Of course history proved that the world was in for the long haul. The war wasn’t over by Christmas. In fact, it had disintegrated into two-front trench warfare in Europe and scattered colonial clashes everywhere else in the world.
by
nananina (student)
