World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliestglobal conflicts in history. It was fought between two coalitions, the Allies and the Central Powers. Fighting occurred throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died as a result of genocide, while the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.
The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun[bataj də vɛʁdœ̃]; German: Schlacht um Verdun[ʃlaxt ʔʊm ˈvɛɐ̯dœ̃]) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun (RFV, Région Fortifiée de Verdun) and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry.
Poor weather delayed the beginning of the attack until 21 February but the Germans captured Fort Douaumont in the first three days. The advance then slowed for several days, despite inflicting many French casualties. By 6 March, 20+1⁄2 French divisions were in the RFV and a more extensive defence in depth had been organised. Philippe Pétain ordered there to be no retreat and that German attacks were to be counter-attacked, despite this exposing French infantry to the German artillery. By 29 March, French guns on the west bank had begun a constant bombardment of Germans on the east bank, causing many infantry casualties. The German offensive was extended to the west bank of the Meuse to gain observation and eliminate the French artillery firing over the river but the attacks failed to reach their objectives.
In early May, the Germans changed tactics again and made local attacks and counter-attacks; the French recaptured part of Fort Douaumont but then the Germans ejected them and took many prisoners. The Germans tried alternating their attacks on either side of the Meuse and in June captured Fort Vaux. The Germans advanced towards the last geographical objectives of the original plan, at Fleury-devant-Douaumont and Fort Souville, driving a salient into the French defences. Fleury was captured and the Germans came within 2.5 mi (4 km) of the Verdun citadel but in July the offensive was cut back to provide troops, artillery and ammunition for the Battle of the Somme, leading to a similar transfer of the French Tenth Army to the Somme front. From 23 June to 17 August, Fleury changed hands sixteen times and a German attack on Fort Souville failed. The offensive was reduced further but to keep French troops away from the Somme, ruses were used to disguise the change. (Full article...)
The German Paris Gun, also known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Gun, was the largest gun of World War I. In 1918 the Paris Gun shelled Paris from 120 km (75 mi) away.
The Paris Gun (German: Paris-Geschütz / Pariser Kanone) was the name given to a type of German long-range siege gun, several of which were used to bombard Paris during World War I. They were in service from March to August 1918. When the guns were first employed, Parisians believed they had been bombed by a high-altitude Zeppelin, as the sound of neither an airplane nor a gun could be heard. They were the largest pieces of artillery used during the war by barrel length, and qualify under the (later) formal definition of large-calibre artillery.
Also called the "Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz" ("Kaiser Wilhelm Gun"), they were often confused with Big Bertha, the German howitzer used against Belgian forts in the Battle of Liège in 1914; indeed, the French called them by this name as well. They were also confused with the smaller "Langer Max" (Long Max) cannon, from which they were derived; although the famous Krupp-family artillery makers produced all these guns, the resemblance ended there.
As military weapons, the Paris Guns were not a great success: the payload was small, the barrel required frequent replacement, and the guns' accuracy was good enough for only city-sized targets. The German objective was to build a psychological weapon to attack the morale of the Parisians, not to destroy the city itself. (Full article...)
The High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte) was the battle fleet of the GermanImperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (Heimatflotte) was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. AdmiralAlfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to challenge the Royal Navy's predominance. Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German Emperor, championed the fleet as the instrument by which he would seize overseas possessions and make Germany a global power. By concentrating a powerful battle fleet in the North Sea while the Royal Navy was required to disperse its forces around the British Empire, Tirpitz believed Germany could achieve a balance of force that could seriously damage British naval hegemony. This was the heart of Tirpitz's "Risk Theory", which held that Britain would not challenge Germany if the latter's fleet posed such a significant threat to its own. (Full article...)
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Wyoming as completed
The Wyoming class was a pair of dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy. Wyoming and Arkansas were authorized in early 1909, and were built between 1910 and 1912. These were the fourth dreadnought design of the US Navy, but only an incremental improvement over the preceding Florida class, and the last US battleships to use 12-inch guns. The primary changes were the adoption of a more powerful 12 in (305 mm)/50 caliber Mark 7 gun, addition of a sixth twin-gun turret and improved armor protection, including the first use of a torpedo bulkhead on American battleships. The Navy considered using more powerful 14-inch (356 mm) guns, but this would have caused delays and required larger docks. (Full article...)
HMS Llewellyn was a Laforey-classdestroyer that served with the Royal Navy. Laid down on 14 December 1912 as HMS Picton, the ship was renamed on 30 September 1913 under an Admiralty order to become one of the first alphabetical class destroyers, being launched on 30 October. On commissioning, the vessel joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla and operated as part of the Harwich Force during the First World War. The destroyer took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, as well as undertaking anti-submarine patrols and escort duties. It was during one of these patrols on 4 December 1916 that the vessel unsuccessfully attacked the German submarineUB-18. On 17 March 1917, the destroyer was struck in the bow by a torpedo launched by a German torpedo boat while rescuing survivors from the sunk destroyer Paragon, but returned to port safely by steaming backwards. With the cessation of hostilities, the ship was placed in reserve. Although subsequently offered for sale to the Finnish Navy, Llewellyn was instead withdrawn from service and sold to be broken up on 18 March 1922. (Full article...)
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SMS Amazon
SMS Amazone was the sixth member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph). (Full article...)
Image 5French bayonet charge during the Battle of the Frontiers; by the end of August, French casualties exceeded 260,000, including 75,000 dead. (from World War I)
Image 9Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps First Contingent in Bermuda, winter 1914–1915, before joining 1 Lincolnshire Regiment in France in June 1915. The dozen remaining after Guedecourt on 25 September 1916, merged with a Second Contingent. The two contingents suffered 75% casualties. (from World War I)
Image 10Italian soldiers in trench, 1918 (from World War I)
Image 14German soldiers on the way to the front in 1914; at this stage, all sides expected the conflict to be a short one. (from World War I)
Image 15Italian troops reach Trento during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, 1918. Italy's victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front and secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (from World War I)
Image 28Russian troops going to the front: Support for the imperial guard being hurried into the fighting line (from Eastern Front (World War I))
Image 29Armenians killed during the Armenian Genocide. Image taken from Ambassador Morgenthau's Story, written by Henry Morgenthau Sr. and published in 1918. (from World War I)
Image 34Rival military coalitions in 1914: Triple Entente in green; Triple Alliance in brown. Only the Triple Alliance was a formal "alliance"; the others listed were informal patterns of support. (from World War I)
Image 36Traditionally thought to show the arrest of Gavrilo Princip (right), this photo is now believed by historians to depict an innocent bystander, Ferdinand Behr (from World War I)
Image 37Between April and November 1918, the Allies increased their front-line rifle strength while German strength fell by half. (from World War I)
Image 38Kaiser Wilhelm II inspecting Turkish troops of the 15th Corps in East Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Poland). Prince Leopold of Bavaria, the Supreme Commander of the German Army on the Eastern Front, is second from the left. (from World War I)
Image 42Mobile radio station in German South West Africa, using a hydrogen balloon to lift the antenna (from World War I)
Image 43A Gotha G.II bomber. Only ten were built before the aircraft was withdrawn due to repeated engine failures, but it set the pattern for the Gotha G.III through G.V bombers, with 460 more built for the later marks.
Public domain photograph, original source unknown.
Image 47The Allied Avenue, 1917 painting by Childe Hassam, that depicts Manhattan's Fifth Avenue decorated with flags from Allied nations (from World War I)
Image 48Austro-Hungarian troops executing captured Serbians, 1917. Serbia lost about 850,000 people during the war, a quarter of its pre-war population. (from World War I)
Image 49German casualties, the Somme 1916 (from World War I)
Image 52Emergency military hospital during the Spanish flu pandemic, which killed about 675,000 people in the United States alone, Camp Funston, Kansas, 1918 (from World War I)
Image 53An American gun crew from the 23rd Infantry, 2nd Division, firing on German entrenched positions during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, 1918 (from World War I)
Image 54Bulgarian major Ivanov with white flag surrendering to Serbian 7th Danube regiment near Kumanovo (from World War I)
Image 79Possible execution at Verdun at the time of the mutinies in 1917. The original French text accompanying this photograph notes, however, that the uniforms are those of 1914–15 and that the execution may be that of a spy at the beginning of the war. (from World War I)
Image 81A Russian armoured car, 1919 (from World War I)
Image 82A United States Army recruiting poster shows Uncle Sam pointing his finger at the viewer to try and persuade them to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War I. (from World War I)
Image 97Illustration from the French magazine Le Petit Journal on the Bosnian Crisis. Bulgaria declares its independence and its prince Ferdinand is named Tsar. Austria-Hungary, in the person of Emperor Francis Joseph, annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II looks on helplessly. (from Eastern Front (World War I))
Image 100Royal Air ForceSopwith Camel. In April 1917, the average life expectancy of a British pilot on the Western Front was 93 flying hours. (from World War I)
Image 101Tanks on parade in London at the end of World War I (from World War I)
Image 113British artillery battery on Mount Scopus in the Battle of Jerusalem, 1917. Foreground, a battery of 16 heavy guns. Background, conical tents and support vehicles. (from World War I)
Image 114World empires and colonies around 1914 (from World War I)
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