World War I

Here is a list of the people mentioned in Vera Brittain's memoir, Testament of Youth (1933), which covers her life between 1900-1925, centering entirely on World War I. Vera was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme and grew up in Macclesfield and Buxton, eventually going to university at Somerville College, Oxford. In the middle of her studies, she entered the nursing corps to serve in the war. The following people were central to her experience.

• Edward -- Vera's beloved younger brother and a soldier in the war. He was a gifted musician and composer.
• Roland -- A friend of Edward, later Vera's fiancé. He was a gifted poet and intellectual.
• Victor (aka "Tah") -- A friend of Edward.
• Betty -- A friend and fellow nurse.
• Geoffrey -- An injured soldier whom Vera befriends.
• Nurse Hope Milroy (pseudonym) -- An admired colleague.

Though the war initially began as a reaction to treaty violation and involved few countries, due to the nature of alliances (some popularly considered unwise), what could have been, and arguably should have been, a minor conflict soon erupted into the first world war. I find it interesting that for the first few years of war, most countries and (nationalistic) individuals felt they were fighting for a cause, but after a few years most involved in the fight had lost touch with what it originally involved and it became it's own animal. Because this war was not idealogical like the second was, I think it was probably significantly more difficult to keep citizens motivated and sacrificing for the war effort. That, combined with the advent of inhumane, gutless war tactics and technologies, created a greater need for propaganda on a global scale than had ever been seen before. It suddenly became important to constantly convince and reconvince your citizens that the enemy was bad and you were good and they were wrong and you were right because you could not confidently say that your methods were moral or your tactics sound.

I think with this war a major change was seen regarding public opinion of war and what it meant to individuals and society. In most of the history I've read, war is looked at as a rite of passage for men and leaders - an opportunity to 'attain' and prove manhood. In this war, it became the manifestation of the loss of innocence and a blatant theivery of the lives and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of young people, and for what? Civilians had long forgotten the inital cause of war. Though there were victors and losers, no country truly won because each lost so much in the war. WWI did not follow the almost gentlemanly protocol that previous wars did - war was waged on a new level, involving big guns and trenches and men killing each other without having to look each other in the eye, war was waged in the middle of the night, and new technologies were developed to be bigger, badder, and more torturous than ever before.

I am a junior Political Science major with an English minor. Until last semester, I was an Environmental Policy major with minors in Geology and Psychology. Things are very different in my academic life now. I ultimately chose my major/minor change because Environmental Policy is an incredibly emotionally distressing major to have if you're someone inclined to stay up at night worrying about world or personal issues. After several semesters of emotional stress regarding the fate of humanity and my disappointing encounters with human nature in regards to stewardship and compassion, I realized a career in Env Pol is not the path for me. I switched to Political Science with the intent of continuing on to law school and then having the option to practice environmental or another type of law later in life. I chose to minor in english because it's an area of study I've always enjoyed and excelled in and offers a unique opportunity to study history, humanity, and emotion that isn't found in other concentrations.

This particular class caught my attention because I have always been very interested in wars, the nature of war, and American history. The opportunity to work with Special Collections is an added bonus that I'm especially excited about. I realized upon reading the course description that I know little to nothing about the first world war, as I have always focused on the second. What better opportunity to learn than to take a cross listed english/history course with the opportunity to dig around in Special Collections?!

The concept I found to be the most interesting about the World War I text is the impact technology had on the start of the war.  I have always known that technology has played an important role throughout history but never realized the immense influence it had over the start of the war.  Who knew that technology could be a main reason why many countries entered the blood bath that was World War I.

         The fact that technology had advanced at the time caused many to have unrealistic expectations about time.  And so, as communication gained the ability to travel quickly, response to declaration of war conditions were also expected to arrive swiftly despite the unrealistic time demands.  This caused countries to make hasty decisions.  They knew they had a limited amount of time to act and so this giant decision of war was made irresponsibly.  

Something I found a bit humorous after reading, A Very Short Introduction, was that the whole war sounds like pre-school children playing games. In the beginning, the conflict was mainly between Germany, the Ottoman and Austria-Hungary empires versus Great Britain, France and Russia.  However each side was able to guilt old allies into joining the fray.  
As the war went on, new allegiances were forged; empires were destroyed, and the countries were economically starting to falter. Now the war was no longer being fought for or by the ‘original players’, but by those who were brought in as reinforcements, while many of the original players were ready to declare a truce as they felt the war, had dragged on too long.  However no one wanted to be the one to surrender, especially Germany who now felt that a victory would be in sight. So the war continued and new players; such as America (originally only a bystander), now joined in the battlefield.  So the war which was supposed to be ‘over by Christmas’ now dragged on for several years, because no wanted to be the one to give up first.

This is a funny clip of China, Britain, America, and France, it is a great representation of what I was saying in a nutshell-They are all children:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8deGqKoPGys

One of the things I have found interesting about the reading from a Very Short Introduction is the reasoning behind each country's decision to go to war.  Most countries seemed reluctant yet obligated to get involved in the war due to their allegiances.  It seems as though the citizens of the countries tended more to be against getting involved in a war.  I will continue to think about this as we read further and in relation to the literary content we will read because I am curious to see if any of these authors address the reluctant obligation to go to war, especially from the authors who where writing from the trenches.

January 1915 - Dardanelles campaign beings, request from Russia that was intended to cut off Turkish forces.

February 4, 1915 - Germany declares blockade of Britain.

March 1915 - Battle of Gallipoli, Dardanelles expedition to gain Constantinople. Mission extended into October but failed multiple times.

April 1915 - German attacks Ypres with no strategic purpose other than to try out a new weapon - chlorine poison gas.

April 26, 1915 - Italy signs the secret Treaty of London which promises Italy regions south of the Alps, South Tyrol, areas of Slovenia, Dalmatic and a share of Turkish Anatolia.

May 7, 1915 - U-Boat sinks the Lusitania, creates a crisis between Germany and the U.S.

May 23, 1915 - Italy enters the war.

October 1915 - Bulgaria enters the war on the side of the central powers.

November 1915 - Austria, Germany and Bulgaria form a three-way attack on Serbia. Serbia is invaded, falls and is occupied.

November 1915 - Allies meet in Chantilly to discuss plans for victory in 1916.

December 19, 1915 - Sir Douglas Haig replaces Sir John French as British Commander.

End of 1915 - German record on the eastern front is one of unbroken success.

1914 - War starts, South African Boer fighters rebelled against the Germans

29th Oct 1914 - Turkey enters war on Germany's side; Britain converts Bosnia and Egypt to full protectorates

Nov 1914 - British invasion of Turkey

Mar 1915 - Batle of Suvla Bay where Australian and New Zealand soldiers played valorous role

Oct 1915 - Greece lands small allied force at Salonica to cut off colonial access

Jul 1916 - Egypt defends Suez Canal from Turkish raids

Mar 1917 - After stalling at Palestine, British general Allenby takes charge of Egyptian forces

Sep 1918 - Allenby completes conquest of Palestine at Battle of Megiddo using Indian soldiers

1918 - War ends, Boer guerilla warfare continues

June 28: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo

July 23: Austrian Ultimatum is sent to Serbia

July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia; Russia begins mobilization

July 31: Germany warns Russia to stop mobilization

August 1: Germany declares war on Russia; Germany and Ottoman Empire sign secret treaty

August 3: Germany declares war on Belgium and France

August 4: Germany invades Belgium; United Kingdom declares war on Germany

August 6: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia; Serbia declares war on Germany

August 11: France declares war on Austria-Hungary

August 17: Russia enters East Prussia

August 22: Austria-Hungray declares war on Belgium

August 23: Japan declares war on Germany

August 27-30: Battle of Tannenburg

August 30-September 8: Battle of the Marne

October 30-November 11: First Battle of Ypres

1914

Agitation between countries - nationalism at a peak in most countries

Most countries beginning with sufficient resources for war

Young men/society viewing war as attainment of manhood - rite of passage

Darwinian Theory (countries capable of conquest/survival will succeed - those that are not will fail/fall to other countries)

Eastern view on Western attitude of war - liberal pacifism/moral decadence

1916

morale is significantly lower due to resource depletion, inflation, loss of innocence

economies becoming 'command economies'

women taking tradtional male roles in society (labor)

1917

US sends supplies to GB - considered an ally by central

German subs sinking US passenger ships

US possibly primarily motivated by capitalist interests - supporting countries with which they have economic ties

QUESTIONS

How much do you think US war involvement was manipulated by world leaders/trade and economics vs public sentiment? 

Compare women in the labor force in WW1 to WW2 and how that affected their domestic/social roles in the US

How could Darwinian Theory regarding the survival of 'fit' countries have affected the value of individual life, war technologies, and engagement tactics? 

Toby Decker - Kenyon Taylor - Jeanine de Leon-Maestas