WWI Notes 2:The August Madness and the Beginning of

WWIWorld WarsMs. Hamer

February 4, 2011

Myth of the August Madness

• While widespread fervor about the war happened…

• During and after WWI, the vision of the August Madness was hyped up more and more

What was the August Madness?

• Widespread celebrations in European cities after the declarations of war in early August 1914– Especially in Paris, London, St. Petersburg, Vienna

and definitely in Berlin• Caused by relief felt after not having to wait to

see what would happen with the tensions in Europe

• Led to feelings of national unity• Militarist expectations of heroism and glory

were part of it• Some were just caught up in the excitement

Who Participated in the August Madness?

• Urban, middle class and elites, and especially students–Men more so than women

• Still much objection to war – Rural areas were not so thrilled–Minorities were not as enthusiastic

Scenes from the August Madness

BerlinLondon – Trafalgar

Square

What were the Effects of the August Madness?

• Domestic truces within countries– Though this was followed with inner paranoia

and fear of spies…• Mass enlistment– 20 million men mobilized throughout Europe

• Governments harnessed this enthusiasm for their war goals– “Spontaneous” Propaganda

• Failure of International Socialism to prevent a capitalist war…

Mobilization for War

British Man Ready to Enlist• “I felt restless, excited, eager to do something

desperate for the cause of England. And then the impulse came, sending the blood tingling all over my body: why not join the Army now? A great and glorious suggestion. It might not be too late.

• Girls smiled at me, men looked at me with respect, the bus drivers wished me luck and refused to take money for my fare, and everybody made way for me, as being on the King's business.”

Mobilization

It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go; It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square, It's a long, long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there!

Home by Christmas! No major war

in 50 years! Nationalism!

Recruitment Posters

Kitchener in EnglandThis one wouldn’t arrive until 1918, but you can see

where the US got it from

A Young Australian Recruit

Recruits of the Central Powers

Austro-Hungarians

A German Soldier Says Farewell to His Mother

New French Recruits

A German Boy Pretends to Be a Soldier

Plans of Attack

The Schlieffen Plan• Germany’s Schlieffen Plan :– Was to solve the problem of the two-front

war Germany would have to fight• Knock out France in 42 days by attacking through

Belgium, then face Russia• Would violate Belgian neutrality

• Would it have ever worked?– Required troops to march 20-30 miles a day

while fighting resistance– Troops would quickly outdistance supply lines

and artillery

The Schlieffen Plan

Plan XVII• France’s Plan XVII (keep in mind they

started at 14!)– Was based on an offensive to retake the lost

provinces of Alsace and Lorraine– Left a small contingent to defend against the

Belgian border because the Germans would never do anything so heinous as attacking through neutral Belgium…

• Stressed the offensive, which ended up being a bad call:– Smaller force– Played into the expectations of the Schlieffen

Plan

Plan XVII

Schlieffen + Plan XVII

Fighting Begins

Germany Invades Belgium – August 4, 1914

• Advance was hampered by Belgian resistance – destruction of railroads as well as German fear of snipers

• New technology (heavy guns) took out old forts

• Germans were 20 miles from Paris by early September

Battle of the Frontiers August 14 – September 6,

1914• Germany declared

war on August 1st and within two weeks was fighting the French in the series of battles called the Battle of the Frontiers– Huge and violent

battles– Failure of prepared

plansBelgians flooding canals and battlefield

Paris• The British

Expeditionary Force (BEF) mobilized VERY quickly and met the Germans at Mons and then retreated to Paris with the French– French government

fled to Bordeaux but prepared Paris for attack by mining bridges

– French troops mobilized to defend Paris

Miracle of the Marne

September 6-10• German advancing

armies got too close to each other and turned before Paris, exposing their flank to the waiting Allies– Allies were able to

keep Germans from Paris

– Among other acts of heroism were the 600 taxis that brought troops to the Marne from Paris!

Battle of the Frontiers

Effects of the Battle of the Frontiers and the Battle of the

Marne• German forces fell

back and dug in• Even though

shallow trenches, it was the beginning of trench warfare

• Schlieffen Plan failed so Germany would face a multi-front war

German Atrocities in Belgium and Northern France

Reasons (?)• Germans were really worried about French

snipers (a problem from the Franco Prussian War of 1870)

• Problems with civilian resistance– Germans used terror to try to stop this…

• The combination of this led to misconceptions– “man hat geschossen” – “one has shot at us”– Sometimes mistook friendly fire for resistance– German soldiers drinking looted alcohol did not

help

German Atrocities• Germans killed more

than 6,000 civilians (men, women, and children) in Belgium and Northern France

• Burned the University at Louvain along with its library and killed hundreds of civilians there

• Shelled Reims Cathedral on September 19, 1914

Problems with Rumors of Atrocities

• After the real atrocities, rumors spread of others that ended up being fakes:– Germans chopping the hands of Belgian

children to prevent them from fighting• Later in the war when it was realized

that these were fake, it lessened the reality of the actual atrocities– This sentiment would later lead to disbelief

of the “rumors” of attacks on Jews by the Third Reich…

Beginning of the Western Front

Race to the Sea• After the Battle of the Frontiers, the

Allies and Central Powers struggled to create a front line in their favor

• The goal of each side was to secure a good port on the English Channel– Germany got Antwerp on October 11, 1914

• From this point on, there were battles on the Western Front, but the line remained fairly stagnant

The Western Front

Animated Map of the Western Front

• Animated Map of the Western Front

Germans Digging Trenches 1914

• http://www.firstworldwar.com/video/germantrenches.htm

Trench Warfare

Trenches• Not only were the trenches

the cause of mass destruction on the battlefield, but they were also havens for disease:– Rats and lice were infected

with disease, which spread quickly to the men.

– Trench foot was a rotting disease that happened when the soldiers’ feet were wet for days on end from the mud in the bottom of the trenches.

Wikipedia on Trench FootCharacteristics• Affected feet become numb and then turn red or blue. As the condition

worsens, they may swell. Advanced immersion foot often involves blisters and open sores, which lead to fungal infections; this is sometimes called tropical ulcer (jungle rot).

• If left untreated, immersion foot usually results in gangrene, which can require amputation. If immersion foot is treated properly, complete recovery is normal, though it is marked by severe short-term pain when feeling returns. Like other cold injuries, immersion foot leaves sufferers more susceptible to it in the future.

Causes• Immersion foot occurs when feet are cold and damp while wearing

constricting footwear. Unlike frostbite, immersion foot does not require freezing temperatures and can occur in temperatures up to 60° Fahrenheit (about 16° Celsius). The condition can occur with as little as eleven hours' exposure. The mechanism of tissue damage is not fully understood.

Prevention• Immersion foot is easily prevented by keeping the feet warm and dry, and

changing socks frequently when the feet cannot be kept dry. During World War I, trench soldiers were provided with whale grease and told to apply it to their feet, to reduce the prevalence of this condition; the idea was to make the feet waterproof. It was found, however, that this made the condition worse as it made the feet perspire and absorb even more water. It was also discovered that a key measure was regular foot inspections by officers.

British Recollections of Life in the Trenches

On Lice and Rats: • “If you're nearly frozen,

they keep quiet: as soon as you warm up those blasted lice start to bite like the devil. It's horrible. I often think it is one of the worst things we have to endure out here.”

• “There are millions!! Some are huge fellows, nearly as big as cats. Several of our men were awakened to find a rat snuggling down under the blanket alongside them!”

The Confusing Layout“Getting along a trench is not as easy as you think. For one thing it is not straight for more than four yards (it is 'traversed' to prevent crossfire and shell fire having much effect). Then there are all sorts of odd off-turns, to officers' dugouts, or other lines of trenches: at other places there are steps down and other unknown steps up where a piece of parapet has been blown in, or some walls of a traverse have collapsed. In these mazes where we have fought each other so often and each side has held the ground in turn, you can never be quite sure whether a trench won't lead you straight to the German lines. In more than one place in our present line we actually do have communication trenches connecting our and their lines.”

Trenches

Aerial View German SE; British

NW 1917

Periscope Rifle

Mining Trenches• Trenches could be

attacked by digging underground tunnels beneath enemy trenches and mining underneath them and then exploding these mines.

• 1915- Remnants of a German mined trench with British captors and German prisoners and dead

Trenches• This harsh warfare and the terrible living

conditions that accompanied it led many soldiers to mutiny or mental illness.

• Commanding officers often held their troops at gunpoint and forced them to leave the trenches and attempt an attack on the enemy across no man’s land.

“A Bedford patrol went out and crawled very bravely close to the German barbed wire. They stayed a long time and listened and they were just about to crawl back when a voice from the German trenches said in perfect English, 'If you don't go away soon, we shall really have to shoot you.' They went.”

Initial Use of Gas• The French were the

first to use tear gas in August 1914, Germans used it against French and Russians in 1914 and early 1915. – All of these quantities

were too small to be noticed or froze (Russia – duh)

– Combatants did not see this as a violation of the Hague Treaty because tear gas is not poisonous British victims of tear gas

Chlorine Gas• Germans used poisonous chlorine

gas launched from cylinders so it was wind carried in the Spring of 1915

Opening Battles on the Eastern Front

Eastern Front 1914

Tannenberg

German Victory at Tannenberg

August 26-30, 1914

• Even though Russian troops mobilized against Germany and A-H faster than the Central Powers expected, Germany was able to win a large victory against the Russians at the Battle of Tannenberg

Russian prisoners at Tannenberg

• At great cost to themselves, Russia was able to draw German troops from the Western Front by engaging so quickly