Part II

Europe at War, 1914–1916

© Imperial War Museums (Q 70032)

For a great bonus article that assesses the competency of the First World War generals, head online and take a look at www.dummies.com/extras/firstworldwar.

In this part…

• Unravel the story of how a war that began almost in a party atmosphere, with cheering crowds and brightly coloured uniforms, went sour very quickly as soldiers discovered the reality of modern warfare.
• See why Christmas 1914 passed without the quick victory that everyone was expecting, and how the war dragged on and quickly reached stalemate in 1915. Understand how the growing frustrations of that year in turn led to bigger and bigger offensives – and ever bigger disappointments – throughout 1916.
• Appreciate how these first years of the war were dominated by the war in Europe – the Western Front that ran through Belgium and France, the even longer Eastern Front that extended all the way from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and the smaller fronts that opened up in Turkey and Italy – and how non-Europeans from India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Indo-China and the Caribbean were soon brought into the Europeans’ war.