First World War For Dummies

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1. Table of Contents
   1. Introduction
      1. About This Book
      2. Foolish Assumptions
      3. Icons Used in This Book
      4. Beyond the Book
      5. Where to Go from Here
   2. Part I: Origins of War
      1. Chapter 1: The First World War: An Overview
         1. I Name This War . . . Er, What Should We Call the War?
         2. Analysing the Causes
            1. Historians at war
            2. An accident waiting to happen . . .
            3. . . . or was villainy afoot?
         3. Reviewing the Combatants
            1. The Central Powers
            2. The Allied and Associated Powers
            3. The rulers
         4. Mapping the Conflict
            1. Viewing the different theatres of war
            2. Making the struggle global: Other areas of war
         5. Forging Ahead with the Technology and Science of War
            1. Open fire! Inspecting the new weaponry
            2. Making advances in medicine
         6. The First World War in a Nutshell
            1. 1914–15: The best-laid plans go wrong
            2. 1916–17: The big battles
            3. 1918–19: Endgames
         7. The Legacy: Why the First World War Still Matters
      2. Chapter 2: The World in 1900
         1. The State We’re In: Taking a Tour of the World in 1900
            1. Everybody wants to rule the world – well, the Europeans do, anyway
            2. Down, but not out: The dragons and tigers of Asia
            3. The new empire of the west: The United States of America
            4. Meet the new neighbours: Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
            5. Scrambled Africa
         2. How People Lived: A World of Extremes
            1. Urban warriors: The cities of the world
            2. Country folk: Living on the land
         3. How (Some) People Thought: Brave New Ideas for a Brave New World
            1. It’s art and music, Jim, but not as we know it
            2. The windmills of your mind – Freud, Jung and psychoanalysis
            3. The intriguing world of physics
            4. When the revolution comes . . .
         4. Working with What We’ve Got: Building a Better World
            1. The Red Cross
            2. The Hague Conventions
            3. The 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition – come and see the future!
            4. The Olympic Vision
      3. Chapter 3: Crisis Mismanagement: Unpicking the Causes of the First World War
         1. Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It’s Off to War We Go
            1. Real men make war
            2. God is on our side! No, he’s on ours!
            3. Your problems solved – you need a war!
         2. Understanding How (and Why) the First World War Started
            1. Get off our land! Nationalism
            2. Love me, love my ally – the Great Power rivals
            3. One international crisis after another
            4. The deadly battle for the Balkans
            5. The July crisis
         3. So What Did Cause the War?
   3. Part II: Europe at War, 1914–1916
      1. Chapter 4: 1914: The First World War Starts Here
         1. The War You’ve All Been Waiting for – Must End by Christmas!
            1. Hurrah, lads, we’re off to war!
            2. But was everyone really so happy?
         2. Haven’t We Met Before? The European Armies of 1914
            1. Austria-Hungary: Divided state, divided army
            2. France: The state wary of its own army
            3. Germany: The military state
            4. Great Britain: Professional, but small
            5. Russia: Huge army, huge problems
         3. Wrestling for the West
            1. Germany’s dilemma, and the not-so-clever Schlieffen Plan
            2. Any idea how to win this war by Christmas?
            3. Soldiers of France, charge!
            4. The Battle for Belgium
            5. The battle for Paris
            6. Dig in for victory – the trenches
         4. Tragedy on the Eastern Front
            1. Behold the titans of Tannenberg
            2. New man, new priorities
            3. General Conrad’s dilemma
      2. Chapter 5: 1915: Cunning Plans to Win the War
         1. Winning Wheezes in the West
            1. Come in, men! Your time is up!
            2. She sells HE shells . . . and we need more
            3. Germany’s way to win
         2. How to Break Through in the West and Win the War in a Year
            1. The battle of nerves at Neuve Chapelle
            2. The deadly second Battle of Ypres
            3. Remember, men, you’re fighting for king, country – and for me to keep my job: Aubers Ridge
            4. Fight at Loos, lose at Loos
            5. How not to win the Battle of Champagne
            6. How to win the war next year
         3. Rolling Back the Russians; Seeing Off the Serbs
            1. Polishing off Poland
            2. Swansong for Serbia
         4. This Looks Fun – Can We Play? Italy and Bulgaria Join the War
            1. Italy – looking after numero uno
            2. Bulgaria – picking a winner
      3. Chapter 6: 1916: The Big Battles
         1. BIG Plans: BIG Push
            1. Woodrow Wilson – desperately seeking solutions
            2. Chantilly – leaders and lace
            3. Falkenhayn rains on the Allies’ parade
         2. A Struggle for Life and Death: The Battle of Verdun
            1. The German assault
            2. They shall not pass!
            3. Bleeding France white
            4. Farewell, Falkenhayn. Hello, Hindenburg!
         3. Britain’s End of Innocence: The Battle of the Somme
            1. The Big Push begins
            2. Kitchener’s Army is on its way
            3. The best laid plans go awry: Heading for disaster
            4. The blackest day of the British army
            5. Learning the lessons
            6. Fighting a war of attrition
            7. Blood and mud
         4. The Eastern Front: Hopes Raised, then Dashed
            1. The Russians’ last hurrah
            2. Romania joins in – and gets crushed
   4. Part III: A World at War
      1. Chapter 7: Welcome to the World of the Trenches
         1. Negotiating the Trenches of the Western Front
            1. Navigating state-of-the-art trench systems
            2. Smoking can seriously damage your health. No, seriously
            3. The dangers of rain and mud
            4. No pets allowed – except lice and rats
            5. The bore war
         2. Getting Out of the Trench Trap
            1. How to raid your enemy’s trench
            2. How to attack your enemy’s line
            3. Going underground
         3. Dealing with Men Who Couldn’t – or Wouldn’t – Fight
            1. Tending to wounds and the wounded
            2. Mending minds
            3. Dealing with mutineers and deserters
            4. No prisoners?
      2. Chapter 8: War at Sea, War in the Air
         1. Sea Power = Great Power: Ruling the Waves
         2. Updating and Innovating: Dreadnoughts and Destroyers
         3. Raiders and Blockaders
            1. Sink the Emden!
            2. Coronel and the Falklands
            3. U-boats and Q-ships
         4. High Noon on the High Seas: The Battle of Jutland
            1. Admiral Scheer’s plan
            2. The battlecruisers’ battle
            3. Who won the Battle of Jutland?
            4. How much did Jutland matter?
         5. Controlling the Skies
            1. I lost my home to an airship trooper
            2. Airplane!
      3. Chapter 9: Turkish Delights
         1. The Ottomans and Their Declining Empire: Choosing a Way Forward
            1. Old Turkey?
            2. Hmm – ruling isn’t as easy as it looks
            3. We’d very much like to be your friends: The Germans court the Turks
            4. This means war! With one side.Or maybe the other
         2. Is a World War Not Enough? Have a Holy War Too!
         3. A Mess in Mesopotamia
         4. Disaster at the Dardanelles
            1. Uh-oh: Winston’s had a bright idea
            2. Phase 1: The naval attack – or ‘How not to win a quick victory’
            3. Phase 2: The landings – or ‘How not to take your enemy by surprise’
            4. The British are coming – to the rescue!
            5. Should we stay or should we go?
         5. The Arab Spring
            1. The Land of Araby rises up
            2. When Sykes met Picot
            3. Hang on! I thought the Turks were winning everything?
            4. The twice-promised land: Arthur Balfour’s Declaration
            5. To Jerusalem and beyond!
      4. Chapter 10: The Imperial War
         1. The Imperial World of Warcraft: Europe’s Empires
            1. Answering imperial calls to arms: The colonial soldiers
            2. (Driving the Germans) out of Africa
            3. We’re gonna wash those Germans right outta our hair: The Pacific
            4. Empires on the Western Front
         2. Forging National Identities
            1. Under southern skies: Australia and New Zealand
            2. India’s aspirations
            3. The Easter Rising: Ireland’s terrible beauty
            4. An empire state?
      5. Chapter 11: America Goes to War
         1. Woodrow Wilson’s World
            1. The American melting pot
            2. Don’t go there! America’s isolationists
            3. Beware U-boats!
            4. He kept you out of war! The 1916 election
         2. You Know How President Wilson Kept America Out of the War? Well, He’s Changed His Mind
            1. What were the Germans thinking?
            2. When we win: Wilson’s Fourteen Points
         3. Gearing Up for Action: A Nation at War
            1. There’s no place like the home front
            2. Why we fight
         4. The Yanks Are Coming!
            1. You’re in the army now
            2. Lafayette – we are here!
            3. Learning the hard way
            4. Into battle
   5. Part IV: Home Fronts
      1. Chapter 12: The Civilian War
         1. Blurring the Lines between Soldiers and Civilians
         2. Taking on Special Powers
            1. Meeting DORA
            2. Taking forced labour
            3. Dealing with strikes and soldiers
         3. Conscription Comes to Britain
            1. Let’s try volunteers first
            2. All right, conscription it is, then
            3. Conscientious objectors
            4. Did conscription work?
         4. Round ’Em Up and Drive ’Em Out!
            1. Propagating racial hatred and rumour
            2. Spies R (all around) Us
         5. Fighting the War for Food
            1. Britain: Relying on the merchant navy
            2. France: Coping with less
            3. Germany: Focusing on the military
            4. Russia: Heading for a fall
            5. Austria-Hungary: (Not) helping your neighbours
            6. United States: Helping your allies
      2. Chapter 13: Women at War
         1. Welcome to the Women’s Sphere
            1. This is a man’s world . . .
            2. . . . but sisters are doing it for themselves
         2. Freeing Men for the Front: Women at Work
            1. Clocking in: Women in the factories
            2. Mucking out: Women on the land
            3. Nurses, you’re needed!
            4. They also serve who only stand and wait
         3. Women Serving in Military Uniform
            1. Changing perceptions
            2. The Women’s Battalion of Death
         4. Winning the Vote
            1. Hard bargaining in Britain
            2. Voting all over the world
            3. What did women win?
      3. Chapter 14: Struggles for Power
         1. Battling for the Soul of Germany
            1. Ooh, I do like a man in uniform
            2. Divisions running deep
         2. Losing Heart in France: Do We Actually Want to Win?
            1. France divided
            2. Losing the will to fight
            3. Enter Clemenceau and Foch – the French dream team
         3. PLEASE Can We Sack General Cadorna? Italy and Its Men in Charge
            1. The last straw: Catastrophe at Caporetto
            2. Following Cadorna’s example
         4. Bringing Out the British Bulldogs
            1. Sorting out the shells crisis
            2. A very British coup
            3. No, Prime Minister! Lloyd George ruffles a few feathers
         5. Meeting the Last of the Habsburgs: Austria-Hungary
            1. Be careful what you wish for, Austria
            2. Austria-Hungary’s wheels start falling off
            3. Oh no you don’t, Emperor Karl!
   6. Part V: Armistice and Aftermath, 1917–1918 and Beyond
      1. Chapter 15: 1917: The Year of Big Changes
         1. Revolution in Russia
            1. The Russia of the Romanovs
            2. Revolution!
         2. All Busy on the Western Front
            1. Germany’s deadly withdrawal
            2. The (not so) talented General Nivelle has a plan
            3. Field Marshal Haig has a better plan!
            4. Cambrai – the day of the tank
         3. Italy’s Darkest Day – Caporetto
      2. Chapter 16: 1918: Victory and Defeat
         1. Springtime for Germany
            1. General Ludendorff’s gamble
            2. Fighting Foch
            3. On my command, unleash hell! The Kaiser Battle
            4. Understanding why the German advance collapsed
         2. Downfall – the Allied Hundred Days’ Counter-Offensive
            1. The Battle of Amiens
            2. Endgame on the Western Front
         3. Endgame on All Fronts
            1. Sending the Turks packing from Palestine – the Battle of Armageddon
            2. Italy’s revenge – the Battle of Vittorio Veneto
            3. All change at Salonika
            4. Where’s Austria-Hungary gone? It was there a minute ago
            5. Sunset at sea
         4. We’d Better Get a New Government: Germany Implodes
         5. The Fighting Ends
            1. Soldiering on until the eleventh hour
            2. The Germans’ last act
      3. Chapter 17: Aftermath: The World After the War
         1. Hitting the World When It’s Down: The Great Influenza
         2. Peacemaking in Paris
            1. Working out who won and who lost
            2. Sitting down to talk: The peace conference
         3. Sign This! The Peace Treaties
            1. Dazed and confused – the Germans
            2. Spreading the humiliation – the Germans’ allies
            3. Turkey: Don’t get mad, get even
            4. New kids on the European block
         4. The League of Nations and Its Fatal Flaw
            1. Roll up! Roll up! Come and join the League of Nations!
            2. Okay, the League of Some Nations, then
            3. What’s the difference between a mandate and a colony?
         5. From World War to Civil Wars – and Civil Unrest
         6. A Whole New World?
            1. Homes fit for heroes
            2. All people are equal – aren’t they?
            3. An American century
      4. Chapter 18: Remembering the War
         1. How Many Died?
         2. Commemorating the Dead
            1. Burying the dead
            2. In Flanders fields the poppies grow
         3. The Cry of Men in Face of Their Destiny: The Cultural Impact of the War
            1. Meeting the war painters and poets
            2. An Imperial War Museum
         4. The First World War: From a Distance
            1. The satirists’ war
            2. The lions and the donkeys
            3. Was it worth it?
   7. Part VI: The Part of Tens
      1. Chapter 19: Ten Key Generals of the First World War
         1. Max Hoffman (1869–1927)
         2. Sir Henry Rawlinson (1864–1925)
         3. August von Mackensen (1849–1944)
         4. Sir Herbert Plumer (1857–1932)
         5. Mustafa Kemal (Kemal Atatürk) (1881–1938)
         6. Sir John Monash (1865–1931)
         7. Sir Arthur Currie (1875–1933)
         8. Alexei Brusilov (1853–1926)
         9. John J Pershing (1860–1948)
         10. Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929)
      2. Chapter 20: Ten Great First World War Films
         1. The Battle of the Somme (Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell, 1916)
         2. Shoulder Arms (Charlie Chaplin, 1918)
         3. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930)
         4. La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
         5. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
         6. Oh! What a Lovely War (Richard Attenborough, 1969)
         7. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
         8. Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981)
         9. Regeneration (Gillies McKinnon, 1997)
         10. Flyboys (Tony Bill, 2006)
      3. Chapter 21: Ten Famous Wartime Writers and Poets
         1. John Buchan (1875–1940)
         2. RC Sherriff (1896–1975)
         3. Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
         4. Jaroslav Hasek (1883–1923)
         5. Ivor Gurney (1890–1937)
         6. Henri Barbusse (1873–1935)
         7. Vera Brittain (1893–1970)
         8. Robert Graves (1895–1985)
         9. Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970)
         10. Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
      4. Chapter 22: Ten Enlightening Places to Visit
         1. The Imperial War Museum, London
         2. The Military History Museum, Vienna
         3. In Flanders Fields, the Cloth Hall, Ypres
         4. Gallipoli
         5. Edith Cavell Memorial, London
         6. Historial de la Grande Guerre, Verdun
         7. Beaumont Hamel
         8. Thiepval
         9. The Brighton Chattri
         10. The Sleeping Soldier, Munich
   8. About the Author
   9. Cheat Sheet
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