The breakfast to lunch war.

Just about all of us have learnt that WW1 was the result of the assassination of Archduke Frans Ferdinand and his wife. Right?. Wrong.! The assassination was merely the straw that broke the camel's back.!

In 1914 Europe was experiencing a productive and so-called peaceful period. Two difficult decades of depression seemed to be broken at last and industry expanded again. That was the general feeling but politicians decided that there was a storm brewing.

Unfortunately a strong under-current of mistrust and discord lingered.

A triple entente was seemed evident among Britain, France and Russia while fear of Russia gave rise to alliances between Germany and Austria-Hungary, Serbia and Austria-Hungary to retain control of Serbia.

There was talk in Germany of the Schlieffen plan. This fizzled out and the German CINC Von Moltke imagined a short war, in by breakfast and out by lunch!

The great War exploded in Europe with much consternation in August 1914. The allies were obligated to enter the war with their allies. SHOCK AND HORROR.! Although some countries had been working on improving their armoury and troops such as Germany's formidable navel fleet. The rest had their backs to the wall. They lacked trained soldiers arms and ammunition, mobility.

What they did have in fact were the old and rusted rifles dated to wars fought in the 19th century. Their cannons were outdated and horses were still used. Governments drafted "soldiers 'using men working with forks in fields.

The race was on. Citizens including women and children were put to work. The diverse uniforms were not useful as the colours were so bright that a soldier could be easily spotted. Most armies preferred khaki or brown.

As the war became more complex improved weaponry was produced in factories night and day. The British 14 inch naval gun proved superb. Super cannons bombarded key positions accurately. Tanks entered the scene as well as fighter planes. Mobility advanced in all areas.

Sadly the war did not last from breakfast to lunch. It was a treacherous trench war. Soldiers spent weeks in trenches, at times up to their knees in slushy, muddy water. These conditions caused rot foot, gangrene and so many other diseases. Rats were plentiful. They had to stay down to be safe from enemy fire. The stench of death all around, we could not imagine.

The USA entered at this point, supplying Britain and her allies with advanced weaponry, which changed the tide for Germany, now in trouble. To add to her woes, a German torpedo sunk The Lusitania. a civilian ship carrying many Americans and the U.S. entered the war more aggressively.

The breakfast to lunch war finally ended after 5 years !!! There were millions of fatalities, soldiers who returned with different forms of dementia resulting from the horror that they experienced.

Nations supported Wilson's 14 Points document to prevent such an atrocity in the future!

As time passed, the positive effects the dire needs the war produced manifested in advances in manufacturing methods, cost effective raw material extraction and a revolution in transportation.

South African gold and diamonds were particularly productive. Private and free capital circulated. Greatly improved banking facilities were implemented and technology soared.

People who lived at that time and long after called it the Great War because of all the advances. The great war was a technological turning point.

The suffering, bravery and effort of those millions profit us in this generation, expanding technology, industry, science etc.

Thanks to all those heroes ....

Sources :

The first world war- an illustrated history by John Keegan
The great illusion - Norman Angell (journalist)