i have recently learned about late WWI history .World war one it seems , was all in Europe, so why call it world war ?. Because it was not just in Europe. It was in Africa , around the black sea and the Caspian sea ,in the Balkans , in the pacific with Japan involved, and the middle East.I will now tell you about the war around Serbia in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary (it is a large country that has Austria in it but it is way larger )was a member of the triple alliance an alliance that had Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy sort of ( I'll talk about that later ( Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbian Gavrilo Princip .so Austria declared war on Serbia ) so Austria-Hungary moved its well equipped and well trained army against Serbia's badly equipped and badly trained army. it looked like Austria-Hungary had certain victory . but no, amazingly Serbia's army held against Austria-Hungary for a sensible amount of time . but it had bad luck coming . Bulgaria (my mom is from there ) joined Austria-Hungary and attacked Serbia on its other side . the Serbians fought bravely but soon the force of two countries overpowered them and a slim amount of soldiers were the last survivor's( 60 % of the army died !) and they retreated to the Mediterranean .Serbia was now ruled by Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria . the allies (or England , America , France and Serbia) did not like what had just happened they wanted Serbia back so they started to send armies to Greece. Greece was neutral . the minister of Greece was for the allies while the king was for the triple aliance. when the minister went out of office it seemed like Greece would go on the triple alliance's side . but no there were still supporters of the minister so it stayed neutral. until the allies blockaded Greece and forced the Greeks to go on their side. then the armies of Greece and other allies went marching to take back Serbia . which they did. now i will talk about Italy .At the start Italy was part of the triple Alliance . but this alliance was strange . it was strange because Italy and Austria-Hungary were old enemies .the pact of the Alliance was that if any other country attacked one in the Alliance then the other two would go help that one(it was on the defensive not on the offensive) . so when Germany and Austria-Hungary started attacking (this is at the begging of the war ) Italy did not help . in 1902 Italy made a secret pack with France saying that it would not go to war with them . and then says that it will not go to war with Britain either . so Italy stays neutral But Italy slowly declares war on Austria-hungry. and Germany . and then on 1902 may 23 Italy declares war on the Triple Alliance . mostly fighting Austria-Hungary.the fighting took place along a river called Isons . it was a stalemate for a long time . but then the Germans came and took a lot of territory with the Austria-hungriness . but then were forced to retreat to the original border the river. it took a long time and was mostly a stalemate . but in November 1918 Austria-Hungary surrenders and there is peace.Japan and the Pacific
now i will talk about japan . Japan went on the allies side on WWI . making an agreement with Britain that if it took any German territory's it could keep them . so Japan started harassing the German colonies in the pacific.The Germans had some colonies on pacific islands and one in Tsingtao china .( today Tsingtao is the 2nd best beer in china . the roots are German ) Japan took Tsingtao and most of the German colonies in the pacific . when peace finally came Japan asked the Europeans to treat Japaneses as equals. but they didn't.which might be a reason why the Japanese helped Germany in WWII. Australia and New Zealand (which were ruled by England )also attacked the pacific colonies ruled by Germany . In 1914 August 30th they took German Samoa . Also in 1914 this time in September Australia took part of German Guinea (now part of New Guinea ).
The Germans had very few victory's , one of them in which they just sink a Russian ship !Towards the end of the war the Germans had like no territory left at all!.
Middle East
now i will talk about WWI in the middle east . Judea had been conquered and over and over by the Assyrians , the Babylonians the Persians and the Romans. In 135 c.e common era Hadrian of Rome expels all the Jews from Judea and called the province Syria Palestine ( which is where the word for Palestine come from ) . The Jews were scattered all over and they were equally persecuted . Fast forward more than 1700 years and we come to the birth of Theodor Herzl in 1860 . He was a Jew but not to strong on his faith . Around this time the Jews were persecuted a lot .In 1894 he saw the Dreyfus affair in which a french Jewish soldier in the military was persecuted of treason and spying .In the end he was found free to go . It might have been this that made Theodor Herzl want a Jewish homeland or not .But with all these persecutions ones he saw and ones he heard of , he wanted a Jewish homeland( preferably he wanted it in Judea but any place could work for him, China or India even) . in 1896 he wrote Der Judenstaat which translate to Jewish state. Here is a quote from Theodor Herzl's book Der Judenstaat
" we are a people-one people. ... We have sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the national communities in which we live. seeking only to preserve the faith of our fathers. It is not permitted us. In vain we are loyal patriots, sometimes superloyal; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow citizens: in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native lands in the arts and sciences, or her wealth by trade and commerce. in our native lands where we have lived for centuries we are still descried as aliens , often by men whose ancestors had not yet come at a time when Jewish sighs had long been heard in the country... oppression and persecution can not exterminate us . no nation on earth has endured such struggles and suffering as we have.
Palestine is our unforgettable historic home land ."
with this book Theodor Herzl practicality started a big Zionist movement ( back when Rome ruled Judea there were groups of rebels in Judea that called themselves Zionists . also in the bible Zion was a city in which everyone was righteous, the prophet there was called Enoch . the city was so righteous that God brought the city up to live with him. this Zionist movement in 1896 wanted a Jewish home land) there were other Zionist movements but this one wanted an actual state and homeland .To start his movement Theodor Herzl had the first Zionist Congress in 1897 where he Gatherd pepole that wanted a Jewish homeland.here are more of his quotes
"But we wish to give the Jews a Homeland. Not by dragging them ruthlessly out of their sustaining soil, but rather by removing them carefully, roots and all, to a better terrain."
"It is true that we aspire to our ancient land. But what we want in that ancient land is a new blossoming of the Jewish spirit."
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now i will talk about the Allies in the Middle east . Egypt had come under British control , Egypt was extremely important for the British because it had the Suez Canal and the Suez Canal let British ships get to India way faster than going all around Africa . so the Ottomans wanted to take the Sinai peninsula ( the Sinai peninsula had the Canal on it and In November 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers. fighting Britan) . their first attempt failed . so did their second Attempt . Britain was getting annoyed so it decided to attack the Ottomans . They sailed to the end of the Persian Gulf and landed.in 1917 attacking the Ottomans diagonally towards Judea .they also attacked from Egypt. the ottomans were weak and disorganized and the British easily took a lot of territory with help from the Arao that later). they gave some of it to the french and took some themselves . Now i will talk about hobs (i will get tw the Arabs helped the British fight the Ottomans .Sir Henry McMahon leader of the British Egyptians proposed a deal to Hussein Bin AI leader of the Arabs . the deal said that if the Arabs helped the British fight the Ottomans then the Arabs could have a sizable Amount of land including Judea .The Arabs agreed and help the British beat the Ottomans (the British also send many officers to control the Arab armies. one of these and the most famous T.E Lawrence helped a lot . but he also helped another way .He died on 19 May 1935 .He died by riding a motorcycle with only his military cap on and when swerved too suddenly trying to avoid to boys on bikes , his hands let go of the motorcycle and he fell on the pavement ,headfirst. 6 day later he died . one of the nurses tending him wanted to top people from dying when they fell of motorcycles and got bad head damage. this led to the motorcycle helmet that people use
today:) , end of story right ? no. secretly the French, the Russians and the British made a deal about carving up the Ottoman territory the British took called the Sykes-Picots agreement. the French and British had most of the land and the Russians had a small northern part. Judea was international land. Also the Balfour declaration in which it says that the British look at the Zionist movement with favor . The Arabs only hear about the Balfour declaration and it makes them uneasy. But then around the end of November the Russians release the Sykes-Picots Agreement!!why Because they did not like these secret deals and they did not even know if they were going to get there land . So the Arabs found out and are really unhappy.On the other hand the Ottomans were glad .The Allies said that it was not really a big deal, but it still affected the Arabs. at the end of the war the Arab leader Hussein Bin AI ( he had two sons the other one was called Abdullah . in Tintin there is a Emir ( Arabian leader ) and his son is named Abdullah , i think the name had something to do with the real Abdullah) went to the Paris peace conference of 1919 in which Faisal says he still wants an independent state for him and the Arabs . But the Allies Ignore him and divide the Ottoman territory up like it said in the Sykes-Picots Agreement . Faisal wanted an independent state really bad but he still did not get it. So in 1920 he declared himself king of Syria the Allies kicked him out . Also in 1920 the Arabians revolted in Iraq wanting Independence . The British got tired of this and thought it was to expensive so they gave it to Faisal bin Hussein under the British "protector" so the British told Faisal bin Hussein what to say and told him the laws so he did not really rule . in 1922 Egypt got its independence by a successful revolt, in 1961 kuwait got its independence, Syria got its independence in 1946 and finally Iraq got its Independence in 1932 .
Africa
I am Going to talk about two places the war was fought in Africa.West Africa and East Africa. I will start with West Africa.The Germans had Togo ( it was called Togoland back then ) and a little bit of Ghana. ( back then it was called The Gold Coast . The Gold Coast or Ghana was Ruled by the British )But it was practicality conquered the Instant the war began , Because Togo did not have that many solders and wasn't really prepared for the war . The British and the French Attacked the borders and took them easily . When the Allies demanded surrender from the Germans in Togoland , the Germans refused . So the Allies Sprang onto Togo like a Lioness Spring on her prey ( there were some lions in Africa :) . The Germans were as helpless as a Antelope is when a lion is after it , all they could was run and retreat. There were really minor Skirmishes here and there but most of the way the Germans fled the Allies ( or the Antelope fled the Lioness ) . The only Major battle was the Battle of Chra in Which the Germans had 60 soldiers (all white ) plus they had around 450 Togolese soldiers ( all black). One of the German commanders died during the battle and that was the end of the Germans trying to fight the British . then the Germans Surrendered after they had retreated from the Battle . The war in Togo Ended in the same year the war started but the was still going on somewhere else.
In Cameroon ( back then it was called Kamerun :) the Germans ruled. Naturally the British marched toward Kamerun from three different ways ( they all came from Nigeria ). But the Mountain's , the hard weather,German Guerrilla attacks, to little food and wild viscous Animals stopped the British in their tracks( even though they were Lions :) (they also failed at taking the cites they were after ) .The French advanced from Chad and took a city in Kamerun called Kusseri .In September troops from the Belgian-Congo(there is a whole Tintin book on this Colony of Belgium it is called "TinTin in the Congo " . Also Belgium was on the side of the allies ) took Limbe a city on the coast . The British and the French also Bombarded the Coast and soon the Coast was theirs .When 1915 spring most of the Germans had retreated to the Mountains and set up a new capital after the allies had took their old one . The only ones that had not Retreated were the ones in the Forts,Mora and Garua . The Germans managed to hold up the attacks made by the allies . The Second Battle of Garua in June ( the British had already fought one and failed ) was a success and the British won ! The leader of the British forces in the battle help the Siege of Mora and then went on south taking German forts and towns on the way. By December the generals troops were ready to attack the large German city in the mountains. The French and Belgium soldiers had taken a lot of land to and were also ready to attack the city in the mountains called Jaunde. In 1916 the allies surrounded Jaunde and the siege of Mora was over ending in victory for the allies so the Germans lost hope .The Germans surrendered in mid February 1916 the rest escaped to a Spanish Colony and were shipped back to Germany .
Now i am going to talk about east Africa. The Germans plan for east Africa was to divert the allies fighting on the western front (up in Europe) and make them send troops to Africa instead of Germany .The governors of both colonies ( German and British . the Colonies were German east Africa and British east africa ) said that NO fighting was to be done.But in August 1914 the British attacked some River lookout towers around Lake Victoria ( the largest lake in German east Africa ) by water. Mad at the British , the German Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck ( the only German leader to go inside the borders of the British ) went against the Governor and organized his troops for battle. In September the Germans and Africans attacked more Inland and more Inland of the British East Africa . All the Germans had in lake Victoria was on small boat armed with a gun. The British armed some of their vessels and surrounded it . The Germans let her sink and Jumped overboard. The British now had full control of the lake. But the Germans kept up the Guerrilla warfare and the British were getting annoyed. Wanting to stop the Raids a British leader had a plan. He sent one army too attack Mt. Kilimanjaro ( this however was really a diversion ) and send a boat with a army in it toward Tanga too attack it . Both attempts failed though . The British told (in 1916) General J.C. Smuts to try to take German East Africa . Smuts Attacked from lost of different directions. All these forces failed to take German East Africa and they all got sick along the way.Lots and lots of them died , but they did not fight ! the Germans were retreating again ( even from sick guys :)! ( or the Antelope was running again:) The Germans now had only the south part of Germany . Smuts send his British troops home and replaced them with Africans , soon his whole army was African ! Smuts left Africa and went to England in January 1917. The British kept on attacking but still they could not kill Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck or take German east Africa! Major General J.L. van Deventer took command and he cast a big offensive Attack in July 1917. The Germans tried to stop it , but they couldn't , they could only stall it. By the start of Fall the British had pushed the Germans back 100 miles south. In mid-October 1917 the Germans fought a hard and highly-priced battle at Mahiwa. In November the Germans tried to send supplies from Germany by plane but the mission failed. British and Allies started to surround the German army. The Germans went into Portuguese Mozambique taking supplies as he went. On 13 November 1918 the Germans took their last town , Kasama. In 23 November 1918 Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck surrendered( he did not get the German plan done!) . The war was over!
The Caucasus war
This war was between Russia and the Ottomans . it took place mostly around the Caspian sea and the Black sea . The Ottomans had entered the war on the Central powers side. The Russians on the other hand were on the Allies side . On Nov 1 1914 the Russians crossed the border and went into the Ottomans land. They wanted to capture two cites, Doğubeyazıt and Köprüköy. They were both in modern-day turkey . But the Russians declared war on on November 2 not on on November 1! The Russians separated and one went towards Köprüköy , they reached it on Nov 4th . The Ottomans and Russians fought a bit and the Russians gained territory but they still did not have Köprüköy. By Nov Ottoman casualties were big: 9000 killed, 3000 taken prisoner and 2800 guys who ran away . In December the king of Russia ( Nicholas II of Russia) visited the Caucasus and then went .(the Russians dominated the Black sea with their ships )On December 15, 1914, the city of Ardanuch was taken by the Ottomans . The reason they took it was : too distract the Russians . On January 6 the headquarters of one of the Turkish army found itself on fire . The leader ( Hafiz Hakki Pasha. A guy in one of my books i read is named Pasha : ) told everyone to run away. The Battle of Sarikamish became a Gargantuang loss . Only 10% of the Army managed to run back to the place where they had started !! In February, General Yudenich was applauded for the victory and became commander-in-chief of all Russian Soldiers ! The Allies asked Russia to help them on the Western front. In response Russia asked the Allies to help them in the Caucasus by a ship attack. The Allies did and then so did the Russians. In Feb Pasha died of illness . Brigadier General Mahmut Kamil Pasha took his place. The Ottoman army was disorganized , didint have enough force and scared of the Russians . The Ottomans Couldn't do more then small skirmishes (it was all they could muster!) . On April 20 1915 the Siege of Van began. Armenians defended the Van as Ottomans lay siege to it. It lasted more than three weeks until the General Yudenich came to save them. On May 6th he advanced into the Ottoman Territory. Some of the Soldiers went to Save lake Van ( that what the city is named after) . On May 21 the General saved them . The Russian forces marched north toward Erzurum . The Ottomans stopped this march. but were unsuccessful in the south where the Russians took town of Malazgirt in May 11. The Ottomans kept losing ground , they were out numbered by the Russians in most battles, the Armenians also kept rebelling causing confusion in many ways . The Ottoman empire itself had been on the decline for centuries and the soldiers were so weak and disorganized the Russians almost always got the upper hand in the battles. But on June 19 the Russians attacked again at lake Van and a place close to Malazgirt. They were surprised to see a large Ottoman army there ready for them . The Ottomans outnumbered the Russians 3-1 , They drove the Russians all the way back to Malazgirt and then conquered Malazgirt ! the Leader of that army was fired and they took back Malazgirt. Then they moved toward Muş (they did not know that the Ottomans were doing the same thing) even though It was very very hard the Ottomans were regrouping very well . The Ottomans were ready for the Russians. The Russian leader was Replaced and the new one recruited more and more Soldiers . The Ottomans however couldn't Recruit any more they were losing Soldiers and more soldier to a big war that kept on going on called The war in Gallipoli and they had send part of their army to fight the British down by Egypt. Fighting a two front war was hard very hard, So the Ottomans decided to send most of their army to fight the British , thinking that the Russians would not Attack. In 1916 they turned out to be wrong . In January the Russians moved from their winter camp and went towards a Ottoman stronghold at Erzurum . They wanted to take the Ottomans by surprise ( they usually did not fight in winter , around Russia:) . They did do this and killed a big army of the Ottomans . Then on Feb 16 Russian army took the Strongholds of Kara-gobek and Tafet by Distraction, skill, winter , weak Ottomans and strategy. The Ottomans tried too Attack lake Van's city again but the Russians stopped them . The Ottomans did some more attacks in Sept but they failed and they retreated ( with some heavy losses). The Russians were strong and had hardly lost anything (they still had control of the black Sea) . The rest of the time until 1917 there was no fighting . In the spring 1917 the Russian people wanted the war to end , the soldiers had a lot of scurvy and other problems without enough healthy food ( i am glad i eat healthy :)and the Russian revolution was going on back at Russia . The Ottomans could not take to much advanteg of this because they had to fight the British down in Egypt. In the Summer, the Western Armenian Administration wanted a full army of good and healthy men ready by December .On September 14, 1917, one Russian army was about to stop fighting . The Armenians on the other hand wanted to keep on going. On December 5, 1917, the armistice of Erzincan made the Russians go to peace with the Ottomans . But the Armenians kept fighting . In 1918 the Ottomans took back their land . They kept on driving the Armenians back and back again. in July the ottomans made a new army a large large on called the army of Islam it had only Muslims in it! they wanted to take some area around the Caspian sea . The Germans did not like this all Islam army. But the army moved on and took the Areas around the Caspian as they had wanted to . On October 30, The Armistice of Mudros was signed and the Caucasus Campaign was over . but The Ottomans kept fighting till August 10, 1920. Nobody had really gained anything and millions of people died. it was a sad campaign .
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