WW1 - Oversimplified (Part 1)

The world of 1914. An era of modern technology, culture and fashion. Truly the pinnacle of civilization. LET'S START A WAR! Everyone knew that a great war was coming. France wanted to take back some

part

s that Germany had taken, Germany wanted to take "

part

s" of everyone and they were building a large military fleet, which made the British uncomfortable. These two empires thought they were brilliant. But most people who lived there didn't think they were that cool. Some of them had declared their independence. with the help of Russia. Everyone was talking behind each other's backs. Considering that military technology had advanced a lot since the last great war, and suddenly, everyone was eager to attack each other.

In this area of ​​Austria-Hungary lived some Serbs and Bosnians who hated living in Austria-Hungary, so the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand went to walk there with an open car, the itinerary that his car would follow was previously published. And all this ended as well as expected. Some assassins were waiting for him on the road and threw bombs at his car, but they escaped and instead blew up some agents after him. Thus, the Archduke hides, abandons Sarajevo and the war never happens. But not. The archduke does not leave, but heads to the hospital, with his open car, to visit the wounded agents.

The driver takes the wrong turn and coincidentally gets trapped next to one of the escaped assassins, who shoots him. Understandably, Austria-Hungary is very angry and thinks that the Serbian government has something to do with this (and it may well do). So they go to their ally Germany and say, "Hey Germany, we're going to declare war on Serbia" and Germany completely agrees. Thus, Austria-Hungary sends Serbia a long list of impossible demands and when Serbia refuses, she declares war. Austria-Hungary and Germany are friends, and Serbia is protected by Russia, which is a friend of France, so they all declare war on each other.

Montenegro also joins in. France and Britain have an alliance of sorts. So when France says, "Hey, Britain, will you cover for me?" Britain says: "Maybe...?" and finally decides not to get involved. This is fantastic for Germany because she has a plan: they know that Russia is big and it will take a long time for her to prepare for war. So with this guy in charge, Germany would send all troops to France at the speed of light, while Russia prepares. She defeats France and then takes all the troops to Russia and defeats Russia. Then we would all speak German and eat Pfefferpotthast every day.

Only one problem: France has many fortresses and defenses along the border with Germany. and Germany can't waste time fighting them, so she decides to surround them in Belgium. Belgium is neutral, but Germany will send 750,000 troops through it to bypass the French defense. They hope Belgium will just sit back and stay quiet. But not. The Belgians fight very well and stop the Germans. The worst thing is that Great Britain appears and is very angry with Germany, which is occupying neutral countries. Then Great Britain declares war on Germany. Germany continues through Belgium and commits some barbarities along the way.

They also had spikes and skulls on their helmets. So if they're trying not to look mean: peaceful work. The allies have propaganda to show, and this begins to influence the entire world, especially the United States. American President Woodrow Wilson sees himself as a kind of Jesus and spends most of the war trying to get everyone to settle the issue with a hug. But there is also a large percentage of ethnic German population living in the US and when the war started they were saying, "Go Germany!!" But now that Germany was committing barbarism in Belgium they were less enthusiastic.

LET'S PLAY: Find the French soldier, see? Easy, right? He wears a sky blue uniform with red pants and you know who else saw him easily? Germans! Thus, as the French slowly marched towards the border lines, the Germans easily destroyed them with their gigantic cannons. All countries involved in the war were walking with an old war mentality and they all had to update their uniforms and tactics during the great war. Because this war would be like nothing seen before. Russia is ready for war and much sooner than expected. "Hey, Austria-Hungary, can you take care of this?" "Oh?

Yes, of course! We can" no. Therefore, Germany should send some troops east to defend against Russia. The commander of the Russian army is this guy. Although he is handsome, it turns out that he is not the best military strategist. Austria-Hungary constantly ignores Germany's advice... and then flees to Germany whenever they get into trouble. Austria-Hungary receives another kick from little Serbia, which rejects all its attempts at conquest at the beginning of the war. There is good news for Germany in the North, where she almost completely annihilates Russia's Second Army. On the Western Front, the Germans continue to advance and approach Paris.

At this point, anyone could be forgiven for thinking the Germans would win a quick victory. But then things start to go wrong. The French commander-in-chief knew something had to be done. And he ordered his armies to stop retreating. In the battle a breach opens in the German lines. If a gap opens, the enemy can use it to come out from behind. Therefore, the German armies must withdraw. The Allies launch a counterattack, so the Germans occupy defensive positions. Allies do the same. Then both sides move north trying to overtake each other along the path. When they reach the sea, they become trapped in trench systems that stretch from the coast to Switzerland.

The beginning of trench warfare on the Western Front. This is how trench warfare works: two rows of trenches on opposite sides with neutral ground in between. One side bombarded the other with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, sometimes for days. This had a great psychological effect on the soldiers leaving them very shaken. Then the attacking troops would abandon their trenches and rush toward neutral ground, a mess of wet mud and barbed wire. The defending trench will fire automatic weapons at the attackers, causing thousands of casualties. The attackers would send wave after wave until they surrendered or finally captured the enemy trench.

It would be months of fighting and the death of thousands of people to gain a few meters or kilometers of land. Even living in the trenches was hard work. Corpses, mud that could swallow you whole, puddles of poisonous water, rats, diseases, smells... It's crazy how millions of soldiers lived in these conditions and their commanders ordered them to do so for years. Translated by XH.D