History of the Great War 1914-1918

1 DELHI UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cl. No. / • Ac. No. Date of release for loan This book should ti: returned on or before the date last s'amped below. An overdue charge of 5 False will be collected for êaeh day the book is kept^ overtime. A HIOTORY OF THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS ÂMEN HOUSE, B.C. 4 London Edinbu^h Glasgow New York Toronto Melbourne Capetown BomSay Calcutta Madias HUMPHREY MILFORD lUBLISHSa TO TBS USXVBBSITY North the patrolling Fleet Grand Tlie A HISTORY . OF THE GREAT WAR 19^4—1918 BY C. R. M. F. CRUTTWELL PSINCIFAL OF HEHTFORD COLLEGE, OXFO&D FORMERLY FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE Second Ration OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS FIRST PUBLISHED 1934 bboond EDmoM 1936 * reprinted 194** printed in OBEST BRITAIN To the Memory of CHARLES FLET(!IHER ' o 82 voAcfio; êA<iiv r^v tiiropCav roO Kaff fjixiipav pltuos StSooKliAo; Kol np6s ra napovTa ra; opyas Twv mM&v 8fiato{. thucvdides m. 89, § 9 ‘War, wUeh takes away ike eomfortahb promsim oj daily life, is a hard master and tends to assimilate men’s characters to their conditions (jOWETT’B TBANBLATtON) ‘Sinejustilia qtad stmt regna nisi magna latrocinia?’ ST. AUGUmNB , PREFACE rrSffls book, as its title implies, is a history of the War: it -I- deals neither with its causes remote or immediate, nor with the so-called settlement which followed. It aims at presenting the general reader with an accurate, intelli- gible, and interesting account of the greatest conflict- between civilized states. The War is indeed passing rapidly into history. To the younger generation now growing up it ha;-,l^come_ Ijut the remotest and vaguest of memories; the m^rity of undergraduates who will be coming to the Universities this autumn were born in its third year. Moreover, the materials now at the disposal of the- historian are of such a character that he may feel reasonably confident of being .3.ble to establish the truth, if not in every detail, at feast in the broad putlinerj of his work. A large proportion of the principal actors on either^ side, both pohtical and military, have published accounts of their stewardship. These naturally have a very varying value of reliability and ingenuousness, but in almost every instance they are fortified by official memdl-anda and secret documents, which show the contemporary grounds on which decisions were taken, -/in the defeated countries (particularly in Germany) commissions of inquiry have thrown much important light on many points. Though j the official histories (with the exception of that of thp British navy) have not yet been completed, it is improb- able that any new disclosures of serious importance re- main to be made. I have endeavoured to keep a just proportion between the military, diplomatic, and political aspects, as also between the different theatres of war, and to prevent the reader from being lost in a mass of detail. No tactical analysis of the battles has been attempted, expept ' viii PREFACE where it illustrates a general principle of high impor- ' tance. .* It has been necessary ruthlessly to omit much which it would have been interesting to include. To take a few instances, no account is given of the campaigns in Africa, of the civil war and foreign interventions in Russia after jhe treaty of Brest-Litovsk, or of the Irish rebellion, while , the internal history of the belligerent countries is very summarily and imperfectly sketched. As I am writing for English readers, the great ‘side-shows’ have been per- ha!ps gi>v.u more prominence than their intrinsic importance deserves. But as the controversy between Easterner and Westerner, still raging unabated, is mainly of British origin, it is important to follow the attempts made to strike al Germany through her weaker allies, and to estimate whether any opportunities were neglected of bringing the War to an earlier conclusion. I have not given a bibliography, partly because I am not sure that it would be useful to the general reader, but mainly because I have called attention by footnotes at the appropriate passages to nearly a hundred and fifty books. This will probably be sufficient to glut most appetites. This book owes much to the late C. R. L. Fletcher, to whose memory I have ventured to dedicate it. He had read through it all, with the exception of the naval chap- ters, when he was seized by his last illness. He was both the most exacting and kindest of critics, who habitually devoted to the works of others an enthusiasm and a laborious accuracy which many authors will hardly ex- pend on their own creations. I also owe much gratitude to Mr. G. T. Atkinson, Fellow of Exeter College, who has read the whole work in proof. His exact and profound knowledge has saved me from many mistakes. He mtist not, however, be held m any way responsible for my con- PREFACE . ix elusions, with a number of which he is in hearty disagree- ment. The index is due to the skill and diligence of Mr. Charles Ker, formerly a scholar of Hertford College, who has generously spent part of his leave from the Indian Ciîl Service in compiling it. Finally, I must express my deep gratitude to th^ Clarendon Press, of which I have the honour ^to be a delegate; to its officials, and craftsmen. G. R. M. F. G. September ig34. NOTE TO SEGOND EDITION I have inserted a nunjber of corrections which I owe to the kindness and vigilance of critics,* friends?, ^d correspondents; and have added as an appendix a. chronological table of the chief events of the War, military and political, on all fronts. CONTiENTS . • • riii of plates . £iST ^ LIST OF MAPS ' “>1 I. ARMIES AND PLANS . II. DEFEAT AND VICTORY IN THE WEST 4 . 13 ’ 3?"^’ III. TANNENBERG AND LEMBERG . IV. THE NAVAL SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING OF WAR 55 V. THE CAMPAIGN IN POLAND, 1914 VI. THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES -i • 93 VII. THE FORTUNES OF ADMIRAL VON SPEE . 115 .5 VIII. THE FIRST EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON BELLI- GERENTS AND NEUTRALS T . 125 * IX. THE STRATEGICAL PREPARATIONS FOR 1915 137 vX. THE CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS, “ ' ‘ • ,• 1915 • • • . , XI. THE RETREAT OF RUSSIA, 1915 . .171, XII. THE BRITISH BLOCKADE AND THE FIRST GERMAN SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN 187 ' j XIII. THE DARDANELLES . .204 XIV. THE COLLAPSE OF THE ENTENTE PLANS IN THE BALKANS IN 1915 . .228 ^XV. VERDUN 237 XVI. THE SOMME 255 XVII. EVENTS IN THE EAST IN 1916 . .280 XVIII. THE WAR IN THE NORTH SEA UNTIL JUT- LAND . -304 XIX. JUTLAND 318 XX. MESOPOTAMIA, EGYPT AND PALESTINE, 1914- 1917 339 XXL ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE PEACE, 1916-1917 . 359 XXII. THE GREAT SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN AND THE - ENTRY OF AMERICA INTO THE WAR . 376 XXIII. CHANGES IN THE POLITICAL AND MILITARY DIRECTION OF THE ENTENTE . 390 - XXIV. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION . 418 3di CONTENTS XXV. THE CAMPAIGN IN FLANDERS, 1917 MESSINES AND PASSCHENDAELE . 436 XXVI. THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN TO CAPORETTO . , 445 XXVII. CAPORETTO AND THE DEFENCE OF THE PIAVE 456 XXVIII. CAMBRAI 467 XXIX. PEACE IN THE EAST . -478 XXX*. PREPARATION AND COUNTER-PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT ATTACK IN THE WEST . 486 XXXI. THE LAST GERMAN BID FOR VICTORY . 505 XXXII. ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND . .536 ' . / XXXlA.- FOCH’S COUNTER-STROKE AND THE GREAT REVERSAL OF FORTUNE . -543 XXXIV. TOUT LE MONDE A LA BATAILLE . 561 XXXV. THE NEGOTIATIONS . .577 XXXVX. THE GERMAN REVOLUTION AND THE ARMI- STICE 584 XXXVII. THE LAST YEAR OF TÎE ITALIAN WAR AND ' THE END OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY . 598 XXXVIII. THE OVERTHROW OF TURKEY THE CONQUEST OF MESOPOTAMIA . 606 THE FINAL CAMPAIGN IN PALESTINE . 610 EPILOGUE 624 APPENDIX I ; CASUALTIES . , .630 APPENDIX II : TABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS . 634 INDEX . 639 LIST OF PLATES The Grand Fleet patrolling the North Sea . Frontispiece Gallipoli: North Beach, Anzac, 1915. No i Australian Stationary Hospital in foreground . facing p.zi% An unusual type of German barbed-wire entanglements^ used near Arras, June 1917 ... „ Old British trench at the Fricourt salient, September ' 1916 254 A tank going into action (from a drawing by Muirhead Bone). Reproduced from official War Drawing: with , the permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office ....... „ . ayo Italians deploying for an attack on Mt. San Michele, on v the Isonzo Front. Italian official photograph ,, 448 Western Front: air photograph of Gallipoli Farm, near ’ St. Julien, before and after a bombardment, June a6th , and September 3rd, 1917 .... „ 470 Air photograph of the entrance to the Bruges Canal at .> ^ Zeebrugge, showing the Thetis, Intrepid, and Iphigenia, sunk in 1918 ...... „ 53a. Canadian troops leaving their trenches for a raid on the lines, . enemy September 1916 . „ 556 American troops marching at Watten, May 19th, 1918 „ ^36 Unless otherwise stated the illustrations arefrom photographs tn the Imperial War Museum—Copyright ^served LIST OP MAPS 1 1. Europe in 1914 t . facing p. 5 2. The Great German Wheel . • page 14 r 3, The Battle of the Marne 30 4. Tannenberg .... 42 c 5. The North Sea 60 6. The Mediterranean 70 7. The Polish Salient 78 8. Serbia . 91 . ^ g. Yhc ^res Salient 102 10. The Western Front (1914) • no 1 1. The Pacific and South America 1 14 12. Champagne .... 163 13. The Eastern Front 170 14. The Break-through on the Dunajec • 174 ^5. Gallipoli ... 0 • • 214 16. Verdun .... • • 240 1 /. The Somme ^ • • 258 18. Rumania 294 19. Mesopotamia and Persia 340 20. Egypt, Palestine; and Syria . * • 350 21. Arras and Vimy Ridge » • 406 22. Chemin des Dames . • • 410 23. The Italian Front • • 444 24. Caporetto .... 456 25. Cambrai ...

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