100 years ago today. [View all]

[merrily]

Last edited Sun Sep 7, 2014, 11:05 AM - Edit history (3)

September 5-12, 1914 - On the Western Front, Paris is saved as French and British troops disrupt the Schlieffen Plan by launching a major counter-offensive against the invading German armies to the east of Paris. Six hundred taxi cabs from the city help to move French troops to the Front. Aided by French aerial reconnaissance which reveals a gap has developed in the center of the whole German advance, the French and British exploit this weakness and press their advantage. The Germans then begin a strategic withdrawal northward as the Allies pursue. Each side repeatedly tries to outmaneuver the other and gain a tactical advantage as they move northward in what becomes known as the Race to the Sea.

September 7, 1914 - In the Far East, a German naval squadron, commanded by Graf von Spee severs the British Pacific communications cable.

September 8, 1914 - The French government enacts nationwide State of War regulations which include total control over the economy and national security, strict censorship, and suspension of civil liberties.

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/firstworldwar/index-1914.html

See also:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11073408/Daily-Telegraph-September-7-1914.html


http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/timeline/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_the_Marne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

World War I changed so many things changed and so many things followed from it.

Among many, many other things, after the war, Russian soldiers joined Russian peasants. Whereas prior revolution attempts by the peasants had failed, the military's joining the peasants probably accounts for the success of the next attempt.

Also, soldiers returning home from the War helped spread the influenza epidemic.

The total number of deaths from both the war and the influenza are unimaginable.

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was over 37 million.

There were over 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.

The total number of deaths includes about 10 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. The Entente Powers (also known as the Allies) lost about 6 million military personnel while the Central Powers lost about 4 million. At least 2 million died from diseases and 6 million went missing, presumed dead. This article lists the casualties of the belligerent powers based on official published sources. About two-thirds of military deaths in World War I were in battle, unlike the conflicts that took place in the 19th century when the majority of deaths were due to disease. Nevertheless, disease, including the Spanish flu and deaths while held as prisoners of war, still caused about one third of total military deaths for all belligerents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties

Try to imagine what the population of the world would be today if those hundreds of thousands had lived and reproduced. (A ball park number can probably be calculated by someone who knows about population growth, if we assume the death counts on both the war and the flu were correct.)

Recommended viewing, if you can get your hands on it: Oh! What a Lovely War.

(No write up can do it justice. You have to see it.)

World War I Museum in Kansas City