WWI in the context of Artillery of World War I


WWI in the context of Artillery of World War I

⭐ Core Definition: WWI

World War I, or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 30 million military casualties, and 8 million civilian deaths from war-related causes and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

The causes of World War I included the rise of the German Empire and decline of the Ottoman Empire, which disturbed the long-standing balance of power in Europe, the exacerbation of imperial rivalries, and an arms race between the great powers. Growing tensions in the Balkans reached a breaking point on 28 June 1914 when Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, assassinated Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, and declared war on 28 July. After Russia mobilised in Serbia's defence, Germany declared war on Russia and France, who had an alliance. The United Kingdom entered the war after Germany invaded Belgium, and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in November. Germany's strategy in 1914 was to quickly defeat France before transferring its forces to the east, but its advance was halted in September, and by the end of the year the Western Front consisted of a near-continuous line of trenches from the English Channel to Switzerland. The Eastern Front was more dynamic, but neither side gained a decisive advantage, despite costly offensives. Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and others entered the war from 1915 onward.

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WWI in the context of General Staff Academy (Russian Empire)

The General Staff Academy (Russian: Академия Генерального штаба, or Akademiya General'nogo shtaba) was a Russian military academy, established in 1832 in St.Petersburg. It was first known as the Imperial Military Academy (Императорская военная академия), then in 1855 it was renamed Nicholas General Staff Academy (in commemoration of Emperor Nicholas I) and in 1909 - Imperial Nicholas Military Academy (Императорская Николаевская военная академия).

According to Peter Kenez, "The Nicholas Academy, or Staff College, gave the highest military education in Russia. The Academy was organized, as were many institutions of the Russian army, on the German model. Only the best officers, after some years of service in regiments, could enter this academy. Of the annual 150 graduates, the 50 best students received appointment at the General Staff and the others returned to their regiments. Practically the entire high command of the Russian army in the World War and the Volunteer Army in the Civil War were graduates of the College of the General Staff."

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WWI in the context of Venizelism

Venizelism (Greek: Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece beginning from the 1910s. The movement first formed under Eleftherios Venizelos in the 1910s and saw a resurgence of support in the 1960s when Georgios Papandreou united a coalition of old Venizelists and nationalist politicians.

The movement was characterized by the beliefs of Eleftherios Venizelos and the ideas of Greek irredentism supporting the Megali Idea. It had a Francophile stance as the ideas of the French Revolution and the idea of one state which should have all the lands predominantly inhabited by a single ethnicity. In WWI, the Venizelists wished to join the Entente, mainly due to the entrance of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, which was one of the highest chances to gain all lands Greeks claim and thus fulfilling the Megali idea. Despite popular misconceptions, Venizelism is a movement that sides with monarchy, and it calls for a ruling class in which the urban class can rise to the ranks by merit. Additionally, the king should originate from the same country that he is ruling, thus not having loyalties to foreign interests. Venizelism called for early and more moderate capitalistic economic policies such as open markets, but the government should approve those markets. The movement had its strongest support in Crete, Thrace, Epirus, the North Aegean islands, and Macedonia.

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WWI in the context of Cemil Cahit Toydemir

Cemil Cahit Toydemir (1883 – July 15, 1956) was an officer of the Ottoman Army and a general of the Turkish Army of Circassian origin. He served in Caucasus front in WWI, after Armistice of Mudros he joined Turkish National Movement and attended Sivas Congress.

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WWI in the context of Międzymorze

Intermarium (Polish: Międzymorze, Polish pronunciation: [mʲɛnd͡zɨˈmɔʐɛ]) was a post-WWI geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusion of neighbouring states. The proposed multinational polity would have incorporated territories lying between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Seas, hence the name Intermarium (Latin for "Between-Seas").

Prospectively a federation of Central and Eastern European countries, the post-World War I Intermarium plan pursued by Piłsudski sought to recruit to the proposed federation the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. The Polish name Międzymorze (from między, "between"; and morze, "sea"), meaning "Between-Seas", was rendered into Latin as Intermarium.

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WWI in the context of Escort fighter

The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and return.

A number of twin-engined heavy fighters with high fuel capacity were designed for escort duties prior to the outbreak of World War II. Such heavy fighters largely failed in their intended escort role during the war, as they were commonly outmaneuvered by more agile single-engined fighters. As the war progressed, longer-range fighter designs and the use of drop tanks allowed single-engined fighters to perform escort duties. In the post-war era the introduction of jet engines and their inherent short range made escort fighters very difficult to build. The related concept of a penetration fighter emerged briefly in the 1950s and again in the 1960s, but did not result in any production aircraft. Parasite fighters—small aircraft designed to be carried by a specialized bomber—were seen as a possible solution to the limited ranges of most traditional escort fighters. First experimented with in WWI, the U.S.-designed XF-85 Goblin would emerge as the last dedicated parasite fighter design and was abandoned in 1949 due to technical issues as well as the advent of practical aerial refueling.

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