524 Results

Survey Articles (Thematic)

Thematic
Air Warfare
By Ross Mahoney, James Pugh
This article considers the use and evolution of air power during the First World…
Thematic
Animals
By Lucy Betteridge-Dyson
During the First World War millions of animals were utilised for war work, and c…
Thematic
Armenian Genocide
By Ronald Grigor Suny
In early 1915 the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire decided to deport …
Thematic
Atrocities
By Alan Kramer
The term "atrocity" describes an act of violence condemned by contemporaries as …
Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War
By André Loez
Soldiers’ attitudes towards the Great War are a controversial issue, as they pro…
Thematic
Centenary (Battlefield Tourism)
By Romain Fathi
The centenary of the First World War has been a catalyst for battlefield tourism…
Thematic
Colonial Policy, Colonial Conflicts and War before 1914
By Jonas Kreienbaum
While there were no major wars between European great powers in the decades prec…
Thematic
Destruction of the Ecosystem
By Tait Keller
This article examines the First World War’s ecological impact and shows that pro…
Thematic
Drugs
By Łukasz Kamieński
Throughout history, intoxicants were an important part of the war experience. Th…
Thematic
Eastern Front
By Timothy C. Dowling
Until recently, the eastern theater of the First World War was what Winston Chur…
Thematic
Espionage
By Emmanuel Debruyne
During the entire war, warring powers used the “secret war” to try to break the …
Thematic
Extra-European Theatres of War
By Michelle Moyd
The extra-European theatres of World War I have received far less scholarly atte…
Thematic
Food and Nutrition
By Emmanuelle Cronier
During the First World War, food became a major issue for military and civilian …
Thematic
Forced Labour
By Jens Thiel, Christian Westerhoff
This article examines the conditions, forms and consequences of forced labor and…
Thematic
Italian Front
By Vanda Wilcox
In May 1915, Italy attacked Austria-Hungary along the Isonzo River and in the Tr…
Thematic
Life and Death of Soldiers
By Jessica Meyer, Chris Kempshall, Markus Pöhlmann
While public memory of the First World War in Europe often focusses on the death…
Thematic
Medicine and Medical Service
By Leo van Bergen
It is impossible to talk about “the” medical care or “the” medical service of Wo…
Thematic
Military Developments of World War I
By David T. Zabecki
Despite World War I’s reputation as a senseless bloodbath whose military operati…
Thematic
Military Justice
By Steven R. Welch
This essay offers a comparative survey of the practice of military justice among…
Thematic
Military Lessons of the First World War
By Nikolas Gardner
This article examines the lessons derived by the military organizations that par…
Thematic
Mutilation and Disfiguration
By Julie Anderson
The First World War created disfigured and mutilated bodies on a grand scale. Ne…
Thematic
Naval Warfare
By Eric W. Osborne
All of the great belligerent states of World War I were naval powers and engaged…
Thematic
Negotiating and Mediating Conduct of War
By Matthew Stibbe
Many issues surrounding the conduct of war in the years 1914-1918 were imperviou…
Thematic
Non-European Soldiers
By Richard Fogarty, Andrew Tait Jarboe
This article examines the use by Great Britain and France of colonial subjects f…
Thematic
On the Road to Modern War
By Dennis Showalter
The Great War was never considered the “war to end all wars” by the states and a…
Thematic
Paramilitary Violence
By Annemarie Sammartino
While World War I featured the largest armies ever assembled, it was also fought…
Thematic
Prisoners of War
By Heather Jones
The First World War marked the shift from a 19th century, relatively ad hoc mana…
Thematic
Refugees
By Peter Gatrell
This article addresses the scale of wartime population displacement in continent…
Thematic
Shifts and Tensions in Ethnic/National Groups
By Borislav Chernev
This article examines the changing dynamics of national tensions in the Habsburg…
Thematic
The Military Collapse of the Central Powers
By Graydon A. Tunstall
October 1918 witnessed the collapse of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, b…
Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918
By William Philpott
Static “trench warfare” belied a dynamic transformation in warfare between 1914 …
Thematic
War in the Balkans
By Richard C. Hall
The Balkan Wars erupted in South Eastern Europe in October 1912. Fighting contin…
Thematic
War Losses
By Antoine Prost
Military sources provide the primary statistics of war losses and casualties dur…
Thematic
War Psychiatry and Shell Shock
By Fiona Reid
During the First World War soldiers from all combatant nations suffered from a w…
Thematic
Weapons
By Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau
To understand the Great War, one has to understand weapons. Weapons are linked t…
Thematic
Western Front
By Jonathan Krause
The Western Front, a 400-plus mile stretch of land weaving through France and Be…

Regional Thematic Articles

Regional Thematic
African American Soldiers (USA)
By Pellom McDaniels III
The beginning of the First World War signaled a rise in tensions within the Unit…
Regional Thematic
Afrikaner (Boer) Rebellion (Union of South Africa)
By André Wessels
The South African government’s decision to actively support Britain in the war a…
Regional Thematic
Air Warfare (Italy)
By Fabio Caffarena
Italy entered the war in 1915 with just a few dozen airplanes and more or less t…
Regional Thematic
Anzac (Australia)
By Graham Seal
This article briefly outlines the origins, development and significance of the A…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Africa)
By Christian Koller
All belligerent colonial powers enlisted Africans for fighting, and as carriers …
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Australia)
By Peter Stanley
The attitudes and behaviours of men of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) were …
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Austria-Hungary)
By Richard Lein
Since the end of World War One it has generally been accepted that the collapse …
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Belgium)
By Rose Spijkerman
This article discusses the war experiences of Belgian soldiers: how did they end…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Canada)
By Nathan Smith
This essay organizes its discussion of soldiers’ reactions to war into three sec…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Germany)
By Steffen Bruendel
German soldiers' attitudes toward the war neither were static nor did they devel…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Jessica Meyer
This article examines British soldiers’ attitudes towards the First World War. I…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Indochina)
By Kimloan Vu-Hill
This paper provides a brief account of the experiences of the Vietnamese who wen…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Italy)
By Vanda Wilcox
During the First World War, Italian soldiers’ attitudes varied widely, from enth…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (New Zealand)
By Jock Phillips
Their war experience changed the attitudes of New Zealand soldiers dramatically …
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Ottoman Empire/ Middle East)
By Mehmet Beşikçi
This article addresses resistance to military mobilization in the Ottoman Empire…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Portugal)
By Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
Establishing the attitude of Portuguese soldiers towards the First World War and…
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Russian Empire)
By Aleksandr Borisovich Astashov
The goal of this article is to uncover the causes, dynamics, and transformation …
Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (USA)
By Edward A. Gutiérrez
This article examines coercion and consent within the First World War – why did …
Regional Thematic
Civil-Military Relations during World War I (Portugal)
By Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
Portugal went to war in March 1916 with a government and an army that did not si…
Regional Thematic
Civil-Military Relations during World War I (Russian Empire)
By Olga Porshneva
This article examines the mechanisms, results, and characteristics of the nation…
Regional Thematic
Colonial Military Participation in Europe (Africa)
By Christian Koller
This article analyzes the deployment of about half a million African soldiers in…
Regional Thematic
Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen (Newfoundland)
By Sean T. Cadigan
In Newfoundland, the cult of the fallen followed the military disaster that befe…
Regional Thematic
Conscription (Australia)
By Joan Beaumont
Conscription was the most divisive issue in Australian politics during the First…
Regional Thematic
Discipline and Military Justice (Italy)
By Irene Guerrini, Marco Pluviano
The article illustrates the soldiers’ attitudes to the war, highlighting both th…
Regional Thematic
Dominions’ Military Relationship to Great Britain 1902-1914 (British Dominions)
By Steve Marti
The dominions of Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa …
Regional Thematic
Dominion Soldiers on Leave in Europe (New Zealand)
By Felicity Barnes
This article considers the experiences of New Zealand soldiers on leave in Brita…
Regional Thematic
Ethnic Minorities at War (USA)
By David Laskin
The First World War was a watershed experience for the ethnic minorities who had…
Regional Thematic
French Canada and the War (Canada)
By Mélanie Morin-Pelletier
In 1917, with tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers killed and wounded, the end…
Regional Thematic
Indigenous Experience of War (British Dominions)
By Noah Riseman, Timothy C. Winegard
Policymakers in the British Dominions of Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Ze…
Regional Thematic
Indigenous Experiences of War (USA)
By Matthias Voigt
In 1917, as America entered into the Great War, Indigenous responses to the war …
Regional Thematic
Intelligence and Espionage (Denmark)
By Kristian Bruhn
Denmark’s geographical position offered easy ingress to and egress from Germany,…
Regional Thematic
Intelligence and Espionage (Norway)
By Ola Teige, Nik. Brandal
Before 1914, foreign intelligence activity in Norway was limited, reflecting its…
Regional Thematic
Intelligence and Espionage (Spain)
By Carolina García Sanz
This article deals with operations carried out by belligerent secret services in…
Regional Thematic
Intelligence and Espionage (Sweden)
By Wilhelm Agrell
Intelligence activities in Sweden during the war were largely influenced by the …
Regional Thematic
Intelligence and Espionage (The Netherlands)
By Wim Klinkert
From the first days of the war, the neutral Netherlands, because of its geograph…
Regional Thematic
International Committee of the Red Cross
By Daniel Palmieri, Irène Herrmann
This article seeks to analyze how the International Committee of the Red Cross (…
Regional Thematic
International Responses to the Russian Civil War (Russian Empire)
By Evan Mawdsley
The Russian Civil War of 1917-20 was closely related to the World War in terms o…
Regional Thematic
Internees (Switzerland)
By Thomas Bürgisser
Swiss governmental and non-governmental organizations were intensely involved in…
Regional Thematic
Internment (Canada)
By Donald H. Avery
How did Canada, as a self-governing country within the British Empire, deal with…
Regional Thematic
Military and Strategy (Denmark)
By Michael H. Clemmesen
The Danish government let two elements guide its hesitant use of the armed force…
Regional Thematic
Military and Strategy (Sweden)
By Gunnar Åselius
The Russian navy was suspicious of Swedish neutrality in 1914, as Sweden had bee…
Regional Thematic
Military and Strategy (The Netherlands)
By Wim Klinkert
Since the middle of the 19th century, armed neutrality had been the pillar of Du…
Regional Thematic
Military Planning and Wartime Recruitment (India)
By David Omissi
In 1914, the Indian army was a modest colonial force of 159,134 serving Indian t…
Regional Thematic
Minorities (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Hans-Lukas Kieser
The Ottoman Empire was the most religiously diverse empire in Europe and Asia. M…
Regional Thematic
Mutilation and Disfiguration (France)
By Sophie Delaporte
This article explores the issue of suffering through two distinct categories of …
Regional Thematic
Naval Warfare (USA)
By Paul G. Halpern
The United States Navy made its greatest contribution to the Allies by providing…
Regional Thematic
Post-war Military Action and Violence (East Central Europe)
By Jochen Böhler
The armistices of 1918 officially ended the First World War in Europe, but viole…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Africa)
By Daniel Steinbach
During the First World War Africans served as combatants, porters, and labourers…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War and Internees (Great Britain)
By Panikos Panayi
During the First World War, hundreds of thousands of men found themselves intern…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War and Internees (South East Europe)
By Bogdan Trifunović
This article analyzes the treatment and living conditions of prisoners of war (P…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War and Internees (Union of South Africa)
By Tilman Dedering
A comparatively small number of German residents were interned as “enemy subject…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Australia)
By Aaron Pegram
Prisoners of war are central to the public memory of Australian involvement in t…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Austria-Hungary)
By Verena Moritz, Julia Walleczek-Fritz
The following article offers an overview of the central fields of research conce…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Belgium and France)
By Heather Jones
During the First World War, France was faced with creating a system of mass capt…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (East Central Europe)
By Piotr Szlanta, Klaus Richter
During the war, hundreds of thousands of East Central Europeans mobilised to the…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Germany)
By Heather Jones, Uta Hinz
Long overlooked, the prisoner of war experience of the estimated 2.4 million com…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (India)
By Heike Liebau
During the First World War South Asian combatants and non-combatants were taken …
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Italy)
By Luca Gorgolini
In the first part of the article, the salient features of the experiences of the…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Japan)
By Atsushi Otsuru
After Germany and its allies were defeated in Tsingtao, their soldiers were capt…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Yücel Yanıkdağ
During the Great War, at least 217,746 Ottomans were taken captive by the Entent…
Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War (Russian Empire)
By Reinhard Nachtigal, Lena Radauer
This article explores the particularities of the situation of prisoners of war (…
Regional Thematic
Recruitment and Conscription (Canada)
By Christopher Sharpe
Critical analysis of Canada’s recruitment for the war effort can be grouped arou…
Regional Thematic
Refugees (Italy)
By Francesco Frizzera
During World War I, about 630,000 people found refuge in the interior of the Kin…
Regional Thematic
Religion (Portugal)
By Maria Lúcia de Brito Moura
World War One represented a turning point in the relationship between churches a…
Regional Thematic
Religion (USA)
By Jonathan H. Ebel
This article charts the contours of the Great War as an American religious exper…
Regional Thematic
South Africa and the German East Africa Campaign (Union of South Africa)
By Anne Samson
South Africa’s contribution to the East Africa campaign extended beyond 1916, th…
Regional Thematic
South African Invasion of German South West Africa (Union of South Africa)
By Evert Kleynhans
The South African invasion of German South West Africa (GSWA) in September 1914 …
Regional Thematic
South African Troops in Europe and the Middle East (Union of South Africa)
By Anri Delport
Like other dominions of the British Empire, the Union of South Africa’s particip…
Regional Thematic
Tactics, Army (Austria-Hungary)
By M. Christian Ortner
The development of Austria-Hungary’s combat doctrine started in 1914 at a typica…
Regional Thematic
The Internment of Russophiles in Austria-Hungary
By Serhiy Choliy
The internment of “suspicious persons” became a widespread practice and an impor…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Australia)
By William Westerman
Although popular memory in Australia places a large emphasis on the Gallipoli ca…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Belgium)
By Tom Simoens
Between August 1914 and November 1918 the Belgian army took part in the First Wo…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Canada)
By Dean F. Oliver
Canada’s large-scale contribution to the Great War generated wartime pride and p…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (East Central Europe)
By Piotr Szlanta, Klaus Richter
Unlike the war on the Western Front, warfare in East Central Europe during the F…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Germany)
By Markus Pöhlmann
Germany entered the First World War as one of the era’s mightiest military power…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Alaric Searle
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) participated from the outset in the fighti…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (India)
By George Morton-Jack
This article reconsiders the military role and performance of the British Empire…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Italy)
By Filippo Cappellano
The Italian Army faced the conflict in an inferior position compared to the oppo…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Japan)
By Jürgen Melzer
Japan’s participation in the Great War opened up a new chapter in the country’s …
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Newfoundland)
By Melvin Baker
In 1914 Newfoundland raised and maintained a regiment that over the next four ye…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (New Zealand)
By Aaron Patrick Fox
Between August 1914 and November 1918 approximately 102,000 New Zealand soldiers…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Mehmet Fatih Baş
When the Ottoman Empire entered the war, the potential Middle Eastern theater of…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Portugal)
By Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
Though safely removed from the main European conflict zones, Portugal was nevert…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Russian Empire)
By John W. Steinberg
In late summer 1914 the Russian, German and Austrian armies engaged in intense b…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (South East Europe)
By Dmitar Tasić
The main intention of this article is to chronologically present major events on…
Regional Thematic
Warfare 1917-1918 (USA)
By Mark E. Grotelueschen
In 1917 and 1918, the United States raised the largest combat force in its histo…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Africa)
By Joe Harris Lunn
Human resources in Africa were exploited during the First World War for imperial…
Regional Thematic
War Losses and Reparations (China)
By Chi-hua Tang
China’s war losses during World War I were primarily composed of 1) public and p…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Australia)
By David C. Noonan
The official numbers of casualties suffered by the Australian Imperial Force (AI…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Austria-Hungary)
By Anatol Schmied-Kowarzik
Estimates of the total losses of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces range from 1.…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Belgium)
By Benoît Majerus
The Belgian situation was unique in the sense that military losses were relative…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Canada)
By Tim Cook, William Stewart
The Canadian casualty figures are difficult to determine in part because of inco…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (France)
By Alexandre Lafon
When the fighting came to an end in late 1918, military losses for France were i…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Germany)
By Robert Weldon Whalen
2,037,000 German soldiers were killed in World War I. These losses were a milita…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (India)
By Andrew Tait Jarboe
Some 1.5 million Indians served in the Indian Army during World War I and, of th…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Italy)
By Pierluigi Scolè
The article examines the Italian losses in the Great War 1914-1918. Regarding th…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Mehmet Fatih Baş
The Ottoman Empire’s entry into the First World War turned out to be disastrous …
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Portugal)
By João Moreira Tavares
Many figures have been presented over the years to quantify the human losses tha…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (Russian Empire)
By Alexandre Sumpf
With about 5.5 million out of 16 million soldiers killed and wounded, the Russia…
Regional Thematic
War Losses (USA)
By Carol R. Byerly
American losses in World War I were modest compared to those of other belligeren…
Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Russian Empire)
By Laurie Stoff
As a total war, the First World War precipitated the involvement of thousands of…

Encyclopedic Entries

Entry
Abteilung III b
By Markus Pöhlmann
Founded in 1889, Sektion IIIb (1915-1918: Abteilung IIIb) was the military intel…
Entry
Aircraft, Fighter and Pursuit
By Mark Wells
The general trend in aircraft development during World War I was towards better-…
Entry
Aircraft, Reconnaissance and Bomber
By Craig Morris
Much like fighter aircraft, World War I reconnaissance and bomber technology adv…
Entry
Alekseyev, Mikhail Vasilʹevich
By Sofya Anisimova
Mikhail Alekseyev was a Russian general who was the chief of staff of the genera…
Entry
Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, Viscount
By James E. Kitchen
Field Marshal Edmund Allenby was a British army officer who commanded a variety …
Entry
American Expeditionary Forces
By Harold Allen Skinner Jr.
Beginning in April 1917, the United States (US) army rapidly transformed from a …
Entry
Amiens, Battle of
By Stephen Badsey
The Battle of Amiens, 8-12 August 1918, was a decisive British-led victory that …
Entry
Amphibious Raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge
By Mark D. Karau
On the night of 22-23 April 1918, the Royal Navy attacked the German occupied to…
Entry
Amritsar, Massacre of
By Gajendra Singh
This entry explains the Amritsar Massacre of 13 April 1919. It charts the events…
Entry
Antisemitism and Pogroms in the Military (Russian Empire)
By Semion Goldin
During World War I, the Russian military command was overtly anti-Semitic. Russi…
Entry
Arab Officers in the Ottoman Army
By Michael Provence
Perhaps 30 percent of the World War I Ottoman officer corps hailed from Arab reg…
Entry
Arab Supporters of the Belligerent Countries
By M. Talha Çiçek
There were a number of Arab intellectuals who actively cooperated with the Enten…
Entry
Arditi
By Martina Salvante
Arditi were elite assault troops in the Italian army. They also emerged on Ital…
Entry
Army of Islam
By Yalçın Murgul
The Army of Islam, which was created by the order of Enver Pasha dated 5 April 1…
Entry
Army of the Orient
By Yohann Chanoir
The French Army of the Orient is a military unit, which was created after the di…
Entry
Artillery
By Dieter Storz
Artillery consisted of the military’s heavy firearms. As a branch of the armed f…
Entry
Askari
By Michelle Moyd
Askari is a word that means “soldier” or “police” in Kiswahili, Arabic, Turkish…
Entry
Askerî Bey, Süleymân
By Benjamin C. Fortna
After service in the Balkans and in Libya, Süleyman Askerî was chosen by Enver P…
Entry
Atlantic U-boat Campaign
By John Abbatiello
Between February 1915 and the Armistice, Germany conducted three submarine campa…
Entry
Attrition Warfare
By Nicholas Murray
Attrition warfare is the term used to describe the sustained process of wearing …
Entry
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
By Philip Payton
On the outbreak of the First World War, the German presence in the Pacific, in p…
Entry
Azmi, Jemal
By Nikos Sigalas
Cemal Azmi was an Ottoman official who served during the Great War as governor (…
Entry
Baku, Battle of
By Yalçın Murgul
The Battle of Baku was the conclusive battle that ended the war between the anti…
Entry
Balkan Wars 1912-1913
By Richard C. Hall
The Balkan Wars were two sharp conflicts that heralded the onset of World War I.…
Entry
Baltenregiment
By Jarosław Centek
During the Estonian War of Independence, the Baltic Germans - despite their rela…
Entry
Baltische Landeswehr
By Jarosław Centek
When Latvia felt endangered by the Bolsheviks they called for German help, since…
Entry
Baracca, Francesco
By Irene Guerrini, Marco Pluviano
Francesco Baracca was the most famous Italian aviator, and shot down thirty-four…
Entry
Barbed Wire
By Alan Krell
Invented in France in 1860, barbed wire was further developed in the United Stat…
Entry
Barkley, John Lewis
By Steven Trout
John Lewis Barkley grew up in west-central Missouri, where he became a skilled o…
Entry
Barthas, Louis
By Rémy Cazals
A barrelmaker in a French village and corporal at war in an infantry regiment, L…
Entry
Battisti, Cesare
By Mirko Saltori
Cesare Battisti was the leader of the socialist party of the Italian Tirol (Tren…
Entry
Bauer, Max
By Mahon Murphy
Max Bauer was a German artillery expert and a key suborndinate in the German Sup…
Entry
Beatty, David Beatty, Earl
By Chuck Steele
David Beatty was a British admiral. He is best known for leading Britain’s Battl…
Entry
Beersheba-Gaza Line
By M. Talha Çiçek
The Beersheba-Gaza Line (or Defenses) are the three battles fought between the O…
Entry
Belarus
By Andrei Zamoiski
The Great War was a severe trial for Belarus and its population. It ruined the l…
Entry
Belgian Soldiers
By Tom Simoens
This article briefly describes the 320,000 Belgian soldiers of the Great War. Wh…
Entry
Bell, Gertrude
By Laith Shakir
Gertrude Bell’s earlier travels and intellectual interests, alongside her wartim…
Entry
Berlin, 9 November 1918
By Florian Altenhöner
This article discusses the 9th of November 1918 in Berlin and its commemoration.…
Entry
Beseler, Hans von
By Jesse Kauffman
Hans Hartwig von Beseler was a German general and military engineer who oversaw …
Entry
Bissing, Moritz Ferdinand Freiherr von
By Christoph Roolf, Thomas L. Gertzen
Moritz von Bissing was born on 30 January 1844, in Bellmannsdorf, Silesia, then …
Entry
Black and Tans and Auxiliaries
By D. M. Leeson
The "Black and Tans" were British ex-soldiers recruited to reinforce the United …
Entry
Black Hand
By John Paul Newman
This article looks at the Black Hand from its origins to the demise of its leade…
Entry
Border Occupation (Switzerland)
By Michael M. Olsansky
Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, the Swiss army moved into a s…
Entry
Bosniak Regiments (Austria-Hungary)
By Christoph Neumayer
Following the decisions of the Congress of Berlin in 1878, Austria-Hungary occup…
Entry
Botha, Louis
By Anne Samson
Louis Botha, Boer General and Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, serve…
Entry
Brazil
By Frederik Schulze
Brazil was the only South American country that participated actively in the Fir…
Entry
Brazilian Naval Division for War Operations (DNOG)
By Cristina Luna
Created some months after Brazil's declaration of war against Germany, the Naval…
Entry
British Expeditionary Force
By Peter Simkins
Between 1914 and 1918 the British Expeditionary Force grew from a small professi…
Entry
Bronsart von Schellendorf, Friedrich
By Oliver Stein
Friedrich Bronsart von Schellendorf was a Prussian-German lieutenant general. As…
Entry
Brusilov, Alekseĭ Alekseevich
By Evgenii Vladimirovich Volkov
Aleksei Alekseevich Brusilov was a Russian general in the First World War, succe…
Entry
Brussels
By Chantal Kesteloot
The Belgian capital was spared the anguish of combat, but the city suffered four…
Entry
Bullard, Robert Lee
By Martin T. Olliff
Robert Lee Bullard, born in Alabama and educated at West Point, served in the U.…
Entry
Çabuk, Seyit Ali
By Tuncay Yılmazer
Seyit Onbaşı (Corporal Seyit) is an iconic figure and symbol of the Turkish nava…
Entry
Cadorna, Luigi
By Anna Grillini
Luigi Cadorna was a career military man, the son of a major general in the army …
Entry
Camouflage
By Cécile Coutin
A technique of concealment and protection, a means to deceive but not kill, camo…
Entry
Capello, Luigi
By Andrea Argenio
Luigi Capello was an Italian general who took part in the war on the Gorizia fro…
Entry
Caporetto, Battle of
By Anna Grillini
The Battle of Caporetto, also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, remains…
Entry
Carrier Corps
By Mahon Murphy
The Carrier Corps were a conscripted labour force used by all belligerent sides …
Entry
Carrier Pigeons (Portugal)
By João Moreira Tavares
Since ancient times, carrier pigeons have been used successfully in various arme…
Entry
Cattaro, Mutiny of
By Paul Lenormand
The mutiny of the sailors on Cattaro, the Austrian-Hungarian Navy Base, occurred…
Entry
Caucasus Front
By Tigran Martirosyan
The Caucasus Front was the area where combat operations between the Russian and …
Entry
Cavalry
By Douglas Kennedy
By the beginning of the 20th century, field armies had integrated the combat arm…
Entry
Cemal Paşa, Ahmed
By Hasan Kayalı
Cemal Paşa belonged to the top leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress…
Entry
Cēsis, Battle of
By Ēriks Jēkabsons
The Battle of Cēsis took place on 6-23 June 1919, near Cēsis, Latvia, during Lat…
Entry
Champagne Offensives
By Sebastian Lukasik
In 1915, France’s Champagne region was the setting for two large-scale French of…
Entry
Charleroi, Battle of
By Erwan Le Gall
The Battle of Charleroi (21-23 August 1914), in which General Charles Lanrezac’s…
Entry
Chetniks
By Dmitar Tasić
Chetnik is a common name for a member of the auxiliary or paramilitary units us…
Entry
Christmas Truce
By Alexandre Lafon
In December 1914, there were several truces between enemy soldiers along one par…
Entry
Close Combat Weapons
By Markus Pöhlmann
The basic tactical question for all military powers prior to 1914 was how to app…
Entry
Collins, Michael
By Frank Callanan
Michael Collins was a revolutionary leader who rose to become chairman of the Ir…
Entry
Communication Technology
By Elizabeth Bruton
A selection of communication technologies, ancient and modern, was available at …
Entry
Comradeship (France)
By Alexandre Lafon
“United as we were on the battle front,” the rallying cry popularized by one of …
Entry
Conner, Fox
By Steven Rabalais
Brigadier General Fox Conner served as Chief of Operations (G-3) of the American…
Entry
Conrad von Hötzendorf, Franz Xaver Josef Graf
By Claudia Reichl-Ham
Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf was an Austrian officer and Chief of the General Sta…
Entry
Conscientious Objectors
By Luke Schleif
During World War I, many conscription age-men sought exemptions from combat duty…
Entry
Coronel, Battle of
By Andreas Leipold
On 1 November 1914, the German East Asiatic Cruiser Squadron defeated the 4th Br…
Entry
Cru, Jean Norton
By Rémy Cazals
Jean Norton Cru did not consider himself a historian. Yet his life’s work, Témoi…
Entry
Daniels, Josephus
By Daniel E. Worthington
Josephus Daniels was United States secretary of the Navy from 1913–1921. He demo…
Entry
Deimling, Berthold von
By Reinhold Lütgemeier-Davin
Berthold von Deimling was a controversial Prussian general known for both his mi…
Entry
Delvert, Charles
By Michaël Bourlet
Charles Delvert was one of the witnesses of the Great War. A graduate of the Éco…
Entry
Denikin, Anton Ivanovich
By Evgenii Vladimirovich Volkov
Anton Ivanovich Denikin was a Russian general, politician and writer. He fought …
Entry
De Valera, Éamon
By Michael Laffan
De Valera was a prominent figure in the Easter 1916 rebellion against British ru…
Entry
Diaz, Armando, Duke of Victory
By Alessandro Salvador
Armando Diaz was an Italian officer and a general during World War I. In 1917, a…
Entry
Dicke Bertha
By Dieter Storz
In the First World War, the German Empire had two models of 42-centimeter mortar…
Entry
Dickman, Joseph T.
By Derek Varble
Major General Joseph T. Dickman’s lengthy U.S. Army career entailed significant …
Entry
Donovan, William J.
By Benjamin F. Jones
A New York National Guard officer, attorney, and Medal of Honor recipient, Willi…
Entry
Dreadnought, HMS
By John Abbatiello
Adopted in 1906, HMS Dreadnought represented an innovative battleship design tha…
Entry
Drum, Hugh Aloysius
By Andrew J. Forney
Hugh Drum played an integral role planning the deployment of the American Expedi…
Entry
Dunsterforce
By Timothy C. Winegard
Dunsterforce, officially called the British Military Mission to the Caucasus, wa…
Entry
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
By James E. Kitchen
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Army formation that conduct…
Entry
Emden, SMS
By Jarosław Suchoples, John R. Robertson
In the first months of World War I, a German raider, the light cruiser Emden bro…
Entry
Enver Pasha, Ismail
By Feroz Ahmad
After leading the coup that brought the Committee of Union and Progress to power…
Entry
Evrenoszade, Rahmi Bey
By Ayşe Ozil
Rahmi Bey was governor of Izmir during the First World War. As part of the Union…
Entry
Expanding Bullets
By Paul Cornish
During the First World War both sides accused each other of employing illegal sm…
Entry
Falkenhausen, Ludwig Alexander Friedrich August Philipp Freiherr von
By Sebastian Rojek
Ludwig Freiherr von Falkenhausen was a German General and military writer who se…
Entry
Falkenhayn, Erich von
By Holger Afflerbach
Falkenhayn was Prussian minister of War and Chief of Staff (1914-1916). He was o…
Entry
Falklands, Battle of the
By Paul G. Halpern
During the Battle of the Falklands, the British naval force commanded by Admiral…
Entry
Fall of Baghdad
By Christoph Herzog
Baghdad was evacuated by the Ottoman military and administration and their Germa…
Entry
Fayolle, Émile
By William Philpott
Marie-Émile Fayolle commanded French forces on the Western Front throughout the …
Entry
Faysal I, King of Iraq
By Tariq Tell
Faysal ibn Husayn commanded the Northern Army of the Arab Revolt and was raised …
Entry
Fear
By Jan Plamper
Of the two world wars, the First World War was special in that fear figured prom…
Entry
Fisher, John Arbuthnot, Baron Fisher
By Matthew S. Seligmann
John Fisher led the Royal Navy in the run-up to and in the early years of the Fi…
Entry
Flamethrower
By Paul Cornish
The use of portable flamethrowers in combat was a First World War innovation. Th…
Entry
Foch, Ferdinand
By Elizabeth Greenhalgh
Ferdinand Foch was a French general who commanded a corps and an army (1914), an…
Entry
Force Publique
By Michael Pesek
The article discusses the Force Publique, the colonial troops of the Belgian Con…
Entry
Formation of the Royal Air Force
By Mark Wells
Created in April 1918 to overcome the complex challenges occasioned by wartime p…
Entry
Forts
By Miguel A. Lopez
European militaries considered fortifications before the First World War as vita…
Entry
Foulois, Benjamin
By Douglas Kennedy
Benjamin Delahauf Foulois was a founder of United States military aviation. He w…
Entry
Franchet d'Espèrey, Louis Félix Marie François
By Gwendal Piégais
Louis Franchet d'Espèrey was a French general who took command of the Fifth Army…
Entry
Freiburg
By Roger Chickering
This article addresses the experience of Freiburg during the First World War, as…
Entry
Freikorps
By Mattheis Bucholtz
Freikorps units were paramilitary formations which generally supported rightwin…
Entry
French, John Denton Pinkstone, Earl of Ypres
By Nicholas Lloyd
Sir John French was the commander of the British Expeditionary Force between Jul…
Entry
Frontin, Pedro Max Fernando
By Karl Schurster
Pedro Frontin was a Brazilian navy admiral. He commanded the Brazilian Naval Div…
Entry
Gallieni, Joseph-Simon
By Julie d'Andurain
General Joseph-Simon Gallieni was a colonial officer who became the Governor of …
Entry
Gallipoli, Campaign and Battle of
By Harold Allen Skinner Jr.
From March 1915 to January 1916, French and British Commonwealth forces fought a…
Entry
Garde Civique
By Piet Veldeman
In 1830, Belgium constituted a Garde Civique or Civic Guard, a national institut…
Entry
Garros, Roland
By Eric Mahieu
Roland Garros was a well-known French aviation pioneer before the war and succes…
Entry
Gas Warfare
By Thomas I. Faith
Gas warfare is a method of war that employs weapons that are designed to cause c…
Entry
Gaulle, Charles de
By Jason Musteen
Charles de Gaulle’s service during World War I and his experiences as a prisoner…
Entry
General Headquarters (Germany)
By Markus Pöhlmann
The Große Hauptquartier (Great Headquarters or GHQ) was the strategic command ce…
Entry
General Headquarters (Great Britain)
By Nikolas Gardner
General Headquarters (GHQ) was the organization that commanded all British and I…
Entry
General Headquarters (Russian Empire)
By Sofya Anisimova
Stavka Verkhovnogo Glavnokomanduyushchego was the centre of the field command o…
Entry
Georgia
By Stephen F. Jones
World War One was a catalyst for Georgian independence, which was declared on 26…
Entry
German Spring Offensives 1918
By Alexander Watson
The Spring Offensives of 1918 were Germany’s last attempt to defeat the British …
Entry
Giardino, Gaetano Ettore
By Andrea Argenio
Gaetano Giardino was an Italian general best remembered for his role as commande…
Entry
Goeben, SMS and Breslau, SMS
By Benjamin Miertzschke
The flight of the German battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau from…
Entry
Goltz, Colmar Freiherr von der
By Gerhard Grüßhaber
Colmar von der Goltz was one of pre-war Germany’s most outstanding and controver…
Entry
Goltz, Rüdiger Graf von der
By Björn Hofmeister
Count Rüdiger von der Goltz was a German army general during the First World War…
Entry
Göring, Hermann
By Jan-Philipp Pomplun
Hermann Göring was a highly decorated and well-known fighter pilot of the First …
Entry
Gorizia, Battle of
By Francesco Frizzera
The Battle of Gorizia, known as the Sixth Isonzo’s Battle, was fought by the Ita…
Entry
Gouraud, Henri
By Julie d'Andurain
Henri Gouraud was one of the most important French generals during the First Wor…
Entry
Grand Fleet
By Chuck Steele
The Grand Fleet was Britain’s most important manifestation of sea power in World…
Entry
Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922
By Elçin Macar
The end of the First World War and the defeat of the Ottoman Army gave a histori…
Entry
Grigorovich, Ivan Konstantinovich
By Siobhan Peeling
Grigorovich was Navy Minister between 1911 and 1917. He sought cooperation with …
Entry
Groener, Wilhelm
By Peter Lieb
As head of the Railway Section at the General Staff, Groener was responsible for…
Entry
Gurkha
By Gajendra Singh
This entry historicizes myths of the Gurkha in contemporary Britain, India and N…
Entry
Gurko, Vasiliĭ Iosifovich
By Sofya Anisimova
General Vassillii Iosifovich Gurko was a Russian military commander during the F…
Entry
Guynemer, Georges
By Eric Mahieu
Georges Guynemer was a French fighter pilot. During World War I, he was known fo…
Entry
Haig, Douglas
By Gary Sheffield
Douglas Haig was Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force from late…
Entry
Haller, Józef
By Jan Snopko
General Józef Haller was one of the best known Polish military commanders of the…
Entry
Hand Grenade
By Nathan Watanabe
The hand grenade is a small hand-thrown bomb dating back to antiquity. Advances …
Entry
High Seas Fleet
By Stephan Huck
In 1898, the German Reich began to build up a strong battle fleet. It was meant …
Entry
High Voltage Fence (The Netherlands and Belgium)
By Alex Vanneste
In 1915 the Germans built an electric fence along the Belgian-Dutch border, cons…
Entry
Hindenburg, Paul von
By Anna von der Goltz
Paul von Hindenburg shot to fame after the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. …
Entry
Hitler, Adolf
By Thomas Weber
After the First World War, Hitler created a mythical account of his war years fo…
Entry
Hoff, Heinrich Leonhard Emanuel von
By Mustafa Gençer
This article is about the career of Heinrich Leonhard Emanuel von Hoff under the…
Entry
Howell, Evelyn Berkeley, Sir
By Gajendra Singh
Evelyn Berkeley Howell was appointed Chief Censor of Indian military corresponde…
Entry
Humann, Hans
By Malte Fuhrmann
A champion of “peaceful imperialism” before the war, Humann served as an éminenc…
Entry
Hundred Days Offensive
By Nicholas Lloyd
The Hundred Days was the final campaign on the Western Front during the Great Wa…
Entry
Husen, Bayume Mohamed
By Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst
Husen was a child soldier in the “Schutztruppe” of German East Africa. He migrat…
Entry
Ideologies of Sport
By Ansgar Molzberger, Stephan Wassong
At the beginning of the 20th century, two different systems of exercise and trai…
Entry
Indian Expeditionary Force
By Claude Markovits
An Indian Expeditionary Force was sent to France and Belgium in September 1914 a…
Entry
Indian Labour Corps
By Radhika Singha
By December 1919, India had raised a total of 877,068 combatants and 563,369 non…
Entry
Infantry
By Jeffrey LaMonica
The First World War precipitated a revolution in infantry tactics that changed t…
Entry
Intimate Relations between Occupiers and Occupied (Belgium and France)
By Emmanuel Debruyne
During the invasion and occupation of 1914-1918, German soldiers had sexual rela…
Entry
Invincible, HMS
By Paul G. Halpern
HMS Invincible was a British warship belonging to a type commonly known as battl…
Entry
Iron Cross
By Frank Wernitz
Although the Iron Cross was originally created only for the duration of the Wars…
Entry
Isonzo, Battles of
By Alessandro Salvador
The battles of Isonzo represented Italy’s main offensive efforts against the Aus…
Entry
Italo-Turkish War 1911-1912
By Rachel Simon
The Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) took place mainly in Ottoman Libya following I…
Entry
Jabotinsky, Vladimir
By Arie M. Dubnov, Brian Horowitz
Russian-Jewish author, playwright, journalist, orator, and political activist; c…
Entry
Jäger Movement
By Jussi Jalonen
The Finnish Jäger movement recruited approximately 2,000 men to the German Armed…
Entry
Jellicoe, John Rushworth Jellicoe, Earl
By Andrew Lambert
John Rushworth Jellicoe was a British admiral, technologist and fleet commander.…
Entry
Jihad, Holy War (Ottoman Empire)
By Tilman Lüdke
Between 1914 and 1918, both the Ottoman Empire and Germany engaged in a propagan…
Entry
Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire
By Mathieu Panoryia
Joseph Joffre was commander-in-chief of the French army at the beginning of the …
Entry
Jutland, Battle of
By Michael Epkenhans
On 31 May/1 June 1916 the British Grand Fleet and the German High Sea Fleet clas…
Entry
Kemal, Mustafa (Atatürk)
By Erik-Jan Zürcher
Mustafa Kemal Pasha gained fame during World War I both as a successful commande…
Entry
Keyes, Roger John Brownlow, Baron
By Joseph Moretz
Roger John Brownlow Keyes was a British naval officer of the First World War. As…
Entry
Kiel Mutiny
By Mark Jones
The sailors’ mutiny in Kiel quickly escalated into an open rebellion against the…
Entry
Killigil, Nuri
By Alp Yenen
Nuri Pasha, younger brother of Enver Pasha, contributed to Ottoman special opera…
Entry
King's African Rifles
By Charles G. Thomas
The King’s African Rifles (KAR) were the British colonial military within East A…
Entry
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Earl
By Peter Simkins
In foreseeing a long war and creating Britain's first mass army, Kitchener made …
Entry
Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasil'evich
By Evgenii Vladimirovich Volkov
Aleksandr Vasil'evich Kolchak was a Russian admiral and political figure. He par…
Entry
Königsberg (ship)
By Mahon Murphy
The German light cruiser Königsberg made its name at the Battle of Zanzibar. Aft…
Entry
Kornilov, Lavr Georgievich
By Siobhan Peeling
Kornilov rose rapidly in the Russian army during the First World War, becoming C…
Entry
Kostiuchnówka, Battle of
By Paweł Brudek
The Battle of Kostiuchnówka occurred during the Brusilov Offensive in the Volhyn…
Entry
Kreß von Kressenstein, Friedrich Freiherr
By Oliver Stein
Kreß von Kressenstein was a Bavarian-German officer who, as member of the German…
Entry
Kuhl, Hermann Joseph von
By Markus Pöhlmann
A classic representative of pre-1914 Prussian officer education, Kuhl was a risi…
Entry
Kuşçubaşı, Eşref Sencer
By Benjamin C. Fortna
The child of Circassian refugees, Eşref Kuşçubaşı attended military schools befo…
Entry
Kut al-Amara
By Gökhan Çetinsaya
The Siege of Kut al-Amara between 3 December 1915 and 29 April 1916 is an import…
Entry
Kut, Halil
By Tigran Martirosyan
Halil Kut was an Ottoman regional governor and military commander. He is best kn…
Entry
Labour Battalions (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Tigran Martirosyan
Ottoman labour battalions were a form of forced labour in lieu of regular milita…
Entry
La Courtine, Mutiny of
By Jamie H. Cockfield
This article details the mutiny of two Russian brigades sent to France in World …
Entry
Lafayette Escadrille
By Edward A. Gutiérrez
The Lafayette Escadrille was a French Air Service fighter squadron formed of Ame…
Entry
Laidoner, Johan
By Ago Pajur
Johan Laidoner, Estonian general and statesman, started his career in the Russia…
Entry
Langemarck Myth
By Lukas Grawe
The Langemarck Myth refers to the transformation of a WWI battle, in which the G…
Entry
Lanrezac, Charles Louis Marie
By Michaël Bourlet
Considered one of the best generals in the French armed forces, Charles Lanzerac…
Entry
Latvian Riflemen
By Ēriks Jēkabsons
The Latvian Riflemen were Latvian territorial units comprised of nine battalions…
Entry
Lawrence, Thomas Edward
By Tariq Tell
T.E. Lawrence’s exploits during the Arab Revolt have acquired mythical status, m…
Entry
Légion étrangère
By Christian Koller
The French Foreign Legion of the colonial era was mainly deployed in extra-Europ…
Entry
Leipzig War Crimes Trials
By Gerd Hankel
In 1921 and 1922 the highest German court, the Reichsgericht in Leipzig, under p…
Entry
Lejeune, John Archer
By Charles P. Neimeyer
Major General John Archer Lejeune was the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. D…
Entry
Le Poilu
By Chris Kempshall
Le Poilu translates literally as “the hairy one” and was a collective identity …
Entry
Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul von
By Eckard Michels
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was commander of the German colonial troops in East Afri…
Entry
Liddell Hart, Basil Henry, Sir
By Alaric Searle
B.H. Liddell Hart served as a British infantry officer on the Western Front in 1…
Entry
Liggett, Hunter
By Daniel E. Worthington
Hunter Liggett was a general in the U.S. Army. He commanded the Forty-First Infa…
Entry
Liman von Sanders, Otto Viktor Karl
By Thomas Gerhards
Liman von Sanders was the head of the German military mission in the Ottoman Emp…
Entry
London, Bombing of
By Ian Castle
Germany’s aerial bombing campaign against Great Britain in the First World War, …
Entry
Lovćen
By Heiko Brendel
Situated above the Austro-Hungarian naval base in the Bay of Kotor, Mount Lovćen…
Entry
Luckner, Felix, Graf von
By Michael Epkenhans
Felix Graf von Luckner, the so-called “sea-devil”, was a German naval officer. D…
Entry
Ludendorff, Erich
By Roger Chickering
Erich Ludendorff was the effective commander of the German armed forces during t…
Entry
Lusitania, Sinking of
By Chelsea Autumn Medlock
On 7 May 1915, a German U-boat fired a torpedo into the RMS Lusitania, sinking h…
Entry
Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve
By Julie d'Andurain
During World War One, Hubert Lyautey was the French Resident-General in Morocco …
Entry
Lys, Battle of the
By Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
What the Portuguese call the Battle of the Lys represented merely the start of O…
Entry
MacArthur, Douglas
By Edward Salo
General Douglas MacArthur was a career Army officer and an American military lea…
Entry
Machine Gun
By Paul Cornish
Between 1914 and 1918, the machine gun played an ever-increasing role on the bat…
Entry
Mackensen, August von
By Friederike Höhn
August von Mackensen was one of the most famous and successful German commanders…
Entry
Makhno, Nestor Ivanovich
By Christopher Gilley
Nestor Makhno was a commander of peasant insurgents who fought the Bolsheviks, W…
Entry
Mangin, Charles
By Julie d'Andurain
Charles Mangin was a very important French general during the First World War. W…
Entry
Mannerheim, Carl Gustaf Emil
By Jussi Jalonen
A Finnish aristocrat, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim served as cavalry commander in…
Entry
March, Peyton Conway
By Jared M. Tracy
General Peyton C. March developed the role and prominence of the relatively new …
Entry
Markl Internment Camp
By Reinhard Mundschütz
During the years 1915 to 1918 in the internment camp in Markl (Windigsteig), in …
Entry
Marne, Battles of the
By Erwan Le Gall
The battles of the Marne were two battles during the First World War. The first …
Entry
Marshall, George Catlett
By Rob Havers
General George Catlett Marshall served in France with the American Expeditionary…
Entry
Martial Races, Theory of
By Heike Liebau
The notion of “martial races” was formally developed and codified in the wake of…
Entry
Medals and Decorations
By Sofya Anisimova
The Great War unfolded on multiple fronts and saw millions of men and women call…
Entry
Medina, Siege of
By Hasan Kayalı
During the Arab Revolt in 1916 forces loyal to Sharif Husayn surrounded Medina a…
Entry
Mediterranean Theater, Naval Operations
By Paul G. Halpern
The real naval war in the Mediterranean turned out to be a struggle against Germ…
Entry
Mesopotamian Front
By Christoph Herzog
Ottoman Iraq was attacked by British-Indian troops in late autumn 1914. After ha…
Entry
Metaxas, Ioannis
By Elli Lemonidou
Ioannis Metaxas was a conservative army officer and politician, who influenced d…
Entry
Mexican Revolution
By Stephan Scheuzger
It was the complex and far-reaching transformation of the Mexican Revolution rat…
Entry
Military Board of Allied Supply
By Ian M. Brown
The Military Board of Allied Supply, formed in mid-1918, attempted to centralize…
Entry
Military Justice (Switzerland)
By Sebastian Steiner
In neutral Switzerland, the executive powers were strengthened more than in some…
Entry
Military Volunteers (Italy)
By Sante Lesti
The history of the Italian military volunteers concerns not only the roughly 10,…
Entry
Mine Warfare
By Nicholas Murray
Mine warfare or mining are the terms used to describe the digging of tunnels und…
Entry
Mitchell, William
By Douglas C. Waller
In World War I, Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell of the American Exped…
Entry
Mobilization (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)
By Charalampos Minasidis
During the Great War, the Ottoman state mobilized its citizens under two war pol…
Entry
Moltke, Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von
By Christian Stachelbeck
Colonel General Helmuth von Moltke (the Younger), the Chief of the General Staff…
Entry
Monash, John
By Aaron Pegram
John Monash is probably the most celebrated Australian figure of the First World…
Entry
Mons
By Guillaume Blondeau
The city of Mons took on great symbolic importance during the Great War. In both…
Entry
Monte Grappa, Battle of
By Francesco Cutolo
After the battle of Caporetto, the Austro-German army launched several attacks a…
Entry
Morgenthau, Henry, Sr.
By Harold Allen Skinner Jr.
Naturalized American lawyer, real estate investor, and Jewish activist, Henry Mo…
Entry
Mudros, Armistice of
By James Ryan
The Armistice of Mudros was signed on 31 October 1918 between the Ottoman govern…
Entry
Murray, Archibald James, Sir
By Justin Fantauzzo
Sir Archibald James Murray was Chief of the Imperial General Staff from Septembe…
Entry
Muslim Soldiers in the Russian Army
By Franziska Davies
During the First World War, at least half a million Muslim soldiers fought in th…
Entry
Mussolini, Benito
By Brian R. Sullivan
Italian Socialist Benito Mussolini envisioned war as the prerequisite for revolu…
Entry
Naval Race between Germany and Great Britain, 1898-1912
By Dirk Bönker
The Anglo-German naval race was the most spectacular strand of the general marit…
Entry
Naval Warfare (Italy)
By Fabio De Ninno
Italy’s war at sea reflected the more general trends of the naval warfare in the…
Entry
Navy Squadron in the Mediterranean (Japan)
By Tomoyuki Ishizu
Responding to the British request for further support to the Allied war efforts,…
Entry
Nivelle, Robert Georges
By Denis Rolland
Born in a Protestant family with an English mother, Robert Nivelle studied at th…
Entry
Nolan, Dennis E.
By Mark Stout
Dennis E. Nolan was the chief intelligence officer for the American Expeditionar…
Entry
No Man's Land
By Stephen Bull
"No Man's Land" was a popular term during the First World War to describe the ar…
Entry
Noske, Gustav
By Julian Aulke
Gustav Noske was a social democratic politician and the first politician to be a…
Entry
Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL)
By Markus Pöhlmann
The Oberste Heeresleitung (Supreme Army Command or OHL) was the mobile wartime f…
Entry
Occupation of Luxembourg
By Richard Seiwerath
The violation of Luxembourg’s neutrality started with the invasion on 1 August 1…
Entry
Offensive, Gorlice-Tarnow
By Richard Lein
The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive of May/June 1915 was a major military success for A…
Entry
Operation Alberich
By Dennis Showalter
Operation Alberich involved the systematic destruction of 1,500 square kilometre…
Entry
Ozanian, Antranik
By Tigran Martirosyan
Antranik Ozanian, commonly known as Antranik (pronounced Andranik in the Eastern…
Entry
Pacific Islands
By John Jennings
Although they were remote from the metropoles and generally small, the Pacific I…
Entry
Palmer Raids
By Charlene Fletcher Brown
The Palmer Raids were efforts by the United States Department of Justice to arre…
Entry
Pals Battalions
By Peter Simkins
The raising of the Pals battalions added considerable impetus to voluntary recru…
Entry
Paris Guns
By Christophe Dutrône
Paris Guns refer to the German long-range guns that fired intermittently on Pari…
Entry
Pasha, Cavit
By Mesut Uyar
A talented administrator but a mediocre general, Cavit Pasha served in various p…
Entry
Pasha, Esat
By Mesut Uyar
Esat Pasha played a key role during the Gallipoli campaign and achieved renown a…
Entry
Patton, George Smith
By Christopher Michael Redgraves
George Smith Patton was an American military leader. He began his career as a ca…
Entry
Pershing, John J.
By Andrew J. Forney
John J. Pershing led all American forces during World War I. He emphasized staff…
Entry
Pétain, Philippe
By Olivier Cosson
A theorist of infantry tactics in 1914, the First World War offered Colonel Péta…
Entry
Petrov, Racho Stoi︠a︡nov
By Stefan Marinov Minkov
Infantry General Racho Petrov is a controversial figure in Bulgarian history. He…
Entry
Piave, Battles of
By Stefano Marcuzzi
The two battles of the River Piave were fought between 10 November and 25 Decemb…
Entry
Piłsudski, Józef
By Michał Leśniewski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski was a Polish statesman, socialist politician, freedom fi…
Entry
Polish Army in France
By Jarosław Centek
The Bayonne Company was the first Polish unit in France, formed in 1914 as a uni…
Entry
Polish Legions
By Jarosław Centek
At the outbreak of the Great War, two Polish Legions were formed within the Aust…
Entry
Polish National Units in Russia
By Paweł Brudek
The Polish Army was born out of the chaos of revolutionary Russia. The Russian a…
Entry
Polish Paramilitary Organisations before 1914
By Mateusz Drozdowski
Polish paramilitary organizations were active in Galicia from 1910 to 1914 with …
Entry
Portuguese Expeditionary Corps
By Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps was the most important Portuguese military co…
Entry
Prager, Robert
By Derek Varble
In April 1918, Robert Prager, the only German immigrant to the United States kno…
Entry
Prussian War Ministry
By Markus Pöhlmann
The Prussian War Ministry (Preußisches Kriegsministerium) was the highest admini…
Entry
Punjab Disturbances 1919
By Ahmad Azhar
This entry revisits the political upheavals that swept across several towns and …
Entry
Qingdao, Siege of/German-Japanese War
By Sven Saaler
Japan declared war on Germany in August 1914 and, after a two-month siege, captu…
Entry
Racism in the Armed Forces (USA)
By Debra J. Sheffer
Black Americans served in the First World War, fighting for democracy both abroa…
Entry
Rape
By Antoine Rivière
Although rape was not usually systematic, it occurred frequently on all fronts d…
Entry
Rear Area on the Western Front
By Larissa Wegner
The rear area was the space behind the front, linking the operational zone with …
Entry
Reconnaissance and Observation
By Charles Dusch
Reconnaissance was aviation’s most important mission in the Great War. When war …
Entry
Refugees (Austria-Hungary)
By Francesco Frizzera
During World War I, about 1.1 million refugees sought refuge in the interior of …
Entry
Refugees (Russian Empire)
By Siobhan Peeling
German and Austrian advances in 1914 and 1915, together with policies of the Rus…
Entry
Reshid, Mehmed
By Hans-Lukas Kieser
A founder of the Committee of Union and Progress, Dr Reshid excelled during Worl…
Entry
Richert, Dominik
By Carolyn Taratko
Dominik Richert was a German soldier who deserted during the First World War. He…
Entry
Richthofen, Manfred, Freiherr von
By Robert Rennie
One of the most famous fighter pilots of the First World War, Manfred von Richth…
Entry
Rickenbacker, Eddie
By Sean Seyer
America’s “ace of aces,” Eddie Rickenbacker received the Distinguished Service M…
Entry
Rifles
By Dieter Storz
The rifle was by far the most common weapon used in the world war. When the majo…
Entry
Robertson, William Robert
By David R. Woodward
William Robert Robertson was the first British soldier to advance from private t…
Entry
Roçadas, José Augusto Alves
By José Luís Assis
José Augusto Alves Roçadas led African pacification campaigns and was a colonial…
Entry
Role of German Officers in the Gallipoli Campaign
By Thomas P. Iredale
Serving alongside their Ottoman brothers-in-arms, an estimated 500 German office…
Entry
Room 40
By Steven Czak
Room 40 was a highly secretive British intelligence organization within the dire…
Entry
Rosado, Tomás Garcia
By José Luís Assis
Tomás António Garcia Rosado was a Portuguese expeditionary commander and colonia…
Entry
Ruanda and Urundi
By Anne Samson
The Belgian Force Publique occupied Ruanda and Urundi in 1916 after taking contr…
Entry
Ruggera, Camillo
By Nicola Fontana
Camillo Ruggera was an officer of the General Staff in the Austro-Hungarian army…
Entry
Ruhleben Internment Camp
By Mahon Murphy
The Ruhleben internment camp, situated on the outskirts of Berlin, held British …
Entry
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
By Jonathan Boff
Crown Prince Rupprecht was the heir to the Bavarian throne and one of Germany's …
Entry
Russian Expeditionary Force
By Sofya Anisimova, Gwendal Piégais
The Russian Expeditionary Force in France and in Macedonia (“Brigades russes en …
Entry
Russian Occupation of the Eastern Ottoman Empire
By Alexander E. Balistreri
The Russian occupation of the eastern Ottoman Empire entailed the wartime admini…
Entry
Russo-Japanese War
By Siobhan Peeling
The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, caused by Russian and Japanese expansionism…
Entry
Said Nursi
By Abdürrahim Özer
Said Nursi was a prominent Kurdish intellectual. He fervently supported constitu…
Entry
Sarajevo Incident
By Samuel Foster
The Sarajevo incident refers to the events surrounding the assassination of Arch…
Entry
Sarıkamış, Battle of
By Tigran Martirosyan
The Battle of Sarıkamış, from 22 December 1914 to 17 January 1915, was a major e…
Entry
Sarkotić von Lovćen, Stephan Freiherr
By Marc Stefan Peters
Stephan Baron von Sarkotić was an Austro-Hungarian general who had already made …
Entry
Sarre, Friedrich Paul Theodor
By Malte Fuhrmann
The renowned archaeologist Friedrich Sarre used his local knowledge to support t…
Entry
Schlieffen, Alfred, Graf von
By Oliver Stein
Count Alfred Schlieffen was chief of the Great General Staff of the Prussian-Ger…
Entry
Schutztruppe (East Africa, Southwest Africa, Cameroon)
By Thomas Morlang
Between 1891 and 1894 colonial forces, named “Schutztruppe”, were established in…
Entry
Sea Power
By Andrew Lambert
Much attention has been accorded to the massive scale of military operations in …
Entry
Seeckt, Hans von
By Dennis Showalter
Seeckt became one of Germany’s best staff officers during the Great War. After 1…
Entry
Shakir, Bahaeddin
By Tigran Martirosyan
Bahaeddin Şakir was the reorganizer of the Committee of Union and Progress, a po…
Entry
Shell
By Harold Allen Skinner Jr.
A shell is a streamlined steel metal projectile, filled with a variety of explos…
Entry
Siberian Intervention 1918-1922
By Paul Dunscomb
Woodrow Wilson proposed a joint intervention with Japan to “rescue” the Czech le…
Entry
Sich Riflemen
By Oksana Dudko
The Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (Ukrains’ki Sičovi stril’tsi, USS) was a Ukrainian b…
Entry
Sims, William Sowden
By Chuck Steele
William Sims was the American admiral sent to assess the state of naval affairs …
Entry
Smuts, Jan Christian
By Anne Samson
Jan Smuts was a South African lawyer and statesman who ultimately became deputy …
Entry
Soldiers' Equipment
By Dieter Storz
The soldier’s personal equipment had a dual purpose: it was intended to enable h…
Entry
Soldiers on Leave
By Emmanuelle Cronier
Starting in 1915, periods of leave known as "permissionnaires" played a vital ro…
Entry
Somalia
By Massimo Zaccaria
From 1916 to 1918 the “Tirailleurs Somalis” were the only military unit from the…
Entry
Somme, Battles of
By William Philpott
There was fighting in the Picardy region of France throughout the war. The 1916 …
Entry
Stalin, Joseph
By Erik van Ree
Joseph Stalin lived in Siberian exile from 1913 until the revolution of March 19…
Entry
Steel Helmet
By Nathan Watanabe
The steel helmet was invented and fielded in response to increased lethality on …
Entry
Stellvertretendes Generalkommando
By Christoph Nübel
Deputy General Commands, also referred to as Home Military Commands, were German…
Entry
Stereotypes
By Vanessa Ther
This article summarises the main wartime stereotypes that defined war propaganda…
Entry
Stormtrooper
By Ralf Raths
Storm troopers were soldiers in specialized assault units, which emerged in the …
Entry
Submarines and Submarine Warfare
By Mark D. Karau
During the First World War the German government made extensive use of submarine…
Entry
Summerall, Charles Pelot
By Jared M. Tracy
U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Charles P. Summerall enjoyed a distinguished mi…
Entry
Supreme War Council
By Elizabeth Greenhalgh
The Supreme War Council was an Allied administrative organisation, created by th…
Entry
Tamagnini de Abreu e Silva, Fernando
By José Luís Assis
Fernando Tamagnini de Abreu e Silva was a Portuguese general during World War I.…
Entry
Tampere, Battle of
By Jussi Jalonen
Fought between the Finnish Red and White forces from 15 March to 6 April 1918, t…
Entry
Tanga, Battle of
By Mahon Murphy
The Battle of Tanga was the first major military engagement in East Africa and a…
Entry
Tanks and Tank Warfare
By Michael David Kennedy
World War I introduced new technologies and doctrine in a quest to overcome the …
Entry
Tannenberg, Battle of
By Oxana Sergeevna Nagornaja
The Battle of Tannenberg (26-30 August 1914), in which General Aleksandr Samsono…
Entry
Tannenberg Myth
By Oxana Sergeevna Nagornaja
The myth of Tannenberg emerged after the defeat of the Russian army on the Easte…
Entry
Tirailleurs Sénégalais
By Richard Fogarty
The tirailleurs sénégalais (Senegalese riflemen) figured prominently among the m…
Entry
Tirpitz, Alfred von
By Michael Epkenhans
Grand Admiral Tirpitz was Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office from 1…
Entry
Toller, Ernst
By Steven Schouten
Ernst Toller was one of Germany’s best-known playwrights and a leading left-wing…
Entry
Townshend, Charles Vere Ferrers, Sir
By Justin Fantauzzo
Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend commanded the 6th (Poona) Division in Mesopot…
Entry
Trotsky, Leon
By Ian D. Thatcher
Leon Trotsky's communist leadership was partially responsible for bringing about…
Entry
Turkestan
By Cloé Drieu
The province of Turkestan - modern-day Central Asia -, a Russian military colony…
Entry
Udet, Ernst
By Richard Byers
Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German “ace” fighter pilot of the Firs…
Entry
Ukraine
By Liubov Zhvanko
At the beginning of the 20th century Ukrainian lands were part of the Austro-Hun…
Entry
U.S. Race Riots
By Charlene Fletcher Brown
A race riot is a mob-related domestic disturbance in which specific racial group…
Entry
Vācietis, Jukums
By Ineta Lipša
Jukums Vācietis commanded the 5thZemgale Latvian Rifle Battalion. After the Octo…
Entry
Viribus Unitis, SMS
By Walter Blasi
The Austro-Hungarian battleship Viribus Unitis was commissioned in reaction to t…
Entry
Vittorio Veneto, Battle of
By Francesco Frizzera
The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 4 November 1918 …
Entry
Wangenheim, Hans von
By Christos Bouris
Baron Hans von Wangenheim was the German ambassador to the Ottoman capital betwe…
Entry
Weddigen, Otto Eduard
By Mark Jones
Otto Weddigen was among the best-known German submarine commanders in the First …
Entry
Whittlesey, Charles White
By Susan Bragg
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whittlesey served in a unit of the U. S. Army’s 77th …
Entry
Wild von Hohenborn, Adolf
By Michael Geheran
Adolf Wild von Hohenborn served as Prussian war minister from January 1915 to Oc…
Entry
Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Germany
By Martina Weinland
Wilhelm’s education was dominated by a strict regime focused on preparing him fo…
Entry
Wrangel, Petr Nikolaevich, Baron
By Evgenii Vladimirovich Volkov
Petr Nikolaevich Wrangel was a Russian general and political leader. He particip…
Entry
Yildirim Army Group
By Odile Moreau
The Yildirim (“lightning” or “blitz”) Army Group was a special Ottoman-German ar…
Entry
York, Alvin Cullum
By Harold Allen Skinner Jr.
A prewar blacksmith and farmer from rural Tennessee before his induction into th…
Entry
Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)
By Emma Hanna
The YMCA was a Christian charitable organization that provided a range of rest a…
Entry
Ypres, Battles of
By Spencer Jones
The Belgian city of Ypres is synonymous with the First World War. Ypres gave its…
Entry
Yudenich, Nikolaĭ Nikolayevich
By Tigran Martirosyan
Nikolaĭ Yudenich was one of the most successful Russian commanders in World War …
Entry
Zeppelin (Airship)
By Charles Dusch
Zeppelins heralded the potential of strategic bombing. Although airships were or…

See Also

Regional
Albania
By Isa Blumi
Though largely understudied to date, the regions in the western Balkans inhabite…
Regional
Australia
By Joan Beaumont
The impact of the First World War on Australia was so profound that its memory d…
Regional
Austria-Hungary
By Pieter M. Judson
The article surveys the social and military history of Austria-Hungary during th…
Regional
Baltic States and Finland
By Klaus Richter
This article presents a survey of the First World War in the region of today’s s…
Regional
Belgium
By Sophie De Schaepdrijver
Belgium, a neutral state, was forced into the First World War by a German ultima…
Regional
Bulgaria
By Richard C. Hall
From 1912 to 1918 Bulgaria engaged in a prolonged conflict that began in victory…
Regional
Burma
By Michael W. Charney
Burma’s participation in World War I was limited mainly to the provision of troo…
Regional
Canada
By J. L. Granatstein
The Dominion of Canada automatically went to war in August 1914 when Britain did…
Regional
China
By Klaus Mühlhahn
This article discusses China’s role in the First World War with a focus on the c…
Regional
Denmark
By Nils Arne Sørensen
With its economy highly reliant on Great Britain, Germany and other European nat…
Regional
East and Central Africa
By Anne Samson
The war in East and Central Africa was one of the longest running of the Great W…
Regional
France
By Nicolas Beaupré
To study France during the “Great War” – as it was called as early as 1914 – inv…
Regional
Germany
By Gerhard Hirschfeld
When war broke out, in light of increasingly inflexible constellations and allia…
Regional
Great Britain
By Stephen Badsey
Great Britain was with its Empire the most powerful of the major belligerents, t…
Regional
Greece
By Loukianos Hassiotis
Greece officially entered the Great War rather belatedly in June 1917, despite i…
Regional
Ireland
By Richard S. Grayson
Ireland’s war experience cannot be separated from Irish politics. Indeed, the st…
Regional
Latin America
By Stefan Rinke, Karina Kriegesmann
When the First World War broke out in Europe, Latin Americans of all social stra…
Regional
Luxembourg
By Benoît Majerus, Charel Roemer
Despite its neutrality, Luxembourg was occupied in August 1914, mainly for its s…
Regional
Montenegro
By Radoslav Raspopović
Montenegro entered the First World War politically and militarily exhausted. The…
Regional
Naval Blockade (of Germany)
By Alan Kramer
Blockades, part of economic warfare, had been employed throughout history. The A…
Regional
Newfoundland
By James K. Hiller, Mike O'Brien
Newfoundland entered the Great War with great enthusiasm, but was unprepared for…
Regional
New Zealand
By Kate Hunter
New Zealand was the British Dominion furthest from the conflict in Europe, the M…
Regional
Northern Africa
By Thomas Patrick DeGeorges
The Ottoman and European colonial contexts are the necessary background for unde…
Regional
Norway
By Karl Erik Haug
Norway managed to stay neutral during the First World War, but the war still cre…
Regional
Ottoman Empire/Middle East
By Yücel Yanıkdağ
During the Great War, the Ottoman Empire fought on several major and minor front…
Regional
Persia/Iran
By Touraj Atabaki
The outbreak of the First World War coincided with a period in Persian history w…
Regional
Poland
By Piotr Szlanta
This paper presents the process of building an independent Polish state during t…
Regional
Portugal
By Maria Fernanda Rollo, Ana Paula Pires, Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
Portugal’s participation in the First World War was depicted by its supporters a…
Regional
Romania
By Harald Heppner, Rudolf Gräf
World War I afforded the first opportunity for modern Romania to participate in …
Regional
Russian Empire
By Joshua A. Sanborn
The Russian Empire entered the war in order to preserve its Great Power status, …
Regional
Serbia
By Mile Bjelajac
A short synthesis on Serbia's role and experience in the Great War encompasses s…
Regional
Siam
By Stefan Hell
Siam (Thailand) declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary in mid-1917. In 1918…
Regional
Southern Africa
By William Kelleher Storey
The people of Southern Africa experienced the First World War as a continuation …
Regional
Spain
By Javier Ponce
This article examines Spain’s neutrality during the Great War, highlighting fact…
Regional
The Netherlands
By Samuël Kruizinga, Paul Moeyes, Wim Klinkert
The Netherlands remained neutral during the First World War, but was nevertheles…
Regional
Union of South Africa
By Timothy J. Stapleton
In 1914, the Union of South Africa was four years old; its military only two. Br…
Regional
United States of America
By Jennifer D. Keene
The American debate over neutrality ended when Woodrow Wilson decided in April 1…
Regional
West Africa
By George N. Njung
This article examines the deployment of West African soldiers for military servi…
Regional
Yugoslavia
By Ljubinka Trgovčević
The idea for the unification of the Southern Slavs emerged in the 19th century a…

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