Season 14, Episode 4: The World Goes to War, Part I
A few weeks ago, I was walking my children to school and discussing history, as one does, and my oldest asked a simple but very difficult question: “What was World War I about?” The origins, motivations, progress, and outcome of this war are very difficult for modern audiences to understand. When reading books written by veterans of that war like “All Quiet on the Western Front,” it is easy to conclude that many of its participants also struggled to understand what they had experienced and why.
This episode and the next will both broadly discuss the events of the first World War but should not be taken as an exhaustive study of the event itself. The motivations, factors, complications and diplomatic jiujitsu involved in the global conflict are myriad and while I have toyed with the idea of doing a deep-dive limited podcast series about world war one when this podcast has ended, I won’t be doing that here.
Guiding our discussion of the first world war is a ten-volume set written in 1919 called “The Literary Digest History of the World War.” I found a set of these history books at a used book sale many years ago and they are fantastic. Being published so soon after the end of World War I, the information within is given extra credibility by being written by some of those who lived through the event in various capacities. Of course, no source is perfect or self contained, so if you read these for yourself, just remember that they are by no means some kind of gospel account. If you would like to read them for free, I will leave a link to the Internet Archive’s scans in this episode description. These books are full of first-hand accounts, contemporary photographs, and often grim accounts of the war’s many devastating battles.
Much of the action, so-called, in the first world war took place in Europe but around the globe there were frequently smaller-scale battles and skirmishes between various colonial possessions. This is obviously where the history of Japan will more directly link to the first world war, and I promise we will specifically discuss Japan’s actions and engagement in the war toward this episode’s end. First, however, we must look to the nation of Serbia, where a visit from Austrian nobility is about to go as wrong as a visit from Austrian nobility possibly can.
On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were killed in Sarajevo when an assassin shot them with several rounds from a semiautomatic pistol. While those responsible were members of a group which was later known as “Young Bosnia,” when police swept the city after the incident to ferret out co-conspirators, they found a large amount of homemade explosives and other weapons, both conventional and improvised, in many homes throughout the city. It is not a great leap of logic to say that if the successful assassination attempt had failed, another would have probably succeeded. The literary digest books go so far as to assert (quote) “the conspiracy against the lives of the Archduke and his wife had been so well planned that probably it would have been impossible for them during this visit to escape from Bosnia alive.” (end quote).
The specific reasons for the unpopularity of the Archduke and Duchess are varied, but can be largely summed up by citing dissatisfaction with the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s annexation of the nation of Serbia. The population of that eastern European nation was split between several ethnic groups who were themselves split into several religious contingents including Eastern Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Muslims. Regional history was clearly at play here as well, given that this region had been dominated by the Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and now the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Said Austro-Hungarian Empire could hardly ignore the assassination of the Archduke, who had been the presumptive heir to the throne, and demanded that the assassins, who had been captured, be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The triggerman, however, was only nineteen, which meant he was too young to be legally given the death sentence. In lieu of this, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison, which the Austro-Hungarian Empire found entirely unacceptable.
The early stages of World War I are best described as a series of escalations and inevitabilities. Throughout July of 1914, in what historians later dubbed “The July Crisis,” Austria made plans to invade Serbia in a punitive expedition meant to quell the rising slavic nationalism which had fomented following the Archduke’s assassination. Fearing that the Russian Empire would intervene, something which was frankly a fair assumption, Austria sought a guarantee from the German Empire, their longtime ally and fellow Teutonic power. Germany agreed, but urged Austria to act quickly so that Russia would not have time to intervene.
Rapid mobilization and deployment were seen, by the Germans, as being a critical element in winning a contemporary war. In fact, Kaiser Wilhelm III and many of his higher officials believed with an almost religious fervor that Europe would be enveloped in another war very soon. Before the First World War erupted, there had been several international incidents after 1900 that could very well have been used as just cause for military mobilization and deployment on the European continent.
The Austrian army invaded Serbia, who likewise mobilized for self defense. The invasion, however, did not go as planned. After some initial successes, Austrian troops had to contend with a determined guerilla insurgency and some very clever counter-maneuvers by their relatively rustic opponents. What was meant to be a swift, decisive stroke soon became a quagmire.
Meanwhile, Russia began mobilizing to defend the Eastern Orthodox citizens of Serbia whom the Tsar considered his co-religionists and subordinates. The German Empire was bound by treaty to support Austria against an invasion from Russia, so Germany began to mobilize its troops.
At this point, France got involved. Germany and France had long nurtured a fairly bitter rivalry for which both sides blamed the other. The Kaiser’s belief that a European war was imminent specifically included the belief that France and Germany would lock horns once more. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had humiliated France, but in the half-century that followed the French had the nerve, the- ahem, Gaul - to recover economically and even expand their own overseas empire which now enriched them. Germany, meanwhile, had struggled to build its own global empire, often being outmaneuvered by British and French rivals whose long-established overseas colonies were quick to stymie German intrusion into their respective spheres.
Because the Kaiser believed that a future war with France was an inevitability, many invasion plans had already been created by the time the first world war erupted but only one which the German high command would be successful. Following the same general advice they had given to Austria, the German army’s plan was, broadly speaking, to rapidly mobilize and invade France before their enemy had time to prepare an effective defense. However, in order for this plan to work, the German army would need to pass through Belgium, the idea being to invade along a broad front which was too large for the French to effectively push back. Stripping away the morality of this plan and examining it purely in terms of whether it would work or not, it had a good chance of succeeding. When the Germans finally deployed and attempted to make this plan a reality, they came much closer than hindsight usually gives them credit for.
Germany had not planned a rapid, broad invasion simply because it was the only plan they could conceive. France and potentially England would be difficult foes to defeat but the German high command was much more concerned with Russia. Russia was and remains much larger than Germany and its army was likewise much bigger. German High Command and the Kaiser believed that taking France out of the war immediately would ensure that Germany could then more comfortably defend the eastern front against Russia alongside their ally Austria. Years before, a general named Alfred von Schlieffen had conceived of such a strategy, which came to be known as the Schlieffen Plan. Schlieffen himself died in 1906 and so never saw how his theoretical plan might work on the battlefield.
Passing through Belgium was a risky maneuver and the German High Command knew that it was the ultimate gamble. Belgium had a modest empire in Africa which had enriched their nation but they were far from being an imperial power on par with England, France, or even Germany. In 1839, Belgium had been acknowledged by all nations in Europe as a neutral nation, a kind of safe-harbor nation where the other nations of Europe could meet and work out their disagreements peacefully.
The German military hoped that Belgium would grant its military permission to march through the small country on their way to invading France. They didn’t say it this way, of course. The Germans claimed that France was mobilizing its army, which was true, and they worried that Belgium was about to be invaded and occupied by France, which would be a treaty violation. Thus, they offered to occupy Belgium themselves in order to protect it… from occupation. The Belgian government, however, was outraged at the request. How could they continue to play peacemaker if they allowed their land to be used for war between their neighbors? Also, such an event could potentially throw Belgium’s national sovereignty into question, an unacceptable possibility. The Belgian military, therefore, mobilized as best they could and prepared to defend their homeland against the German military machine.
As the eyes of the world watched in horror, more than a few speculated that Germany would surely triumph. Building a strong, modern military was one of Kaiser Wilhelm III’s primary objectives as commander-in-chief and it would be difficult to argue that there was a better overall military in western Europe, in terms of training, weaponry, and transport infrastructure, than the German army. Parallel rail lines criss-crossed the nation and carried huge numbers of troops to various fronts with each trip. Their artillery was first-rate both in terms of its technology and the training of their crews.
However, one thing which neither the Germans nor their allies expected was the Belgian resistance. The commander of the German incursion into France, whose name I promise I am not making up, was General Alexander von Kluck. He believed that the Belgian expedition would take no longer than a week but instead it took an entire two months for the Germans to both invade the country and secure their supply lines within. Insurgency was a constant menace, and the German response of abject cruelty and collective punishment only served to harden the resolve of the Belgian patriots who had decided to violently resist their invaders. The nearby nation of Luxemburg was also invaded by Germany, but it had permitted the passage of German troops through its territory without challenge and its people were largely left alone.
In addition to buying the still-mobilizing French military several much-needed extra weeks, the invasion of Belgium also pushed England into the war. Like most other nations in Europe, Britain officially recognized Belgium’s neutrality and vowed to defend it on the occasion when it was threatened. While the French army was preparing to defend their northern border from a German invasion through Belgium, an English army prepared to fight alongside them.
When at last the German army had pacified Brussels, they were ready to cross into France and commence with what they hoped would be a rapid invasion and domination of their western neighbor. What ensued is known as the First Battle of the Marne, named for the Marne river where much of the fighting occurred. Initial engagements appeared to favor the German army and they pressed their advantage as the French and British retreated. However, all was not as it seemed to the German High Command. The French and British forces in France were not in a full rout but rather engaging in an orderly covered retreat featuring well-disciplined rearguard actions by artillery-supported machine gunners. General Von Kluck continued ordering advance after advance, stretching the German line until it was too thin to withstand well-placed counterattacks. The French and English armies counterattacked at strategic points along their enemy’s right flank and soon it was the Germans who were in retreat, falling back to fortified positions which had been established on the eastern bank of the Aisne River. The Schlieffen Plan, at least the version executed by German High Command, had failed.
However, all was not lost for Germany just yet. While their own retreat had been somewhat more chaotic than their enemies’, the German army on the Western Front was largely intact and fully prepared to not only defend against Entente incursions but also stage dramatic counterattacks with varying degrees of success.
That being said, the Entente likewise staged their own dramatic counterattacks which also carried varying degrees of success. The long-term trench warfare that resulted on the western front is the usual image which comes to mind when thinking about World War I. While Europe was the primary theater of that conflict, there were a myriad of smaller skirmishes taking place across the globe throughout colonial holdings in Africa, south Asia, and China. Japan’s role in World War I was obviously not as significant as the role it played in World War II, spoiler alert, but we would be remiss not to recount the activities of Japan, both politically and militarily, during the first few years of the Great War.
When Britain entered the first World War in August of 1914, they requested Japan’s assistance, which Japan was obliged to give due to treaty commitments. The Japanese government’s fiscal situation was still very tenuous but World War I offered an opportunity to both settle an old score and continue expanding their influence over the broader sphere of east Asia. On China’s east coast sits the port city of Qingdao, which had been leased to the German Empire and was occupied by German troops. On August 15, 1914, the Japanese government delivered an ultimatum to the German Empire: withdraw all German warships from Japanese and Chinese waters and transfer control of Qingdao to Japan. They were given one week to comply.
Preparations began immediately within Japan to mobilize the army and navy. Meanwhile, in Germany, the Kaiser scoffed at the Japanese demand and was heard to say (quote) “it would shame me more to surrender Qingdao to the Japanese than Berlin to the Russians". (end quote) The Kaiser’s words were no doubt inspired in part by his virulent racism against east Asians, which has been well documented in his correspondence. In fact, the very reason that the Germans came to be called “Huns” during World War I was because of a memo from Kaiser Wilhelm II to his army suppressing the Boxer Rebellion in the east. He encouraged his soldiers to (quote) “play the Hun” (end quote), by which he meant that they should steal, kill, pillage, and generally commit wanton destruction against Chinese people and their property and have lots of fun doing it. As you may recall from last season, the German army seems to have followed their sovereign’s orders very enthusiastically, much to the shock and dismay of the Japanese troops who fought alongside them.
The ultimatum expired on August 23 and Japan declared war on the German Empire. September began with Japan landing troops in the area around Qingdao and attempting to blockade the port from the sea. Qingdao was well defended, however, and the Germans had learned well from their experience in the Boxer Rebellion how to better use the landscape to their advantage. Shore batteries constantly fired on Japanese naval vessels, sometimes scoring handfuls of casualties and causing withdrawals. There were, reportedly, 3,750 Germans and Austrians defending Qingdao. The primary body of the Japanese imperial army who had been tasked with taking the city was the 18th Infantry division, which numbered 23,000 troops with 142 artillery pieces in tow.
The Chinese government, which by now was a dictatorship serving Yuan Shikai, protested Japan’s landing troops on their soil without permission, claiming neutrality in the present conflict. However, the Chinese army did not attempt to remove the Japanese by force, no doubt for fear of giving the Japanese a just cause for making war on them directly.
The Siege of Qingdao lasted a little over two months and sounds, by all accounts, like an awful experience for everyone involved. The Japanese attempts at frontal mass infantry attacks were mowed down by maxim guns and artillery barrages, forcing them to resort to the strategy of gradually digging new trenches in the cover of night while keeping up their own artillery barrage against German positions. The progress was slow and vulnerable to sniper and artillery fire from fortified enemy positions during the day.
Ultimately the siege did not end because of clever tactics or heroic feats of daring-do, but because the German defenders ran out of ammunition for their artillery. The Japanese successfully charged some of the positions in the outer defenses, which were now vulnerable without artillery to dissuade such undertakings. On November 7, 1914, the Germans and Austrians in Qingdao requested terms for surrender and gave the city over to the Japanese.
The Siege of Qingdao was a dreadful affair but its lopsided casualties reveal just how upside-down the first world war was compared to most of its predecessors. The German defenders had suffered around two hundred dead and five hundred wounded at the time of their surrender. The Japanese, on the other hand, suffered over seven hundred dead and one thousand three hundred wounded. They had enjoyed superior numbers, but those numbers did not confer any advantage in terms of casualties. The remaining German and Austrian soldiers, which numbered around three thousand, were taken to POW camps in Japan. Some of the prisoners, who were sent back to Germany after the war’s end, claimed that they suffered inhumane treatment in Japan -- claims which I am inclined to believe are true.
By the end of 1914, the first World War was well underway and few believed that it would end anytime soon. The western front witnessed many large-scale offensives and counter-offensives but saw little actual territorial change throughout the war. The eastern front, however, was a different matter. Next time, we will discuss developments on the eastern front, as well as Japan’s further activities during the first World War.