Important Battles
Battle of Tannenberg
August 1914
On the outbreak of the first World War the Russian Second Army commanded General Alexander Samsonov to invade the Eastern Prussia. HIs intension on his move was to link up with General Paul von RennenLampf when advancing from the northest. General con Hindenberg and General Erich Ludendroff were in command of the German's scond Army.
Germany troops met up with Russian troop on August 22nd 1914. By August 29th the Russians were surrouded. Shocked by this outcome of the battle Russa's commander Samsonov committed suicide. Only 10,000 of the 150,00 Russian soilders managed to escape. The Germans, who lost 20,000 men in the battle, took over 92,000 Russian prisoners. In Britian the Russian defeat was not brought to the public.
Battle of Marne
August 1914
At the end of the day on the 10th of September, the Battle of Marne was over. French had lost about 250,000 casualties. The British Expeditionary Force lost 12,733 men during the battle. During the Battle, Joseph Joffe was the commander-in-chief of the French forces. General Alezander von Kluck commanded the German 1st Army.
Battle of Ypres
October- November 1914
Ypres was a midieval town in Belgium, it was taken by the German Army at the beginning of the war.Because the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was able to recapture the town. On the 15th of October Germany attmepted to regain Ypres. During the war about 135,000. Germans were killed or badly wounded. The BEF lost around 75,000 men and was effectively destroyed as a professional army.
Gallipoli Battle
March 1915- January 1916
The British attacked the Turkish forts athe Dardanelles on the 19th of February, 1915. During the start of the attack there was a long range bombardment followed bt heavy fire at close range. "About 480,000 Allied troops took part in the Gallipoli campaign. The British had 205,000 casualties (43,000 killed). There were more than 33,600 ANZAC losses (over one-third killed) and 47,000 French casualties (5,000 killed). Turkish casualties are estimated at 250,000 (65,000 killed)."
Battle of Verdun
February- December 1916
The Cheif of staff, Erich von Falkenhayn of the German Army said, "bleed the French army white." THe attack on Verdun started on the 21st of February 1916. A million troops from Germany led by Crown Prince Wilhelm, faced only about 200,000 French defenders.
Verdun, the longest battle of the First World War, ended on the 18th December. The French Army lost about 550,000 men at Verdun. It is estimated that the German Army suffered 434,000 casualties. About half of all casualties at Verdun were killed.
Battle of Somme
July- November 1916
The Battle of Somme came from the idea from the French commander and chief, Joseph Joffre. The plan was to have a large attack in Flanders. Although he was concerned with territorial gain, it was also an attempt to destroy German man- power.
Once Gerneral Sir Douglas Haig took the case of hte French he came up with the strategy for a eight-day preliminary bombardment that he believed would completely destroy German forward defences. Haig used 750,00 men against the German front-line. Although German got by with a higher land and killed 58,000 casualties from the British Army.
Becuase Haig was disheartened he ordered Sir Henry Rawlinson to continue making attacks to put Germany down. With all of Haig's efforts the battle of Somme ended. "Since the 1st July, the British has suffered 420,000 casualties. The French lost nearly 200,000 and it is estimated that German casualties were in the region of 500,000. Allied forces gained some land but it reached only 12km at its deepest points." This made the battle of Somme the first greatest offensive of Britian.
