1. The Eastern Front

2. The Eastern Front- 1914 Faster mobilization than Germany expected
Early Russian victory Battle of Galacia; forced GM to divert troops from the W. Front
GM victories drive Russia out of Germany
Worsened RU position after Turkey enters the war
Cuts out Dardanelles supply route
Beginning of pattern:
AH defeated, GM comes to AH’s aid

3. The Eastern Front- 1915 String of Russian defeats
Austro-German offensive in Carpathians
Russia loses previously taken territory
End of the year
450 km lost
Million dead; million POWs
New line of defense established from Riga to Romania

4. The Brusilov Offensive, 1916
Greatest Russian success
Relieved pressure from Verdun
RU advanced 160 km against AH
Germans halted offensive
1 million Russian casualties
340,000 AH casualties (400k taken prisoner)
Terrible cost to morale

5. Fall of Tsarist Russia
Economic hardships at home combined with terrible casualties
February Revolution (1917)
Tsar Nicholas II abdicates the throne
New gov’t continues the war effort
Economic crisis increases support for Bolshevik party
Overthrow gov’t in Oct. 1917

6. Treaty of Brest-litovsk-1918
Removed Russia from the war with Germany
Harsh conditions
Gave of 1/3 of Russian farmland
2/3 of coal mines & ½ of its industry
5 billion rouble indemnity
Germany can focus everything on Western Front

7. The Italian front Half of Italian casualties along the Isonzo
Joined Allies in 1915
Promised AH land after the war
Opened front between Italy and AH along River Isonzo
Difficulty fighting in mountains; little progress against AH
AH now fighting a two-fronted war

8. U.S. Joins the War Mainly Isolationist (still traded with Allies)
German submarines targeted all ships helping the Allies
Sinking of Lusitania temporarily suspended attacks
Attacks resumed in Jan. 1917
Germans knew this would prompt U.S. response

9. U.S. Joins the War Zimmerman Telegram
Sent to GM. ambassador in Mexico; U.S. territory for military alliance
Intercepted by British
Public outrage prompted declaration of war against GM in April 1917
Germany being starved by Allied blockade; U.S. now sending troops

11. Turkey and the Middle Eastern Fronts

12. Turkish Empire Joined Central Powers to halt Russian expansion
Allies attack in three campaigns
Gallipoli Campaign
Mesopotamian campaign
Palestinian campaign

13. Gallipoli campaign Original goal:
British ships storm Gallipoli and rush to attack Constantinople
Open a supply route to Russian front through Dardanelles
Attack AH to open a new front
Hopefully an alternative to stalemate on the W. Front

14. Gallipoli campaign First stage = naval bombardment
“We live in a trench and it’s a mercy it don’t rain otherwise we’d be washed away. The fighting just lately has been terrible. Our shells knock the enemy all ways and the sight in the trenches that we take is awful. We wear our respirators because of the awfull smell of the dead. I’ll never get the sight out of my eyes, and it will be an everlasting nightmare. If I am spared to come home, I’ll be able to tell you all about it, but I cannot possibly write as words fail me. I can’t describe things.”
First stage = naval bombardment
Allied ships damaged from mines and artillery
Moved to a land invasion instead in April 1915
Supported by ANZAC forces (Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps)
Suffered from delays, lack of coordination, and shortages
Campaign abandoned in November
Cost 250,000 Allied casualties

15. Mesopotamian campaign
Attempt to win control of oil rich deposits
Turks led by German officers
Britain controlled Basra, Baghdad and Mosul by end of the war

16. Palestinian Campaign
British, Anzac and Indian troops push back Turks towards Turkey itself
Timed with the Arab Revolt (June 1916)
Arabs support British with guerilla warfare
Promised independence after the war

17. Palestinian Campaign Arab independence for Allied support
Partition of Middle East between Britain and France
Promised creation of Zionist state (Palestine)
McMahon–Hussein Correspondence (1915) Sykes-Picot Agreement (1915) Balfour Declaration (1917)

18. Palestinian Campaign
Arabs advised by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
Guerrilla attack on Turkish railways
British defeat the Turks at Battle of Megiddo
Turks surrender November 3, 1918