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Overview
How much can you really find out about the Leaders and Commanders of the First World War in five minutes? This handy little history book will surpass all your expectations and leave you well versed on all you wish to know, and maybe even a little bit more… Who were the leaders? Who commanded the British Army on the Somme? Which general committed suicide in shame? Who stopped the German offensive at Verdun? Who invented stormtroopers? Jam-packed with facts and first-hand accounts of the action, all woven together in an accessible way by an expert in the field, this 5 Minute History is a valuable addition to anyone's bookshelf, ready to be delved into at a moment's notice.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780750956918 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 04/07/2014 |
| Series: | 5 Minute History |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 128 |
| File size: | 252 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
5 Minute History: First World War Leaders and Commanders
By Peter Doyle
The History Press
Copyright © 2014 Peter DoyleAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-5691-8
CHAPTER 1
PART 1
THE ENTENTE POWERS
GREAT BRITAIN
GREAT BRITAIN, ONE of the three main Entente Powers, came into the war following the invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914.
THE LEADERS
Herbert Asquith
Herbert Asquith was prime minister when Britain went to war in 1914. A liberal politician, he was well known as an orator, and had been in the post since 1908. With David Lloyd George as his Chancellor of the Exchequer, he selected Kitchener as his Secretary of State for War. In May 1915, Asquith formed a Coalition government in order to create a more solid basis for a wartime administration. But 1915 was a difficult year, especially when the British offensives at Neuve Chappelle, Aubers Ridge and Festubert were fought without satisfactory artillery preparation and with an inadequate supply of shells. With the newspaper giant Lord Northcliffe leading the assault against the prime minister, the Conservatives in the Coalition started to question his ability. Though the 'Shell Scandal', as it was known, was solved by forming the Ministry of Munitions to co-ordinate supply and step up manufacturing, it was the increasing number of casualties that made things intolerable for the prime minister, particularly in the wake of the Battle of the Somme. But it was Lloyd George who would signal the end of Asquith's time in office. Manoeuvring behind the scenes, Lloyd George proposed a War Committee that could handle the day-to-day conduct of the conflict. Under pressure from the press, Asquith finally resigned on 5 December 1916; Lloyd George stepped into his place to lead a new Coalition the next day.
DID YOU KNOW?
Raymond Asquith, the prime minister's son, served with the Grenadier Guards as a lieutenant and was mortally wounded on the Somme while leading his men into action, on 15 September 1915.
David Lloyd George
Lloyd George is known as one of the most charismatic politicians of his age; a lawyer by profession, he became a Liberal MP in North Wales, and with his penchant for oratory was soon in the public eye, rising through the political ranks to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In this post, Lloyd George introduced social reforms that included improvements to social care and the introduction of National Insurance and pensions for old people. On the eve of war, Lloyd George and three other senior figures expressed their opposition to the coming conflict; whilst the others resigned, the Welshman was persuaded to stay, and served with distinction in the wartime government.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lloyd George was committed to the raising of an entire army corps of Welsh soldiers – men who would serve together and who would wear a uniform of homespun Welsh cloth. This dream did not come to fruition, though the 38th (Welsh) Division served with distinction.
The Shell Scandal of 1915, when British guns were left without sufficient ammunition, rocked the government. Lloyd George was put in place to lead the Ministry of Munitions, which would ensure that shortages would eventually become a thing of the past. From opposing the war to ensuring its successful conclusion, Lloyd George was tireless – and considering the conduct of the war was beyond one man, he schemed for a War Committee to run the conflict. This plan was successful, at the cost of Asquith's resignation; in his place came the Welshman, who formed a new Coalition government in 1916. The new prime minister and the commander-in-chief, Sir Douglas Haig, did not see eye to eye, especially as he tired of the deadlocked trench warfare battles on the Western Front, and sought to divert resources elsewhere, to battlefronts considered to be 'sideshows' by many of the generals. Despite this difference of opinion, Lloyd George stuck with Haig, as there were few others that could step into the breach. At the end of the war, Lloyd George was pressed for a fair settlement with Germany at Versailles, fearing the defeated nation would be plunged into revolution.
I WAS THERE
Once he had taken up war as his metier he seemed to breathe its true spirit; all other thoughts and schemes were abandoned, and he lived for, thought of and talked of nothing but the war.
Max Aitken, talking of Lloyd George, 1928
DID YOU KNOW?
Still committed to social reforms, Lloyd George promised he would create a 'land fit for heroes' for the returning soldiers; with opposition in his Coalition government, he could not deliver on his word.
Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener
When Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum took over as Secretary of State for War in August 1914, he was Britain's most famous soldier, having served with distinction in the Sudan and in the Boer War. With war declared, Asquith turned to Kitchener to be his Secretary of State – though this was not without risk, as, typically of many military men, he had a distrust of politicians. Known to be strong-minded and autocratic, Kitchener was also aware that in all likelihood the war would be long, and, faced with a limited but professional army, he was quick to understand that it would be costly in manpower. Kitchener made a direct appeal to the public, not being confident that the Territorial battalions could be sufficiently flexible to allow rapid expansion, and he set his sights on expanding the army by 500,000 men, with separate appeals, in 100,000 tranches. The Shell Scandal of 1915 hurt Kitchener's reputation, particularly as the Ministry of War was also responsible for the supply chain of munitions. Gallipoli, too, was damaging – even though Kitchener was never fully committed to it – and His reputation was in decline. Nevertheless, when the Tsar requested Kitchener visit Russia in 1916 to help bolster national support for the war, he agreed to go. This was a fatal mistake: on 5 June 1916, the ship carrying the field marshal, HMS Hampshire, hit a mine off the Orkney Islands and sank with almost all hands; Kitchener was drowned. The nation mourned.
DID YOU KNOW?
Arguably the most famous poster ever produced depicts Lord Kitchener's staring eyes and pointing finger, intended to induce passers-by to 'Join their Country's Army'. There are many versions.
I WAS THERE
Lord Kitchener now came forward to the Cabinet, on almost the first occasion after he joined us, and in soldierly sentences proclaimed a series of inspiring and prophetic truths. We must be prepared to put armies of millions in the field and maintain them for several years.
Winston S. Churchill, speaking of Lord Kitchener, 1931
OVERVIEW OF THE BRITISH ARMY
When Britain went to war in 1914, it had a small but highly trained army. The regular battalions available at home were enough to form six infantry divisions, each with around 15,000 men; each division was to have three infantry brigades, and each brigade in turn was to be composed of four infantry battalions. The six original divisions formed the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, the first four of them taking part in the retreat from Mons in 1914. The other two were present in France by September 1914. By the end of the war, the British Army had expanded from its original six to seventy-five infantry divisions, serving on three continents.
Ultimately, British and Commonwealth troops were to occupy 120 miles of the front, in the historically strategic zone that straddled the Belgo-French border, extending south deep into Picardy. Engaged from August 1914 at the Battle of Mons, the British Expeditionary Force grew in size and stature to become the backbone of the Allied effort in the closing months of 1918, with 5,399,563 empire troops employed on the Western Front alone. The vast majority of these were from the UK. But in 1915, the British Army had yet to come to its full strength, and was very much the junior partner to the French. This would affect the outcome of the campaigns during this difficult year.
THE COMMANDERS
Field Marshal Sir John French
Field Marshal French was the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force from 1914 to 1915. He was a cavalry commander during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. As an experienced and senior soldier, French was appointed command of the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914. It was French that led the force into its position at Mons in 1914 – against the advice of Kitchener (and Haig), who suggested a position farther south – leading to an almost immediate retirement in the face of the German onslaught.
I WAS THERE
I have no more reserves. The only men I have left are the sentries at my gates. I will take them where the line is broken, and the last of the English will die fighting.
Sir John French, describing the First Battle of Ypres, October 1914
DID YOU KNOW?
At the Battle of Le Cateau in 1914, Sir John French's orders to retire were ignored by General Sir Horrace Smith-Dorrien, commander of II Corps, who instead turned to fight. This action was to relieve pressure on the retiring British Expeditionary Force – but was to lose Smith-Dorrien his job.
Despite his name, Sir John's relationship with his French allies was fragile. He was placed in the difficult position of, on the one hand, acting as a subordinate ally to the more numerous and substantial French supporting General Joffre and, on the other, maintaining the independence of the British Expeditionary Force. He was forced into political debates that he would rather have steered clear of. Faced with demands from Joffre to support the French offensives in Artois, counterpoint to the offensives in the Champagne, Sir John was inclined to take the defensive. Despite this, and ordered to support the French at all costs, Sir John participated in the battles of Neuve Chapelle (in which there was a limited breakthrough), Aubers Ridge and Festubert during 1915.
I WAS THERE
I deeply regret the heavy casualties which were incurred in this battle, but in view of the great strength of the position, the stubborn defence of the enemy and the powerful artillery by which he was supported, I do not think they were excessive.
Sir John French, describing the Battle of Loos, November 1915
The Battle of Loos, in September 1915, would ultimately be French's undoing. Still holding on to the view that his armies should stand on the defensive until reinforced, he at first agreed to the battle and then shrank back from it. And it was Sir John's fateful decision to retain the reserves under his direct control that put strain on his fragile command. Held 15 miles from the battlefront, two new and inexperienced divisions were committed too late, putting intolerable strain on the commander of the First Army, Sir Douglas Haig. With failure to break through at Loos, and with French trying to gloss over the issues, Haig pushed for his removal, and eventually took Sir John's position as commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in December 1915. French returned to command British Home Forces in December 1915, overseeing the British armed response to the Irish Rebellion of 1916. He was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in May 1918, surviving an attempt on his life in December 1919.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
Sir Douglas Haig was born of a family of Scotch whisky distillers, and, unusually for generals of his day, had a university education, studying at Oxford. He did not attain his degree due to illness, but passing his exams made him eligible for Sandhurst. He saw service in India from 1888 to 1892, before entering the Staff College at Camberley.
I WAS THERE
To sum up the results of the fighting of these five days, on a front of over six miles, from the Briqueterie to La Boisselle, our troops had swept over the whole of the enemy's first and strongest system of defence, which he had done his utmost to render impregnable. They had driven him back over a distance of more than a mile, and had carried four elaborately fortified villages. The number of prisoners passed back at the close of the 5th July had already reached the total of ninety-four officers and 5,724 other ranks.
Sir Douglas Haig, referring to the opening of the Battle of the Somme, July 1916
Sir Douglas served in a variety of Victorian 'small wars' before being promoted to lieutenant general in 1910. Haig took control of Aldershot Command in 1912, which would ultimately form a large part of the British Expeditionary Force – I Corps – in August 1914. Haig and his men took part in the British Expeditionary Force's withdrawal from Mons in 1914, with I Corps eventually taking up its position at Ypres during the race for the sea at the end of that year, holding the line and ensuring that the city was not lost. In December 1914, I Corps was transformed into the First Army, again, with Haig in command.
The First Army had a major role to play in the campaigns of 1915. At Neuve Chapelle, it was Haig's army that took the offensive, supporting the synchronous French Artois and Champagne attacks that were intended to cut off the huge Noyon Salient. Haig would be back in action in Artois at Aubers Ridge in May, a battle with minimal effect; a renewed offensive to the south at Festubert later that month would have a similar effect. With Joffre still insisting that the British press the Germans in Artois, Loos was the next time that Haig would be called upon to field his First Army in an offensive, although he would also express dissatisfaction about the open terrain. But the attack, albeit over 'unfavourable ground', would have to press ahead.
I WAS THERE
Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on until the end. The safety of our Homes and the Freedom of mankind alike depend on the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment.
Sir Douglas Haig, in the wake of Ludendorff's offensive, 1918
Haig, described as an 'incurable optimist' by some writers, often believed he could make a decisive breakthrough, but was less than articulate in inspiring confidence in this result. And although some writers have described Haig as a general rooted in tradition, fearful of new technology and clinging to cavalry tactics, the facts are that the general – later promoted to field marshal – embraced new weapons such as gas, at Loos in 1915, and tanks on the Somme. He also developed an ideal of all arms attacks that would prove successful in his 'forgotten victory' – the Battles of Hundred Days – that pushed the Germans back successively from the opening of the offensive on 8 August 1918. But it is the losses on the Somme (1916) and at Passchendaele (1917) that Haig is most associated with – and which have attracted his most virulent critics in recent decades. Haig and Lloyd George did not hit it off, and the Welshman severely criticised his commander-in-chief. Nevertheless, there was no one else able to do his job as well as he could, and Haig finished the war a national hero.
DID YOU KNOW?
Not without controversy, Haig's command has been discussed ever since, particularly his actions on the Somme (1916), and at Third Ypres (1917). Less discussed, at least until recently, have been his actions in leading his armies to decisive victory in 1918.
General Sir Edmund Allenby
Allenby had been commissioned into the army in 1882, having passed through Sandhurst. A cavalryman, he saw action in the Boer War and later served in a number of senior cavalry roles. With the outbreak of world war he was naturally given command of the Cavalry Division of the British Expeditionary Force as it left for France; the division would serve the British Expeditionary Force well in covering its retreat from Mons.
As the army expanded, so did Allenby's role. He was made commander of the Cavalry Corps, before relinquishing control of his horsemen to take command of V Corps, part of the Second Army in the Ypres Salient. Allenby was competent enough in this role and put in charge of the Third Army in October 1915, which was to see action at Gommecourt on the Somme in July 1916 – in an ill-fated diversion of the main attack – and at Arras in April 1917. However, neither impressed Haig, now commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, and although he was promoted to full general, Allenby was returned to England two months after the Arras attack.
I WAS THERE
I entered the city officially at noon, December 11th, with a few of my staff, the commanders of the French and Italian detachments, the heads of the political missions, and the Military Attaches of France, Italy, and America. The procession was all afoot ... The population received me well.
Sir Edmund Allenby, entering Jerusalem, December 1917
DID YOU KNOW?
Allenby was renowned for his imposing frame and bursts of violent temper, and this earned him the nickname 'the Bull'. Certainly his fellow officers felt the full force of this temperament.
With Lloyd George pushing for action on other fronts, Allenby's aggressive stance was considered to be perfect for Egypt; and it was in Egypt, as well as during his offensive against the Ottomans in Palestine, that Allenby made his name. Lloyd George demanded that Allenby be 'in Jerusalem by Christmas', taking the fight to the Ottomans. This he did, and Allenby entered the Holy City of Jerusalem, on foot, on 11 December. Given an independent command, 'the Bull' had achieved what he had failed to do in France and Flanders. But the demands of fighting on the Western Front deprived him, in a 'sideshow', of manpower resources: the Western Front had to come first. Standing on the defensive until September 1918, Allenby was then able to resume his pursuit of the Ottomans, inflicting a crushing defeat on them at Megiddo before capturing Damascus on 1 October. The Ottomans were beaten; by the end of that month they sued for peace. Allenby was promoted to field marshal in 1919.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from 5 Minute History: First World War Leaders and Commanders by Peter Doyle. Copyright © 2014 Peter Doyle. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Title,Introduction,
Part 1: The Entente Powers,
Great Britain,
France,
Russia,
Italy,
United States of America,
Part 2: The Central Powers,
Germany,
Austria-Hungary,
Ottoman Empire,
Notes,
Select Bibliography,
Copyright,