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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > First World War
This book represents a first considered attempt to study the
factors that conditioned industrial chemistry for war in 1914-18.
Taking a comparative perspective, it reflects on the experience of
France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Britain, Italy and Russia, and
points to significant similarities and differences. It looks at
changing patterns in the organisation of industry, and at the
emerging symbiosis between science, industry and the military.
The 6th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment was raised in August 1914
and sailed for Gallipoli in July 1915. Upon arrival, the Battalion
was almost immediately thrown into action at the Suvla Bay landings
on 6 August 1915. The 6th Lincolns continued to serve at Gallipoli
until the evacuation of Suvla. Following a period of respite in
Egypt, the Battalion was transferred to the Western Front where it
served until Armistice. Compiled from a previously unpublished
manuscript written in the 1920's, this book provides a unique and
colourful account of the Battalion's history throughout WW1, as
told by Colonel F.G. Spring who served with the Battalion in 1915.
The book also contains a Roll of Honour listing the names of all
those who died with the Battalion, as well as the citations for
those awarded medals for gallantry. Given that the Battalion War
Diary for Gallipoli was lost, this publication is represents the
most comprehensive account of the 6th Lincolns during the Great
War.
In 1918, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) played a critical
role in defeating the German army and thus winning the First World
War. This 'Hundred Days' campaign (August to November 1918) was the
greatest series of land victories in British military history. 1918
also saw the creation of the Royal Air Force, the world's first
independent air service, from the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal
Naval Air Service. Until recently, British histories of the First
World War have tended to concentrate on the earlier battles of 1916
and 1917 and often underplayed this vitally important
period."Changing War" fills this significant gap in our knowledge
by providing in-depth examinations of key aspects of the operations
of the British Army, the Royal Air Force and its antecedents in the
climactic year of the First World War. Written by a group of
established historians and emerging scholars it sheds light not
only on 1918, but on the revolutionary changes in warfare that took
place at that time.
An American eagle with British wings
Readers interested in the personal experiences of the resolute and
brave young men who ventured into the air to fight the first aerial
combats will discover much to reward them in this book. The author
joined the R. F. C in 1914 to fight Germany following its invasion
of Belgium and advance into France at the beginning of the First
World War. However, he was, in fact an American much taken with the
idea of adventure as well as the righting of wrongs. Roberts' first
experience of air fighting for the British flying corps was as an
observer manning a machine gun and his descriptions of battling
enemy aircraft and his accounts of his various 'kills' make
gripping reading. Eventually he graduated to the pilot's cockpit
where he became an accomplished exponent of the dogfight; this did
not come without some cost, Roberts lost many comrades and was
seriously wounded himself. This account is highly recommended since
it brings to life through many anecdotes the first hand experiences
of one who was there. This book is one of a very small number by
early military aviators and will be a valuable addition to the
library of anyone with an interest in the subject.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
Episodes from the United States first war in the air
The United States of America joined the Allies in the First World
War in April of 1917. While the addition of its enormous resource
of men and military personnel was undoubtedly pivotal in a war that
had become one of attrition against a much war weakened enemy which
was struggling alone, it was inevitable that the history of the
American units engaged on land, sea or in the air would concern the
latter battles of the conflict. For the airmen themselves,
including those of the American 17th Aero Squadron whose exploits
this book details, that made far less difference than it would to
most military personnel. The air war was new, the flying machines
were flimsy and primitive and the business of fighting in the skies
was being defined by the young men who fought and died above the
surface of the earth. All knew that the life of a pilot was
perilous and likely to be short. This is an essential book for
those interested in the First World War in the skies over the
Western Front-and in the early days of what was to become one of
the greatest air forces in the world. Many of the activities of the
17th Aero Squadron were focussed on the Dunkirk front and in its
support of the British battle and advances during the fighting at
Cambrai. The book includes an interesting view of a low bombing and
machine gun attack on the Varssenaere Aerodrome. Also included are
many combat reports by the squadron's pilots and these make
fascinating reading. The appendices include useful statistical
information, an honour and casualty role and a list of those
officers and men who served in the squadron.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
This multi-volume series in six parts is the first
English-language translation of "Der Weltkrieg," the German
official history of the First World War. Originally produced
between 1925 and 1944 using classified archival records that were
destroyed in the aftermath of the Second World War, "Der Weltkrieg"
is the inside story of Germany's experience on the Western front.
Recorded in the words of its official historians, this account is
vital to the study of the war and official memory in Weimar and
Nazi Germany. Although exciting new sources have been uncovered in
former Soviet archives, this work remains the basis of future
scholarship. It is essential reading for any scholar, graduate
student, or enthusiast of the Great War.
This volume, the second to be published, covers the outbreak of
war in July-August 1914, the German invasion of Belgium, the
Battles of the Frontiers, and the pursuit to the Marne in early
September 1914. The first month of war was a critical period for
the German army and, as the official history makes clear, the
German war plan was a gamble that seemed to present the only
solution to the riddle of the two-front war. But as the
Moltke-Schlieffen Plan was gradually jettisoned through a
combination of intentional command decisions and confused
communications, Germany's hopes for a quick and victorious campaign
evaporated.
Nominated for the Longman History Today Book of the Year Prize,
1995The first full-scale study of the rituals with which the
British people commemorated three-quarters of a million war
dead.Explains both the origins of the two minutes silence and the
reasons for the success of the poppy appeal.This book examines how
the British people came to terms with the massive trauma of the
First World War. Although the literary memory of the war has often
been discussed, little has been written on the public ceremonies on
and around 11 November which dominated the public memory of the war
in the inter-war years. This book aims to remedy the deficiency by
showing the pre-eminence of Armistice Day, both in reflecting what
people felt about the war and in shaping their memories of it. It
shows that this memory was complex rather than simple and that it
was continually contested. Finally it seeks to examine the impact
of the Second World War on the memory of the First and to show how
difficult it is to recapture the idealistic assumptions of a world
that believed it had experienced 'the war to end all wars'.
The growing military, political and socio-economic costs for all
belligerents as the Great War entered its fourth year were
increasingly evident, liberal democracies and authoritarian states
alike having to remobilise public opinion for yet greater
sacrifices. While the Western Front was facing these challenges,
1917 was also marked by the collapse of Tsarist Russia and by food
riots resuting both from the Entente's blockade of Central Europe
and the revival of unrestricted submarine warfare by the Central
Powers. Ottoman Turkey was feeling the strain of war as well, as
British forces advanced in both Palestine and Mesopotamia. For
states as yet uncommitted to war, such as the United States and
China, 1917 was a year of decision. This volume amply illustrates
the significance of this crucial year in the global conflict.
Contributors are Lawrence Sondhaus, Eric Grove, Keith Grieves,
Matthew Hughes, Kaushik Roy, Vanda Wilcox, Laura Rowe, and Nick
Hewitt.
The war of 1914-1918 was the first great general conflict to be
fought between highly industrial societies able to manufacture and
transport immense quantities of goods over land and sea. Yet the
armies of the First World War were too vast in scale, their
movements too complex, and the infrastructure upon which they
depended too specialised to be operated by professional soldiers
alone. In Civilian Expertise at War, Christopher Phillips examines
the relationship between industrial society and industrial warfare
through the lens of Britain's transport experts. He analyses the
multiple connections between the army, the government, and the
senior executives of some of pre-war Britain's largest industrial
enterprises to illustrate the British army's evolving understanding
both of industrial warfare's particular character and of the role
to be played by non-military experts in the prosecution of such a
conflict. This book reveals that Britain's transport experts were a
key component of Britain's conduct of the First World War. It
demonstrates that a pre-existing professional relationship between
the army, government, and private enterprise existed before 1914,
and that these bonds were strengthened by the outbreak of war. It
charts the range of wartime roles into which Britain's transport
experts were thrust in the opening years of the conflict, as both
military and political leaders grasped with the challenges before
them. It details the application of recognisably civilian
technologies and methods to the prosecution of war and documents
how - in the conflict's principal theatre, the western front - the
freedom of action for Britain's transport experts was constrained
by the political and military requirements of coalition warfare.
Christopher Phillips is a lecturer in international security in the
Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.
The war of 1914-1918 was the first great general conflict to be
fought between highly industrial societies able to manufacture and
transport immense quantities of goods over land and sea. Yet the
armies of the First World War were too vast in scale, their
movements too complex, and the infrastructure upon which they
depended too specialised to be operated by professional soldiers
alone. In Civilian Expertise at War, Christopher Phillips examines
the relationship between industrial society and industrial warfare
through the lens of Britain's transport experts. He analyses the
multiple connections between the army, the government, and the
senior executives of some of pre-war Britain's largest industrial
enterprises to illustrate the British army's evolving understanding
both of industrial warfare's particular character and of the role
to be played by non-military experts in the prosecution of such a
conflict. This book reveals that Britain's transport experts were a
key component of Britain's conduct of the First World War. It
demonstrates that a pre-existing professional relationship between
the army, government, and private enterprise existed before 1914,
and that these bonds were strengthened by the outbreak of war. It
charts the range of wartime roles into which Britain's transport
experts were thrust in the opening years of the conflict, as both
military and political leaders grasped with the challenges before
them. It details the application of recognisably civilian
technologies and methods to the prosecution of war and documents
how - in the conflict's principal theatre, the western front - the
freedom of action for Britain's transport experts was constrained
by the political and military requirements of coalition warfare.
Christopher Phillips is a lecturer in international security in the
Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.
Prior to World War I, Britain was at the center of global
relations, utilizing tactics of diplomacy as it broke through the
old alliances of European states. Historians have regularly
interpreted these efforts as a reaction to the aggressive foreign
policy of the German Empire. However, as Between Empire and
Continent demonstrates, British foreign policy was in fact driven
by a nexus of intra-British, continental and imperial motivations.
Recreating the often heated public sphere of London at the turn of
the twentieth century, this groundbreaking study carefully tracks
the alliances, conflicts, and political maneuvering from which
British foreign and security policy were born.
Three hundred and fifty-one men were executed by British Army firing-squads between September 1914 and November 1920. By far the greatest number were shot for desertion in the face of the enemy. Controversial even at the time, these executions of soldiers amid the horrors of the Western Front continue to haunt the history of war. This book provides a critical analysis of military law in the British army and other major armies during the First World War, with particular reference to the use of the death penalty. This study establishes a full cultural and legal framework for military discipline and compares British military law with French and German military law. It includes case studies of British troops on the Frontline.
What did British combatants wear on the western front in the First
World War? From the idealized recruitment images to the coarse
trousers and ill-fitting tunics, Jane Tynan retraces wartime
culture through images and experiences of khaki. Photographs,
newspapers, memoirs, war office documents and tailoring ephemera
reveal the impact of the war on the tailoring trade. But the story
of uniform also involves the wartime knitting projects, the issue
of 'Kitchener Blue', Sikhs wearing khaki on the western front, and
the punishments given to COs. Military uniforms were designed to
make soldiers of civilian men and to rank them according to race
and class, but Tynan argues that neat images of men in khaki
concealed the reality that clothing an ever-expanding army involved
compromise, resistance and improvisation. Uniforms transformed men
and war changed British society. This book tells the story of
British army clothing during wartime and offers insights into why
khaki has endured as the symbol of modern militarism.
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