Involvement of Japan
Japanese Uniforms of WW1
Japan joined WW1 to have a stake at the winners table. They knew the Allies would win and they figured they would get something out of it. They invaded German possesions in th Pacific, hoping to keep them once the war ended. They were hosed at the peace meetings and only came away with minor islands.
Politically, Japan seized the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence in China, and to gain recognition as a great power in postwar geopolitics. Like previously mentioned, Japan with the help of the British took over some German controled islands in the pacific. If we go forward in time, those islands became pretty helpful during WWII and their conflict with the US.
Politically, Japan seized the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence in China, and to gain recognition as a great power in postwar geopolitics. Like previously mentioned, Japan with the help of the British took over some German controled islands in the pacific. If we go forward in time, those islands became pretty helpful during WWII and their conflict with the US.
Gallipoli
The most extensive military operations outside Europe took place in the southwest Asian territories of the Ottoman empire, which was aligned with the Central Powers at the end of 1914. Seeking a way to break the stalemate on the western front, Winston Churchill (1874–1965), first lord of the Admiralty (British navy), suggested that an Allied strike against the Ottomans—a weak ally of the Central Powers—would hurt the Germans. Early in 1915 the British navy conducted an expedition to seize the approach to the Dardanelles Strait in an attempt to open a warm-water supply line to Russia through the Ottoman-controlled strait. After bombing the forts that defended the strait, Allied ships took damage from floating mines and withdrew without accomplishing their mission. After withdrawing the battleships, the British high command decided to land a combined force of English, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand soldiers on the beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign was a disaster. Turkish defenders, ensconced in the cliffs above, quickly pinned down the Allied troops on the beaches. Trapped between the sea and the hills, Allied soldiers dug in and engaged in their own version of trench warfare. The resulting stalemate produced a total of 250,000 casualties on each side. Despite the losses, Allied leaders took nine months to admit that their campaign had failed.
Gallipoli was a debacle with long-term consequences. Although the British directed the ill-fated campaign, it was mostly Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders who suffered terrible casualties. That recognition led to a weakening of imperial ties and paved the way for emerging national identities. In Australia the date of the fateful landing, 25 April 1915, became enshrined as Anzac Day (an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and remains the country's most significant day of public homage. On the other side, the battle for the strait helped launch the political career of the commander of the Turkish division that defended Gallipoli. Mustafa Kemal (1881–1938) went on to play a crucial role in the formation of the modern Turkish state.
Gallipoli was a debacle with long-term consequences. Although the British directed the ill-fated campaign, it was mostly Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders who suffered terrible casualties. That recognition led to a weakening of imperial ties and paved the way for emerging national identities. In Australia the date of the fateful landing, 25 April 1915, became enshrined as Anzac Day (an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and remains the country's most significant day of public homage. On the other side, the battle for the strait helped launch the political career of the commander of the Turkish division that defended Gallipoli. Mustafa Kemal (1881–1938) went on to play a crucial role in the formation of the modern Turkish state.
Involvement of the US
The US entered WW1 due to Germany's un restricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic that was sinking ships with war materiel for Britain and France. America had been funding the Entente's war with loans and armaments since the beginning and since the French and British were losing and the Russians were on their way out, the US stepped in to protect their investments.
GB and France had their entire war effort paid for by American aid, their guns were from America, their ammunition American, you name it. Who would pay that back if they lost to Germany? The Lusitania and submarines in themselves were excuses.
The US army's role was decisive. American troops saved the day at the Marne during the German offensive of 1918 when the Germans were poised to take Paris. The Americans then play the vital fighting role in the attack on critical point in the S-shaped curve front near the Argonnes. Without their million men there was no British/French army to defeat Germany at that point.
Wilson's plan for peace was based on his 14 points. Points that Gb-France had no intention of following or implementing themselves. The Germans accepted a status quo peace with America in exchange for accepting Wilsons points. Since the French-GB had no way of defeating Germany alone, they reluctantly agreed to Wilson's terms.
At the peace conference though, the Germans were forced into reperations and concessions it had not agreed to in principle before. No German would sign the treaty until the Weimar people did. This was the "stab in the back" theory Hitler and many other Germans used as their rational for war later.
If applied evenly, Wilson's points would have made sense, but since they were not, it only allowed further conflicts to erupt once Germany ironically tried to incorporate Germans abroad into the German Reich.
The war had the effect on American society that Americans would be reluctant to go abroad again to fight a war involving Europeans. Of course, their government and the elite financiers had other ideas...
GB and France had their entire war effort paid for by American aid, their guns were from America, their ammunition American, you name it. Who would pay that back if they lost to Germany? The Lusitania and submarines in themselves were excuses.
The US army's role was decisive. American troops saved the day at the Marne during the German offensive of 1918 when the Germans were poised to take Paris. The Americans then play the vital fighting role in the attack on critical point in the S-shaped curve front near the Argonnes. Without their million men there was no British/French army to defeat Germany at that point.
Wilson's plan for peace was based on his 14 points. Points that Gb-France had no intention of following or implementing themselves. The Germans accepted a status quo peace with America in exchange for accepting Wilsons points. Since the French-GB had no way of defeating Germany alone, they reluctantly agreed to Wilson's terms.
At the peace conference though, the Germans were forced into reperations and concessions it had not agreed to in principle before. No German would sign the treaty until the Weimar people did. This was the "stab in the back" theory Hitler and many other Germans used as their rational for war later.
If applied evenly, Wilson's points would have made sense, but since they were not, it only allowed further conflicts to erupt once Germany ironically tried to incorporate Germans abroad into the German Reich.
The war had the effect on American society that Americans would be reluctant to go abroad again to fight a war involving Europeans. Of course, their government and the elite financiers had other ideas...