Europe had colonized a great deal of the world (colonize – v. to rape, murder and pillage a nation, destroying its culture and stealing its goods, while exterminating or enslaving its populace). And Europe was run by about a dozen guys (and one woman). These guys (and woman) were all related to each other, pretty much.

The dozen guys (and one woman) were spoiling for a fight. There hadn’t been a big war in a while. Heck Wikipedia only lists NINE wars in Europe between 1900 and 1914. The dozen guys were arguing over who had the biggest b***s, and the woman argued, not without justification) she did.

The trigger of World War I

A guy named Franz Ferdinand, with the improbable title of “Archduke” got shot. What this had to do with anything else remains a mystery. This began what became known as “the Great War”.

The basics of the war

Europe divided into two teams. Everyone dug trenches and started shooting. All that happened was that living people became dead people. The leaders said “That didn’t work! Keep doing it!” Eventually 20 million people were dead. The team called the allies won (this was the side without Germany).

The results

The allies won. The Versailles Treaty imposed penalties on Germany  that they could never met. Later, Hitler arose, leading to World War II and another 20 million or so dead.

A final quote

“I do not know what weapons will be used to fight World War III. World War IV will be fought with sticks and rocks”. Albert Einstein

I think we’re all familiar with the terrible human loss which came out of the First World War but this loss could have been considerably higher if it hadn’t been for the “home front” workers.

Munitions production had always existed in some form or another, even in times of peace, and at the start of the Great War in 1914 this level of production continued but as the war progressed it became more and more important to increase production and keep the guns ablaze.

Unfortunately, by the time this greater demand for munitions came to the fore, most countries, both ally and enemy had some problem that had to be overcome.  In the UK we had a problem with manpower as well as a shortage of cordite which was required for making shells which, in turn, was brought about as there was a shortage of acetone.

In France they had a problem with most of their major industries as they were basically under German rule and obviously there was no way of getting the materials through. 

Germany couldn’t get hold of the raw materials to make cordite and explosives and Austria-Hungary had a major problem by way of railway systems and transport.

By the end of 1914, both sides were thoroughly entrenched and it became essential for additional artillery shells to get through to the troops so that they could push their way forward.  At that time the trench line stretched some 475 miles from Nieuport in Belgium right along to the Swiss border. 

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle 1915

During March 1915 at Neuve Chapelle it’s recorded that the British forces fired more shells in a 35 minute bombardment than they did during the WHOLE of the Boer War less than 20 years earlier.  They did have a good supply of guns but what use were the guns if there was no ammunition?

By May 1915 this problem had reached a crisis point and many of the guns had been reduced to firing just four shells a day.  It seemed that the allies were on the brink of losing the war and on the home front, this caused a major stir.  Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith’s Liberal party were eventually ousted from power and were replaced by a coalition and although Asquith remained, in name, the Prime Minister he had David Lloyd-George taking on the role of the head of the Ministry of Munitions.

British Ammunition Factory

Lloyd-George set about his task with great gusto. He began a plan for building new factories.  But one of his first major tasks was to produce more acetone to make the cordite which was the one vital element in shell production.  To this end he approached a Manchester chemist, Chaim Weizmann, and asked him to produce this acetone from readily available raw materials.  One of the main “ingredients” of this acetone had been a dry distillation of wood but most of the wood had, before the war, been imported from major timber growing countries such as the US.  Unfortunately this wasn’t going to work due to two factors.  Firstly, it would be difficult for the US to get the wood to us across hostile waters and secondly, as the US were pretty neutral at the time, it wouldn’t have been right for them to “take sides” and provide us with what we needed.

But Weizmann had done a bit of research and discovered that he could produce acetone from a fermentation process whereby he could convert 100 tons of grain into 12 tons of acetone.  To this end, the government commandeered brewing and distillery kit and built factories to process the acetone at Holton in Dorset and (very close to home for me!) King’s Lynn in Norfolk. 

Supplying the labour wasn’t a huge task either.  Women and men unfit for service were deployed to work in the factories, both producing the acetone and the ammunition. 

This new workforce was also put to work in mines, on the land and in transport.  At the time women didn’t have the vote but, in an effort to keep the enemy at bay and in order to help their loved ones overseas they willingly took up the cudgel and were an enormous help during the four years of the war.  The acetone factories miraculously produced almost 100,000 gallons of acetone a year, enough to supply the munitions factories demand for cordite which, again, in turn shell production rose from half a million by the end of 1914 to 16.4 million in 1915.

By 1917 the British Empire as a whole was producing and supplying more than 50 million shells a year to our boys on the front and by 1918 when the war ended, the British army alone had fired 170 million shells.

British Troops

Germany of course had started off the war on an industrial high.  It had a high production of steel and was at the forefront of chemical and engineering research and technology.  In 1914 it was able to produce over one and a quarter million shells, but by 1915 even they were beginning to flag a bit as they could no longer get hold of cotton, camphor, pyrites and saltpetre which had to be imported.  This meant that their shell production went down. 

In 1916 the Germans picked up a bit of momentum when their wartime raw material department commandeered stockpiles of the much needed ingredients and ensured they were distributed to the relevant factories as well as overseeing the chemical industry’s production of synthetic materials which could be utilised.  The result was that during 1916 their shell production increased significantly to 36 million.  Unfortunately for them, the “super powers” of Germany Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria couldn’t possibly compete with the allies financial and industrial power which was now in full flow!

In 1917 Germany tried to maintain its slowly depleting and massively under equipped troops on  the Western Front by following a new tack – submarines.   However, by that time the US had joined the allies which, of course, tipped the enemy over the edge which enabled the allies to take the upper hand and ultimately “win” the war – but as everyone knows, there are never any real winners.  At the end of the day all countries were losers, not only financially but in the mass slaughter of our sons, fathers, and other loved ones.  That’s one thing that we can guarantee will never change.

I don’t know whether my friends outside the UK know the old nursery rhyme that the majority of us kids, certainly of the 1960s, learned off by heart.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

I’d never considered it had any real meaning when I was a child; it was just one of those mantras that we all quoted during our childhood years, but I can now see, having looked into the munitions production of the First World War, just how relevant it is.

One thing that did come out of the war however, was the recognition by our government that women weren’t just uneducated, unintelligent, ill-informed and frivolous but could provide an impressive work force when the chips were down and so, in 1918 women were finally granted suffrage and were able to vote.

Having a strong interest in military history yet being (I hope) a compassionate person, I am often struck by the plight of those injured in the service of their country. When November comes round, I give to the Royal British Legion poppy fund, but this year I wanted to make sure St Dunstan’s wasn’t overlooked in favour of the more well-known charities.

This month I pledge to donate to St Dunstan’s my Triond earnings from all my articles related to the First World War. And I’ve set myself a challenge: a target of £50 ($80 at the current exchange rate).

For those who aren’t familiar with how Triond works, the site pays authors a (very, very) small sum based on the number of people who view each article (we’re talking several hundred views to make a single dollar). Triond’s income comes from the advertising they place around the articles (which can be a little intrusive, but they pay for the site). You don’t have to click on any of the adverts (frankly, they are a right mixed bag), just opening each article is enough – though I do hope you’ll read at least some right through.

Earning £50 this way will be a stretch for me, as even on my best month so far on Triond I have barely made this much from all my articles combined (and many months have made much less), let alone just the ones on the First World War. So I’m going to shamelessly plug these articles. Click on them and help me give to this worthy charity. Oh, and you might just find yourself enjoying the articles too!

I aim to publish quite a few more articles on the First World War this month, and those will count towards my charitable giving too. I’ll update this article with the earnings earmarked for St Dunstan’s approximately weekly.

Here are links to my articles so far that I’m counting towards this challenge:

A Visit to the WW1 Fortifications at Verdun, parts one, two, three, four, five, six and note on sources

24 Hours in the Trenches – Notes from a Lecture, parts one and two

The Indian Army memorial at Neuve Chapelle, France, parts one, two, three, four, five and six

Scottish Memorials on the First World War Western Front, parts one, two, three, four, five and six

A review of the book ‘The British Expeditionary Force 1914-15′

A review of the book ‘Pill Boxes of the Western Front’

A review of the book ‘The Fortifications of Verdun 1874-1914’

A review of the book ‘Walking Verdun – a Guide to the Battlefield’

A review of the book ‘Scottish Divisions in the World Wars’

Thank you for reading this far, and I hope to be able to report a decent-sized donation from this challenge at the start of December.

UPDATE: as of 16th November the total earnings earmarked for St Dunstan’s stands at $7.97. Half way into the month and only one tenth the way to my target, which is disappointing but there is still hope if I write and post some more articles.

UPDATE 2: today, 10th December, I received my November statement from Triond which showed these 27 articles have earned a total of $28.98, or £18.57 converted in UK currency. I have therefore donated that amount to St Dunstans through their online donations page.

Because that sum is well short of the £50 I set myself as a target, I’m extending the challenge so that income from these articles through December, as well as that from any other new First World War articles I post, will also be earmarked for the charity.

UPDATE 3: on 12th January I received my December statement from Triond which showed that my First World War articles had earned $22.96, or £14.99 converted into UK currency. I will therefore be donating that amount to St Dunstans through their website, bringing the total I’ve passed on to them to £33.56.

I’m still short of the £50 target I set for myself, so I’ll continue earmarking the earnings from my First World War articles towards St Dunstans until further notice.

Thank you very much, readers, for reading my articles and thus aiding this worthy charity.

This is page six of a six-page article. Links to previous pages are here: page one, page two, page three, page four, page five.

Most Commonwealth War Grave Commission cemeteries and monuments have a Cross of Sacrifice – a tall stone cross with a bronze sword. At the Indian Army Monument the place of this is taken by a tall column topped with a lotus flower and a crown, designed to recall the pillars of Ashoka, from India’s classical age in the 3rd century BC. The column is flanked by two lions and bears the inscription “God is One, His is the Victory” in English, Arabic, Hindi and Gurmukhi.

Plate 10: the column, viewed from across the Stone of Remembrance (photograph by author)

After viewing this from the inside, I went outside to view the column and plinth from the front. I was surprised to see severe pitting but later learned that it was bullet and shrapnel damage from fighting in the area in 1940, in the Second World War. I understand the decision to leave the damage rather than repair it, in recognisance of those who fought near here over twenty years later.

Plate 11: front base of the column with battle damage (photograph by author)

That concluded my visit to what is an unusual and evocative monument. My long weekend in France was over and it was time to head for the ferry and the UK. I would thoroughly recommend a stop at this site, though, to anyone touring the First World War battlefields of France, or even if you are on a journey that just takes you near. The contribution of the Indian Army troops on the Western Front is too often forgotten.

This is page five of a six-page article. Links to previous pages are here: page one, page two, page three, page four.

Like all units, the Indian Army battalions suffered some men captured by the enemy in the confused to-and-fro fighting of the Western Front, and some of those died during their captivity. In the case of the Indian Army, those were buried in a cemetery in eastern Germany which after the Second World War fell within communist East Germany and was no longer accessible. To provide a new focal point for their remembrance, a bronze plaque was added inside the pavilion on the far side of the monument from the entrance listing their names.

Plate 8: plaque to those who died in captivity in Germany (photograph by author)

Continuing around to the right from the plaque to those who died in captivity, the solid outer wall is replaced with a pierced stone lattice, giving this side of the monument a lighter feel. In two places on the junctions of the lattice-work are a series of roundels. I would really like to know what these signify: are they emblems of units, of provinces in India, or just more abstract designs with an Indian theme but no particular significance? My researches have failed to come up with the answer. Maybe an Indian reader of this article could suggest the answer?

Plate 9: roundels – does anyone know what these signify? (photograph by author)

Continued on page six

This is page four of a six-page article. Links to previous pages are here: page one, page two, page three.

On the opposite side of the monument from this alcove is a pillar which I will describe later. For now, its base is of interest because it lists the battles on the Western Front in which the Indian Army took part: La Bassee 1914, Ypres 1914-15, Givenchy 1914, Aubers, Bazentin, Morval, Messines 1914, Gheluvelt, Neuve Chapelle, Loos, Delville Wood, Armentieres 1914, Festubert 1914-15, St Julien, Somme 1916, Flers-Courcelette and Cambrai 1917 (the memorial gives dates when more than one battle was fought in a location in different years).

Plate 7: base of the column listing battle honours of the Indian Corps on the Western Front (photograph by the author)

Most of these actions are in 1914 and 1915, before the bulk of the Indian Army infantry were transferred to the Middle East, but the two Indian Army cavalry divisions remained right up to March 1918 and saw action on the Somme, where the Deccan Horse probed the area between High Wood and Delville wood in one of the few mounted actions, and at Cambrai.

The battle listed in the centre of the centre column of battle honours is Neuve Chapelle, the site of the monument itself. The Indian Army played a large part in that battle. On 10th March 1915 several battalions of the Meerut Division were committed to the attack, storming German trenches. At the roundabout where the monument stands (then a crossroads) the 1/39th Garhwal Rifles went ‘over the top’ but unfortunately veered to the right, attacking a section of the German front line which had not been softened up by the preliminary artillery bombardment, and they suffered very heavy casualties – three-quarters of their strength killed or wounded (including most of their officers and all six of the British officers). It is because of the Indian Army’s heavy losses at the battle of Neuve Chapelle (one-fifth of their strength) and of the 1/39th Garhwal Rifles in particular that the monument to the Indian Army on the Western Front is sited here.

Continued on page five

This is page three of a six-page article. Links to previous pages are here: page one, page two.

Those listed in on the wall plaques are the men presumed dead but with no known grave. In the First World War many of the dead were lost in the mud or recovered but not identifiable. Sometimes a man was buried in a temporary battlefield grave which was then disturbed or destroyed by later fighting in the same area. Some men who were close to a shell or mine blast would simply have been blown apart.

It was good to see the dead of the transport and labour units commemorated on the plaques alongside those of combat units. The Indian Labour Corps was key in keeping the supply roads passable, repairing damage from rain and heavy use and shelling to ensure food and ammunition could continue to reach the fighting units, as well as other labouring duties.

Plate 5: section of plaque to the missing dead of the transport and labour corps (photograph by author)

Half way along the left wall, splitting the ranks of wall plaques in two is an alcove bearing the inscription “TO THE HONOUR OF THE ARMY OF INDIA WHICH FOUGHT IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM 1914 – 1918 AND IN PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHOSE NAMES ARE HERE RECORDED AND WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.”

Plate 6: inscribed alcove (photograph by author)

Continued on page four

This is page two of a six-page article. For page one click here.

On the left as one enters the monument, the outer wall bears large plaques with the names of over 5,000 soldiers of the Indian Army killed and with no known grave. Going over to read the plaques I was struck by the exotic names of the units listed, adding to the sense that one was in a different era and on a different continent. Regiments such as the Garhwal Rifles and the Ghurkha Rifles seemed more reminiscent of the dust and heat of the Northwest Frontier rather than the mud and rain of the trenches of the Western Front.

But there was in fact a large Indian Army contingent on the Western Front, at least until the winter of 1915/1916 when most battalions were withdrawn to serve in the Middle East against the Turks. By the end of 1914 two complete divisions (the Lahore Division and the Meerut Division, totalling around 24,000 men) had been shipped to France to make up the shortfall in British units until the mass of volunteers who had joined up in the first months of the war could be trained and equipped.

Each division was made up of twelve infantry battalions – nine Indian Army battalions of native troops and three British Army battalions seconded to the Indian Army. Furthermore, the Indian battalions were commanded by a British colonel and had a smattering of British officers amongst the Indian ones. This mixture had been instituted in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny in the mid 19th century and continued as a precaution, even though Indian units had performed sterling service since then and continued to do so through the First World War.

In addition to the infantry, two divisions of Indian Army cavalry also served on the Western Front.

Plate 4: section of plaque to the missing dead of the 8th Ghurkha Rifles (photograph by author)

The photograph above shows the start of the listing of the missing dead of the 8th Ghurkha Rifles. Each unit is listed on the wall plaques in order of seniority of the unit within the Army lists and within each unit then men are grouped by rank and then in alphabetical order. Rather than the familiar ranks of lieutenant, sergeant, corporal and private, the Indian Army equivalents of jemadar, havildar, naik and sepoy can be seen.

Continued on page three

It was a dull and drizzly Sunday morning in Northern France, on the way back to Calais and the ferry to the UK, but the moment we stepped inside the circular wall of the Indian Army Memorial at Neuve Chapelle it was as if we were transported to warmer climes and another era – to the heyday of British India, to units with exotic names like the Garhwal Rifles and havildars rather than sergeants, naiks rather than corporals. The architecture fitted the eastern mood too: domed chhatris (pavilions), shaped arches and pierced stone panels.

Plate 1: the entrance pavilion (photograph by the author)

Coming into the monument by the entrance pavilion, a path leads straight across the centre, lined by beds of red roses, to a second pavilion. In the centre, the path widens to split around the Stone of Remembrance on its plinth. This is a feature of all but the smallest British and Commonwealth war cemeteries – a simple white stone block bearing the inscription “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.”

Plate 2: the path across the centre from the entrance pavilion (photograph by the author)

Plate 3: the Stone of Remembrance (photograph by the author)

Continued on page two

The Assassination

On 28thJune, 1914, Franz Ferdinand Este, the heir presumptive of the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated along with his wife in Sarajevo, the capital of Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovania, by Gavrilo Princip, a member of Black Hand, A Serbian nationalistic organization formed with a objective to reunite and liberate Serbian territories from the Austro-Hungarian empire by violent means. Austria-Hungary responded by issuing a July Ultimatum to Serbia, whom it blamed for the assassination. The ultimatum contained ten demands, out of which Serbia was able to meet only eight. Not satisfied, or, as many argue, intent on using this opportunity to invade Serbia, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28th July, 1914.

The Chain of Events it precipitated

Bound by its treaty to Serbia, Russia was obliged to intervene, by announcing that it would mobilise its forces in support of Serbia. On the contrary, Germany was bound by its treaty to Austria-Hungary, and keen to limit the Russian influence, it responded by declaring a war on Russia on 1st August. The treaty of France to Russia dragged it into war with Germany, which declared war on France on 3rd August and invaded neutral Belgium with the intention of attacking France on its own soil. On 4th August, Belgian King made a plea to Britain referring to a 75 year old treaty that obliged Britain to come to the aid of Belgium. Britain responded by declaring war on Germany.

The entry of Britain to the war extended the conflict to Asia, Africa, North Africa and Australia. It involved all of the British colonies, especially Australia, Canada, India and South Africa, all of which played an important part in the war. Japan, which had a treaty with Britain, also joined soon thereafter, by declaring war on Germany on 23rd August, 1914. During the same month a secret alliance was signed between Germany and the Ottoman empire, after which the Ottoman army attacked British communication lines through Suez Canal on one hand and attacked the Caucasian territories of Russia on the other.

Italy and United States stayed away for a while, but were gradually dragged into it. Italy was bound by treaties to Germany and Austria-Hungary, but instead chose to join the ‘Allied Forces’ consisting of Britain, France, Japan and all their allies, in 1915. America resisted becoming a part of this war till 1917, when it had to finally enter the fray, after German naval attacks on its merchant ships. Bulgaria chose to side with Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire, together known as ‘Central powers’. All these events resulted in an immense war that spread throughout the world, known as the ‘Great War’ at that point of time and later on, began to be referred to as ‘World War One’ or ‘WWI’.  This war, which involved 42 million armed soldiers on the side of Allied forces against 25 million soldiers of Central Forces, resulted in total casualties of over 38 million people, including nearly 10 million dead. It finally ended with ceasefire by Germany on 11th November, 1918, known as the ‘Armistice Day’. However, by the end that happened, the world had changed for all times to come.

Historical Consequences

The chain of events that began with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand Este, not only lead to the Great War of 1914-17, it also changed the power balance of the world in ways that redefined the history of mankind, in a way that no one could have envisaged at that fateful day of 28th June, 1941. Notably, it is not only the destruction of the war that makes this event so critical, but also the change in long term trajectories that the empires, nations and civilizations underwent as a result of the chain of events precipitated by an assassination. These long term changes were brought about by a combination of severe and widespread destruction of man and material, inflation of nationalism across the world, a permanent change in balance of power and change of political boundaries in and around Europe.

Break-up of Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Great War (WWI) was particular damaging to two great empires, which largely disintegrated by the end of this war.  The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken into separate nations by the treaties of Saint-Germaine and Trianon, creating new states of Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Parts of its territories were annexed by Allied powers, particularly Romania.

Breakup of the Ottoman Empire

The most radical consequences of the war were faced by the Middle East, many of which continue to haunt the mankind till date. As a result of the war, the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. It all began with the attack by Enver Pasha, the supreme commander of Ottoman forces, attacking Russia in December, 1914. Just like Napoleon before  him and Hitler a couple of decades later, the Russian misadventure cost him 86% of his 100,000 armed men in the battle of Sarikamish, severely weakening its might. Its final defeats though, came at the hand of British in the Middle East, losing Jerusalem in December, 1917 and finally defeat in the Battle of Megiddo in September, 1918 and the occupation of Istanbul by Allied forces in November, 1918.

Radical Reformation of the Middle East

This chain of events had many important long term consequences on the future of the Middle East. First, the occupation and division of the erstwhile Ottoman Empire by Allied powers, particularly Britain and France led to a series of confrontations that finally resulted in  several small states like Armenia, Turkey (Anatolia), Iraq (Mesopotamia), Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Arab states, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon. Second, it resulted in the ascendancy of the Arabs in the Middle East, which had been under the control of Mongols for several centuries till then. Third, it created a nexus between Arab states and Allied forces that in one or the other has continued till now. Last, and most important of all was the persecution and expulsion of religious minorities across the Middle East and adjoining areas that virtually changed the identity, culture and demography of the region for ever. The worst sufferers were the Christian Armenians and Assyrians who were seen as a threat by the Ottomans. The Armenians were deported en-masse from Anatolia to Syria between 1915-17, leading to massive loss of lives, the estimates of which vary from one to five million. The Assyrians had an even worse fate, as two third of their population was massacred by Ottoman forces, causing 500,000 to 750,000 deaths during 1915-17. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-22, massive population exchange took place between the two warring states, with Greeks living in Turkey getting exchanged for Turks living in Greece. It would not be wrong to say that World War One and its consequent events led to severe ethnic cleansing of the Middle East and changed it from a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural region to an ethnocentric Muslim dominated region. In short, the Middle East was never the same again. 

Rise of Pan-Islamism

The break-up of Ottoman Empire was an event that led to very severe resentment among the religious scholars of the region, who saw it as a defeat of Islam at the hands of Anglo-Saxon-Zionist forces. Much of the subsequent rise of Pan-Islamic aspirations had their root in it. The ascendancy of Arab world allowed the Wahaabi school of Islam to dominate the, while the ethnic cleansing and the psychological scars of the war further resulted in the society being led to a conservative social philosophy that even today, finds it difficult to adopt modern values of secularism, democracy and individual rights. In short, much of what we observe in the Middle East today is a result of what happened on the fateful 28th June, 1914 in Sarajevo.

The Russian Revolution

Another great consequence that resulted from the assassination of Ferdinand and the Great War was the Russian Revolution. The War of 1914-17 led to its by its various impacts of Russian society. As the war progressed, Russia suffered huge loss of manpower. By the end of October, 1916, it had lost around 1.8 million soldiers who were dead. In addition, another two million had been taken as prisoners of war and another one million were missing, taking the total to nearly five million. Such widespread losses, including some humiliating defeats at the hand of Germany led to severe criticism and resentment of the Tzar Nicholas II, the ruler of Russia. However, the economic effects of war were even more important. To finance its war effort, the Government decided to print money, a great blunder that led to sever inflation, with prices increase by four times between 1914 and 1917. Unfortunately, while the prices were rising in the markets, the peasants were not the major beneficiaries, as most of the profit was cornered by the middlemen.  Labor also did not get corresponding raise of wages, leading to severe financial distress. Lastly, after a few debacles, the Tzar Nicholas II decided to commander the army himself and left for the front leaving the administration in the hands of the Empress Alexandra, whose rule was deeply resented because of poor governance, her German origins and her closeness with a unsavoury mystique named Rasputin. Many historians also claim that the clandestine support extended by Germany to the revolutionaries may have also played an important role. Together, their overall consequence was the overthrowing of Tzar and a period of Civil War that ultimately led to creation of Communist Soviet. Europe and the world were never the same again.

Treaty of Versailles & rise of German Nationalism & Hitler

Another important consequence of the war that began with assassination of Franz Ferdinand, was the humiliation of Germany at the end of the war along with the imposition of ‘Treaty of Versailles’ with Germany on 28 June 1919, which held Germany and its allies responsible for all loss and damage suffered by the Allies and imposed reparations of 132 billion gold marks on Germany. The economic impact created by this reparation is cited as one of the major factors that led to the German nationalism and fascist Hitler, culminating in another great war two decades later. The world had changed forever.

League of Nations & Great Depression

The war that began on that fateful day of 28th June, 1914 led to several other consequences too, each of which deserves a claim as a historical milestone in its own right. One of them was the formation of the League of Nations, as part of the Treaty of Versailles signed between Allied forces and Germany on 28 June 1919. This became the precursor of what is known today as the United Nations. Another impact, for which there is lesser consensus and greater division of views, is the role of First World War in leading to the Great Depression that began just after the war. The huge destruction of man and machine throughout the globe by the Great War of 1915-17 can be cited as one of the reasons of it.

The world was never the same again

What happened on28th June, 1914 was not just an act of terrorist nationalism. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand Este by the Serbian nationalistic organisation actually led to a series of events that resulted in over 36 million casualties during the World War One. More importantly, it set into motion certain changes that redefined the political boundaries, especially in the Middle East, gave rise to Pan-Islamic nationalism, and began the Communist experiment, with the end of Tzar Nicholas II and his Russian empire. The repercussions of the events of war paved the way for the World War II and sowed the seeds of United Nations.

It would not be wrong to claim that 28th June, 1914 was the first great turning point in the history of twentieth century. It changed our lives forever!