Looking back at World War I on its centenary year

The year 2018 marks the centenary year of the end of the First World War. This was the first ever modern war to be fought on such a large scale that by the end of it, it changed the then existing international order. Not only was it the first ever mechanised war which left over 70 million people dead, but it also gave birth to unresolved rivalries and conflicts that eventually led to the Second World War.

In a way, the First World War resulted in the Second World War which was much more deadly and yet decisive. If one looks microscopically, this Great War led to the end of huge empires and monarchies which was viewed by many as the victory of liberal ideas. This thought gained more currency with landmark events like US President Woodrow Wilson coming up his 14 points speech to achieve peace in Europe in January 1918 and then a year later the establishment of the League of Nations.

The war decimated great empires like the Ottoman Empire, the Tsarist regime in Russia, the defeat of Austro-Hungarian Empire and therefore the political churning that followed it led to the establishment of entirely new political states as well as new political systems. In Russia, the Tsarist regime was overthrown by the twin revolution, ie, the February and October Revolution of 1917 which ultimately led to the formation of a communist regime called Soviet Russia. On the other hand, the Germans were humiliated by the victorious Allied powers (comprising of Britain, France and Russia) post war, which imposed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

This treaty played a pivotal role in the making of Nazi Germany and the rise of Adolf Hitler in the years that followed. The treaty forced Germany and its allies to accept the responsibility of the destruction and damages caused by the war and therefore Germany had to pay huge war reparations in the form of disarmament, conceding its territories and disallowing Germany to join the League of Nations until 1926. 

This war reparations caused immense harm to the German economy leading to a hyperinflation in the Weimer Republic of Germany, which was established post World War 1. Adolf Hitler, in his autobiography, Mein Kampf mentioned about these humiliations that Germans were forced into which he vouched to avenge when he came to power.

The war saw the use of chemical weapons for the first time on a mass scale. The types of weapons employed ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas, to lethal agents like phosgene, chlorine, and mustard gas. This chemical warfare was happening in violation of 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions which prohibited the use of chemical weapons. This shows that participating parties wanted to go to any length to secure victories. The result was that many soldiers developed psychological disorders along with physical disabilities. The trauma of war was as bad for civilians as it was for the soldiers.

Many scholars still view the First World War primarily as a European War because Europe was the epicentre of the war. However, this can’t take away the fact that the war had a big impact on the third world colonies which contributed by both manpower as well as resources. For instance, India contributed almost 1.5 million soldiers who went on to fight at the Western Front, in East Africa, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Gallipoli. As per the archival data of British Council, “out of these 1.5 million soldiers, around 50,000 died, 65,000 were wounded, and 10,000 were reported missing, while 98 Indian army nurses were killed. The country also supplied 170,000 animals, 3.7 million tonnes of supplies, jute for sandbags, and a large loan (the equivalent of about £2 billion today) to the British government”.

This shows the extent to which a large part of the world in addition to Europe was involved in the war. The ironical thing about this war is that the only party which got the most out of it was the one which was pulled into the war after practising neutrality till April 1917. The country in question is the United States and it declared war against Germany after German U-boats sank six American merchant ships including the Housatonic without warning. USA’s rise to being the superpower kick-started after being forced to enter this war.

To conclude, World War 1 brought both systemic as well as structural changes to the global order. Whether this war was the most impactful and decisive war ever in history, it can be debated…

The author is a junior research fellow at the School of International Studies, JNU. Views are personal.