Facts

War is declared
June 28th 1914, archduke Franz-Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo. As a result of the chain of diplomatic and military alliances in place, the event launched Europe into an armed conflict that, with the involvement of colonies, took on a global dimension.

August 1st, Germany declared war on Russia. August 3rd, Germany declared war on France. August 4th, Britain declared war on Germany. August 11th and 12th, France and Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary.

The barracks and the regiment
Battalions comprised of a Battalion Headquarters and four Companies, a total of l,007 men in all. Companies were composed of 4 platoons, in turn divided into 4 sections each of 12 men commanded by an NCO. Britain was slow to mobilize on the Western Front. Half its army was overseas and with a genuine fear of invasion, infantry divisions were held in reserve in Britain and not included in the British Expeditionary Force. While conscription only came into force in 1916, voluntary enlistment was initially overwhelming with 750,000 men eager to show their patriotism.

Railways
With the outbreak of war, each country was eager to dispatch its army in situ as quickly as possible to gain the advantage. Railways were essential for mobilization and supply. By August 1914, the British realized the importance of rail in the war effort and dispatched Royal Engineers to the front to build new lines. By 1917, 40,000 enlisted railway soldiers were working for the RE in France and Flanders.

The debacle of August 1914
In the early fighting the German army made swift progress. After invading Belgium they marched on Paris in late August. French troops retreated en masse and units were outflanked and repelled, taken prisoner or killed. The months of August to September 1914 marked the bloodiest period of the war with over 180,000 French casualties alone. The French authorities described the debacle as an organized retreat; the war to win over public opinion had begun.

Americans in the French army
128 Americans enrolled in the French army from the start of the conflict, mostly in Paris, including the poet, Alan Seeger. The majority joined the Foreign Legion and took part in the Battle of the Marne. Others joined the air force, which later became the Lafayette squadron. 24 gave their lives for France including Alan Seeger. The media attention they received in the United States played a decisive role in their own country's decision to join the war 3 years later.

The Battle of the Marne
Drawn up long before the war, the Von Schlieffen Plan aimed at swiftly overrunning France via Belgium and northern France. After the August debacle, on September 6, French troops turned to face German troops in the decisive Battle of the Marne and prevented the capture of Paris. The Battle was the first time Franco-British forces managed to halt the German advance and thwart the main German battle plan. The front retreated northwards and stabilised in December, when trench warfare began in earnest.

Machine guns
The Great War demonstrated the technical progress of the age, symbolised by the machine gun. WWI devices could now shoot up to 200 bullets before requiring cooling and were perfectly integrated into infantry attacks. German machine guns deployment in the front line gave them a vast superiority at the start of the conflict.

Capture the flag
Flags were powerful symbols for each unit and once captured became trophies. When overrun, soldiers took the time to hide or bury them before being taken prisoner. With the arrival of trench warfare, flags disappeared from the battlefield and only made an appearance at military ceremonies away from the front.

6 million prisoners of war
Between 1914 and 1918 over 6 million men were taken prisoner, including 1.2 million German and 200,000 British troops. Despite the 1907 Hague Convention and the efforts of the International Red Cross, prison conditions and forced labour proved harsh for conscripts and hundreds of thousands never made it home.

Letters
Letters remained the only real means of communication with the outside world; radios and telephones were only used for military ends. All soldiers wrote to their loved ones back home. As war correspondence was free of charge, this created logistical and financial problems. 10 billion letters and postcards were sent to and from the front during the war. The early-war postal system was chaotic but then the front was then separated into sectors each with its own postcode. The visit from the military postmaster was eagerly awaited.

The Battle Of Neuve-Chapelle
March 10th 1915, British shells literally rained down on German forces. For the first time the technique creeping barrage was used, a barrage where the fire of all units targets the same position for a period before advancing one line at a time. The infantry's advance was synchronised at a safe distance behind this barrage, so that German lines could then be overrun. That day, 530 cannons fired over 216,000 shells, that is to say, one shell per weapon every 2 minutes.

The Garhwal Rifles
In the early 20th century, Great Britain and France governed huge colonial empires and put them to use during the war. Indian troops were deployed by Britain in the Middle-East as well as on the European front, and made an important contribution to the war effort. Many victories were achieved thanks to their bravery and discipline in combat. A monument commemorating their sacrifice stands in Neuve-Chapelle (France).

Mud
Trench life was difficult. Soldiers were confronted with cold, rain and mud. Dirty water meant that diseases such as dysentery, typhus and cholera flourished. The depth of the mud also presented dangers and soldiers sometimes drowned in shell holes or in the tunnels leading to the trenches.

Explosives
Trench fortifications required the use of explosives. To penetrate enemy lines, long tunnels were dug under no man's land beneath enemy trenches, inside which explosives were placed. The English used cordite, a powerful explosive that could be detonated at a distance.