Battles Of World War I

What was known then as the Great War could not have been attributed to one single battle; World War I was a compilation of many great skirmishes and to brand one as more important or to single out a dispute over land as a turn in power is just not possible. Not only did the Eastern, Western and Sea battles all play their respective roles in the war but the effects during these fights such as trench-foot and newer, modernizing technology made a difference. However, it is not possible to single-out one specific moment from this war and attribute a win or a loss to it.

Of the three fronts (East, West and Sea), the most significance came from the Western Front, though the other two did have their important roles. During the Eastern Front’s the Battle of Tannenberg (August 1914) in Prussia the Germans managed to out-maneuver a large Russian force, killing over 30,000 and taking roughly 100,000 prisoners; the Russian supplies had run out and the soldiers were exhausted and even limited to one bullet per day. The Battle of Gallipoli could be seen as the cause for Russia`s failure. Ottoman Empire joined Central Powers in late 1914 and controlled the Dardanelles sea passage that was used by British and ANZAC to ship supplies to Russia`s army. After having to deal with months steep hills and fortifications the Allies gave up after suffering 200,000 deaths. The Russians would later pull out of the war. May 1916 saw what was said to be the only major naval battle. Jutland saw the disarming of the German Navy. While Britain did indeed lose more troops and ships (14 ships and 6,000 lives) than their adversaries, they managed to put Germany (who lost 9 ships and only suffered around 2,500 casualties) in a position that would prevent them from sending their armies out to sea. This was caused mainly by Britain having more units to deploy (52 British ships verses 40 German ships) and thus a slight advantage, despite the submarine traps set up by Germany. Despite Germany’s loss,...