Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

A Night Patrol

'The last rays of sunlight had slipped from the horizon and darkness had finally fallen. We had all had out small quantities of rum, and now stared ahead, to No-Man's Land and what lay ahead of us. The night was dark as the moon was hidden by the thick dark clouds, which would be to our advantage, though it would make the going harder.

We had roughly ten hours ahead of us, crawling through the dark, muddy No Man's Land, then back again. We knew they'd be patrolling out there, and if we met them, we'd be in for it, but it was a risk we had to take, there was no backing out of a commanders orders.

I'd been dreading this almost as much as the order to go over the top, which thankfully had not come yet. Our mission was simple enough: sneak into the enemy trenches and capture and bring back a German. Hand guns were useless on our mission, one sound and we'd have their whole army on our backs.

The five of us set off into No-Man's Land, me, my best friend (who'd signed up with me) and three fellow comrades. It was hard going, just as we'd assumed it would be, taking us several hours, for what only a few hundred meters. We crawled through mud and water, constantly fearing we'd be spot and killed by their snipers, or patrols.

We were fortunate, we made it to their trenches unspotted. Now came the difficult stage. We cut through the barbed wire as quickly and quietly as possible, the hole wide enough for us to pass through silently. I managed to catch my coat on a barb, ripping it silently, but no one noticed.

We could barely breathe as we slipped into the trenches, lest we woke those sleeping all around us - and that would mean dead certainly. All our knifes out, we approached them, all fast asleep, what happened next would decide whether we lived or died. I had my hand on my pistol if the worst came to worst.

My best friend approached him, swiftly, silently, from behind. He held the knife in one hand, his other ready to silence the man when he woke. We all stood tensely, ready to run, if they awoke.

He grabbed the man in a flash, bringing the knife to his throat, hand over his mouth. The German struggled and made some faint muffled noises, but my friend was strong, and wide awake, the German silencing quickly. He forced the German to his feet and we led him back the way we had come.

The German understood the dangers now, for if we were spotted, they wouldn't spare him, they'd try and kill us all. Suddenly there was a cry that made us all freeze in horror 'intruders'. The sentries had spotted us!

We ran for our lives, my friend and me, along with the German behind, the other three running ahead. There was gun shot flooding the skies, all our senses, we couldn't get out of their range in time!

Suddenly my friend stumbled and fell, the German along with him, and me diving to the ground to avoid waves of hot lead. I crawled over to him, and to my horror saw a bullet had hit him, through the lung close to his heart. Warm blood streamed over his muddy clothes, and his face torn with pain, though he made not a sound - he would not betray our positions.

"Too late for me, Adam," he murmured hoarsely, no more audible then the faintest whisper. I was so close to him and could barely hear him over the thunderous sounds of gunshot. "Tell 'em, tell 'em back 'ome I died fight-"

"Y - yeah," I murmured shocked, but he didn't hear me. His eyes had glazed over, and he'd gone to sleep, a sleep he wouldn't wake from, not even finishing his sentence.

I felt numb, but I managed to stop myself crying out loud in pain, though I could feel tears rushing to my eyes. My head was swimming, and before I knew what was happening I had fainted.

It was late afternoon when I woke, the German still there with me. We'd survived, unlike my friend. It was too early for us to move, we had to pretend to be dead ''til night fell, 'til we could sneak back to my camp. And we did.

I was highly praised for bringing back the German, and I found out soon that the three who'd ran ahead had been gunned down too. So in a way, my best mate had saved my life, it also hardened me. I wouldn't die in the trenches. I'd make sure I got back home and it was properly known all he'd done. He wouldn't be forgotten.'

- Adam Heartridge, British Soldier *

Weapons

During the First World War, a huge range of different weapons were invented and used, in an attempt to break the stalemate, some good, some ending up in a scrap-yard. The Great War was the first to properly use 'modern weapons' such as artillery and riffles, and later on - not successfully - tanks. The attidudes towards the war and weapons changed greatly to as the war progressed, soldiers soon realising the swords they had brought with them, had fought with in the past, would be useless there.

Weapon	Use	Effectiveness
Sword	At the beginning of the war, everyone went to war expecting hand-to-hand conflict to the death, as had happened in the past.	Not very, as soldiers soon found out. They were mowed down by enemy machine guns before they could even get close to the enemy.
Bayonets	Attached to the machine gun, these long spikes were used in a similar weapon to swords in close combat fighting.	More effective than swords, as they were attached to guns, but it was rare for soldiers to engage in hand-to-hand fighting.
Dagger	A night time raid was the only time the 'old fashioned' weapons could be used. Silent, they could kill without waking the enemy.	Night time raids were common, meaning daggers were effective. Lighter than swords, they could kill, or be used to take prisoners.
Riffles	If the enemy came over the top, they could shoot them down with these reliable, accurate weapons that had range over half a mile and accuracy for several hundred meters.	A soldier was never seen without his trusty riffle. They were regularly cleaned and checked and very rarely malfunctioned. One of the most important weapons in the war.
Machine Guns	Machine guns could fire over 400 shells per minute. Enemies that came anywhere near these would be mowed down. They didn't need to be aimed as it was almost certain they'd hit something.	Machine guns were extremely useful and effective, stopping many advancing parties. All the soldiers needed to do was keep reloading, and the enemies would keep falling.
Grenades	Grenades could wipe out a large section of a trench if they got inside. They were the reason trenches were zigzag, to cut down on the explosion.	Grenades were very useful, often parties being sent out to bomb the enemy. In Britain alone approximately 250,000 grenades were being produced every week.
Flamethrowers	Flamethrowers let out a powerful jet of fire, intended to wipe out the enemy front line.	The flamethrowers, though strong could only hit enemies at close range, the most developed only reached out 40 meters. They didn't burn for long either, 40 seconds max.
Tanks	Armed with heavy guns, tanks were very strong. They could brake through barbed wire easily, and were designed to help break through the German Front Line.	There were problems with this new weapon though, one being it was very slow. They could be destroyed easily by artillery, and often broke down anyway. They were most useful at the Battle of Amiens, when the Allies managed to break through.
Artillery	Artillery were powerful guns that were used to bomb the enemy before going over the top. They had a very long range, thoough they weren't very fast, and were used to destroy barbed wire and the enemy soldiers.	Long ranged and powerful, these guns could hit enemy trenches easily, with explosive shells. However, they made it difficult to cross No-Man's Land, rarely destoyed wire, and enemies could hide from them easily.

The weapons above are just a few of those that were used in World War One. Many strange weapons were invented for the cause, that didn't work, so we know little about them. Some were useful some were not so useful. One important aspect of the trench warfare not mentioned above was gas.

Gas

Poisonous gas was used right from the beginning of the War, when in the first month of battling, the French used it against the Germans in the shape of grenades. There were three different types of gases that were seen on the battle field: Lachrymator, Asphyxiant and Diphosgene.

Lachrymator was the first type of gas to be used, by the French, and was a tear-producing gas. If it was inhaled, it would cause the person to be temporally blinded with tears and for their nose and throat to become painfully inflamed and swollen. The most common type of Lachmator gas was bromine, as it was easy to brew.

Asphxiant was first used by the Germans in April of 1915, against the French in the Battle of Ypres. This type of gas was poisonous, most common used, Chlorine Gas. If the gas got onto the body, it would combine with the moisture in the body, such as in the lungs or the eyes to form Hydrochloric Acid. The acid would burn the body from the inside, and if they took in enough, eventually, if they didn't get help, it killed them.

One disadvantage of Chlorine Gas was that in damaging the lungs, it caused the victim to cough and choke, limiting how much gas could get inside. Later Phosgene gas was used, twice as deadly as Chlorine, only a small amount needed to put soldiers out of fighting, and killing within 48 hours.

Diphosgene was the most deadly of all the gases used, and once again, was first deployed by the Germans. Unlike the previous gases that attacked the respiratory system, the gas acted on any moist part of the body, the skin, eyes, lungs to name a few. It would produce horrible blisters, bleeding lungs, blindness and eventually death. It was odourless, and could hang over the trenches for several weeks. The most common type was Mustard Gas.

For the most, armies learned to combat gases with gas masks. At the beginning of the War, these were very simple, cotton pads that had been soaked in urine - the ammonia able to neutralise the poison. Only in July of 1915 were the soldiers given efficient gas masks, but even there was little these gas masks could do, when in 1917 the Germans because launching their deadly Mustard gas.

Over the 4 years of the War, over a million soldiers suffered from the gases. Over 100,000 of these died too, in horrible painful deaths.

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Christmas on the Trenches

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The Battle of Jutland

Over the duration of the War, there was only one major sea battle between Britain and Germany, the Battle of Jutland. Before 1916, the Germans had been content to attacking the British ports, and merchant ships, hoping to wear them down, but at the end of January of that year, the German navy was taken over by a new man, Admiral Von Schneer.

Schneer was sick of seeing the navy going no where and commanded to the High Sea Fleet to break through the blockade, lure the British fleet after them, and trap them into submission. The British found out about Scheer's plan and decided to meet them head on, knowing the time avoiding battle was over, there was no way out besides attacking.

On 31 May 1916, both fleets met off Denmark, in the battle of Jutland. It was the biggest navel battle that had been seen, with the British Grand Fleet clashing with the German High Fleet, a total of over 250 ships. The British consisted of 20 huge dreadnoughts, many huge battle cruisers, cruisers and destroyers, whereas the Germans had only 13 dreadnoughts and various other smaller ships.

At around 6 p.m. that evening the fighting began, each side launching shell upon shell of explosions at the other to break the hard defences and sink each other. Ships burned brightly in the darkness that was quickly consuming the sky, and soldiers either burnt or drowned in the icy waters.

However, as quickly as the battle had begun in finished. Von Schneer ordered the ships to pull back, turn back for Germany, as darkness fell, and the British afraid of remaining enemy submarines, already having taken heavy losses decided not to follow.

The outcome of the battle was indecisive, as it had not lasted until the last ship remained. The British claimed victory as they saw the Germans as fleeing, whereas the Germans claimed victory as they had sunk more ships. Britain lost a total of 14 ships, two of which were Dreadnoughts, mainly because the heavy ships were expected to be able to take more hits and over 6,000 British men died.

In comparison, Germany lost only eleven ships, none of these Dreadnoughts, the largest a battle cruiser, and only around 2,500 men, less than half the British causalities. However, though the British lost more, and the Germans got back to their port unharmed, the High Fleet never left the port again, and the British still held command over the sea.

The British quickly reformed the blockade, stopping any further attacks or trade too, and though Germany claimed victory, they had made little difference at all. Unable to get through the British reinforced blockade, Germans were left with to rely on submarines 'U-boats' which where in many ways one of the reasons for the end of the War. Who won? The answer: neither.

U-boats and the end of the War

As the German High Fleet was forced to remain at port for the rest of the War, the Germans were left with one alternative: submarines. Submarines, 'U-boats' as they were called, could get past the blockade undetected, and attack. However, before and at the beginning of the War they had been considered useless because of their size.

As the U-boats were small they could only fit the men they were carrying, no prisoners and limited supply. The Germans thought them useless for attacking British merchant ships, as they wouldn't be able to raid the ships, only destroy. Before the Battle of Jutland, In February 1915, the German government decided that instead of trying to capture British merchant ships, they would in fact simply sink them, known as unrestricted submarine warfare. They marked all the area around the British Isles a war zone, and any ships found there would instantly be attacked.

After the Battle of Jutland, and the Navy being trapped at port, Germany became more dependant of the submarines to stop the British obtaining food and goods - they themselves already starving - and so the fighting intensified. During the War, 2,099 British merchant ships were sunk, 1,727 were damaged and 578 Fishing ships were sunk.

There was however a danger with attacking every ship, and that was accidentally sinking a ship that was not Allied, in other words, the still neutral Americans. In May of 1915, shortly after U-boats were first being used, the British Cargo and Passenger Ship Lusitania was sunk, killing 1,198, 138 of these being American.

This caused an uproar in the USA, bringing them very close to joining the War. The Kaiser realised how dangerous it would be if America came into the war on Britain's side, and ordered the U-boats to hold back a little.

But towards the end of the War Germany was growing desperate. The people were starving, and they knew the only way they could win would be to starve the British into submission - destroying all the merchant ships. The U-boat attack was back on, stronger than ever, and this time America did not decide against joining, finally becoming Britain's ally in April 1917.

Because of killing innocent American lives, who weren't even involved in the War, Germany had brought the huge army of America on herself. Because of the U-boats the tables were tipped, and Germany's faint hopes of victory became even more extinguished.

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Women at Home

By July of the 1914 men were streaming out of Britain, aged from anywhere between 16 and 41 (the actual limits were 19 and 40). More than 6 million British men went off to War, having little choice was the conscription was in place soon after, meaning the numbers of men working in Britain was servearly lowered.

Through the early months of the War, the government managed to keep women out of working, however it couldn't last. The real turning point came in May of 1915, with a shell shortage. Factories were working overtime, trying to meet the demand, but with so few workers, they knew it was impossible.

There was only one option for the government, much as they didn't like it, allow the women - who weren't allowed to fight of course - to take over the men's jobs. About 25 percent of the female population had been working, but for those campaigners this was the biggest breakthrough ever. Before the War, women had been working in jobs that women were seen fit to have, such as teaching, domestic service or textiles, 'Women jobs'. However, due to the loss of men, women were now finding themselves working in things most of them have probably never dreamt of doing.

They took over family businesses that would have otherwise been shutdown, worked in factories, became doctors and nurses to care for wounded. They worked in shipyards, gas works, bomb factories - if it hadn't been for women there would have been no grenades - flour mills, chimney sweeping, breweries, tanneries, window cleaning, and then after a hard days work would go back and look after the family.

It wasn't at all easy for the women though. Days were hard and laborious, then to have to come home to children. Men weren't happy with women working alongside them either, they would often play practical jokes of female workers, or give them confusing orders. If the War accomplished anything, it proved just how capable women were.

Most women supported the War, and it was thanks to them that many men went to the War in the first place - persuading husbands and brothers to join up. However as the War raged on, some women began to think differently. There looked to be no end to the War, and many more women became husband and son less every time battles were fought. The worst thing that could happen for them was to receive in the post a letter telling them of death - though many never received them as men died namelessly on No-Man's Land.

In 1915, over a thousand women met from 12 different countries at The Hague in Holland to discuss how the War could be ended. They formed together the 'Woman's International League for Permanent Peace' and began publishing leaflets, flyers, posters and held many meetings.

Even more, many women decided to take action rather that just talk about it, protesting all over the country in major cities such as Leicester and Manchester. They had banners that small children held up, with slogans like 'I want my Daddy.' Though they were not at all approved of, by 1918, 120 groups like these were spread across the country.

Women at the Western Front

It wasn't only men who were found at the trenches. Although the War Office advised otherwise, many women simply ignored all warning and travelled out to the Western Front, to help out as much as they could. In the duration of the War, over twenty-five thousand women worked at the trenches.

Though women were not allowed to fight, there were many jobs they could do around the trenches as all the men had to fight. The largest occupation of women at the trenches was nursing and doctoring in hospitals, but there were many other jobs women found themselves doing. These included: cooks, drivers, mechanics, and bringing dead and injured from No-Man's Land.

The women at the trenches shared all the hardships the men had to put up with, and as many of them were from Upper and Middle Class families, what they found, appalled them. There was often shortage of food and water, rats, lice, bugs, mud and rain, it was totally different from home. There was little they could do about it, though, so as with the men, they were forced to put a brave face on and suffer in silence.

Women played a very important role in the War. If it wasn't for them and their support, the Allies may never have come out on top. They had cared for the wounded, kept businesses alive, done the jobs that no men were left to do, encouraged men into War in the first place and had produced a ready supply of ammunition.

It was the first time women had ever really had chance to show how capable they were, and they rose and met the challenge. For the first time women were working in well paid, professional jobs, and even if it was only until the end of the War, it showed us just how capable women are.

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