Questions tagged [world-war-one]
Questions on World War I, events that caused it, strategy and tactics employed by the battling sides and the consequences of this war.
380
questions
1
vote
0answers
26 views
Can anyone identify these (possibly WW1 Polish) uniforms?
The only hint I have is that the gentlemen in the picture were Polish and it was reputed to have been taken in 1917. So far I suspect that they may be cavalry?
0
votes
1answer
111 views
During WW1, did any Irish join Kitchener’s Army?
Were there Irish recruits for Kitchener’s 3 year enlistment program during WW1? I understand that most Irish volunteers were Protestants from Ulster, but am wondering if they would have qualified for ...
2
votes
1answer
228 views
Were there any attempts at a federation or commonwealth to save Austria-Hungary from breaking up after ww1?
As known, the population of Austria-Hungary was made up of 11 major ethnic identities.. When the war ended, A-H broke up as it was instead of forming a new federation of Austria, Hungary with an ...
2
votes
0answers
122 views
How were improvised masks used to defend gas attacks in World War One?
During the battle for Ypres in April 1915 the attacking Germans used chlorine gas to great effect, nearly annihilating the 1,100 defending French. The French had moved closer to the gas cloud, ...
3
votes
0answers
102 views
What was the best way to travel across Anatolia in 1914?
What was the best way to travel across Anatolia in 1914?
Specifically, I'm writing a story in which a character needs to travel from Constantinople to Van (a city which would later see protracted ...
2
votes
1answer
128 views
Where was the Turkish Navy based in July 1914?
I'm trying to figure out whether, if not for the July crisis, Russia could have tried an amphibious invasion of Turkey in 1914, and what the outcome would have been if so.
It seems to me the answer ...
5
votes
1answer
223 views
Was Russia ready for amphibious invasion of Istanbul in 1914?
I've been reading The Russian Origins of the First World War by Sean McMeekin, in which he makes some very interesting claims about what the strategic situation prior to the July crisis looked like ...
4
votes
1answer
271 views
What was the fastest coal-powered ship in a country's navy?
The transition from coal to oil fuel as the primary energy source for navy ships took place leading up to and during WWI. The last British battleship to primarily use coal power was the Iron Duke ...
21
votes
1answer
3k views
Was there an increased interest in 'the spirit world' in the aftermath of the First World War?
In this excellent answer on Literature Stack Exchange, a quote from Alexander Leggatt's 'William Shakespeare's Macbeth' states:
The sense that evil forces are at work in Macbeth may be a product of
...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
Can anyone identify the country, rank, and unit of this WWI Uniform?
A photograph of my grandfather, Stephen Peter Barbustiak (sp of last name changed during immigration process). DOB 20 August 1895 in Odorin, present day Slovakia. Married September 3, 1917. I know he ...
0
votes
0answers
102 views
What does an English Liberty-shaded lamp look like?
The London Venture by Michael Arlen several times mentions a woman with dark hair given a blue sheen as she sits under a Liberty-shaded lamp. Any idea what this lamp looked like?
Illustrator: Michel ...
2
votes
0answers
68 views
Can you identify this (possibly Bulgarian) uniform?
can someone identify the country the uniform is from?
Context:
Must have been born before 1880. First served in the Austro-Hungarian army, perhaps as an officer servant, possibly to a man who later ...
4
votes
0answers
128 views
Are there records of soldiers opinions of canned food in WWI?
While reading the Wikipedia article on canning, I came across the following statement (with no citation).
Throughout the war, British soldiers generally subsisted on low-quality canned foodstuffs, ...
3
votes
1answer
247 views
What is this artillery shell?
I found this in my Grandfather’s basement. He served in World War 2, in the Pacific Theater. He sadly passed away and we have no idea if this is safe. Can anyone help with identifying this? It is 13 ...
7
votes
2answers
309 views
What were the relations between Romania and Bulgaria before WWI?
I am researching the Balkan's involvement in World War 1. Specifically, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania.
My question is:
What were Romanian - and Bulgarian relations in, and around the lead-up to the ...
0
votes
0answers
90 views
Were there other reasons or interests apart from Pan-Slavism for the Russian Empire to support Serbia? [duplicate]
In my History class, I was taught that that the Russian Empire supported Serbia's independence and nationality and fought against the Austria-Hungary Empire due to Pan-Slavism. My point is, were there ...
9
votes
1answer
102 views
Can anyone point me to an online version of the 1900 amendment to the Franco-Russian Military Convention 1892?
Incitement
The Wikipedia article, France-Russia relations, linked in an answer to this question, has
After France was humiliated by Britain in the Fashoda Incident of 1898, the French wanted the ...
3
votes
0answers
80 views
What is this (possibly WW1) officer's uniform and regiment?
This photograph comes from an old family photo album - our family is of British descent who lived in South Africa. Unfortunately those who knew this person have since died and we are hoping to track ...
5
votes
1answer
191 views
Was Wilhelm II aware of the Franco-Russian Military Convention 1892?
The second sentence of Article 1 of the Convention reads,
If Russia is attacked by Germany, or by Austria supported by Germany, France shall employ all her available forces to attack Germany.
...
21
votes
3answers
5k views
Why did it take so long for the Germans to develop the first tank model in World War I?
World War I still featured a lot of trench warfare due do a lack of mobility that placed an advantage upon the defender. When the British managed to invent the first tank, that seemed like an ...
5
votes
2answers
729 views
Can anybody help identify this uniform ? Circa WW1
I presume this photo is circa WW1. Can anybody identify which unit, regiment and rank, this would be very helpful.
10
votes
1answer
577 views
What was Wilhelm II's “book about the causes of the war”?
In Hugh Kingsmill's "Frank Harris" (1932) he describes how in the 1890s, in the Saturday Review, Harris wrote a series of attacks on the German regime and Wilhelm in particular, and then ...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
Can someone provide a source for the claim that MI5 paid Mussolini to do pro-war propaganda?
This 2009 Guardian article claims that Mussolini was paid 100 £ per week during War World I to write pro-war propaganda articles on his newspaper "Il Popolo D'Italia".
The article is ...
3
votes
1answer
465 views
Can you identify this artillery shell?
I'm not sure but my grandfather says that it is from time of first world war. As his father served in British army during 1st world war. He(great grandfather) has done some kind of modification on it. ...
5
votes
1answer
182 views
How strong was pacifism in interwar Germany?
During the rearmament of Germany operated by Hitler and especially during the remilitarization of the Rhineland, the French Republic stayed by and, in doing so, probably failed to seize the last ...
10
votes
2answers
406 views
Did Germans refuse to take Cossacks prisoners in WWI? If so, why?
The Russian Wikipedia's page about Kozma Kryuchkov, the first awardee of Russia's Cross of Saint George in the First World War, says:
После этого случая, освещённого почти во всей тогдашней ...
2
votes
0answers
69 views
Can anyone tell me information about this uniform?
This is my Great-Great Grandfather during WWI in the Royal Italian Army. Looking for any hints that his uniform could tell me about his type of service
8
votes
1answer
352 views
How long did Adolf Hitler serve on the front lines as an infantryman in WWI before becoming a courier?
In Word War I Hitler served in France with the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company) before being promoted from Schütze (Private) to Gefreiter (Lance Corporal) and assigned to be a ...
8
votes
2answers
4k views
What uniform is this (German/WW1?) and could a 15–16 year old be wearing it?
I was told that this would be a German uniform from WW1.
Is that correct?
I would assume that would be right, however, the picture is from spring 1917 and the young man was only 15–16 years old in ...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
What percentage of the German population worked on gathering the harvest in 1917?
It is a well-known fact that Germany suffered from food shortage during World War I, and that there were several causes of this, including in no particular order:
The blockade restricting food ...
41
votes
6answers
9k views
What were Germany's long-term aims in World War I?
In World War I, according to the Schlieffen Plan, Germany aimed to defeat France in several weeks, before freeing up soldiers to fight on the front against Russia. Suppose their plan would have ...
2
votes
1answer
218 views
Was the Kerensky Offensive doomed from the start?
I've been reading about Russia in the Great War during 1917, and what is quite surprising for me is the Kerensky Offensive. Primarily, what is surprising is that the army was in great material terms ...
13
votes
1answer
3k views
Did Wilson's 'He kept us out of war' really win the 1916 Presidential Election?
In the 1916 United States presidential election, President Woodrow Wilson defeated Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican candidate.
Wilson ran on the slogan 'He kept us out of war'. From what I have ...
10
votes
2answers
334 views
Were union disputes the only reason for low female employment in WWI German factories?
While giving a lecture on the end of WWI, Prof. David Stevenson mentions a disparity in female employment between the Allies and Germany. The relevant portion is here.
The British army is not short ...
6
votes
1answer
373 views
Did German spies operate in Austrian territory up to 1914?
Germany in the years up to and during World War I, had an extensive intelligence network; in the US in particular, even prior to that country's formal entry into the war, they engaged in not only ...
6
votes
1answer
318 views
Who was blamed for shell failures on the Western Front?
According to the website for the Imperial War Museum, shell failure at the Somme was a significant issue:
To make matters worse, it has been been estimated that as many as 30% of the shells failed to ...
2
votes
0answers
65 views
Were any congressmen or senators concerned that women’s suffrage would result in anti-war votes?
Suffragist organizations at the onset of WWI held varying views on the war. Carrie Chapman Catt of NAWSA felt that women would be viewed as reliable and patriotic if they supported the war effort. But ...
2
votes
0answers
87 views
WWI[?] Shell casing Identification, Brass Centrefire 47.R. MA.I.1 6-16. (?) Grenade symbol
Can anybody offer any information on this shell. led to believe its WW1.
It is a Brass Centrefire. The base is marked 47.R. at 12 o'clock. From 8 o'clock through 3 o'clock it is marked:
8 ...
4
votes
0answers
112 views
What British WW1 uniform is depicted on this photo from Taunton?
I am trying to research my grandfather’s WW1 service record. All I have to go on is this photo, which has a Taunton photography studio on the back. I think it might be the Somerset Light Infantry, but ...
0
votes
2answers
212 views
What was the purpose of creating the Weimar Republic?
I listened to a podcast recently called Dictators by Parcast Network. In a particular episode about Hitler, the speaker said The Weimar Republic was created so that it could take the blame of Germany'...
3
votes
1answer
302 views
Did Gavrilo Princip ever express regret for his actions during imprisonment? [closed]
After assassinating the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in June 1914; Gavrilo Princip spent just short of 4 years in Prison in Austria-Hungary before dying in April 1918 of tuberculosis. I was ...
4
votes
0answers
53 views
When exactly did General von Kluck learn of the French Sixth Army?
The French Sixth Army had been forming in Paris for some time before they positioned themselves to attack the German First Army under von Kluck. According to von Kluck's wikipedia:
On 31 August ...
1
vote
0answers
35 views
WW1 trying to identify squadron and aircrew
Recently discovered photo belonging to my grandfather. I was told he took this but not so sure...
He was connected with 57 Squadron but I can find no info about it.
Keen to be able to identify anyone ...
5
votes
2answers
305 views
How could an Englishman be forced to fight for Austria-Hungary against his will during WW1?
I'm writing a novel set during the first world war. One of the characters is conscripted to fight for the Austria-Hungarian army while he is studying art in Vienna. How could this realistically go ...
7
votes
0answers
215 views
What do these artillery shell stamps indicate?
I found this inert shell decades ago at a garage sale in New Brunswick, Canada and finally got around to cleaning it up. I'm not really well versed in the various marks on it, but I've attached some ...
-3
votes
1answer
202 views
How hard was it to produce German zeppelin pilots in World War One? [closed]
I would like to know how much time it took to train new zeppelin pilots, the cost to train them, if the airship pilots were normal airplane pilots, and the demand for them.
Any help will be ...
8
votes
1answer
421 views
How much debt did Italy remit Germany in the London Debt Agreement?
Italy was one of the signatories of the London Debt Agreement in 1953, pardoning part of previous German debts.
Is there an estimate of the amount owed by Germany to Italy? Various sources cite the ...
2
votes
1answer
127 views
Does the long dense habitation and cultivation of lands correlate with a high incidence of tetanus and gangrene in badly disinfected wounds?
William Keen claims in his Treatment of war wounds (written at the end of WW1) that the soil of France, since it was inhabited and cultured since antiquity, was extraordinarily infected with bacteria ...
3
votes
1answer
198 views
What did Russia do in 1848 that could make the Austrians seek “brutal revanche” towards the Russians?
In the first volume of the Thalerhof Concentration Camp Almanacs (Russian title: Талергофсiй альманахъ, пропамятная книга австрiйскихъ жестокостей, изуверстствъ и насилий надъ карпато - русскимъ ...
2
votes
1answer
207 views
What happened to dead WWI soldiers whose faith believed in cremation?
I am researching what happened to soldiers who were killed in WW1. They were buried on the spot according to longlongtrail
But what about soldiers, such as Sikh soldier who were killed? Were they ...
