Looking at the Armies of 1914

We look at the armies that began the Great War including their uniforms, armaments, organization and ultimate losses.

Hi, thanks for stopping by again.

When world war one started after a 'foolish thing in the Balkans' it plunged Europe into the first multi-country war that the old country had seen since the defeat of Napoleon 99 years before. The countries of Europe had spent billions in rearmament in the most modern of weapons such as the center fire rifle and automatic machine gun firing smokeless powder bullets, rapid firing steel howitzers, landmines, automobiles, and airplanes. The only things that they didn't change in the time period since Waterloo were the tactics. Armies of millions armed with modern weapons were lead by gentlemen officers who trained to fight with armies of thousands bound by the maxims of napoleon. The carnage was unbelievable and an entire generation was lost in the muddy trenches, frozen forests, and craggy slopes of the Great War's battlefields.

In honor of these millions of men from that lost generation, we are posting a series of articles on the Armies of 1914.

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The first article goes to the country who history lays the most blame for the start of hostilities to, that of the Imperial German Army of Kaiser Wilhelm. You can view the article

>here,

The second article is on the Army of the Republic of France. This army literally fought for its life every day of the war, typically within walking distance of Paris.

You can view the article

>here,

A third article is on the most miss-reported army of the war, that of the Imperial Russian Army of the last Tsar of Russia. Portrayed as being an army of mutinous incompetents the officers and men of the motherland actually in fact gave all that could be asked of them especially considering the crippling shortages of material and munitions. Never actually defeated by the enemy, if their government could have held together the face of Europe would have been much different in 1919.

You can view the article

>here,

We will continue this series by looking at the armies of Britian, Serbia, Austria and Belguim in the coming weeks.

When looking at world war one, i think Will Rogers summed it up the best.

"You can't say that civilization doesn't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way."

Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), New York Times, Dec. 23, 1929 --on World War One