Boer Wars: A History From Beginning to End

Good description of world war I – The great war that engulfed the entire world for 4 years, involving 32 countries, which changed the face of Europe forever. This short books tours one of the darkest and deadliest periods in modern history – First world war – I. It all started as a diplomatic feud brought on by the assassination of the a monarch of Austrian – Hungary erupted into the conflict and spread like hell-fire to entire Europe and surrounding continents.My take away from this book:Europe was divided into 2 major alliances – “Triple Entente”, an agreement between Russian Empire, The French Republic and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the “Triple Alliance”, which was forms of Germany, Austria Hungary and Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the protection of the nation. However in 1902, Italy made a secret pact with France – promising to remain neutral if Germany provoked France.The precarious geography of Europe in 1914 was a considerable, inevitable and catalyst for agitation. Each nation trying to exploit other for strategic advantage. Most seismic event and perhaps the immediate cause of first world war was the assassination of the Arch Duke of Austria – Hungary Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28th 1914 on their visit to Bosnia. The assassin was 19 year old Gavrilo Princip – who resented the Austrio – Hungary annexation of Bosnia and dreamt of free and independent Serbia. Austria – Hungary held Serbia responsible for the assassination and issued an ultimatum, which was so damaging and humiliating and Serbia had no other option but to reject the ultimatum leading to war on 28th July 1914. This war led to many bloody battles fought during next 4 years that resulted in deadliest calamities and ended with the loss of over 11 million military personnel and 7 million civilians. World War I stands among the worst wars to befall humanity and millions of lives were lost in the desperate rush for the tiny stretches of scorched earth.Some of the events and battles over 4 years are :1. On 1st August 1914, Germany declared war on Russia.2. Italy dismantles the delicate pact of Triple Alliance, citing the purpose of Alliance was for defense and not for aggression.3. Britain demanded that Germany cease her march into Belgium and withdraw. But Germany ignored the demands to halt the incursion, which led to Britain declaring war on Germany on 4th August 1914.4. Britain and France declared war on Austria- Hungary on the 12th August 1914.5. On 28th August, British naval squadron sunk 3 German cruisers off the coast of Helgoland. The aim was to prevent supplies from reaching central powers (Members of Triple Alliance).6. Battle of Marne Began. The Allied efforts succeeded in preventing the advancing German force for reaching Paris.7. In August, Britain, France and Germany began a series of assault in Africa. From 9th August h 1914 to 26th August 1914, Britain and France mounted a successful offensive into German occupied Togoland, forcing the German army to surrender. Meanwhile. German forces advanced into British controlled Kenya and seized the town of Taveta.8. In Battle of Tennenberg, Germany crushed Russia’s Second Army.9. The Ottoman Empire joined the central powers and quickly closed the Dardanelles strait, vital shipping route to Allied forces.10. German U boat proved to be an effective attacker of British warships. 1914 saw use of airplanes as major threat and deadly military weapon.11. The first ever bombing raid in Britain occurred on 19th January 1915, carried out by 2 German giant airships filled with hydrogen. The Britain Navy was ordered to intercept and repel the German squadron. German and Ottoman forces began an assault on British, held Suez Canal in an attempt to gain control of another significant shipping route. British had quashed the assault.12. At the Battle of Bolimow, the Germans unleashed xylyl bromide on the Russian forces.13. At the Battle of Ypres, German attacked Allied forces using Chlorine gas, which chocked many soldiers. This gas attack which was a new weapon used in the battlefield, took the Allies by surprise.14. The Ottoman Empire began the annexation of up to a million Armenians from its Turkish region leading to Armenian Genocide by Turks of Ottoman as they viewed Armenians as a people of different religious and political allegiances. This is viewed by Allied forces as a crime against humanity.15. Italy betrayed It’s declaration of neutrality and joined the Allies after assurances that it would receive support in acquiring land from Austria-Hungary.16. At the second battle of Champagne, the French carried out the final offensive on Germany.17. Bulgaria allied with the central powers and declared war on Serbia. In response, Allies declared war on Bulgaria.18. In 1916, infamous battles of Somme and Verdun was fought which claimed the lives of 2 million in just few months.19. Allied forces were able to defeat the Germans in Cameroon after seventeen deadly months of aggression. After the fall of Cameroon, Africa was ostensibly under Allied control.20. German began a 9 months long offensive against French forces at the historical French city of Verdun.21. The year 1917 saw many revolutions and catastrophes.- Battle of Passchendaele, Battle of Cambrai, famous October revolution in Russia led by Lenin and Trotsky, which dissolved Russian government and supplanted with Marxist- Soviet government.22. The year 1918 saw the end of first world war. On July 15th 1918, German began their final offensive of first world war. The Allied mounted a massive counter offensive in a final attempt to win the war. In the end, German troops surrendered to Allies.23. In the final weeks of the Great war, Germany contacted Washington DC and requested an armistice. Washington agreed, under the proviso that the Germany removed her forces from the occupied countries and took full responsibility for the war. Armistice was declared and the brutal war was finally over.24. Germany had to submit to vast number of crippling sanctions outlined in the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace conference in 1919. German’s overseas colonies were seized and taken over by other European powers. This sanctions contributed to the great German depression in the decade that followed and was a prelude to second world war.Thanks.

Good book on world war, if u wanna know about the situation at that time or wanna increase your knowledge, my personal recommendation

This book provides the reader with a well written, concise, and fact filled account of World War 1 (WW 1) It is filled with the key events, nations involved, why they fought, the major battles, the weapons used, the conditions men fought and died in, and so forth. I bet some folks are asking why should I read a book about World War I? Consider that WW 1 resulted in more than 9 Million soldiers fatalities, more than 20 Million wounded, and at least 5 Million civilian deaths. Many of them and their loved ones believed they were sacrificing themselves in what was called the "War to End All Wars". However, after 4 years of the deadliest warfare in history, when in 1919, the winners wrote the peace treaty (The Treaty of Versailles) they included many punitive provisions that led to the onset of World War II within 20 years of ratifying the treaty. Clearly mankind did not take away the right lessons learned about the First World War! I have read and studied numerous books regarding WW I, and believe this book will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers.It is well written, easy to understand, clearly and succinctly presented. I strongly recommend that the widest possible audience read this book!

Book: World War 1Author :Henry freemanPages :43Publication :Hourly History (kindle edition)World War 1 is a really short book about the Great War that spanned over a time period of 4 years from 1914-1918 claiming the life of some many across the globe.What started as a series of events following the assassination of Hungarian official which no one would have believed to result in a massive catastrophe of events making a dark mark in the history which nobody learned a lesson from.All for what?To expand the borders?To gain power?At the cost of millions of lives which has nothing to do with the bloodthirst of power hunger nations and not real winners but the invention of warfare technologies that is used till to date.Even though the book doesn't goes in detail about all what happened it highlights the major wars and the turn of events that happened during the World war 1.

While I read the book, it seemed more academic than emotional about events. World war I is always of special interest as it was the beginning of so many events that changed characteristics of many nations and people. So, it is always quite exciting to read on the same.No doubt this book is good in terms of explaining many events but then this is just more like an academic refresher than something that would rouse emotions about anything. The historical account and chronological events are accurate and that atleast helps you learn as you read this book.Helpful to just refresh about world war I. Not much beyond that.

This is book is good one but I think reading this book in electronic devices is not seems me satisfied as I read the book on my hand. it is better to read book directly than reading the book in the devices.author in this book explains in a very good understanding manner to all the every one who is able to read and understand.language of the book is easy to understand.the only thing I am not satisfied with this is reading it in device.

As someone who knows little about WWI I found this book very informative! I downloaded the free Kindle edition however if I had purchased this book I would not have been disappointed. The book flows well between chapters in chronological order and it was easy to read. This is a great overall history of WWI however I suspect history buffs would gain little from it. If like me you do not know much, then I recommend this book!

A short compact well written account of the build up & main actions of WWI. Easy to read, follow & understand. I would say it is more for the War Hobbyist than the Historian. A most enjoyable quick read. In the opening line of chapter 5 it states the war was caused by the assassination of a Hungarian official, this is incorrect he was as it states in the first chapter Austrian.

Free, so that’s a good thing. But it is more of a list of battles than a considered description. Some shocking errors ( confusing the League of Nations with the United Nations for example and describing frank Ferdinand as an official). Hilarious American Nationalism too. Once the us got involved everything got sorted quickly apparently. There is some yah booing at the Soviet Union as well. It passed 45 mins but if you are new to the subject, don’t take it too seriously

I've read a few different short ww1 books and this one ranks among the best. Although it is short there is a lot of detail involved and sometimes it was like reading through a detailed timeline . My only gripe is when battles are referred to as american and allies, America was part of the allies, why refer to them as their own entity. But that's my just having a moan, its a decent book and whether you're starting to learn about the war from a beginner point of view or are just refreshing your knowledge it is definitely worth a read . Recommended.

....FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Henry Freemen, get a proof reader!! There are more typos in this than if it had been transcribed by an excited baboon; and not just trivially annoying than for then typos (my most frequent BTW) but meaning altering except for expect for example, and more critically fact changing. Surely you know a retired history/English teacher who do it for a few quid, heck I know people who'd do it for free (and a mention on the title page)