Poison gas was regarded by many as a weak way to fight and anyone who thought of utilizing it was quickly dismissed. "…any power that used poison gas would inevitably be branded as beyond the pale of civilization for all the time and Cochrane's idea was quietly buried." (Stokesbury 94) However the British did use poison gas during World War I with some success, albeit at the cost of their advancement in the battle. "In their assault, which coincided with that of the French to the south, the British employed poison gas themselves for the first time. It helped gain some initial successes, though in places it blew back and hampered their own advance." (Stokesbury 95) Other things were also of concern to the British and Germans as their need for new allies became a primary objective. Their desire to generate new alliances was for effort to open up new frontages of action that might exercise conclusive influence on the foremost fronts of the war like technical, as each side pursued development of new devices and armaments to give them an advantage in combat. Adding to the disagreement among the higher ups for both sides on the handling of the war, it made sense to look for new allies. "In March 1915, during World War I (1914-18), British and French forces launched an ill-fated naval attack on Turkish forces in the Dardanelles in northwestern Turkey, hoping to take control of the strategically vital strait separating Europe from Asia." ("Dardanelles Campaign") The catastrophe of the campaign on the Dardanelles, alongside the campaign that trailed later that year occurring in Gallipoli, brought about substantial fatalities and was a solemn blow to the standing of the Allied war command, as well as that of Winston Churchill, a prominent British leader who had been a longstanding advocate of an forceful naval attack against Turkey at the Dardanelles. The battle of Verdun for instance, a location picked for the single road and it being on...
Although the efforts along the eastern salient proved ineffectual, the Austrians and the Russians were able to take uninterrupted portions out of the empire, leading to creation of independent or semi-autonomous states such as Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
Germany wished to pursue an east first method, however Falkenhayn began preparation for a maneuver against Ypres set to start in April. Envisioned as a restricted offensive, he wanted to dissuade Allied attention from troop activities east, ensure a more authoritative position in Flanders, along with proper testing of a new defense, poison gas. Tear gas was initially used in January against the Russians. However, introduction of chlorine gas was used in the Second Battle of Ypres. Preparation for the gas attack involved movement 5,730 90 lb. canisters of chlorine gas by German soldiers to the front reverse Gravenstafel Ridge. It was 5:00pm on April 22, 1915 when the first poison gas attack was released, striking the French 45th and 87th Divisions. The attack opened 8,000 yards with deaths of 6,000 French soldiers.
Italy was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary. However, because the latter two powers used their coal for the war effort, and Britain provided Italy with 90% of their coal, they had to eventually side with Britain and France and declare war on Austria-Hungary. Although not particularly influenced by the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Japan declared war on Germany thus siding at least in WWI, with Britain. Turkey sided with the Central powers because of Germany's insistence on avoiding Turkey join the opposition and their need to influence Bulgaria and Romania to join the German side as well. Bulgaria did…
Over 1,000 Chinese witnesses came forth to testify in the trials which lasted until February of 1947 after the Chinese government posted notices in Nanking regarding the need for credible witnesses, (Chang 1997:170). Unlike the Nuremburg Trials, however, much of the case against the Japanese fell apart thanks to faulty prosecution and a lack of true concern for justice in the region. The events which conspired in Nanking during the
The Black Arts Era is characterized by powerful voices such as that of Ishmael Reed or Amiri Baraka. In his poem Black Art, Amiri Baraka potently draws attention to the need for a self-conscious black poetry which would accentuate intentionally all the features specific to the African-American culture. The harsh tone of the poem at the beginning and the almost raging, ferocious rhythm indicate the desire to awaken the spirit
action has President Obama proposed to undertake and why? In 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama drew a "red line" when he stated that the use of chemical weapons by Syria would not be tolerated by the international community in response to an announcement by Syrian officials that acknowledged that they possessed chemical weapons and would use them in the event of "foreign intervention" in Syria's civil war (Grier, 2013). According
War in Iraq Should we have gone to war with Iraq based on the reasons given at the time the war started? When we went to war with Iraq, Bush gave three reasons for doing so. First, he claimed that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda (Richelson, p. 44, p. 69). Secondly, he said that Saddam Hussein at the very minimum was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons and in fact might
The terrifying fear of living with the constant threat of instant annihilation from artillery shells and the soul-shaking noise and thunderous impacts of nearby strikes sent many veterans of trench warfare home with what was then called "shell shock" and which was so severe that some veterans suffered severe lifelong symptoms of what we refer to today as post traumatic stress disorder. Remarque also explores the theme of the
World War I Tactics and Weaponry In many ways, the "War to End All Wars" was fought with a wide range of increasingly modernized weaponry that was matched with obsolete tactics that resulted in millions of deaths and casualties on both sides of the conflict. Indeed, during the period between 1914 and 1918, the full brunt of early 20th century technology was brought to bear on the battlefields of Europe and