Winston Churchill (1874-1965) the First Lord of the British admiralty. Churchill is better known for his role as Britain's Prime Minister during World War Two but he played a significant role in World War One too. He was the head of Britain's navy until he was demoted in 1915 following the British failure at the Dardanelles. After, he resigned his post, he served on the western front as a battalion commander.
Kitchener
Lord Horatio Kitchener (1850-1916) a British military leader and statesman who, as secretary of state for war in the first years of World War one, organised armies on an unprecedented scale. Unlike many in government and the military, he foresaw a war lasting for years and planned accordingly. Kitchener enlisted and trained huge numbers of volunteers for a succession of entirely new 'kitchener armies'. But his cabinet colleagues did not share the public worship of Kitchener and he was gradually relieved of his responsibilities. His support for the disastrous Dardanelles operation, combined with the 'shell crisis' of 1915 eroded his reputation further. Haig
General Douglas Haig (1861-1928) a British commander on the Western Front for most of World War One. The huge casualties that his military strategy produced has made him a controversial figure. Haig believed that the war could only be won on the Western Front. This caused friction with Lloyd George, secretary of state for war and prime minister from December 1916, who disagreed with this strategy and supported alternate schemes and intrigued against Haig. Between August and November 1918 the allied forces under Haig's command achieved a series of victories against the German army which resulted in the end of the war. Other key individuals:
- Franz Ferdinand - The archduke of Austria, nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph and heir to the Habsburg throne. His assassination on June 28th 1914, by Serbian militant Gavrilo Princip is widely considered the unofficial start of World War One.
- Paul Von Hindenburg - A German general credited with a major victory over Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. One month later, Hindenburg was promoted to commander in chief of the German land armies. He served this position until the end of the war.
- Constantine I - The king of Greece for much of the war. Although Greece remained neutral during his reign, Constantine had strongly pro-German sentiments. But his government favored the Allies. He abdicated on June 12th 1917 under pressure of a threatened Allied invasion. Less than one month later Greece entered the war on the side of the Allied forces.
- Woodrow Wilson - The President of the United States for the entire period of the war. During the first half of the war, Wilson maintained a strictly neutral position and tried to serve as an active intermediary between the two sides. However, he had to change his position when Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare and the American public was scandalized by the infamous Zimmermann telegram in 1917.
No comments:
Post a Comment