European theatre of World War I

European theatre of World War I
Part of World War I
Date August 3, 1914 – November, 1918 Location Europe Result Treaty of Versailles, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Belligerents
Central Powers:  Austria-Hungary  German Empire  Ottoman Empire Bulgaria	Entente Powers: Serbia Russian Empire  Belgium  France British Empire Australia Canada India  Newfoundland New Zealand South Africa United Kingdom Italy Romania, Greece  United States
Commanders
Franz Josef I Conrad von Hötzendorf Wilhelm II Erich von Falkenhayn Paul von Hindenburg Erich Ludendorff Mehmed V Ferdinand I	Radomir Putnik Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith David Lloyd George Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Constantin Prezan Panagiotis Danglis Woodrow Wilson John Pershing

v • d • e Theatres of World War I European Balkans – Western Front – Eastern Front – Italian Front Middle Eastern Caucasus – Mesopotamia – Sinai and Palestine – Gallipoli – Persia African South-West Africa – West Africa – East Africa Asian and Pacific Other Atlantic Ocean – Mediterranean – Naval – Aerial

v • d • e Western Front Liège – Frontiers – 1st Marne – Antwerp – Race to the Sea – 1st Ypres – 2nd Ypres – 2nd Artois – 2nd Champagne – Loos – 3rd Artois – Verdun – Somme – Arras – 2nd Aisne – Messines – Passchendaele – Cambrai – Michael – 2nd Marne – Hundred Days

v • d • e Eastern Front (World War I) Russian invasion of East Prussia Stallupönen – Gumbinnen – Tannenberg – Masurian Lakes Battle of Galicia Kraśnik – Komarow – Rawa – Przemyśl Vistula River – Łódź – Bolimov – 2nd Masurian Lakes – Gorlice-Tarnów – Great Retreat – Sventiany Offensive – Lake Naroch – Brusilov Offensive – Kerensky Offensive – Operation Albion

v • d • e Italian Front 1st Isonzo – 2nd Isonzo – 3rd Isonzo – 4th Isonzo – 5th Isonzo – Asiago – 6th Isonzo – 7th Isonzo – 8th Isonzo – 9th Isonzo – 10th Isonzo – Ortigara – 11th Isonzo – Caporetto – Piave River – Vittorio Veneto

Although considerable conflict took place outside Europe, the European theatre was the main theatre of operations during World War I and was where the War began and ended. During the four years of conflict, battle was joined by armies of unprecedented size equipped with new mechanized technologies, leaving millions dead or wounded.

Given the importance of Europe to the conflict, most histories focus the majority of their attention on the various European Theatres and so the best general overview of the European Theatre is the main article on World War I. This article will do little more than direct the reader to the secondary articles.

1 Overview 2 Western Front 3 Eastern Front 4 Italian Front 5 Balkans Front 6 Naval conflict 7 See also

The European Theatre is divided into four main Theatres of operations: the Western Front, the Eastern Front, the Italian Front, and the Balkans Front. By no means was all of Europe involved in the war. Nor did fighting take place throughout all of the major combatants territory. The United Kingdom was nearly untouched by the war. Most of France was unaffected, as was most of Germany and Italy. Some large countries in Europe remained neutral for the entire war such as Sweden and Spain - the great war passed them by without much impact. On the other hand, some countries were conquered (Serbia, Belgium, Romania). Other countries like Russia and the Ottoman Empire saw armies marching over much of their lands, with a great deal of resulting devastation.

Although the United States did join the war, due to Great Britain's control over the Atlantic Ocean, the only fighting for the U.S. Army was in Europe on the Western Front. The American army was transported by ship across the ocean so it could fight the Germans in France.

Main article: Western Front (World War I)

The Western front was the scene of continuous combat from the start of the war till the last day of the war, November 11, 1918. The fighting on the Western Front was mainly confined to the north-eastern part of France as well as Belgium. Most of France was not fought over and the Netherlands remained neutral for the entire war.

The Western Front involved the allied powers of France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and America fighting against the armed forces of the German Empire.

Main article: Eastern Front (World War I)

The Eastern front covered a very large territory, from the Baltic in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from Prussia and Galicia in the west to Latvia and Minsk to the east. The fighting on this front ended early as the last significant military operation took place in the autumn of 1917. The two Russian Revolutions of 1917 forced Russia out of the war. The Bolshevik government that took power in November 1917 had promised an end to the war and that government did sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which ended the war for Russia in March 1918.

The fighting on the Eastern Front was primarily contested by the German army and the Austro-Hungarian army on one side and the forces of the Russian Empire and Romania on the other.

Main article: Italian Campaign (World War I)

The Italian front covered only a small part of northern Italy and the western border of Austria-Hungary. The fighting here began in May 23, 1915 and lasted till November 3 1918. Most of the fighting was concentrated on a very small bit of land between the Alps and the Adriatic, near the town of Trieste.

The fighting primarily involved Italy and Austria-Hungary but also included smaller contingents from France, the UK, and the US (who fought on the side of Italy), and Germany (who was allied with Austria-Hungary).

Main article: Balkans Campaign (World War I)

The Balkans front covered all of Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Romania. It also covered northern Greece, the western part of Bulgaria, and the south and eastern parts of Austria-Hungary. Very little fighting took place in this Theatre for long periods of time. It was considered a lesser Theatre of war by the Great Powers, at least in comparison to the previously mentioned fronts.

The Central Powers of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire were opposed by the allied powers of Serbia, France, the United Kingdom, Romania, Russia, Montenegro, and Greece.

Main article: First Battle of the Atlantic

Because of the dominance of the British and French navies, only limited fighting took place in the seas around Europe. The German U-Boat fleet tried to sink British merchant ships, with some success early in the war. German U-Boats had only moderate cruising range in this war and operated mostly in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and in the Mediterranean. The German U-Boat threat was drastically reduced when the British finally adopted a convoy system in early 1917. There was one great battle in the waters near Europe: the Battle of Jutland May 31, 1916 – June 1, 1916 between the German High Seas Fleet and the British Grand Fleet. This was one of the largest sea battles in world history though, in some respects, the battle was inconclusive.

In the Adriatic, some very limited sea combat took place between the navy of Austria-Hungary and the Allied navies of France, Britain, and Italy. The strategy of the Allies was to blockade the Adriatic and monitor the movements of the Austrian fleet. In general, this strategy was successful but the Germans and the Austrians were able to send submarines out into the Mediterranean where they did some damage. The main sea base for the Austrian and German fleet in the Adriatic was Pola (modern day Pula in Croatia). Japan, an ally of the United Kingdom, sent some destroyers to the Mediterranean and they were very effective in patrol and anti-submarine activity. By contrast the Italian Navy was "languid and apathetic" (Cyril Falls "The Great War" p. 295). The only significant naval battle occurred on May 15, 1917 when three Austrian cruisers under Captain Miklós Horthy staged a raid on some Italian and British transports near Valona Albania. The raid was a partial success but the raiders were nearly destroyed by shell fire from Italian ships that chased them back to Pola.

In the Black Sea, the Russian fleet was dominant and it was lead by two skilled commanders, Admiral Eberhart and then Admiral Kolchak (who took over in 1916). By the end of 1915, the Russian fleet had nearly complete control of the sea. The Black Sea fleet was used mainly to support General Yudenich in his Caucasus Campaign.

In the Baltic Sea, the Russian fleet was essentially inactive, hiding behind the belts of mines which stretched across the entry into the Gulf of Finland. So the German Baltic fleet dominated the sea and was of occasional use to the German army on the Eastern front.

• World War I
• Europe

v • d • e World War I European theatre: (Balkans – Western Front – Eastern Front – Italian Front) Middle Eastern theatre: (Caucasus – Mesopotamia – Sinai and Palestine – Gallipoli – Persia) African theatre: (South-West Africa – West Africa – East Africa) Asian and Pacific theatre: (Siege of Tsingtao) Atlantic Ocean · Mediterranean Major participants (People) Entente Powers Russian Empire · French Empire: France, Vietnam · British Empire: United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa · Italy · Romania · United States · Serbia · Portugal · China · Japan · Belgium · Montenegro · Greece · Armenia Central Powers Germany · Austria–Hungary · Ottoman Empire · Bulgaria Timeline Pre-conflicts Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) · First Balkan War (1912–1913) · Second Balkan War (1913) · Maritz Rebellion (1914–1915) · Indo-German Conspiracy (1914–1919) Prelude Origins · Sarajevo assassination · July Ultimatum 1914 Battle of Liège · Battle of Galicia · Invasion of Serbia · First Battle of the Marne · First Battle of Arras · Battle of Sarıkamış 1915 Battle of Gallipoli · Italian Campaign · Conquest of Serbia · Ctesiphon · Siege of Kut 1916 Battle of Verdun · Battle of the Somme · Battle of Jutland · Brusilov Offensive · Conquest of Romania · Arab Revolt 1917 Second Battle of Arras · Battle of Passchendaele · Capture of Baghdad · Conquest of Palestine 1918 Spring Offensive · Battle of Baku · Hundred Days Offensive · Meuse-Argonne Offensive · Armistice with Germany · Armistice with Ottoman Empire Post-conflicts Easter Rising (1916) · Russian Revolution (1917) · Russian Civil War (1917–1921) · Finnish Civil War (1918) · North Russia Campaign (1918–1919) · Wielkopolska Uprising (1918–1919) · Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) · Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920) · Ukrainian War of Independence(1917–1921) · Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921) · Polish–Lithuanian War (1920) · Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) · Turkish War of Independence including the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1923) · Irish Civil War (1922–1923) Aspects Warfare Military engagements · Naval warfare · Air warfare · Cryptography · Poison gas · Railways · Technology · Trench warfare · Total war · Surviving veterans Civilian impact / atrocities Casualties · Spanish flu · Rape of Belgium · Ottoman People: (Armenian Genocide · Assyrian Genocide · Pontic Greek Genocide · Kurdish Genocide) · Female roles · Literature Agreements / Treaties Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire · London • Sykes-Picot • St.-Jean-de-Maurienne • French-Armenian • Damascus • Paris Peace Conference · Treaty of Brest-Litovsk · Treaty of Lausanne · Treaty of Neuilly · Treaty of St. Germain · Treaty of Sèvres · Treaty of Trianon · Treaty of Versailles Consequences Aftermath · "Fourteen Points" · League of Nations Category · Portal World War I from Wiktionary WWI Textbooks from Wikibooks WWI Quotations from Wikiquote WWI Source texts from Wikisource WWI Images & media from Commons WWI News stories from Wikinews