The Battle of Stalluponen
What did geography matter in WWI?
Geography in WWI affect many battles throughout the war, from climate, to terrain strategies would affect the countries win or loss of the battle. Such as in the Battle of Stalluponen the knowledge of the terrain made that the Germans won the battle, due to the fact that the Russian Commander drove an offensive line without having the height for advantage. Also the climate affected many battles throughout this war such as the Battle of Romani, were the climates high temperature exhausted and caused many deaths due to course of dehydration. This hot climate also affected the battle combat, because it was almost impossible to move men and the machinery through the sand dunes. Another drastic example of how the climate affects the battle was in the Battle of Gaza due to the fact that because of lack of water supplies and the hot temperature, the British had to cancel their battle. Another dramatic example of how the climate and terrain strategies affects ones battle is in the Battle of the Somme, where the Germans dug deep trenches for their soldiers protection, and had advantage of height over the British trench lines. But, as throughout the battle continued the battlefield became a mud swamp due to snowstorms and rain. All this examples show how terrain and climate strategies were important during the battles of World War I due to the fact that it affected the wins and losses, and the deaths of the fighting opponents.
What was the soldier’s experience in WWI?
“If you think of humanity as one large body, then war is like suicide, or at best, self mutilation. - Jerome P. Crabb, War Quotes and Quibbles. Many soldiers thought of war like this, as a place where not only your youth, experiences, hopes, but also your soul was taken away. For example in the Battle of Stalluponen, in the first battle of the war, the first battle lost for a country, over 5,000 heroes for their own nation died fighting for what they believed in was right. War was a horrible place, a never ending nightmare for millions of soldiers in WWI. As in the Battle of Verdun a passage states “…An awful word, Verdun. Numerous people, still young and filled with hope, had to lay down their lives here- their mortal remains decomposing somewhere, in between trenches, in mass graves, at cemeteries" - a German soldier, this quote demonstrates how millions of soldiers which were still young and with hopes of winning or surviving the war, lay decomposing in the battlefield, and didn't have a proper funeral for being the heroes of their country. This same battle also has a quote from Enst Tolar a German soldier who talked about the horrors of the battle such as that the soldiers, had to rest on dead soldiers only for their survival; “We don’t burry our dead, we put them into niches that are dug into the wall for us to rest in. When I creep through the trenches I don't know if I'm passing a corpse or a living man. The dead and the living all have the same greying, yellow faces” This passage truly shows the true horrors of a battle, of how you can’t distinguish the living from the death, how you have to do inhumane things only for your own survival, those are some of the terrifying things of war. In the Battle of the Somme, Kust Rohrbach a German soldier, wrote in his journal that “You know that having been too early forced to take a serious view of life, my youth, was short; I could not even fall in love properly; but it is this awful war which has actually made an old man of me.” This passage demonstrates how the awful war takes your youth, experiences, and hopes away and transforms you into an older man. As you can see war was a place where millions of lives were lost, millions of youths, hopes, experiences, and souls crushed only to recover the peace of their countries.
How did imperialism play a role in the war?
Imperialism played a big role in WWI, it caused many battles for land, deaths, and created many military alliances in an effort to contain their land and conquer more. One occasion where imperialism played a role was in the Battle of Stalluponen where when a twisted turned of events for the Russians happened, conducting an unexpected encounter with the German army, made them drift back to their borders. This is a good example because it shows how the Russians tried to take more land but failed. Another dramatic example was the Battle of the Somme, this battle which after the first day of battle, the British only gained 1.5km of land, with 57, 470 casualties. Another great example of a battle for how imperialism played a role in WWI was in the First battle of Gaza where the British advanced a distance of 15 miles from Rafa to Wadi Ghuzzee, and 5 miles west of Gaza. As seen above many battles were caused for the conquering or loosing of a strip of lands or colonies, in which many alliances and deaths were caused.
What kind of technological innovations were used in WWI?
Many new military technological innovations were used in WWI, which would cause great victory for some countries and great losses for others; such innovations were ones as the tanks, U-boats, barbed wire, machine guns, and others. In the Battle of Stalluponen the Russians lost this battle due to the fact of their poor military technology, where they had to fight with swords and their hands against the Germans guns and artillery. Another example for the technological innovations that were used for WWI were such as in the Battle of the Somme, were the British were highly prepared to fight against the German’s barbed wire, with more than three million shells,1,000 field guns, 180 heavy guns, 245 howitzers, and the invention of the tank, and new development the “Mother” were ready to enter the battlefield. Another great example for technological innovations was the Battle of Cambrai a battle known for being the first to use tanks in a combed wagon. This battles show how many technoligical innovations were used and created in WWI and how this would cause an opponent to fail or win in war.