প্রথম বিশ্বযুদ্ধের মিত্রশক্তি

নিরপেক্ষ দেশ বেলজিয়াম দখল করায় যুক্তরাজ্য ৪ আগস্ট ১৯১৪ সালে জার্মানের বিপক্ষে যুদ্ধ ঘোষণা করে।[17] ব্রিটিশ সাম্রাজ্য কিছু অর্ধ-শাসিত রাজ্য দখল করেছিলো, সহজাতভাবে সেগুলোও যুদ্ধ প্রচেষ্টার অন্তর্ভুক্ত হয়ে যায়। এদের মধ্যে অস্ট্রেলিয়া, কানাডা, নিউজিল্যান্ড, নিউফাউন্ডল্যান্ড, এবং দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকা উল্লেখযোগ্য।

জিব্রাল্টার, সাইপ্রাস এবং মাল্টা ব্রিটিশ সাম্রাজ্যের বশ্যতা শিকার করে নিয়েছিলো।

প্রথম বিশ্বযুদ্ধের সময় যুক্তরাজ্য কিছু উপনিবেশ, আশ্রিত রাজ্য, এবং অর্ধ শাসিত অঞ্চলের অধিকারি ছিলো। পূর্ব আফ্রিকা, নায়সাল্যান্ড, উত্তর ও দক্ষিণ রোডেশিয়া এবং উগান্ডা তখন জার্মান সৈণ্যদের সাথে যুদ্ধে লিপ্ত ছিলো। পশ্চিম আফ্রিকায় গোল্ড কোস্ট এবং নাইজেরিয়া তোগোল্যান্ড এবং ক্যমেরুন থেকে আগত জার্মান সৈণ্যদের বিরুদ্ধে সামরিক প্রস্তুতি নিচ্ছিলো। দক্ষিণ-পূর্ব আফ্রিকার অর্ধ শাসিত রাজ্যগুলোও দক্ষিণ-পূর্ব জার্মান সৈন্যদের সাথে যুদ্ধে লিপ্ত ছিলো।

Canada and Newfoundland were two autonomous dominions during the war that made major military contributions to the British war effort.

Other British dependent territories in the Americas included: British Honduras, the Falkland Islands, British Guiana, and Jamaica.

The UK held large possessions in Asia, including the Indian Empire which was an assortment of British imperial authorities in the territory now defined as India, Bangladesh, Burma, and Pakistan.

Other British territories at the time included: British Malaya – referring to several Malay states under British control as a result of the Straits Settlements, North Borneo, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong.

Australia and New Zealand were two autonomous dominions of the UK in Oceania during the war. Australia had become an independent nation state in 1901. Having strong cultural ties with the United Kingdom, the nations declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914.

Russian artillery firing.

In response to Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia in 1914, Russian government officials denounced the Austro-Hungarian invasion as an "ignoble war" on a "weak country".[18] Russian government official Nikolaĭ N. Shebeko stated: "the attack on Serbia by a powerful empire such as Austria, supposedly in order to defend its existence, cannot be understood by anyone in my country; it has been considered simply as a means of delivering a death-blow to Serbia."[18] Russia held close diplomatic relations with Serbia, and Russian foreign minister Sergey Sazonov suspected the events were a conspiracy between Austria-Hungary and Germany to expel Russian influence in the Balkans.[18] On 30 July 1914, Russia enacted a general mobilization. The day after general mobilization was enacted, Austria-Hungary's ally Germany declared war on Russia prior to expected Russian intervention against Austria-Hungary.

Following a raid by Ottoman warships on the Russian port of Odessa, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire in November 1914.[19]

French soldiers crossing a river on their way to Verdun during the Battle of Verdun.

After Germany declared war on Russia, France with its alliance with Russia prepared a general mobilization in expectation of war. On 3 August 1914, Germany declared war on France.[20]

Japanese soldiers landing in Tsingtao during the Siege of Tsingtao in which Allied forces seized control of Germany's Kiautschou Bay concession.

Japan declared war on Germany after it did not accept an ultimatum sent by Japan to Germany, demanding that Germany extinguish its title to the Kiautschou Bay concession and restore that territory to China.[21] The Japanese government appealed to the Japanese public that Japan was not merely entering a "European War" on behalf of European powers, but that Japan was fighting on behalf of Asians against a belligerent European power, Germany, that Japan identified as the "source of evil in the Far East".[21] Thus as a result of this, Japan was following through with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.[21]

Italian alpine troops.

Italy had been a member of the Triple Alliance alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary since the 1880s, however the Triple Alliance stipulated that all parties must be consulted in the event of one country engaging in war and Italy was not informed of this.[22] As such Italy claimed that it was not obligated to join their war effort.[22] Italy's relations with Germany and Austria-Hungary in contrast to the Allies were additionally affected by the fact that in 1913, Britain supplied Italy with 90 percent of its annual imports of coal.[22] The war effort of the Central Powers meant that Germany and Austria-Hungary were using their coal supplies for the war, and little was available to be exported to Italy.[22] Italy initially attempted to pursue neutrality from 1914 to 1915.[22]

After diplomatic negotiations, Britain and France convinced Italy to join the war effort with promises that Italy would gain favourable territorial concessions from the Central Powers, including Italian-populated territories of Austria-Hungary.[23] Italy ordered mobilization on 22 May 1915, and issued an ultimatum to Austria-Hungary, and then declared war on Austria-Hungary, though it did not declare war on Germany.[23]

Serbian soldiers during World War I

Serbia was invaded by Austria-Hungary after Austria-Hungary placed a stringent ultimatum to the Serbian government demanding full compliance to an Austro-Hungarian investigation of complicity by the Serbian government in the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. Serbia agreed to most of Austria-Hungary's demands but because it did not fully comply, Austria-Hungary invaded.

Serbia had the diplomatic support of Russia, and both Serbia and Russia resented Austria-Hungary's absorption of Bosnia and Herzegovina that held a substantial Serb population. Serbia had expanded in size through its actions in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 when the Ottoman Empire's control in the Balkans collapsed.

During the war, Serbia justified the war as being the result of Austro-Hungarian imperialism towards Serbs and South Slavs, Serbia cooperated with Yugoslavists including the Yugoslav Committee who sought pan-South-Slav unification, particularly through liberating South Slavs from Austria-Hungary. In the Corfu Declaration in 1917, the Serbian government officially declared its intention to form a state of Yugoslavia.

The first two allied victories in the war were won by the Serbian army, on the mountains of Cer and Kolubara, in western Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian army was expelled from the country, suffering heavy losses. Serbia suffered great losses during the war, almost 50% of all men and around 30% of its entire population were killed.

Romanian 250 mm Negrei Model 1916 mortar at the National Military Museum

Vlaicu III

Romanian troops at Mărășești

Equal status with the main Allied Powers was one of the primary conditions for Romania's entry into the War. The Powers officially recognized this status through the 1916 Treaty of Bucharest.[24] Romania fought on 3 of the 4 European Fronts: Eastern, Balkan and Italian, fielding in total over 1,200,000 troops.[25]

Romanian military industry was mainly focused on converting various fortification guns into field and anti-aircraft artillery. Up to 334 German 53 mm Fahrpanzer guns, 93 French 57 mm Hotchkiss guns, 66 Krupp 150 mm guns and dozens more 210 mm guns were mounted on Romanian-built carriages and transformed into mobile field artillery, with 45 Krupp 75 mm guns and 132 Hotchkiss 57 mm guns being transformed into anti-aircraft artillery. The Romanians also upgraded 120 German Krupp 105 mm howitzers, the result being the most effective field howitzer in Europe at that time. Romania even managed to design and build from scratch its own model of mortar, the 250 mm Negrei Model 1916.[26]

Other Romanian technological assets include the building of Vlaicu III, the world's first aircraft made of metal.[27] The Romanian Navy possessed the largest warships on the Danube. They were a class of 4 river monitors, built locally at the Galați shipyard using parts manufactured in Austria-Hungary, and the first one launched was Lascăr Catargiu, in 1907.[28][29] The Romanian monitors displaced almost 700 tons, were armed with three 120 mm naval guns in 3 turrets, two 120 mm naval howitzers, four 47 mm anti-aircraft guns and two 6.5 machine guns.[30] The monitors took part in the Battle of Turtucaia and the First Battle of Cobadin. The Romanian-designed Schneider 150 mm Model 1912 howitzer was considered one of the most modern field guns on the Western Front.[31]

Romania's entry into the War in August 1916 provoked major changes for the Germans. General Erich von Falkenhayn was dismissed and sent to command the Central Powers forces in Romania, which enabled Hindenburg's subsequent ascension to power.[32] Due to having to fight against all of the Central Powers on the longest front in Europe (1,600 km) and with little foreign help (only 50,000 Russians aided 650,000 Romanians in 1916),[33] the Romanian capital was conquered that December. Vlaicu III was also captured and shipped to Germany, being last seen in 1942.[34] The Romanian administration established a new capital at Iași and continued to fight on the Allied side in 1917.[35] Despite being relatively short, the Romanian campaign of 1916 provided considerable respite for the Western Allies, as the Germans ceased all their other offensive operations in order to deal with Romania.[36] After suffering a tactical defeat against the Romanians (aided by Russians) in July 1917 at Mărăști, the Central Powers launched two counterattacks, at Mărășești and Oituz. The German offensive at Mărășești was soundly defeated, with German prisoners later telling their Romanian captors that German casualties were extremely heavy, and that they "had not encountered such stiff resistance since the battles of Somme and Verdun".[37] The Austro-Hungarian offensive at Oituz also failed. On 22 September, the Austro-Hungarian Enns-class river monitor SMS Inn was sunk by a Romanian mine near Brăila.[38][39] After Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and dropped out of the War, Romania was left surrounded by the Central Powers and eventually signed a similar treaty on 7 May 1918. Despite being forced to cede land to Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, Romania ended up with a net gain in territory due to the Union with Bessarabia. On 10 November, Romania re-entered the War and fought a war with Hungary that lasted until August 1919.

1. Karel Schelle, The First World War and the Paris Peace Agreement, GRIN Verlag, 2009, p. 24
2. First World War.com – Feature Articles – The Causes of World War One
3. The Treaty of Sèvres, 1920
4. US Declaration of War
5. Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications
6. H.J.Res.169: Declaration of War with Austria-Hungary, WWI, United States Senate
7. Tucker&Roberts pp. 1232, 1264
8. Tucker&Roberts p. 1559
9. Perry (2004), p.xiii
10. S.N. Broadberry; Mark Harrison (২০০৫)। The Economics of World War I. illustrated। Cambridge University Press। পৃষ্ঠা 7। সংগ্রহের তারিখ ২০১৫-০৩-১৬।
11. কোরিয়া, ফরমোসা, কুওয়ানতাং and সাখালিন
12. Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina
13. As Hawaii and Alaska were not yet U.S. states, they are included in the dependencies
14. Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama
15. S.N. Broadberry; Mark Harrison (২০০৫)। The Economics of World War I. illustrated। Cambridge University Press। পৃষ্ঠা 8। সংগ্রহের তারিখ ২০১৫-০৩-১৬।
16. Germany (and colonies), Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
17. Tucker, Spencer C. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. 2009. P1562.
18. Jelavich, Barbara. Russia's Balkan Entanglements, 1806–1914. P262
19. Afflerbach, Holger; David Stevenson, David. An Improbable War: The Outbreak of World War 1 and European Political Culture. Berghan Books. 2012. P. 293.
20. Tucker, Spencer C. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. 2009. P1556.
21. Hamilton, Richard F; Herwig, Holger H. Decisions for War, 1914–1917. P155.
22. Hamilton, Richard F; Herwig, Holger H. Decisions for War, 1914–1917. P194.
23. Hamilton, Richard F; Herwig, Holger H. Decisions for War, 1914–1917. P194-198.
24. Charles Upson Clark, United Roumania, p. 135
25. Spencer C. Tucker, Pricilla Mary Roberts, Encyclopedia of World War I, p. 273
26. Adrian Storea, Gheorghe Băjenaru, Artileria română în date și imagini (Romanian artillery in data and pictures), pp. 40, 49, 50, 54, 59, 61, 63, 65 and 66 (in Romanian)
27. Jozef Wilczynski, Technology in Comecon: Acceleration of Technological Progress Through Economic Planning and the Market, p. 243
28. International Naval Research Organization, Warship International, Volume 21, p. 160
29. Frederick Thomas Jane, Jane's Fighting Ships, p. 343
30. Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World Fighting Ships 1906–1921, p. 422
31. Adrian Storea, Gheorghe Băjenaru, Artileria română în date și imagini (Romanian artillery in data and pictures), p. 53 (in Romanian)
32. Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History, p. 282
33. Glenn E. Torrey, Romania and World War I, p. 58
34. Michael Hundertmark, Holger Steinle, Phoenix aus der Asche – Die Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung Berlin, pp. 110–114 (in German)
35. România în anii primului război mondial (Romania int he years of the First World War), Volume II, p. 830 (in Romanian)
36. Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History, p. 287
37. King of Battle: Artillery in World War I, p. 347
38. Angus Konstam, Gunboats of World War I, p. 29
39. René Greger, Austro-Hungarian warships of World War I, p. 142