The History Book Club discussion

What are the questions that you have about WW1 that you hope will be answered by our reading and the on going discussion of Keegan's book?

We are not answering these here we are just posting our questions that we hope will be answered.

I thought we could add all of the questions that we might have or things that we would like to discuss while reading this book. We can capture them here and then carry them over to our discussions once we officially kick off.

As we discuss the following questions and bring them up for discussion, I will use strike text.

John Keegan

Some Questions that I think might be worth discussing:

1. CAUSES AND ORIGIN OF THE WAR
a) What are the overt and the covert causes of World War I. In every conflict there are always those causes that have been simmering beneath the surface for a very long time and those that are used as a rationalization to do something you have wanted to do for just that long; but did not have the excuse. Many times the flimsiest of reasons start conflicts in the short term and they have nothing to do with the underlying festering that has been going on for decades. So we will need to examine the short and long term causes of the war.
b) What was the immediate cause of war?
c) What were the Pre-Conflicts? (Including Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) · Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912) · First Balkan War (1912–1913) · Second Balkan War (1913))
d) Understand the prelude before the war and the circumstances surrounding the following: Origins · Sarajevo assassination · July Ultimatum

2. ALLIANCES

a) What were the strategic alliances that had been formed in Europe and elsewhere and who was alligned with whom. Were there countries that were major irritants? What were they doing that caused unrest? Were there economic alliances that were too important to be broken?

3. AUTHORITY AND LEADERSHIP

a) Who were the world leaders at that time and what roles did they play in creating peace, havoc or war? What game were they playing and what kind of hand had they been dealt? What were these leaders trying to accomplish and for whom? What were their hidden agendas?

4. PRE WAR CONDITIONS

a) What were the pre war conditions of Europe and the world like? What was the economic picture - who was doing well and who was not and why? What were the tensions that were ignored; what others were worsened? Were there situations that folks turned a blind eye to?

5. THE ISMs?

a) Were there examples of imperialism, militarism and nationalism. How did these three isms help propel the world into war?

6. MISTAKES, BLUNDERS, POLITICAL ERRORS

a) What were the mistakes, blunders, political errors in judgement that may have propelled the world into a war that could have potentially been avoided? Why did it take the United States so long to enter the war?

7. THE UNITED STATES INVOLVEMENT

a) Why did it take so long for the United States to enter the war? What was happening domestically which influenced its decision? Why did the United States finally enter the war? What was the impact of its involvement and what would have happened if it did not join the conflict?

8. PEACE PROCESS, TREATIES AND THE LIKE

a) Were there attempts at peace and treaties before the start of the war (what were they). How did they work or not and what caused them to fail? Were there attempts at peace after and/or during the war itself? At the end of the war, was there a peace treaty, what were its terms, were these terms equitable and just? If they were, how were they; if not - why not?
b) We will discuss the following agreements and treaties:

Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire ·
Sykes-Picot •
St.-Jean-de-Maurienne •
French-Armenian •
Damascus •
Paris Peace Conference ·
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ·
Treaty of Lausanne ·
Treaty of London ·
Treaty of Neuilly ·
Treaty of St. Germain ·
Treaty of Sèvres ·
Treaty of Trianon ·
Treaty of Versailles

9. CAUSES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

a) Did the first world war somehow propel us into the second one? If so, how; if not, then how did the world find themselves in another quagmire years later with some of the same belligerants?

10. WAS WORLD WAR I AVOIDABLE?

a) Was World War I avoidable? Was it a moral war? If it could have been avoided, where were the missed opportunities. What countries failed to act or were their actions the wrong ones. Was the war inevitable? If so, why was it?

11. WOODROW WILSON

a) What are folks' opinions on the part he played? Positive, Negative, he did win the Nobel Peace Prize.
b) What were the elements of his Peace Treaty?

12. WORLD WAR I WEAPONRY AND TECHNOLOGY USE/MILITARY TACTICS AND STRATEGY

a) What weaponry, technological advances were prevalent in World War I that were not part of warfare before? What weaponry did the soldiers face from their adversaries; what were the military tactics and strategy used on both sides? How effective and/or ineffective were these varied techniques?
b) Mustard Gas? (mentioned by Virginia)
c) We will address the following:

Military engagements ·
Naval warfare ·
Air warfare ·
Cryptography ·
Horse use ·
Poison gas ·
Railways ·
Technology ·
Trench warfare ·
Total war ·
Surviving veterans

13. OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE WAR?

a) What kind of war was World War I; was it mainly offensive, defensive or both? Why?
b) What part did trench warfare, the machine guns, barbed wire play?
c) Were there conflicting goals?

14. WHY TRENCH WARFARE?

a) Why did trench warfare evolve; why was World War I the war of the trenches. What were these trenches like? What was life like for the soldiers who fought in these trenches?
b) How unsanitary were the soldiers' living conditions? What diseases were part of the trench warfare living environment?
c) One hears of many diseases with the word trench in them. Were these diseases called their names because they all originated in World War I with soldiers who were fighting in the trenches? Example...trench mouth, trench fever, trench foot, shell shock.
d) Did the tanks change anything in terms of the effectiveness and the security of the trenches?
e) Were there any benefits to trench warfare? What were they?

15. CULTURAL AND SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF WORLD WAR I

a) What were the consequences of World War I, both during and after the war - short and long term?
b) What were the roles of women and what were the impacts of aviation, what were the impact and effects upon medicine, careers, population growth, education. social services, politics?
c) Were diseases and epidemics more prevalent because of the war and the troops which as a matter of course spread to civilians?
d) What epidemics and plagues were in part caused by the conflict?
e) Were there any medical or technological advances that came out of World War I?
f) How did the war impact the changing roles of women left behind?
g) What was the impact upon the arts?

Museums, Cultural Performances, Plays and Concerts? Did much of this come to a screeching halt? (Did not find much of anything about this - so was not able to spotlight any discussion)

16. THEATERS, CAMPAIGNS, BATTLES, COMMANDERS

a) We should be able to identify the various main theaters of World War I, the various campaigns and at the various least the major battles of each campaign, goals, dates, commanders, results.
b) Who were the belligerants, what countries were involved and where and when were they involved? When did various countries enter the war and what was the impetus for their involvement?
c) Who were the major commanders and generals from each country? What locations, theaters, campaigns and battles were they and their countrymen involved in?
d) What countries were aligned with each other? Why did Turkey enter the war and what side was she on? What was the reason for this alliance? The Gallipoli Campaign was part of the Middle Eastern Theater - why was it such a failure? Why was it fought in the first place; what were the goals and the reason for this decision? How did WW1 lead to the secularization of Turkey and the Ataturk revolution?
e) Why did England invade Palestine? How is the world dealing with that situation still today? What was the British Mandate of Palestine? What were the impacts of this invasion after the war ended?
f) Who were the Entente powers and what role did Japan play in World War I? How did Japan help Britain and more than once? What happened between the end of World War I and Pearl Harbor to change the mindset of the Japanese? What contributed to the rise of militarism in Japan after the end of World War I?
g) Be able to identify the following: Entente Powers and the Central Powers.
h) Understand some of the major battles and their timelines:

1914
Battle of the Frontiers · Battle of Cer · First Battle of the Marne · Battle of Tannenberg · Battle of Galicia · Battle of the Masurian Lakes · Battle of Kolubara · Battle of Sarıkamış · Race to the Sea · First Battle of Ypres

1915
Second Battle of Ypres · Battle of Gallipoli · Battles of the Isonzo · Great Retreat · Conquest of Serbia · Siege of Kut

1916
Erzerum Offensive · Battle of Verdun · Lake Naroch Offensive · Battle of Asiago · Battle of Jutland · Battle of the Somme · Brusilov Offensive · Conquest of Romania

1917
Capture of Baghdad · Second Battle of Arras · Kerensky Offensive · Third Battle of Ypres · Battle of Caporetto · Battle of Cambrai

1918
Armistice of Erzincan · Treaty of Brest-Litovsk · Spring Offensive · Hundred Days Offensive · Meuse-Argonne Offensive · Battle of Megiddo · Battle of Vittorio Veneto · Armistice with Germany · Armistice with Ottoman Empire

17. IMPACT OF WORLD WAR I ON OTHER CONFLICTS

a) Was there any cross pollination of the Russian Revolution from World War I? How did World War I place a great strain on the Russian government? How was World War I a key factor?
b) Understand the other conflicts going on at the same time:

Maritz Rebellion (1914–1915) · Indo-German Conspiracy (1914–1919) · Easter Rising (1916) · Russian Revolution (We have begun to introduce this connection )(1917) · Finnish Civil War (1918)

18. HOW DID WORLD WAR I END?

a) How did World War I end. Versailles Treaty? Did the war end well?
b) How did the ending of the war contribute to the next one?
c) What were the war's consequences:

Aftermath ·
"Fourteen Points" ·
League of Nations

19. MOTIVATIONS (JP QUESTION)

a) While patriotism was high during both campaigns, how were the motives different for soldiers fighting the two wars? You've heard many of the WW2 soldiers say it was because we were attacked (i.e. Pearl Harbor) and had to defend what we stood for. That was not the case in WWI. So I guess the question then is what motivated these men to fight?

20. POST CONFLICTS

a) Understand the following post conflicts:

Russian Civil War (1917–1921) ·
Armenian–Azerbaijani War (1918–1920) ·
Georgian–Armenian War (1918) ·
German Revolution (1918–1919) ·
Hungarian–Romanian War (1918–1919) ·
Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) ·
Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) ·
Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920) ·
Lithuanian Wars 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) ·
Russian invasion of Georgia (1921) ·
Irish Civil War (1922–1923)

21. CIVILIAN IMPACTS AND/OR ATROCITIES

a) We have already discussed a bit about casualties:

b) We will discuss the following:

Casualties ·
Spanish flu ·
Rape of Belgium ·
Ottoman People: (Armenian Genocide ·
Assyrian Genocide · Pontic Greek Genocide) ·
Female roles ·
Literature

As we discuss various issues and topics I will put a strike text through those items. Please if there are any other topics that I should add to the above, please let me know and I will add them promptly.