Which best describes the first few years of world war 1?

Answer 1

World War 1 only lasted for four years, but public mood and expectation over the conflict changed dramatically during that time. When war broke out in 1914, public expectations were high that it would 'all be over by Christmas', that the Germans and Bulgarians would be routed, and that Allied casualties would be light by contrast. There was a positive mood of hope, and a genuine belief that it was a war worth fighting- tens of thousands of young men enlisted to fight within the first few weeks of war, and the celebrities of the day, such as George Robey, promoted the cause. Two events happened later that year to shatter public morale and expectations. The first was the Retreat from Mons, when British and Canadian troops were forced into a pell-mell retreat by superior German firepower- tens of thousands of Allied troops were slaughtered, many more horrifically maimed, and the remainder forced either to flee in panic or become PoWs. The second was the German naval bombardment of the North-Eastern English coastal towns of Scarborough and Hartlepool- hundreds of innocent civilians died, whole districts were obliterated, and the full horror of being civilians caught up in war was brought home to the public. These two events smashed the jingoism and confidence of Britain and the other Allies. Thenceforth, the national mood changed- it was realised that the war was going to be long, drawn-out and bloody, that there would be no quick finish to it, and that it would demand FAR greater sacrifices than had previously been thought. People became grim, bitter and afraid, and realised that they had not really understood what they had originally been letting themselves in for. Many had failed to grasp that advances in military technology would mean huge increase in casualties- hundreds of thousands of men (and thousands of women) were slaughtered by machine-gun fire and immensely powerful artillery, as well as by air raids, mortar fire and grenades. Chemical weapons added horrendously to the Death Rate, whilst air raids by Zeppelins over England and France continued to inflict suffering on the Home Front. Reports by war correspondents, letters home from serving soldiers, horrendous photographs taken by newspaper photographers, and eye-witness accounts by the wounded who had been invalided out, led to the formation of strong anti-war sentiment as early as 1915. Photographs of the war zones revealed a landscape so devastated that it resembled what we would call a nuclear wasteland; people were also shocked and horrified at the number of men who succumbed to 'shellshock' (emotional breakdown caused by the stress of the conditions), and wondered what terrors could cause healthy young men to be reduced to nervous wrecks. Anti-war feeling grew year by year amongst all sectors of society, and also within political parties- disastrous massacres such as The Somme, Gallipolli and Paschendale only served to increase demands for an end to hostilities. By 1918, even European Governments, and reactionary Generals such as Haig (who had previously had men shot for 'cowardice') began to wonder where it was all going to finish. That year also saw mutinies by British, French and German troops against futile and bloody orders to fight on- many of their officers joined them, and even a few commanders sympathised with a refusal to fight absurd battles to regain a few mere acres of muddy ground. The Armistice of 9th November 1918, came too late for the millions who had already died, but nonetheless in time to save millions more.

Answer 2

both sides were locked in a stalemate