West European Studies

Some who fought the First World War (1914-1918) called it the Great War. Calling any war great raises problems, especially for anyone who regards war as immoral. Great implies heroic deeds, as in Alexander the Great or enjoyment, as in that was a great experience, film or book. In one sense, Great simply describes the wars magnitude, which was bigger than any previous conflict. This use of great has no moral or evaluative implication. On the other hand, great was also used because, for some, the war would end all war. It was a war against war, fought to establish peace, to make diplomacy the means for resolving disputes between nations. Here, great describes high ideals that motivated some who fought. Compared with previous wars, as a description of its extent, the war was great. However, the war did not end war, so any more ideal use of this description lacks credibility. Even the actual causes of the war remain obscure, which challenges the idea that it qualifies as great. During the subsequent peace, mistakes were made. Largely because Germany had earlier humiliated France, instead of being re-integrated into a more equitable Europe, Germany was now humiliated. Idealism failed to become reality. The fact that the Second World War occurred undermines grounds for describing the First as great on idealist grounds. Focusing on France, where the brunt of the Western Front was fought, reasons for calling the War great are analyzed, followed by a discussion of how the idealism expressed failed to win the peace. It took another tragic war to achieve peace in Europe.

Why the war was called great
Europeans, not least of all the French, entered the twentieth century with high hopes. No major conflict had occurred in Europe since the end of the Napoleonic era. Wars that had taken place impacted very little on French life and society. In fact, nineteenth century wars had negligible effect on the evolution of French society (Dupeux, 201). In contrast, World War One had a cataclysmic effect upon the history of mankind and brought about major changes in French society (Griffiths and Griess, 1). Four years of war left deep wounds on every aspect of French life, making any description of the event as great implausible (Jones, 242). Once they had won the war, those who chose to call the war great failed to put their high ideals into practice. The war pitted Germany and its allies, including the Ottoman Empire, against Britain, France, Russia and their allies. In April 1917 the United States entered the war on the side of its eventual victors. The war would become known as the First World War because, fought on every ocean it involved nations from every continent. French, German and British colonies in Asia and Africa and elsewhere were also participants. Fronts were the Western, which stretched across the whole of France, the Eastern, in Italy, the Balkans, several in the Middle East and Africa as well as at sea and in the air. Italy switched sides before the end of the war. Russia withdrew. No previous war covered as large a geographical space. The Second World War would see fewer military but more civilian fatalities, including victims of the Holocaust and of the nuclear bombing of Japan.

Surprisingly, scholars continue to debate exactly what caused the First World War. On the one hand, it has been described as a veil separating a former, more tranquil way of life from what humanity has subsequently experienced (Grifiths and Griess, 1). In other words, it was a turning point in human history. On the other hand, the reasons for the outbreak of general war in August 1914 still remain vague and subjects of violent disagreement (ibid). Regardless of particular events that preceded the war and sparked off conflict between the major powers, it was longstanding rivalry between France and Britain on the one side, Germany and Austria on the other that caused the conflict. The latter had largely missed out on overseas colonial expansion. Compared with the former, they also industrialized late and wanted to catch up, to challenge the former. This led to both sides strengthening military capacities, anticipating conflict. French-German relations were especially bitter due to the result of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), which saw France lose Alsace-Lorraine and accept humiliating peace-terms. These included large reparations (Griffiths and Griess, 2). Germany deliberately tried to keep France weak and isolated while pursuing its own expansionist agenda. While retaining relatively friendly relations with his British cousin, the British king, the German Kaiser caused numerous small conflicts, some diplomatic, over overseas spheres of influence. He also built up his navy. This strained British-German relations Long dominant on the high seas the British saw German naval power as a threat to their existence and of evidence of German ambition to achieve European and world domination (Griffiths and Griess, 5). French and British territorial ambitions within Europe were by now extinct  they saw themselves as nation states within natural geographical or cultural-linguistic borders. Germany was an empire empires set no limits on territorial expansion. This all contributed to what became the first total war from August 1914.

The Nature and Course of the War focus on the French experience
The nature of the war that followed was radically different from recent conflicts. It was longer, more widespread. It did not see cavalry charges across open countryside. Huge armies, equipped with modern weapons, faced each other across dug into trenches separated by no-mans land. Months saw little advance or retreat by either side. Some thought that the war would be over by Christmas 1915 but it went on and on, ending November 11, 1918. The Western Front stretched across France, North to South with the area East of under German occupation. Belgium was occupied. Netherlands was neutral. The Front, for much of the conflict, was the Hindenburg Line that ran from Lens to Verdun across North East France. The First Battle of the Somme (July-November 1916) (60,000 British casualties occurred on the first day) won only six miles of territory but forced the Germans back behind their line, conceding 30 miles. Finally, after the US joined the allies against Germany, it was the Hundred Days Offensive in September 1918 that finally broke the line, leading to the surrender of some German troops and the Armistice of November 11, 1918.

The Nature of French support for the War
Citing George A Panichas, Griffiths and Griess describe the generation that fought the war as idealists. They believed in social progress, human development, in universal justice and freedom. They were responsive to cause, principle and duty. Many who had espoused pacifist principles willingly compromised these to support the war. They did so because they believed that such a huge conflict must result in progress, ending future war. War could be supported as a mitigated good to achieve the unmitigated good of a peaceful world. In France, the trade union movement tended toward pacifism. The 1913 trade union congress advocated refusal to serve the army in the case of war (Dupeux, 181). Yet during the war, the unions generally supported the war effort (Jones, 242).

Indeed, before the war France was a divided society, yet France succeeded in entering the war as a united nation. Religious, political and social differences were set aside (Jones, 243). French socialists who had remained outside government accepted positions in a Cabinet that reflected every shade of the political spectrum (Jones, 243). If it really could establish a durable peace, even some who abhorred war saw fighting a costly war might be regarded as worthwhile. Of course, regaining national prestige and punishing Germany for the humiliation of 1871 was also a factor. Yet the idealism that many carried with them into the war they chose to call great is not to be discounted. Many really did want the war to result in a better, more peaceful world.

France threw itself into the war. Only 1 of men dodged the draft (Jones, 243). The enemy occupied territory east of the Western Front. Industry was placed on a war footing, with production of armaments the priority. One of the most permanent and significance social and political changes was the increase in scope of government authority. Before the war, France was a highly decentralized system To ensure victory, there had to be state intervention not only in the management of the railways, shipping, raw materials, the allocation of labor, the control of armaments manufacture, but even in finance and housing (Dupeux, 201). The problem was that the government was not very efficient, so there was a lot of waste. Price controls were imposed. Bread was rationed followed by other items. Huge numbers died. Some eight million men were mobilized (20.5 of the population compared with 12.5  in unoccupied Britain). Three million were wounded and 1,400,000 killed. 600, 000 Frenchmen died in one year alone (1915) (Jones, 245). Far from being great the war was often stupid. Generals in the rear, used to fighting a different type of war, had few qualms sending the best and brightest of a generation to be cut down by battlefield fire (Jones, 245). Many women who had not previously worked labored in the factories, gaining new freedoms and expectations. It was not until 1939, though, that a French woman could apply for a passport without a husband or fathers approval (Jones, 252). Loss of life saw the government make contraception illegal. In 1920, state medals were introduced for fertility and threw its support behind celebration of Mothers Day (Jones, 252).

Financing the war was a major issue. Gold reserves were depleted, new taxes (including income tax) levied and government stocks sold in return for loans. The war effort saw small firms replaced by much larger corporations and the development of mass, assembly line production that turned workers into arms without brains, changing the nature of labor (Dupeux, 209). After the war, the gold standard had ended, gone were the gold franc, the sleepy little towns, leisurely craftsmanship, general economic feather-bedding. The total war effort, involving a whole industrial economy, paid for by credit and human sacrifice changed French society (Dupeux, 201). Inflation was high. Levels of personal wealth had declined. Wages were lowered at the beginning of the war (Dupeux, 209). On the other hand, the unions, having cooperated with the war, could demand better working conditions, such as the 8 hour day, arguing that the working class should be rewarded for the part they had played in national defense (Dupeux, 209). When the war ended, industrial and financial recovery was hindered by the need to switch from armaments to peaceful alternatives. The heartland of French industry was the occupied North East. Heavily damaged, it needed reconstruction (Jones, 150).

Why the idealists failed to win the peace
The war was followed by a brief period of prosperity. With better labor conditions, socialists were happier to enter the political system. Arguably, fewer social divisions existed than before. However, debts had to be paid. Many believed that the only way was to recover damages from Germany. At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, which many also saw as the worlds best yet opportunity to end war, punitive war reparations were charged to Germany. Alsace-Lorraine was restored to France. The US and the British managed to reduce reparations but France insisted on as much as she could get, wanting to humiliate Germany as Germany had humiliated her in 1871. In fact, Germany could not meet the payments, which soon slowed to a trickle (Jones, 150). In 1923, France occupied the Rhineland  in an attempt to force Germany to step up its repayment schedule (Jones, 250). Already, force was being used despite the post Paris Conference commitment to use diplomacy instead. In 1928, France began to build the defensive Maginot Line against the possibility of a future German invasion. Already, another war was seriously contemplated.

Conclusion
The idealists could not or did not win the Peace. Humiliating Germany made World War II inevitable. Despite internationally imposed restrictions, Germany re-armed. World War II followed. After that war, finally realizing that punitive reparations only result in resentment, Germany was included in post-war recovery and reconstruction. From this, the European Union emerged. French and Germans now have the same EU passport, a single currency and better relations than at any previous time. The First World War was not great although it might have been great had it really ended war. Instead, it was a prelude to World War 11. Failing to prevent that conflict, it was a sad tragic, stupid war, far short of  greatness in the annals of human folly.