War to end all wars

It was dubbed “The Great War” or “The War to End All Wars,” and indeed it was a great war until 30 years later, World War II came along, an even greater conflict that included the Philippines. Instead of a “War to End All Wars,” it actually laid the groundwork for a second round involving basically the same major participants, including Italy and Japan.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife by Serbian nationalists in June 1914 was the spark that led to the outbreak of World War I. By the end of July, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia with Russia, an ally of Serbia, mobilizing against Austro-Hungary. Russian intervention brought Germany into the conflict in support of Austro-Hungary.

Because of inter-locking alliances between the great powers of Europe, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. So, we had Germany fighting on two fronts, in the Eastern Front against Russia and in the Western Front against French and British forces.  But among the opposing parties, Germany was the most prepared.

Several years earlier, its military leaders had formulated what was known as the “Schlieffen Plan” (after Count Alfred Von Schlieffen, chief of the German General Staff from 1891 to 1906). It envisioned the conquest of France through a great, arcing offensive through Belgium and northern France while Austro-Hungarian forces took on Russian armies in the east. After France was defeated, German forces would then be transferred to the Eastern Front to deal with Russia and end the war, with Germany victorious.

While history records show that World War I lasted for four years (1914-1918), the outcome was actually decided during the first month of the war in August 1914. “The Guns of August” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman provides us with a brilliant and exciting account of this first month of World War I. In the words of Winston Churchill, the month was “a drama never surpassed.”

We shall not go into the war itself but let me share some interesting passages from her book about the ingenuity of French forces defending Paris from German attack.

The taxis of Paris

Tuchman writes: “The world remembers the Battle of the Marne ever since by the taxis. A hundred of them were already in the service of the military government of Paris. With 500 more, each carrying five soldiers and making the 60-kilometer trip to the Oureq (the frontline) twice, General Clergerie figured he could transport 6,000 troops to the hard-pressed front. The order was issued at 1 pm, the hour for departure fixed for 6 pm. Police passed the word to the taxis in the streets.

“Enthusiastically, the chauffeurs emptied out their passengers, explaining proudly that they had to go to the battle. Returning to their garages for gas, they were ordered to the place of assembly where, at the given time, all 600 were lined up in perfect order. General Galleni, called to inspect them, was enchanted. ‘Well, here at least is something out of the ordinary.’ Each with its burden of soldiers, with trucks, buses and assorted vehicles added to the train, the taxis drove off, as evening fell – the last gallantry of 1914, the last crusade of the Old World.”

The decisive Battle of the Marne ended in a German retreat, and the opportunity to win the war. But casualties suffered by the French just for the month of August came up to nearly 300,000 killed, wounded and missing. By the end of the year, over a million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the battlefields of Europe, with no victory in sight, for the Allies or the Central Powers.

On the Western Front, the battleline from Belgium through northern France consisted of trenches facing each other in a terrible war of attrition.

In April 1917, with the entry of the United States into the conflict, the scales were tipped in favor of the Allies.

The American Expeditionary Force was headed by General John Pershing whose exploits in the Moro Wars in the Philippines brought him to the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt. He would be promoted from captain to brigadier general, jumping over 900 senior officers.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 11, 1918, in a train carriage in the forest of Compiegne, Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies. It was not a surrender but it called for a ceasefire to take effect six hours after signing of the agreement. At 11 am, of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War came to an end. Nov. 11 is Armistice Day, celebrated in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries as Remembrance Day. In the United States, it has been renamed Veterans Day, honoring military veterans of all wars.

Philippine participation in World War I consisted mainly of the funding of one US destroyer that was christened the USS Rizal. In support of the war effort against Germany and her allies, the colonial government in 1917 organized a Philippine National Guard (PNG) to be part of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe. However, the PNG was never deployed overseas. The Filipino soldiers who did set foot in Europe during the war were enlisted directly into the US Army.

The most famous of them was Tomas Mateo Claudio, who died in the Battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918. He was the first Filipino casualty and was followed by around 50 more during the war. Claudio, a native of Morong, Rizal, enlisted in the Marine Corps after working in Nevada as a postal clerk. A school and a street are named in his honor in his hometown.