Military History of the First World War DOWNLOAD FREE

First Battle of Ypres Falkenhayn also initiated an attack against the British held sector of the Western Front in an endeavour to take Calais and Dunkirk. This is the First Battle of Ypres - 12th October to 11th November. The British force, known as the "Old Contemptibles'1, were heavily outnumbered and were driven back to Ypres. Both forces were steadily reinforced, and fought each other to a standstill. However, on 31st October the Germans broke through the British line, but were unable to exploit the breach, which French forces filled. By the end of the battle over half the men in the original BEF had been wounded or killed, and the old army had ceased to exist. By November there was deadlock over the entire front. But German losses were also extensive and the Germans failed to take the Channel ports. Joffre also attacked the Germans in the area of the Champagne and the Vosges, but was unable to make a breakthrough.

Contents of Military History of the First World War 1 The Central Powers and the Entente 2 The run-up to the war: The July Crisis, 1914 3 Military Planning in Advance of the War 4 Serbia and the Eastern Front, 1914 5 The Battle for the Marne 6 The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres 7 First Battle of Ypres 8 The Pacific 9 Africa 10 The Eastern Front during 1915 11 Italy enters the war 12 The Balkans 13 The Western Front 14 Gallipoli 15 The Western Front, 1916 16 Verdun 17 The Battle of the Somme 18 The Trentino Offensive 19 The Brusilov Offensive 20 Romania 21 The Russian Front in 1917 22 Mesopotamia 23 The Nivelle Offensive 24 The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele) 25 Cambrai 26 Caporetto 27 German offensive in Russia, 1918 28 Ludendorff's offensive in the West 29 Allied counter-offensive

Related articles: (1) The Third Battle of Ypres - the Battle of Paschendaele, (2) The First World War: Triggers