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The First Campaign Victory of the Great War provides an insightful account of South Africa's First World War German South West Africa campaign and combines the fields of military theory and military history in a novel campaign history. In analysing the campaign through the lens of "manoeuvre warfare theory" the work adds a new and unique dimension
The S African part in the Great War began with operations to secure objectives in German South West Africa, but these had to be hastily abandoned when armed rebellion broke out back home, led by General Beyers, De Wet and others involving some 11,500 pro-German rebels. The rebellion lasted five months from September 1914 to February 1915 when they surrendered to General Botha and his force of 30,000, two thirds of whom were of Dutch descent. With the rebellion over the S Africans resumed the campaign for the conquest of German SW Africa. As the official historian points out, whereas the other Dominions' efforts were more or less centralized - Canadian Corps, Australian Corps, New Zealand Division - the S African activities were directed into diiverse operations that bore little relations to each other, and this is reflected in the structure of this history which is divided into several parts. The first part covers the initial operations in German SW Africa and the rebellion at home. Part II deals with the resumed operations, after the rebellion, in SW Africa. Parts III and IV are concerned with the German East African campaign in which S African troops played a large part. Perhaps the best known of the S African forces of the Great War is the S African Infantry Brigade which operated first out of Egypt against the Senussi tribesmen (Part V) and then on the Western Front (Part VI) where they earned the reputation of being among the finest troops in the BEF, and their action in Delville Wood during the Somme offensive is legendary. This Part VI takes up the main part of the book coverering almost one hundred pages. But they weren't the only S African troops in France. Five siege batteries, 71st to 75th each equipped with 6" Howitzers, arrived in France in April 1916 followed by a sixth (125th Battery) in July, but it wasn't till January 1918 that they were brought together forming two Heavy Artillery Groups, 44th and 50th. In Part VII the doings of each battery are treated separately. Also covered in this Part is a divisional signal company which became XV Corps Signal Company, the S African Medical Services in France, two railway companies and eight horse transport companies manned by Cape Coloured drivers. The final part, Part VIII, is given over to administration. The book concludes with the list of S African VCs with their citations, and the casualty (deaths) figures, shown by unit; they amounted to 12,452 of whom 8,551were combat troops. In all 220,196 S Africans served of whom 92,837 were Cape Coloured and S African Native personnel of the Labour Battalion and Corps.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Drawing on exhaustive research, this intimate account details how World War I reduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed twenty million people, and cracked the foundations of our modern world “Thundering, magnificent . . . [A World Undone] is a book of true greatness that prompts moments of sheer joy and pleasure. . . . It will earn generations of admirers.”—The Washington Times On a summer day in 1914, a nineteen-year-old Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. While the world slumbered, monumental forces were shaken. In less than a month, a combination of ambition, deceit, fear, jealousy, missed opportunities, and miscalculation sent Austro-Hungarian troops marching into Serbia, German troops streaming toward Paris, and a vast Russian army into war, with England as its ally. As crowds cheered their armies on, no one could guess what lay ahead in the First World War: four long years of slaughter, physical and moral exhaustion, and the near collapse of a civilization that until 1914 had dominated the globe. Praise for A World Undone “Meyer’s sketches of the British Cabinet, the Russian Empire, the aging Austro-Hungarian Empire . . . are lifelike and plausible. His account of the tragic folly of Gallipoli is masterful. . . . [A World Undone] has an instructive value that can scarcely be measured”—Los Angeles Times “An original and very readable account of one of the most significant and often misunderstood events of the last century.”—Steve Gillon, resident historian, The History Channel
When war broke out in Europe in 1914, it surprised a European population enjoying the most beautiful summer in memory. For nearly a century since, historians have debated the causes of the war. Some have cited the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; others have concluded it was unavoidable. In Europe’s Last Summer, David Fromkin provides a different answer: hostilities were commenced deliberately. In a riveting re-creation of the run-up to war, Fromkin shows how German generals, seeing war as inevitable, manipulated events to precipitate a conflict waged on their own terms. Moving deftly between diplomats, generals, and rulers across Europe, he makes the complex diplomatic negotiations accessible and immediate. Examining the actions of individuals amid larger historical forces, this is a gripping historical narrative and a dramatic reassessment of a key moment in the twentieth-century.
U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.
The incredible true account of World War I in Africa and General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the last undefeated German commander. “Let me say straight out that if all military histories were as thrilling and well written as Robert Gaudi’s African Kaiser, I might give up reading fiction and literary bio­graphy… Gaudi writes with the flair of a latter-day Macaulay. He sets his scenes carefully and describes naval and military action like a novelist.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post As World War I ravaged the European continent, a completely different theater of war was being contested in Africa. And from this very different kind of war, there emerged a very different kind of military leader.... At the beginning of the twentieth century, the continent of Africa was a hotbed of international trade, colonialism, and political gamesmanship. So when World War I broke out, the European powers were forced to contend with one another not just in the bloody trenches, but in the treacherous jungle. And it was in that unforgiving land that General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck would make history. With the now-legendary Schutztruppe (Defensive Force), von Lettow-Vorbeck and a small cadre of hardened German officers fought alongside their fanatically devoted native African allies as equals, creating the first truly integrated army of the modern age. African Kaiser is the fascinating story of a forgotten guerrilla campaign in a remote corner of Equatorial Africa in World War I; of a small army of ultraloyal African troops led by a smaller cadre of rugged German officers—of white men and black who fought side by side. But mostly it is the story of von Lettow-Vorbeck—the only undefeated German commmander in the field during World War I and the last to surrender his arms.
The First World War was a widespread conflagration in world history, which, despite its European origins, had enormous effects throughout the world. Fettered to European politics and diplomacy through colonialism, Africa could not claim a position of neutrality, meaning that it mobilised human and natural resources to support the imperial war effort. Fighting both within and outside Africa, colonised Africans who were compelled or coaxed by the colonial regimes of the warring European countries fought Europeans and Africans too. The soldiers fought with great dedication and contributed significantly to successes attained by the belligerent European colonialists. Similarly, African non-combatants, like carriers, brought zeal and enthusiasm to difficult wartime tasks. The impact of the war on Africa was immense with far-reaching consequences in specific colonies, and touched the lives of all Africans under colonial rule. Although the continent’s connections to the war were immense and diverse, these experiences are not widely known among scholars and the general public. This is because, over the years, most studies and commemorative events of the war have centred on the European theatre of the war and its outcomes. This book brings together interesting essays written by scholars of African history, society, and military about African experiences of the war. It complements and problematises some key themes on Africa and the First World War, and offers a stimulating historiographical excursion, providing possibilities for reconsidering normative conclusions on the war. The volume will be of interest to general readers, as well as students and researchers in different areas of scholarship, including African history, war studies, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, labour history, and the history of memory, among others.