European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse I a i Central Europe in 1914 was dominated by empires of 1 Germany and 2. Austria Hungary. They joined 3. Quot Bulgaria and 4, ottoman Empire to form Central Powers. Figures in millions of men deaths Russia 1.7 to3 France my,.Britain Ipp Jef 1 British Empire t2q2 italy.460 United a Central Powers Austro hungarian. End Ikimis Quot Gen Tony bin u ottoman to 2j estimated total a a 12 million postwar Europe n i f with. A a. Continued from Page 26 millions of men died at such places As Verdun Ypres Somme Champagne. Gallipoli a Peninsula on Dardanelles Strait Between Europe and Asia became synonymous with futile waste of lives. Some 213,000 soldiers from British Empire most of them australians were killed or wounded on beaches by a turkish fire from Cliffs above. The War ended Only when weary hungry Germany cracked under an Allied counteroffensive in autumn 1918 that rolled Back German army s Spring gains. Revolution was in air at Home. Kaiser Wilhelm ii abdicated nov. 9. Clockwise from left a croatian woman collects firewood in front of a . Vehicle in Bosnia and Herzegovina a israeli army sniper chases palestinian of one growers a georgian government Soldier crouches behind a Wall during a Battle with rebels in Senzaki Georgia. German negotiators were already meeting with marshal Ferdinand Foch chief of Allied forces behind French lines in comping be Forest. A cease fire took effect 11th hour of 11th Day of 11th month. Quot happily alliances Aren t same today As they were in 1914, or there d be a world War All Over again in Balkans Quot said Veronique Harel chief archivist at historical de la Grande Guerre a museum and research Center in Somme town of Peronne. At Versailles peace conference in 1919, France Victor that had suffered most exacted crushing retribution huge War reparations bankrupted winners decisions fuelled instability nine new nations formed by treaty of Versailles 5. Estonia 6. Latvia 7. Poland 8. Hungary 9. Yugoslavia 1. Finland 2. Lithuania 3. Czechoslovakia 4. Austria. The figures for most count ies Are incomplete due to poor or lost records and Large number of missing in action. The number of wounded was generally four to five times higher than deaths. Sun rfcs Kim world War. A we. J. Castello ivi4-18 american heritage hurry of world War i after world War i winners broke up empires of losers transforming them into unstable political patchworks. The Austro hungarian Empire became Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia Austria Hungary Western Romania and Southern Poland. Parts of prewar Germany helped create Poland Czechoslovakia and Lithuania. Hardly anyone was satisfied and resulting grudges led to world War ii. In last few years collapse of soviet Union has freed Long repressed ethnic hatreds War has raged in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia has come apart. In Middle East where Oil was prize France and.Britain divided ottoman Empire into protectorates today s Syria Lebanon Iraq and Jordan. Britain promised a National Home to jewish settlers in Palestine who had helped their War Effort. Eventually in 1948, Israel was born. The arabs who fought for.Britain under . Lawrence saw their expectations of Independence dashed and considered jews a colonial tool. Only now 75 years and a several wars later Are israelis and palestinians making peace. Another Middle Eastern people kurd also were promised a state by victors of 1918. They did not get it and Are not Likely to a latecomer to world War i United states did t get much say in peace. But president Wilson s impassioned defense of self determination outlasted British and French empires. A associated press weak Weimar Republic. Germans were infuriated by stationing of French troops on their soil. A sense that Quot traitors a not army had lost War eventually made an austrian former Corporal Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. Quot 1914-18 War finished in 1945,&Quot said Jean Pierre Thierry chief of historical s research Center. Quot last act of great War was Hitler s perhaps that was True in West. But War still reverberates in Eastern Europe and Middle East where Austro hungarian and ottoman empires were broken into Small nations whose Borders became new Battle lines. Russia was beaten to its Knees in 1917, Germany added to instability by returning an exited revolutionary Vladimir Lenin who gave 20th Century a new kind of authoritarian Rule. Now soviet Union he created is dead and Central asian regions czars and ottoman turks fought Over Are Independent. But Azerbaijan an Georgia Are fighting internal wars and october s Street Battles in Moscow demonstrate that turmoil begun in 1917 has not ended. Perhaps greatest legacy of world War i and its thrice bloodier successor is change in mood from Jaunty jingoism of 1914 to caution of today. Public opinion no longer tolerates Slaughter of soldiers or even unexpected losses. Quot look at All fuss made about one Soldier in Somalia Quot said George Mosse a history professor at University of Wisconsin. Quot world War i was Europe s first confrontation with mass death. You can t sustain a War like that i monday december 6,1993 stars and strip if
