ABSTRACT
The year appears comparatively insignificant in the Great War, sandwiched between the dramatic beginning of the war in and its cataclysmic and costly battles on both Western and Eastern Fronts that led to stalemate, and the gigantic battles in of Verdun and the Somme on the Western Front and the Brusilov offensive in the east. The latter arguably constitute the most monstrous examples of a war of materiel and attrition that portended an unending conflict until one or both sides collapsed. However, deserves far more attention for a variety of reasons. To English-speaking observers, the Entente’s invasion of Gallipoli and the German sinking of the liner Lusitania loom as the most significant events. Certainly, the Gallipoli campaign, unrestricted submarine warfare, Germany’s introduction of poison gas on the Western Front and of a strategic bombing campaign against England figure prominently in military events. British and French landings at Gallipoli and Salonika, a British
incursion into Mesopotamia, and ongoing conflict in Africa indicate the strongly imperialist nature of the war. Furthermore, the entry of Italy into the war creates another European front, a southwestern theater against Austria-Hungary. Finally, and perhaps most critically, witnesses the mobilization on the home fronts, the initiation of a collective effort to prepare the combatants to wage a war of escalating proportions with the intent not merely to endure but to emerge victorious.
