I've heard, a few times, that "World War 1 shouldn't be called a World War because the fighting mostly took place in Europe." I wanted to know what was the stance of historians, and if it is accurate or if it's not accurate?
What a fun question! The answer is unequivocally yes, it was a war that took place across the entire globe between countries from every (inhabited) continent.
Let's establish two proofs. First, that countries outside of Europe took part and second that war was waged outside of Europe.
The first one is a dead simple proof. Foremost but most obvious - the United States played a pivotal role in the war. The last year and a half of WW1 both sides plans were linked to the weight that millions of fresh soldiers would bring. It was crucial to German command to end the war before Americans could be fully made ready and it was equally crucial to the Allies that Americans arrive as quickly as possible. The role of America is quite a big topic. But they're hardly the only non-European and their participation in WW1 did not only take place in Europe.
Japan had been allied to the United Kingdom for 12 years when the war started. 26 days after the war begun, on August 23rd 1914, they joined the war. Within weeks they had occupied German territories in Asia and began a naval campaign against German commerce raiders. Their involvement lasted throughout the entire war from Siberia to South Africa.
On August 14th 1917, China declared war on Germany. Chinese history during the warlord era is so insanely complicated and in depth that I couldn't do it justice. All the same, Chinese participation in the war was valuable to the Allies both before their formal declaration and after.
Rounding off this non-exhaustive, brief sample of independent belligerent nations outside of I want to bring up the Ottomans. Their empire straddled Europe and Asia. Their war stretched from the borders of Egypt to the Caucasus mountains. If nothing else, if someone is arguing that WW1 and you want to see them embarrass themselves ask them about the Ottomans.
Okay I've brought in a few actors for the stage. Let's say our hypothetical argument is with someone who is particularly unpleasant and countries from across the globe fighting each other isn't enough. We need fighting across the globe as well!
Remember Japan? Germany was late to the colonies and oppression game but they weren't absent. German New Guinea, Samoa, Qingdao, and Tianjin made up a small corner of the German "Kolonialreich". And they were all within the grasp of Japan. On the 6th of September, 1914, Japan launched the first plane attack from a ship. The birth of modern naval combat and the first use of aircraft carriers in war started with the first world war just a month and change after it started. The Wakamiya's attack in Qiaozhou Bay didn't bear fruit but it was the primitive beginning of it all. Anywho, within two months Tsingtao surrendered to the Japanese besieging it and islands previously occupied by German colonists fell to Japan. So right from the get go, here we are. In a war that is taking place across the entire world. Japan is occupying German colonies before the First Battle of Ypres! Trench warfare has scarcely begun and we've already qualified this baby as a global conflict. But let's keep going this is fun. Please don't think that this is an encompassing study of everything that happened in Asia. It's not. I haven't even brought up Japan's pursuit of the German Pacific Fleet!
Let's skip ahead to everybody's favorite melancholic, keffiyeh wearing, camel riding British instigator, Colonel T. E. Lawrence. You know, the Lawrence of Arabia Lawrence. Who fought and rose the banner of rebellion in.. Arabia. Man, it's starting to feel like it was a ludicrous assertion that WW1 only took place in Europe. The first thing you need to know is he is ridiculously photogenic. The second thing to know is he assisted in the Allies effort to raise those living under the Ottomans in the Near East. From Medina in the heart of modern Saudi Arabia to Damascus in modern Syria he rode, inciting rebellion and sabotage. And with him fought the British Empire against the Ottomans. Millions of people fought on both sides, including ol Lawrence. From the Republic of Armenias struggles in the north, to the battle of Baghdad, to the capture of Jerusalem, there were major battles everywhere. And they weren't what people picture WW1 to be. War in the Middle East was mobile. It wasn't our imaginations endless bombardment of artillery and trenches stretching from the Swiss to the Sea.
And then there's Gallipoli. The brutal, bloody, and failed campaign to severe Istanbul and Europe from the rest of the Ottoman Empire. It's easier for me to mention it and move on or else I'm going to write a few more thousand characters on that alone!
Let's shift south. Maybe our hypothetical arguer is annoying and has a very particular view of what is and isn't Europe. Maybe he thinks all of modern Turkey is Europe and discounts Gallipoli. The kind of person that would argue about the name of a conflict would probably be that way. So let's talk about Africa.
The German Empire held colonies in every corner of the continent. From modern Ghana (Togoland), to Namibia (German South West Africa), to Kenya, Burundi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania.. the Entente fought in every corner of Africa. I'm not as well versed here unfortunately. While it didn't see massive amounts of men as Arabia did, it was still part of WW1 and more than satisfies our proof.
At this point we've established our proof on two fronts but let's bring up some fun facts. On April 6th of 1917, the US joined the war against the Central Powers and on April 7th, one day later, the commander of the US Marine detachment at Guam ordered the capture of the Cormoran. It was a passenger liner that the dread pirate Captain Karl Friedrich Max von Müller, of the SMS Emden who captured fourteen ships on the seas, including the Cormoran. The Cormoran quickly ran out of coal and took refuge in neutral Guam, but found the United States who occupied the island unwilling to sell them coal even in 1914 and stranded. As soon as the formal declaration of war came, marines attempted to board the ship in the harbor but she was successfully scuttled via explosives. Men of two countries militaries who had lived side by side with each other for three years suddenly found themselves on opposing sides and their fighting marked the first day after the US joined.
America didn't only fight in remote Pacific islands or in the Marne and Western Front. Not only did U-boats plague America in the Atlantic far from land - one plagued the coast of Cape Cod! And what's better is it happened exactly one hundred years ago today. July 21st, 1918, U-156 fired over a hundred shells from its deck guns at ships within sight of the coast. In the words of Dr. J. Danforth Taylor one hundred years ago today,
“Hello! Is this the Globe?”
“This is Dr. Taylor of East Boston. “I am at Nauset on Cape Cod. There is a submarine battle going on just offshore.”
And so it was. Four barges and their tugboat were attacked and the shoreline was shelled by deck guns.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed thinking about it all. There's so much I didn't cover! And if you ever hear someone arguing something ridiculous keep in mind that they aren't going to be impressed by the truth. They're just talking shit and having a laugh. Laugh at them!
