The Farm – All Together Now

Remember boy that your forefather’s died
Lost in millions for a country’s pride
Never mention the trenches of Belgium
When they stopped fighting and they were one

A spirit stronger than war was at work that night
December 1914 cold, clear and bright
Countries’ borders were right out of sight
They joined together and decided not to fight

All together now, all together now
All together now in no man’s land (together)
All together now (all together), all together now (all together)
All together now (together, together)
In no man’s land (together, together)

The same old story again
All those tears shed in vain
Nothing learnt and nothing gained
Only hope remains

All together now, all together now
All together now in no man’s land (together)
All together now (all together), all together now (all together)
All together now in no man’s land (together)
All together now (all together now), all together now (all together now)
All together now (together, together)
In no man’s land (together, together)

The boys had their say, they said no (all together now)
Stop the slaughter, let’s go home
Let’s go, let’s go (all together now)
Let’s go (all together now), let’s go home
All together now (together, together)
In no man’s land (together, together)
All together now (all together now), all together now (all together)
All together now (together, together)
In no man’s land (together, together)

Edited and posted by: Ángel Getán

THE 1ST WORLD WAR

The First World War was the conflict begun in July 28^th, 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Francesco Ferdinando, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, occurred ​​in Sarajevo (Bosnia), by the Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, and ended on 11th November 1918.                                                                      The conflict saw the two sides clash of nations, on the one hand the Central Powers, German Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire and on the other The Triple Entente (Russian Empire, United Kingdom and France). The war ended with the victory of the Entente.

The First World War started with the clash of the Triple Alliance: Germany and Austria-Hungary against the Entente countries: France, Britain and Russia. After the conflict, following several other alliances, other nations took part in it. These include: Italy, Ottoman Empire (allied with the Central Powers), Belgium, Canada, Australia, USA, Serbia, Romania, South Africa and New Zealand. The number of continents involved was such as to define the war as “the world”, the first in the history of mankind. At the beginning of the war (1914), Italy was an ally of the Central Powers, but since the alliance had defensive character and the war was declared by Austria, the Italian government chose to be neutral.  Following diplomatic pressure by Britain and France Italy signed in the 1915 a secret pact, known as the Pact of London, in which Italy had to go to war within a month in exchange for some territorial gains that would have got after the war.         So the Prime Minister Antonio Salandra and the Italian Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino had secretly signed the pact because of the prevalence of Parliament neutrality, which prevented the entry of Italy into the war. During the month the Italian internal situation in the streets saw a contrast between interventionists and neutralists.  While the former wanted the intervention, the latter believed that a policy of neutrality would be more advantageous for the interests of the State. On 24th May 1915 Italy declared war to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

First the war againstAustriawas designed as a “fast war” (or war of movement), but then turned into a ruinous “war of position, or of attrition in the trenches” with heavy artillery, machine guns, tanks, and other poisonous gases”.                                                                                                                                                The war ended on 11th November 1918, whenGermanysigned an armistice with the Entente. The number of deaths was estimated to be over 15 million, among which were the deaths from famine and disease caused by the war, particularly inGermany. The war was the first major conflict in which was made full use of all modern means, such as airplanes, tanks, submarines and chemical weapons, including mustard gas.

Written by: Alejandro Villar

Posted by: Ángel Getán

Weapons and tactics in the First World War: the mustard gas

The first time that the mustard gas was used in a war was by the Germans against the British soldiers in 1917 nearYpres(because of this it is also known as yperite). This type of chemical attack violated the agreements made atThe Haguein 1907. It was not the first gas used in a war, but probably it was the most effective.

The mustard gas, in fact, was a liquid, and it was no pretended to kill; his principal use was to incapacitate the enemy, causing nonlethal damage. It was shot with heavy artillery to the ground, and later it slowly vaporised damaging a lot of enemies and collapsing the medical services.

When the chemical war began, British and American quickly produced thousands of gas masks to protect their armies. The gas masks were already invented, but they improved their mass production. Even dogs and horses wore gas masks.

Written by Víctor Vicente

Posted by Ángel Getán

Curiosities during the First World War

The trenches were places where a lot of soldiers died during The First World War. Gases were dropped into the enemy trenches trying to kill them without getting in to the battle.

Both sides protected themselves with masks and animals (like dogs and mules) were protected too.

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Some weapons were reinvented to use in these trenches:

1.- Periscope fusil

2.-Fusil with a shield

3.- Grenade launcher with a kind of crossbow.

Edited by: Alberto Royo

Posted by: Ángel Getán