Have I Told You About WWI? The Little Guys.
Around the world today, nations celebrate the end of the First World War, and honor all their veterans who have served since then. You may see images of Americans in Arlington National Cemetery, Brits wearing poppies, or French and Germans laying wreaths at Verdun. France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Austria: these are the nations we think of when we picture that generation lost to the war, through death, disfigurement, and devastation.
But this was, after all, a world war. There were lots of smaller nations who sacrificed as well. Today, in the midst of national and international recognition, let’s take a moment to remember a few of the little guys.
Belgium. Were it not for Belgium, the war might have ended in 1914. The German Schlieffen Plan called for steamrolling through Belgium into France to the sea, in an effort to surround Paris and quickly end the conflict before the Allies had time to react. German leadership would have preferred Belgium’s cooperation as a thoroughfare; when they didn’t get it, they planned to crush the tiny Belgian army and lose very little time doing so. But the Belgians put up an immense resistance to the violation of their neutrality, delaying the Germans by at least a couple weeks. It was enough time for Britain to send over her Expeditionary Force and for France to mobilize an army to defend her capital. Over the following four years, the Belgian countryside was battered and entire towns were destroyed, but the Belgian army stubbornly clung to the northwestern corner of the country. After the Armistice, the mangled fields of Flanders were blanketed in red poppies, providing the inspiration for the poppy as an international symbol of veterans and remembrance.
Romania. Famously the nation that “lost the war, but won the peace,” Romania joined the war in August 1916 on the side of the Allies after being wooed by both sides. For the Allies, they provided a bulwark to make communication more difficult between Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The Romanians were tempted by the promise of defeating Bulgaria, by whom they were humiliated in the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, and the prospect of expanding their territory into Transylvania, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Allied with Russia along the Eastern Front, the Romanian countryside was battered and casualties mounted quickly. Following the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia’s withdrawal from the war, Romania was surrounded and forced to sign an armistice with the Central Powers in December 1917. However, sensing the changing tide, Romania rejoined the war for the Allies on November 10, 1918, just one day before the final armistice was signed. In the following peace negotiations, despite their early defeat, the Romanians gained their coveted prize of Transylvania.
Serbia. Located in the powder keg of the Balkans, and a central player in the political tension that led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at the beginning of the war, Serbia never really had the option of staying out of it. Immediately after the onset of hostilities, Austria-Hungary convened a force to invade Serbia and bring it to heel. However, throughout 1914, an underdog army of Serbians and Montenegrins held off the more experienced Austro-Hungarians. A year later, the Central Powers decided it was time to get the Balkan situation under control. Another force, led by Germans this time and also including Austrians and Bulgarians, invaded Serbia and surrounded the army on the Kosovo Plain. Refusing to surrender, the army and a couple hundred thousand Serbian civilians began the Great Retreat over the Albanian mountains through the dead of winter. Between the freezing temperatures, enemy raids, disease, and starvation, less than half of those who set out over the mountains made it to the other side. Those who did were evacuated by the Allies to Corfu, where several thousand more died of disease and malnutrition. Some estimates put the loss of life as high as a quarter of the Serbian national population. It’s the greatest proportional loss that any nation suffered in the war.
Siam. Though far from the battles on the Western Front, the Siamese king Rama VI kept a close eye on the war in Europe. Sandwiched by the British in Burma on one side and the French in Vietnam on the other, Siam was one of the only independent nations in Southeast Asia at a time of ever increasing imperialism. King Rama VI was on the lookout for an opportunity to assert Siam’s autonomy. He grew convinced that WWI was that chance, and in July 1917, Siam declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. The king commissioned a new flag, which still represents Thailand today, featuring stripes of red, blue, and white to match those of their new French, British, and American allies. He also sent an expeditionary force of 1,284 soldiers to join the French army on the Western Front. The force did see brief action before the end of the war, and 19 Siamese soldiers died from disease or accidents. Following the Armistice, the Allies recognized Siam’s contribution to the war effort, and all gave up ambitions for expansion into Siam. Siam’s independent place in the new world order was further cemented by becoming a founding member of the League of Nations.
