John Terraine

The manner in which the Great War was fought after 1916, writes John Terraine, has decided the nature of the century we live in.

How a resounding British victory convinced the German military leaders that they had lost the First World War. 

The supreme direction of the First World War has remained a matter of controversy; in this essay, John Terraine contrasts Lloyd George’s hopes with the manner of their realization.

Defeated in the field, Germany sought peace. But, writes John Terraine, her proposals for a negotiated peace were rejected by the Allies.

Disastrous battle raged on the Somme from July until November, 1916; John Terraine describes how it marked the ‘ruddy grave’ of the German field army.

John Terraine describes how the Allied offensive of spring 1917 promised victory but ended in failure and mutiny.

In August 1918, writes John Terraine, the German High Command recognized the signs of defeat but four more fighting months passed before the armistice.

John Terraine describes how, in 1917, there was little to sustain German morale at home.

John Terraine sheds fresh light on the principles at stake in the disputes between generals and politicians during the last year of the First World War.

John Terraine observes how the British and French fleets crossed and re-crossed the Atlantic three months before Trafalgar.