battles on the western front Flashcards
when was the battle of the Marne
september 1914
what was a surprise to the germans
how quickly russia mobilised
why was it important russia has mobilised quickly
germany had to move 100,000 soldiers from the west to the east
what was the aim of the battle of the marne
the french wanted counter attack the germans along the marne river and stop them advancing to paris
who did the french troops hurry to join up with to halt the germans ?
the british expeditionary force (BEF)
what did the british and french forces manage to do?
push the germans back to the River Aisne.
why couldn’t germany be pushed out of france
both sides were equally matched
what followed this and why
a stalemate as each side dug trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire
what was caused from the battle of the marne
race to the sea
what was the race to the sea
germany began to outflank britain and frances trenches. britain and france then did the same.
how many miles of trenches was created
400 miles
what did this cause and why
a stalemate as neither side could advance
what was the first battle on the western front
battle of verdun
when was the battle of verdun
feb 21st - dec 18 1916
how many men did france lose at verdun
315000
how many men did germany lose at verdun
280000
what was the aim of verdun
to “bleed france white”
destroy french armies before allies came
what was the type of war fought
war of attrition
who came up with the strategy of attrition
general falkenhayn
what does attrition mean?
wear down your opponent
what did both sides lose?
nearly equal men
what did germany have ?
they had more resources than france.
what was significant about the battle of verdun
both sides lost many men and france was close to breaking point
what did the battke of verdun lead to
battle of the somme
when was the battle of the somme
july 1 - nov 18 1916
what were the aims for the somme
break stalemeate
push germans back
relieve pressure off of france
when was their a huge bombardment
24 june 1916
how many shells fired in this bombardment
0ver 1.5 million
how long did the bombardment last
8 days
what was the bombardment for
to destroy germanys front line so they could walk across no mans land into german territory
why did it fail
germans hid in very deep trenches and the british poor quality shells didnt damage much.
what did this mean
when britain went over the top german forces could shoot them
how many casualties on first day
60000
how many men did britain and france lose
620000
how many men did germany lose
500000
what else was significant
verdun was saved and weakened german army
created another stalemate
how much land was gained from the somme
5 miles
when was passchendaele
31 july - 10 nov 1917
aims of passchendaele
break stalemate
break through german lines
what happened at passchendaele
haig ordered an artillery bombardment for 10 days.
what did weather conditions lead to at passchendaele
lots of mud
what was bad about the mud
clogged rifles, stopped tanks and horses moving.
what hill was a significant
vimy ridge
