battles on the western front Flashcards

1
Q

when was the battle of the Marne

A

september 1914

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2
Q

what was a surprise to the germans

A

how quickly russia mobilised

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3
Q

why was it important russia has mobilised quickly

A

germany had to move 100,000 soldiers from the west to the east

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4
Q

what was the aim of the battle of the marne

A

the french wanted counter attack the germans along the marne river and stop them advancing to paris

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5
Q

who did the french troops hurry to join up with to halt the germans ?

A

the british expeditionary force (BEF)

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6
Q

what did the british and french forces manage to do?

A

push the germans back to the River Aisne.

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7
Q

why couldn’t germany be pushed out of france

A

both sides were equally matched

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8
Q

what followed this and why

A

a stalemate as each side dug trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire

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9
Q

what was caused from the battle of the marne

A

race to the sea

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10
Q

what was the race to the sea

A

germany began to outflank britain and frances trenches. britain and france then did the same.

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11
Q

how many miles of trenches was created

A

400 miles

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12
Q

what did this cause and why

A

a stalemate as neither side could advance

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13
Q

what was the first battle on the western front

A

battle of verdun

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14
Q

when was the battle of verdun

A

feb 21st - dec 18 1916

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15
Q

how many men did france lose at verdun

A

315000

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16
Q

how many men did germany lose at verdun

A

280000

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17
Q

what was the aim of verdun

A

to “bleed france white”
destroy french armies before allies came

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18
Q

what was the type of war fought

A

war of attrition

19
Q

who came up with the strategy of attrition

A

general falkenhayn

20
Q

what does attrition mean?

A

wear down your opponent

21
Q

what did both sides lose?

A

nearly equal men

22
Q

what did germany have ?

A

they had more resources than france.

23
Q

what was significant about the battle of verdun

A

both sides lost many men and france was close to breaking point

24
Q

what did the battke of verdun lead to

A

battle of the somme

25
Q

when was the battle of the somme

A

july 1 - nov 18 1916

26
Q

what were the aims for the somme

A

break stalemeate
push germans back
relieve pressure off of france

27
Q

when was their a huge bombardment

A

24 june 1916

28
Q

how many shells fired in this bombardment

A

0ver 1.5 million

29
Q

how long did the bombardment last

A

8 days

30
Q

what was the bombardment for

A

to destroy germanys front line so they could walk across no mans land into german territory

31
Q

why did it fail

A

germans hid in very deep trenches and the british poor quality shells didnt damage much.

32
Q

what did this mean

A

when britain went over the top german forces could shoot them

33
Q

how many casualties on first day

A

60000

34
Q

how many men did britain and france lose

A

620000

35
Q

how many men did germany lose

A

500000

36
Q

what else was significant

A

verdun was saved and weakened german army
created another stalemate

37
Q

how much land was gained from the somme

A

5 miles

38
Q

when was passchendaele

A

31 july - 10 nov 1917

39
Q

aims of passchendaele

A

break stalemate
break through german lines

40
Q

what happened at passchendaele

A

haig ordered an artillery bombardment for 10 days.

41
Q

what did weather conditions lead to at passchendaele

A

lots of mud

42
Q

what was bad about the mud

A

clogged rifles, stopped tanks and horses moving.

43
Q

what hill was a significant

A

vimy ridge