C2 | Fighting in the War Flashcards
Propaganda
False or misleading information used to spread a certain point of view
How did the propaganda campaign work?
The government controlled all information about the war. In newspapers the government only allowed news of victories in battle, while defeats were hardly mentioned. British soldiers were always made to look like heroes and the Germans were made to look like cruel savages
How did propaganda attract more volunteers to fight in the Great War?
The propaganda posters were aimed at making men either love their country and king, feel guilty about not joining up, or hate the enemy. The government hoped that if people loved Britain, they were more likely to support the war and join up to fight
How successful was the propaganda campaign?
Very successful - by January 1916, a total of 2.5 million men had agreed to fight
Pals Battalion
A group of friends or co-workers who enlisted to fight in the First World War together
Conscription
The government policy of forcing men aged between 18 and 41 to join the armed forces in wartime
Why did the government come up with conscription?
The number of volunteers grew lesser by the summer of 1916 and the government needed more men
Conscientious Objector
A person who believes that war is wrong and refuses to fight
How many conscientious objectors were there during the Great War?
Around 16,000
How did the ‘conchies’ help out in the war?
They worked in factories or mines or carried stretchers on battlefields
What happened to those people who did not contribute anything to the war?
Around 1500 people were sent to prison and conditions were made very hard for them. Some died in prison
Front
An area where the armies fought each other
Western Front
The area in Northern France and Belgium where British, French and Belgian forces fought Germany in the First World War
How long was the Western Front?
Over 640 kilometres
Where did the Western Front begin and end?
From the English Channel to Switzerland
Why did the soldiers build trenches?
To protect themselves
How did the soldiers protect the trenches?
Using sandbags and barbed wire
No Man’s Land
The wasteland, which was full of bomb craters and rotting human remains, between the trenches of the Allied and German forces controlled by neither side (around 50 to 200 metres wide)
Stalemate
A situation in which neither side could move forwards and neither side wanted to retreat
Trench Foot
A common foot disease caused by standing in cold and wet conditions for long periods where the foot swells up and develops open sores
Rifle
A lightweight, long gun; a 40cm knife called a bayonet could be fitted onto the end if a soldier’s bullets ran out
Machine Gun
Invented in around 1862, it became one of the Great War’s deadliest weapons and it could fire up to 10 bullets per second
Why was the machine gun so deadly?
- In the first 12 days of fighting, the French reported losses of over 200,000 men, mostly due to machine gun fire.
- According to British estimates, machine guns caused about 40% of all wounds inflicted on British troops during the whole war
Poison Gas - Chlorine Gas
Suffocated the lungs and left the victim gasping for air
Poison Gas - Mustard Gas
Rotted the body, caused blisters on skin and made the victim cough up his lungs’ linings in clots. The pain was so intense that victims had to be tied down
Why did gas later become less of an effective weapon?
Gas masks protected troops from the poison’s worst effects
Grenade
A small, hand-held bomb that could be thrown about 40 metres into enemy trenches. It exploded a few seconds after a pin was removed and the outer case would shatter into razor-sharp fragments
Tank
A British invention, a tank was a bulletproof vehicle that could travel over rough terrain, crush barbed wire and cross trenches. It was very slow (4 mph) and unreliable. They were originally called ‘landships’
Flame Thrower
A canister was strapped to a soldier’s back which forced oil through a nozzle at enemy soldiers. The oil was ignited by a spark to create a sheet of flame that could travel up to 15 metres
Artillery
A large, heavy gun that could shoot bombs (shells) over long distances. When they exploded, the red-hot metal splinters (shrapnel) would cut an enemy to pieces. The noise damaged men’s brains and made their ears bleed. It caused shell shock
Fighter and Bomber Planes
When fighting began, planes were very slow, clumsy and unreliable and were used for eyeing what the enemy was doing and spotting artillery. Soon, ‘fighter’ planes armed with machine guns were developed and ‘bombers’ were made to fly over enemy trenches and attack from the air
Shell Shock
A nervous condition suffered by some soldiers exposed to the noise and chaos of the battle
What is shell shock known as today?
Post-traumatic stress disorder
What crimes would shell shock victims likely to be charged with?
Cowardice (being a coward) and desertion (leaving their trench or position without permission)
How many soldiers Britain shoot at dawn for cowardice and desertion during the Great War?
306 soldiers
Colony
A country controlled by another country as part of its empire
Which of the British colonies did the ‘soldiers of Empire’ come from?
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- India
- the West Indies
How many ‘soldiers of Empire’ fought for Britain in the Great War?
2.5 million soldiers
How were the 1.4 million soldiers from India convinced to fight for Britain?
Recruitment posters sent to India promised ‘an easy life’, ‘good pay’ and ‘very little danger’
How many soldiers did Britain lose at the end of the war?
About 700,000 soldiers
How many soldiers did the rest of the Empire lose?
Over 200,000 soldiers
Why was 1917 a significant year?
- Ordinary Russians rebelled against their leaders and eventually murdered their king, Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and stopped fighting the Germans.
- The USA had also joined the war on Britain and France’s side
Why did the USA join in the First World War?
German submarines had sunk American ships
What happened after the American soldiers joined?
The Germans could not break through and started to retreat. The civilians were starving and rioting, and German troops were exhausted. Soon, the countries on Germany’s side began to surrender
What happened to Germany’s king after the other countries surrendered?
Kaiser Wilhelm II ran away to the Netherlands and the government that replaced him called for a ceasefire (armistice)
When did the Great War end?
At 11:00am on 11 November 1918
Why had the poppy become a symbol of life and hope?
Only the poppies seemed to flourish when all the other buildings and trees were destroyed. They continued to grow after the soldiers left the trenches in 1918
How did ‘Poppy Day’ start?
In November 1919, the government received a letter from Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, whose son had been killed in France in 1917. Percy suggested that a period of silence be observed on the anniversary of the end of the war. King George V agreed
When is Poppy Day celebrated today?
The two-minute silence is held on the second Sunday of November. It is called Remembrance Sunday
What is done on Poppy Day?
Poppies are distributed in return for donations to help people affected by war
