conflict and tension part 2/3- stalemate Flashcards
reasons for the Schlieffen Plan
-didn’t want Germany army to be split into two
-assumed Russia would takes weeks maybe moths to mobilise and would take advantage by attacking France first through invading Belgium
-avoid a war on two fronts
failure of the schlieffen plan and its contribution to stalemate
-Belgian resistance much fiercer than expected, built a series of forts equipped with long range guns leading the Germans to be delayed 4-5 days at Liege
-British Expeditionary Force at Battle of Mons pinned down a large number of German troops, exceptional rifle fire as Germans thought it was machine guns, led to Germans being delayed again so forced to abandon capturing Paris
-army advanced too quickly in the heat of August, their supplies of food, water and ammunition couldn’t keep up, led to exhaustion
-Russian troops mobilised in 10 days, not 6 weeks as the Germans had thought, so 100,000 Germans had to leave to fight in the east, this slowed down advance as there were fewer soldiers
-Germans now left fighting a war on two fronts
-led to Battle of the Marne which resulted in stalemate
Battle of the Marne and its contribution to stalemate
-happened due to General von Kluck being forced to retreat to the River Aisne, after avoiding Paris, meaning they marched straight into the Marne within reach of British and French troops
-over 2 million soldiers fought and half a million were dead or injured within a week
-both sides begun digging trenches to try and get around the back of each other, as they moved north, they tried to outflank each other and built more trenches as they went
-this began the race to the sea and the trenches ran from the French coast to Switzerland, 400 miles
Trench warfare and its contribution to stalemate
-built in a zig zag pattern so a bomb would only explode part of a trench and stopped the enemy running straight down
-enemy front lines could be 50-200m from each other
-Germans built there trenches much deeper and better equipped in terms of living standards, they had bunkers, more than 10m below surface, electricity and wallpaper, because the generals knew they would be there a while
-Common plan of attack was to:
1.position large guns at the enemy to smash the trenches and blow holes in barbed wire
2.attacking soldiers would go over the top with grenades across no mans land
3.soldiers would jump into enemy trenches and start combat for any surviving soldiers not killed from the guns
this failed as shells hardly ever destroyed the trenches, barbed wire often just got more tangled instead of getting holes, and German trenches were concrete making them hard to break
war of attrition and its contribution to stalemate
-wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in men, equipment and supplies
-often breakthroughs on Western Front where a large group of soldiers push an enemy back a few hundred metres
-retrating forces withdrew and to a further trench then later counter attack and re-occupy the original trench, this was stalemate
EXAMPLE
-Battle of Verdun was fought with the intent of attrition as General Foch wanted to ‘bleed France white’
weapons and how they contributed to stalemate
artillery- 1915, 400,000 were fired every month
effective as shells with shrapnel could cut an enemy soldier to pieces
machine guns- French lost 200,000 men mainly because of them in the first two weeks of war
heavy and needed a crew of 2-4 men to carry them
gas attacks- killed around 3000 British men through entirety of war
Tanks- Britain had 2636 by end of war and Germany only had 20
helped at Battle of Amiens 1918 as British and French could go deeper into enemy lines
Battle of Verdun info
-fought between 21st Feb- 18th Dec 1916
-plan to capture Francis beloved Verdun in a war of attrition as it was a symbol of French pride General Folkenhayn wanted to ‘bleed France white’
-within 3 days Germans were only 8km from Verdun
General Petain changed French tactics and ordered spare soldiers to battle and 249/330 infantry regiments fought there
-over next 5 months, supplies, food etc poured into Verdun through the ‘sacred way’ with 6000 vehicles a day
-Germans called off attacks to transfer troops to the Somme and to fight Russia
-Germany lost 280,000 soldiers, French lost 315,000
-longest and most expensive battle
-surrounding farmland declared ‘zone rouge’ due to unexploded bombs
-9 villages around destroyed
Battle of the Somme info
-1st July-18th November 1916
-British and French wanted to break stalemate and push Germans back and relieve pressure at Verdun
-Haig warned government more soldiers would be needed, and a major recruitment campaign brought in 1 million new soldiers
-On June 24th, B+F artillery bombarded German trenches in hopes to destroy enemy lines and break barbed wire
failed because Germans had spotter planes and knew an attack was coming, so secretly they pulled back their front lines and took shelter in dugouts, barbed wire wasn’t destroyed, simply lifted and made more tangled and the Germans had placed 30m of it infront of their trenches. and some poor quality British shells failed to explode
-July 1st British soldiers went over the top expecting to walk straight over however Germans struck with machine guns
-November 1916 attacks stopped due to winter weather
Results:
-on first day alone, British suffered around 60,000 casualties including 20,000 dead, the highest in a day for the British Army
-Creeping barrage used for the first time, a slow moving artillery attack which acts as a curtain for troops following behind
-British and French gained a 25km long strip of land
-British and French lost 620,000 men and Germans lost 500,000
-General Haigh nicknamed ‘Butcher of the Somme’ as he kept sending men into battle which was futile as he had served in the Boer war when tactics were different
Battle of Passchendaele (third battle of Ypres) info
-fought during July to November 1917
-fought for the hills south of Belgium city Ypres
-Haigh thought once his control was established, he could advance to capture Belgian ports being used by Germans as submarine bases
-July 18th attack began with artillery bombardment of 4.5 million shells from 3000 guns which lasted 10 days
-July 31st ground attack began and troops had to carry boards to get over the mud
-battlefield very muddy as it had the heaviest rainfall in 30 years so bombs turned the ground into thick, sticky mud
-men fell in the mud and bodies rotted, creating smells
-first week Britain lost 30,000 men as artillery failed to destroy German positions
-By October 1917, battle reached Passchendaele, 8km from starting point
-attacks called off in November as weather got worse
-British lost 400,000 Germans lost over 300,000
Gallipoli campaign
-fought in 19th Feb 1915 to 12the December 1915
-launched because Turkey had joined alliance with Germany and Turkey and Russia were fighting in the Caucasus mountains and appealed to British and French for help
-British and French knew the Dardanelles could get supplies to Russia as linked Med and Black Sea
-Would also strain army as Germany and AH were fighting in two fronts already
-Winston Churchill thought Turkish army wasn’t strong so when Germans assisted, the German Eastern and Western fronts would suffer, also hoped attacking Turkey would lead to allies with Greece, Bulgaria and Romania
-Thought British navy could fight the Turks without need for invasion
Phase One:
-Feb 19th 1915, French and British began attacks on forts at the Dardanelles, several were hit and abandoned by the Turks, put mines in water called minesweepers to clear them
-By Feb 25th the entrance to Dardanelles was clear
Phase two:
–March 18th main naval attack launched, 18 large battleships supported by smaller ships and minesweepers sailed into the Dardanelles
-Didn’t work as they came under a hail of shell fire from Turkish forts up the coast and a new line of mines in the water
-3 ships sunk and many damaged so they all retreated
Phase three:
–April 25th 70,000 soldiers ,mainly ANZAC troops began invasion of Gallipoli (necessary as Churchill told by naval commanders that they couldn’t sail up to Constantinople unless Turkish forts were destroyed
-Turks received info of invasion and sent 84,000 troops along the coast and prepared them for a sea invasion
-ANZAC invasion failed as Lord Kitchener only sent 70,000 troops instead of the 150,000 he was told were needed by Greek army leaders
-at ANZAC cove, Turks were waiting above the beach and thousands of ANZAC troops were shot within seconds of getting out of boat but despite losses they were able to capture some enemy positions but had to halt from going further due to Turkish resistance
-on 3/5 beaches landed on by the troops, attacks were successful
-trench conditions terrible due to sweltering heat, water in short supply, food contaminated and 80% of ANZAC got dysentery
-August 15th British landed 60,000 troops in Sulva Bay to drive the Turks out of Gallipoli but were beaten back
-14th October, General Hamilton replaced with General Munro after criticism in Britain due to slow decision making and they agreed troops should be evacuated
12th December soldiers were secretly led away at midnight into waiting boats, 80,000 soldiers escaped without a single death
Regarded failure because:
- Turkey not out of war
-Bulgaria joined war on Germans side
-200,000 allied deaths and 300,000 Turkish deaths
-Russai remained short on supplies
Success
-diverted troops from helping Germany of AH
-no troops died in evacuation
-A few British submarines managed to get through Dardanelles, attack Constantinople and sink Turkish warships and supply ships
German blockade impacts
-coal, oil and steel supplies couldn’t get through so industry suffered
-fertilisers for crops in short supply so food shortages, estimated that 420,000 Germans starved to death during war
-lack of vital medicines and drugs
-Decline in support for war, major protests in 1915
Battle of Jutland info
-May 1916in the North Sea
-Admiral Scheer planned a few German ships to enter North Sea as bait, commander by Admiral Hipper
-British navy, as done in past, would sail out to attack
-Rest of German fleet would leave port an hour and half later and sail up behind British ships and attack
-May 31st Scheers’ fleet had an initial advantage with powerful guns
-British battle cruiser squadron under Admiral Beatty under great pressure and danger of defeat
-fleet of Admiral Jellicoe arrived just in time, fighting continued during night but Germans fled back to port by morning
-British lost 14 ships and 6000 sailors
-Germans lost 13 ships and 2300 sailors
U-boats
Germans used u-boats to attack all ships entering British waters
British responded by laying minefields around Britain to protect coast and prevent u-boats from using ENlgoish Chanel
-Q-ships used trick Germans (heavily armed warships disguised as supply ships) to lure u-boats in before attacking them
-u-boat campaign affected British life as they sank average of 2 supply ships a day so hundreds of thousands of tonnes of supplies failed to reach Britain
-Germans temporarily scaled back campaign until 1917 due to sinking of Luisitania
-By Feb 1917, Germans had built over 100 u-boats and 500 British supply ships were attacked in 8 weeks
-Britain only had 6 weeks of food left
convoy system
British response to u-boat campaign was a convoy system which meant supply ships sailed close together in large groups protected by British warships. Depth charges (underwater bombs that exploded at certain depths) attacked u-boats and long range aircraft were overhead to look for u-boats
-So successful that between July and August 1917, only 5/800 supply ships were sunk
