History- The Start of World War One Flashcards
For Britain the First World War began with the British expeditionary Force going over to Europe to fight the Germans. British people were keen to join up and fight in the war. Nobody imagined it was going to last four years, or would take the lives of 3 million Allied soldiers.
Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914
Britain was allied to France and Russia by an agreement called the triple Entente.
Germany was allied to the Austro-Hungarian empire and Italy by an agreement called the triple Alliance.
The Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbs, in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on 28 June. Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia agreed to help Serbia. Germany declared war on Russia, then on Russia’s ally France.
Germany already had a strategy for invading France – it was called the Schlieffen plan.
The plan was to push down through Belgium and then capture Paris. According to the Schlieffen Plan the Germans should be able to take control of France within weeks.
But Belgium was a neutral country – Britain stepped in to help them and declared war on 4 August.
Britain sent the BEF to help France and Belgium
the BEF sent 4 divisions of troops to France. The French Army in the field had 70 divisions.
The BEF commander was Sir John French.
The British and French aim was to stop the Germans from invading or capturing France.
The British and the French didn’t manage to stop the Germans in Belgium, or to stop them invading France.
But once the Germans were in France, the BEF and the French fought three major battles at Mons, the river Marne and Ypres which brought the Germans to a standstill.
The Germans First Army met British forces at Mons on 23rd of August 1914. The Germans were flummoxed because they didn’t expect to see British soldiers. The small British force beat them back – but it wasn’t a laughing victory as the French army retreated and the British had to follow.
The Germans needed to cross the Marne to get to Paris. In September 1914, the French managed to beat them back as far as the river Aisne. They were supported by the BEF. The Germans dug trenches to defend their position. It became clear that the war was going to last longer than a few weeks.
The Germans tried to outflank the Allies by advancing towards the sea. The allies tried to block them off – this was known as “the race to the Sea”. The armies met at Ypres- they fought through October and November 1914. There were terrible casualties.Half the BEF were wounded. Around 75,000 were killed in total on both sides.
After Ypres the British Army needed more men
Kitchener, the secretary for war, wanted conscription but Asquith, the prime minister, refused.
Instead of conscription there was a massive poster campaign, e.g. “your country needs you”.
By September 1914 there were half a million volunteers. Another half a million joined by February 1915.
