Part 2 Flashcards
Schlieffen plan?
Why did it fail?
Problems with the plan?
Alfred von Schlieffen?
Plan to attack France + Russia, France would be first as it takes Russia loner to mobilise
Britain protected Belgium, BEF slowed down German advance, Russia only took 10 days to mobilise.
Based on old military experience, assumed that it would take Russia 6 weeks to mobilise, may mean Britain get involved, made the war on 2 fronts more likely as Germany brought France into conflict
Head of Germany’s army in 1891, plan with how to deal with war on 2 fronts
Battle of the Marne?
German as we’re 40km from Paris, but less troops going as some had gone to Belgium to fight Russian forces.
Troops marched around the city meaning British and French can get involved and give them an opportunity to attack.
British and French troops continued their advance and forced the Germans to retreat to the river Aisne- 2 million soldiers fought and over half a million injured or killed in less than a week
Germans began to dig trenches in the ground to protect themselves
‘Stalemate’
The race to the sea
By early September,191, both sides started digging trenches to hold their defensive position and to protect them from enemy gunfire.
Neither of them could go forward so they tried to get around the back of each other and dug trenches as they went. By November, both sides had reached the English Channel and trenches were 400 miles long.
Trench warfare began
Trench system
3 lines of trenches on each side of ‘no man’s land’- front line, followed by support and reserve, only 50 to 200m apart. German trenches were much nicer(10m deep),British and French thought they would be temporary( 2m deep)
Trench warfare
‘ war of attrition’
Military tactics
- Large guns fire shells and make holes in trenches to run through
- Soldiers would go ‘over the top’- running across no man’s land to attack
- Soldiers would jump into enemy trenches and shoot- rarely worked as shells rarely ever destroyed the trench system.
Attempt to win the war by wearing down the enemy to a point of collapse( e.g. losses of men, equipment and supplies)
Life in the trenches
- duties
- monthly routine
- conditions
All had duties (split into thirds)- men were on guard duty, repaired supplies( food, water, ammunition), and rest
Soldier would serves 4 days, 4 days in support trenches, 8 days in reserve and remainder of the time in local towns
They could be boiling hot or freezing cold, suffered from pneumonia, tuberculosis, bronchitis + diarrhoea, trench foot. Shell shock was also common- constant fear of death
Weapons of trench warfare
- artillery
- machine guns
- poison gas
- rifle
Large guns that fire shells long distances, different types some can contain high explosives, gas or smoke. Responsible for about 60% of all wounds
Became known as deadly weapons, fire up to 10 bullets a second
Different types of gas, one would suffocate lungs and leave them gasping for air, the other would burn and blind and kill over a period of days
Standard weapon given to all soldiers, light and accurate up to 600m, 15-20 bullets a min. Knife on the end for close combat
Battle of Verdun (the longest battle)
- when?
- who?
- the attack
- results
21 February to 18 December 1916
French troops defended against a major German attack
On day 2 the French retreated to reserve trenches and day 3 they were in the last line of trenches- 8km from Verdun
Destroyed the city of Verdun, 315,000 French soldiers died. French saw themselves as winners but neither side had made any military gains
The battle of the Somme (the largest battle)
- when?
- who?
- plan
- the attack
- results
July 1 to 18 November 1916
By the armies of the British + French against German forces
An attack to break the stalemate and start it at the river Somme to draw German troops away from Verdun to relieve pressure on the French
24 June B+F artillery began in hope to destroy Germanys front lines, Germans already pulled back and taken shelter and placed barbed wire. British soldiers went ‘over the top’ but taken down by German machine guns and 20,000 British soldiers had died on the first day
British had lost around 620,000 soldiers and Germans around 500,000. The British and French had gained a strip of land about 25km long.
Battle of Passchendaele (the muddiest battle)
- when?
- who?
- plan/ background
- the attack
- the results
July to November 1917
Was fought between Britain (and its empire) against German forces
In April British pushed Germans back several km and Germans brought up reserve troops and British advance stopped. French tried to attack and failed, led to a mutiny (refused to follow orders) and was only stopped when hundreds of mutineers were sentenced to death.
America had just joined the war. It began on 18 July with an artillery bombardment (over 4,500,000 shells from 3000 guns), lasted 10 days and this area had seen the heaviest rainfall in 30 years. 31 July men had to carry boards to help get over the mud
British lost 30,000 men and artillery bombardment failed. Attacks were called off because of unbearable conditions. 400,000 British and its empires soldiers were killed or injured
Gallipoli campaign
- background and plan
- winston Churchill
- naval campaign (phase 1 + 2)
- land invasion (phase 3)
Turkey joined Germanys side, as neither were committed to allies. Britain wanted to attack turkey to divert Germany as it would weaken their forces on western and eastern fronts.
Head of the British navy
1.February 1915 B+F ships began attack on Turkish forts and several were abandoned, Turks had put mines in the water so special ships came to clear them. 25 February entrance was clear to Dardanelles
2. Main attack 18 march, 18 large battleships and smaller ones sailed into Dardanelles but came under shell fire, Turks had a new line of mines and sunk 3 ships, rest retreated
3. Couldn’t sail up unless forts were destroyed so agreed to land invasion. Force of 70,000 men mainly ANZAC( Australia and mew Zealand army corps). Turks realised an attack was coming and moved troops along the coast. Invasion began in 25 April, they captured some enemy positions but couldn’t go any further as Turkish resistance was too strong, so they dug trenches to protect themselves.
Results of Gallipoli campaign
Regarded as a failure
Turkey wasn’t knocked out of the war, Churchill resigned, over 200,000 allied deaths, 300,000 Turkish deaths, Russians were short of supplies.
Some achievements- diverted Turks from helping Germany or AH, some submarines managed to get through and sink Turkish war and supply ships affecting turkeys war effort
War at sea - blockade
Dreadnought and Rheinland
Impact of blockade
1906 Britain launched this ship and built 29 by 1914, Germans copied and had built 17 by 1914
Blockade- starving the opposition to their surrender, stop supplies getting to them.
November 1914- North Sea was a ‘war zone’ and British could stop any ships and confiscate their cargo.
Had a devastating effect on Germany - coal, oil and steel couldn’t get through (industry), fertilisers for crops (estimated around 420,000 starved to death), lack of vital medicines and drugs (civilians and soldiers suffered),
led to decline in support for war, major protests in 1915
War at sea- stalemate at sea
First 2 years, the British spent most of their time patrolling North Sea and its main base, with German ships safe at their base.
Success for the British navy as dozens of ships sailed across English Channel from Britain to France and not one was sunk by enemy ships
War at sea- German approach
January 1916
Plan to bring Britain into the open
1 major sea battle in war (Jutland) .
Admiral Reinhard Scheer in charge of German navy, said they had been too timid with the British- was eager for action
Few German ships would sail into the North Sea to act as bait, British navy would sail out to attack ships, rest of German navy would leave 30 mins later and sail up behind British ships and attack them, they would be caught in a trap and destroyed by Germans
