Summary and Causes Flashcards
War erupted in Europe because:
- caused by a complex interaction of factors for more than 20 years
- The Balkans
- Rivalries over colonies
- The arms race in Europe
- Assassination
- Alliances
- Nationalism
- Europe’s alliance system
- Military plans
- caused by a complex interaction of factors for more than 20 years
- competition over economic progress
- competition over size of armies and navies and the race to colonies new parts of the world
Where was WW1 fought?
- Gallipoli, Turkey, Campaign 1915 • Western Front, France & Belgium 1916-1918 • Middle East campaigns 1916-1918 - Places of war • The Middle East • The Western Front • Eastern Front in Europe • The North Sea • Turkey • Northern Africa
How many people were killed and wounded?
- Approx. 10 million people killed worldwide
* Approx. 20 million people wounded worldwide
Western Front
○ Defensive warfare uses machine guns, trenches and barbed wire.
○ Series of attacks and counter-attacks using artillery fire, then infantry charge involving close fighting with rifles, bayonets and grenades
○ Appalling conditions for soldiers living in trenches
Demobilisation Requirements
- More than 200,000 military personnel
* 15,500 wives and children
When did German Allies surrender?
- Bulgaria, September 1918
- Turkey, October 1918
- Austria-Hungary, November 1918
War end and demobilisation
- Armistice on the Western Front
- 11 am November 1918
- Australians riot in France
- ANZACS murder Bedouins in Surafend, Jaffa
- Unruly ex-soldiers and influenza
Why is WW1 described as the first ‘modern’ war
- Because it was the first war that had: □ Advanced machine guns □ Chemical warfare □ Tanks □ Attack aircrafts □ Submarines
Why is WW1 called the first ‘total’ war
- Nations mobilised all of their available resources for the war effort
Changes due to WW1
○ Lots of people lost their lives
○ A catalyst for great change
○ Large empires dissolved and new nation-states were formed
○ Lots of the nations involved had borrowed power to finance the war, so the USA became the world’s new economic power
○ Soviet Russia formed
- Fear of communism formed
○ Treaty of Versailles allowed the rise of fascism, ww2, and the Vietnam War
Alliances:
- Triple Alliance
□ Germany
□ Italy
□ Austria-Hungary
- Triple Entente
□ Britain
□ France
□ Russia
® Russia was supported by Serbia, who was strongly opposed to Austria-HungaryWhat was the Schlieffen Plan
○ idea was to smash through Belgium to defeat France rapidly and then turn to the eastern front for a major attack on Russia.
○ Germany believed that this was a good plan because the Germans assumed:
- It would be easy to defeat France (within 6 weeks)
- Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilise its army
- Belgium would not resist any German attack
What was the Schlieffen Plan
○ idea was to smash through Belgium to defeat France rapidly and then turn to the eastern front for a major attack on Russia.
○ Germany believed that this was a good plan because the Germans assumed:
- It would be easy to defeat France (within 6 weeks)
- Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilise its army
- Belgium would not resist any German attack
Conscription
○ Prime Minister Joseph Cook said in August 1914:
“Whatever happens, Australia is part of the Empire, right to the full. When the Empire is at war, Australia is at war.”
Enlistment
○ Number of enlistments declined
○ Governments tried to put pressure on men to join
- Through
□ Propaganda
□ Campaigns
- These encouraged or shamed men to join
- Process is called recruitment
○ Recruitment became an issue in Australia by 1916
- PM William Morris Hughes returned from a visit to Britain and the Western Front
- Over 27 000 Australians were killed within the first 5 weeks
