The course and practices of WW1

Question 1

In which different ways was WW1 fought?

Answer 1

• Land
• Air
• Sea

Question 2

How long did WW1 last?

Answer 2

4 years

Question 3

Germany’s entry into WW1

Answer 3

• Germany declared war on 1 August and began the initial phase of the Schlieffen Plan.
• Germany invaded Belgium, a neutral country.
• The German advance was slowed by Belgian, French and British resistance in both Belgium and northern France.
• By the end of August, German troops and supplies were exhausted and fell behind the schedule of the Schlieffen Plan.
• British and French attempts to go around the Germans failed, with Germany extending its trenches in the ‘race to the sea’.
• The Schlieffen Plan failed and both sides developed trench systems to secure their positions.

Question 4

Why did trench warfare pose new problems for both sides?

Answer 4

• Because of the dangers for soldiers crossing ‘no man’s land’, the area between opposing trenches.
• Trenches were fortified with barbed wire and attacking soldiers lacked protection from artillery bombardment, machine guns, and sniper fire.

Question 5

The war on the Western Front became a war of ___

Answer 5

• Attrition as both sides attempted to break the stalemate

- Devastating cross-fire contributed to this; machine guns could fire 450-500 bullets in one minute

Question 6

Germany’s use of poison gas

Answer 6

• Germany introduced poison gas in 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres.
• Although this had a great psychological effect and led to many deaths, it failed to end the stalemate.
• Germany, Britain, France, the USA, and Austria-Hungary all used poison gas during the war.

Question 7

Battle of Verdun

Answer 7

• In February 1916, Germany launched a series of attacks against France at Verdun.
• It was hoped that France would prioritize saving Verdun and weaken its other positions across the Western Front.
• The Battle of Verdun raged for ten months, with around 1 million troops killed or wounded.
• Germany eventually called off the battle, having gained only eight kilometers of territory.

Question 8

Battle of the Somme

Answer 8

• The British launched an offensive in July 1916 near the Somme River in the hope of drawing German forces away from Verdun.
• The Battle of the Somme was a clear example of the deadly nature of trench warfare, with 20,000 British soldiers being killed on the first day.
• The territorial gain made was minimal.

Question 9

The Battle of Passchendaele

Answer 9

• Several attempts were made by the Allies in 1917 to break through the German lines, such as the Battle of Passchendaele in which the Allies gained eight kilometers.
• These attempts were not decisive and failed to make significant gains.
• The USA joined the war on the side of the Allies in April 1917 and by 1918 over a quarter of a million US troops were arriving on the Western Front each month.

Question 10

When were tanks first used against trenches?

Answer 10

By the British in September 1916

Question 11

Example of the success of tanks in the later parts of the war

Answer 11

The Battle of Cambrai in 1917, when 476 British tanks took 9.5km of land in just a few hours

Question 12

What was the Ludendorff Offensive?

Answer 12

• In an attempt to counter the strengthening Allied forces, the Germans launched the Ludendorff Offensive in March 1918 to try to achieve a decisive victory, as they lacked the manpower and resources to fight on much longer.
• Germany changed its tactics by employing a shorter artillery bombardment, known as a hurricane barrage, followed by smaller, staggered infantry detachments.

Question 13

Outcome of the Ludenforff Offensive

Answer 13

• The new tactics appeared successful, but Germany was not able to sustain the offensive and began to retreat after the Allies attacked at Marne in July 1918
• Germany was forced into an armistice on 11 November 1918

Question 14

When and why did Italy join the war

Answer 14

In 1915, having signed the Treaty of London, an agreement which would see Italy fight on the side of the Allies in return for Italy gaining Austro-Hungarian territory after the war.

Question 15

What did war look like on the Italian front?

Answer 15

• Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers engaged in trench warfare, with neither side making any meaningful territorial gains.
• German and Austro-Hungarian troops launched a major offensive against Italy in 1917, killing 300,000 Italians in the Battle of Caporetto.

Question 16

Russia’s entry into WW1

Answer 16

• Russian forces mobilized more quickly than the Germans anticipated and invaded eastern Germany on 7 August 1914
• This meant that Germany’s Schlieffen Plan was immediately ruined

Question 17

Battle of Tannenberg

Answer 17

• Germany defeated the Russians at the Battle of Tannenberg in late August 1914, destroying the Russian Second Army.
• Germany’s use of railways to maneuver its troops to take on Russian armies one at a time, and the failure of Russia to encode radio messages, were key reasons for the defeat of the Russians.

Question 18

What was the Brusilov Offensive?

Answer 18

• In June 1916, Russia launched what became known as the Brusilov Offensive against Austria-Hungary.
• While the offensive had initial success, the Russians suffered from a lack of supplies and were overwhelmed by German reinforcements arriving from Verdun.
• Russia succeeded in crippling the Austro-Hungarian army, but the cost was high, depleting its resources.

Question 19

How was Russia’s role in WW1 ended?

Answer 19

The Bolshevik Party, later known as the Communist Party, quickly brought an end to Russia’s role in the First World War by agreeing to the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, leaving German troops on the Eastern Front free to deploy to the Western Front for the Ludendorff Offensive.

Question 20

What were the Allies’ aims in launching an attack against Ottoman forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915?

Answer 20

• To remove the Ottoman Empire from the war by capturing Istanbul, the Ottoman capital
• To improve Allied supply routes between Britain/France and Russia
• To weaken Germany and Austria-Hungary by forcing them to fight on a third front.

Question 21

What were the results of the Gallipoli campaign?

Answer 21

The Gallipoli campaign failed to make gains against entrenched Ottoman soldiers and the Allies conceded defeat early in 1916 after over 100,000 lives had been lost on both sides.

Question 22

War in the Middle East- necessary?

Question 23

How did the use of aircraft develop over time?

Answer 23

• At first, aircrafts were only used for reconnaissance, but fighter planes were developed to shoot down observation aircrafts.
• By 1915, forward-firing machine guns were placed on most aircrafts.
• By 1917, planes had the capability of flying at over 200 km/h and were able to carry two machine guns, while dropping shells, some with poison gas.

Question 24

What were aircrafts used for on both sides?

Answer 24

• Strategic bombing campaigns
• The British launched bombing attacks on Germany from 1916, and the Germans on Britain in 1917; these had no real effect on the outcome of the war.

Question 25

Use of aircrafts to support infantry campaigns

Answer 25

• Bombs and grenades were dropped from planes flying at a low altitude and machine guns were fired at infantry soldiers.
• However, this had no effect on the outcome of any battle.

Question 26

Use of Zeppelin airships in WW1

Answer 26

• In 1915, Germany launched air-raid attacks against Britain and France using Zeppelin airships.
• The large size and slow speed of the airships made them easy targets for anti-aircraft fire.
• By the end of the war, 60 of the 84 Zeppelin airships built had been destroyed.

Question 27

Use of seaplanes

Answer 27

• Countries used seaplanes for reconnaissance and attacks on navies in the war.
• These had no effect on the outcome of any battle.
• During the war, planes were launched from ships for the first time.

Question 28

Aircraft production in the war

Answer 28

Aircraft production saw the building of 50,000 aircraft each for Britain and France, indicating their perceived importance by the military.

Question 29

Britain’s naval blockade against Germany

Answer 29

• Britain established a naval blockade against Germany from August 1914 until 1919.
• Mines were placed and naval patrols guarded the English Channel and the North Sea exits to the Atlantic Ocean to stop German ships from being able to leave ports and trade with the rest of the world.

Question 30

What was the only major naval battle of the war?

Answer 30

The Battle of Jutland, which occurred in May 1916.

Question 31

The Battle of Jutland

Answer 31

• May 1916
• Germany hoped to cause enough damage to break the naval blockade, and while the battle was costlier for Britain in terms of battleships lost (Britain lost fourteen compared to Germany’s eleven), Germany failed to break this blockade.
• The stopping of imports, such as food, getting into Germany was a key factor in Germany’s eventual surrender in 1918.

Question 32

Why was Britain vulnerable to starvation?

Answer 32

• As it imported much of its food.
• As a result, Germany targeted merchant and ships in unrestricted submarine warfare intermittently from 1915 until 1918.

Question 33

How did Britain attempt to combat the threat of U-boats?

Answer 33

By developing Q-ships (battleships that looked like merchant ships) and using a convoy system

Question 34

How much damage did German U-boats inflict on British ships?

Answer 34

• Almost 5,000 ships were sunk over the course of the war

- However, the Germans failed to force Britain into surrender through starvation

Question 35

What was the result of all major powers introducing conscription?

Answer 35

Population size became increasingly important as the war went on, with the Allies benefiting from Russia’s huge population and the colonies of the British and French Empires.

Question 36

Germany’s military manpower

Answer 36

• German campaigns in the latter stages of the war did not have enough troops to resist the advances of the Allies, especially after the entry of the USA.
• By 1918, over a quarter of a million US troops were arriving on the Western Front each month

Question 37

What shortages in war production did nations have in the early stages of the war?

Answer 37

Shortages of ammunition and weapons

Question 38

How did the production of war supplies change as the war went on?

Answer 38

• While there were shortages at the beginning as few anticipated that the war would go on for as long as it did, production of war supplies rose rapidly in all countries as the war progressed.
• The Allies were able to make the most significant gains as they benefited from US supplies (from 1917 onwards) and Germany struggled to access the raw materials it needed due to the naval blockade.

Question 39

What was the role of women in war production?

Answer 39

• Entire populations were mobilized, including women.
• In Austria-Hungary, women made up 43% of industrial workers by 1916 (compared to 18% in 1913), with all other countries seeing similar increases.

Question 40

Why was keeping the military and civilian population fed particularly difficult for Britain?

Answer 40

As it imported 60% of its food before 1914

Question 41

How did Britain respond to its food shortages?

Answer 41

• Propaganda campaigns helped to raise awareness of the need to save food and reduce the number of merchant ships that risked journeying to Britain past German submarines.
• Britain was forced to adopt a rationing program and at times was weeks away from starvation.

Question 42

How did Germany respond to the food shortages?

Answer 42

• Germany introduced big changes to the way its population ate as a result of the blockade.
• Imports were halved and substitutes were introduced to keep the population fed.
• A decision to slaughter millions of pigs led to a shortage of fertilizer, limiting Germany’s ability to grow its own produce, leading to further hunger.

Question 43

What was the result of the food shortages in Russia?

Answer 43

• This led to massive price increases.
• The price of meat rose by 232% in the first two years of war, affecting those in urban areas most as rural peasants kept hold of their products as money lost its value.
• There was little the peasants could buy with the money in any case, as all production was for the war effort.