Trenches and key battles

Question 1

What were Trench systems?

Answer 1

They were defensive structures.

Question 2

What are the key features of trenches?

Answer 2

1) Front line trench - first line of defense & soldiers attacked there.
2) Support trench - support troops / front line could retreat there.
3) Reserve trench - 100m behind support trench
4) Dugouts - holes dug into the sides of trenches, where soldiers could take rests/cover from bombardments.
5) Communication trench - connected other trenches together.
6) Zig Zags - more difficult to shoot if a trench has been infiltrated.
7) No-mans land - space between front line of each army.

Question 3

What is another word for deadlock?

Answer 3

Stalemate

Question 4

What are the 5 reasons for the deadlock?

Answer 4

1) Failure of the Schlieffen plan -> caused the German army to dig trenches in places that were to difficult to attack.
2) Strength of the defences -> Very difficult to attack.
3) Ineffective weapons -> weapons were no match for strong defences.
4) Conditions on the western front -> Geography of the area made it difficult to fight, weather turned areas into muddy swamps.
5) No new tactics -> Generals lacked experience in modern, industrial war. Old tactics were used like calvary charges & hand to hand fighting.

Question 5

Why were aircrafts used?

Answer 5

Gathering intelligence, eg. troop movements, layouts & supply chains.

Question 6

What were the downsides of using aircrafts in 1914?

Answer 6

Very primitive and unarmed, death rates amongst pilots were very high.

Question 7

What happened to airplanes by 1918?

Answer 7

1) special ‘fighter’ aircraft developed - was much faster and fitted with machine guns.
2) Could carry heavy loads of bombs to be dropped.
3) 10,000 planes were used but over 50,000 airmen had been killed.

Question 8

What were dogfights?

Answer 8

Aerial battles, firing machine guns on enemy trenches or other pilots.

Question 9

What were the impacts of aircrafts?

Answer 9

Sped up development of aircraft technology. Used to observe and attack shipping.

Question 10

What were machine guns used for?

Answer 10

Used for defence.

Question 11

What was the roles of the machine guns?

Answer 11

1) defend trenches, 400-600 bullets per minute.
2) German army had 12,000 in 1914 - British didn’t use until 1915.
3) Needed 4-6 people to operate, often overheats/jam

Question 12

When was poison gas first used?

Answer 12

In the battle of ypres (1915), germans used chlorine gas.

Question 13

What was the role of poison gas?

Answer 13

It was used to break into enemy trenches.

Question 14

Improvements of poison gas?

Answer 14

1) 1917 more lethal gasses were developed, e.g chlorine gas.
2) Gas shells used to overcome problem of wind direction
3) gas masks were made for humans and animals.

Question 15

What were the impacts of poison gas?

Answer 15

1) Psychological weapon
2) little effect on stalemate.
3) small number of casualties.

Question 16

What happened to machine guns by 1918?

Answer 16

All armies used it, and light machine guns were developed and was used for attacking not just defense.

Question 17

What were the impacts of machine guns?

Answer 17

1) Key defensive weapon on the western front.
2) Could take hundreds at a time.
3) Prolonged the stalemate -> gave the enemies a hard time to attack.

Question 18

What were tanks used for?

Answer 18

Used to cross difficult terrain

Question 19

When was tanks first used?

Answer 19

In the Battle of Somme, used it for the first time but it was very slow and kept breaking down.

Question 20

Improvements of tanks?

Answer 20

In the Battle of Cambrai (1917) - 400 tanks had been used succesfully but it moved to fast that soldiers could not keep up.

Question 21

What was artillery used for?

Answer 21

Used to bombard enemy lines with huge shells ready to attack.

Question 22

What was artillery like in 1914?

Answer 22

1) Not accurate -> sometimes hit frontline troops.
2) By 1915, 50% of British shells had been duds
3) Factories could not produce enough shells.

Question 23

What was the impact of artillery?

Answer 23

Caused more casualties than any other weapon in WW1.

Question 24

What were the improvement of artillery by 1915?

Answer 24

1) Less duds, higher quality.
2) Howitzers -> was able to fire high into the air and could drop on a target with accuracy
3) Created new tactics, e.g. Creeping barrage/box barrage
4) Spotter aircraft and radio were being used to send live information on where to fire to.

Question 25

When was the Battle of somme?

Answer 25

1st of July - 18th of November 1916

Question 26

What was the Battle of Somme about?

Answer 26

It was fought by the British and French soldiers against the Germans. This was part of an offensive to force Germany back and achieve victory in the Western Front. *Also used to relieve pressure on the French.

Question 27

What were the 4 key outcomes of the Battle of Somme?

Answer 27

1) First day => 57,000 British casualties while the Germans had only 8,000. At the end, 620,000 British casualties, while Germany only had 450,000 casualties.
2) Allies only advanced for 15km
3) Germans called of their attacks in Verdun, saving the French army there.
4) Allies developed new technology (tanks) and strategies (creeping barrage)

Question 28

What are the 3 reasons the Battle of Somme had been seen as a failure?

Answer 28

1) Germans knew the attack was coming due to aerial reconnaissance. Caused the German army to move away from the front line into strengthened trenches.
2) Week before, 1.73 million shells were fired. Were not effective in destroying German dugouts.
3) General Haig told soldiers to advance slowly thinking they were undefended, lead to a high number of casualties.

Question 29

When was the Battle of Passchendaele?

Answer 29

July - November 1917

Question 30

What was the Battle of Passchendaele about?

Answer 30

Was a joint British and Canadian offensive against the Germans, led by General Haig. Haig wanted to capture naval bases making it harder for the Germans to carry out submarine attacks on British ships.

Question 31

3 Outcomes of the Battle of Passchendaele?

Answer 31

1) After 3 months of fighting, Passchendaele was captured and Haig could claim victory.
2) 240,000 British and 220,000 German soldiers were wounded/killed.
3)Allies captured 8km of territory and Haig failed to achieve his main objective.

Question 32

2 reasons why the plan failed?

Answer 32

1) Germans were aware of the attack.
2) Heavy rains turned the battlefield into a quagmire. Har for soldiers to move, were knee deep in liquid mud.