Why Did WW1 become Stalemate? Flashcards
What does BEF stand for?
British expeditionary force
Who and when landed in France and fought the Germans at Mons?
The BEF on 23 August
Who was the BEF led by? Why did they retreat?
Lieutenant General Douglas Haig. Hugely outnumbered
What plan did the French follow?
Plan 17- attack Germany through Alsace Lorraine
What happened on August 20th?
Germany attacked French troops with artillery and gun fire
What did France defend after loosing 200000 troops?
Paris from advancing Germans
What happened at The battle of the Marne?
Germans pulled 100,000 troops out of Paris to east (Russia already invaded Germany). Weakened Germany western front. German soldiers exhausted advanced to Paris by foot. French troops by train and taxi. French + British stopped Germans at river Marne pushed back to river aisne, not out of France tho. No progress began digging trenches for protection (sep 8th). First signs of stalemate.
What happened at the race to get the sea?
Battle of Marne was a turning point. Schlieffen plan had failed. Germany was caught up in a two front war. Germany realised they could not break through enemy lines. 12th October charge began it was named. Germans charged west towards the sea, British + French moved troops whenever it seemed they were about to break through
What were the dates of the first battle of Ypres in Belgium?
12th October-11 November 1914
What happened during the first battle of Ypres?
The BEF lost around 50,000 men
Germans 100,000 but British held this important ground. kept control of English Channel ports (equipment & reinforcements)
By November 1914= deadlock
BEF decimated. French suffered 1 million dead or wounded in 10 weeks.
French tried to break through German lines in dec but beaten back.
1914 ended now stalemate
Western front was now formed
