World War 1 Flashcards
Why is WW1 also known as Great War?
As the world never experienced such a big war before with millions of men,split into alliances spending four years killing each other using incredibly deadly weapons
How many people died in WW1?
9 million people
Is nationalism a short term or long term cause for WW1?
Long term
Is militarism a short term or long term cause for WW1?
Long term
Is imperialism a short term or long term cause for WW1?
Long term
How did Nationalism cause WW1?
At the beginning of the twentieth century, people started to take great pride in their countries.People of different nations,especially in Europe,were convinced that their people,country and way of doing things were the best.Unfortunately for many leaders of Europe,the best way to prove they were the best was to have a war with their rivals
How did militarism cause WW1?
People took great pride in their armies and navies.To make sure that theirs were the best,countries spent more and more money on bigger and bigger armies.Nobody wanted the smallest army,so countries got caught up in an arms race.To many,there was no point in having a big,expensive army if you were not going to use it and whenever countries fell out,the temptation was to always use their weapons
How did imperialism become a cause for WW1
It was not just Britain that had an empire,many other European countries did too.The race to gain control of other nations,particularly in Africa,led to tension and fierce rivalries among European countries.They began to see each other as a threat to their overseas possessions and saw war as the only way to remove this threat permanently
What was the Triple Entente made up of?
Britain,France and Russia
What was the Triple alliance made up of?
Germany,Austria-Hungary and Italy
How did alliances cause WW1
As each country began to feel threatened,they looked for friends to back them up in a war known as allies and made up the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance,the idea was to put people off starting a war as it would mean fighting against three nations instead of one.Although this made them feel more secure,it meant it would take one small disagreement between any two nations involved,and all of Europe would be dragged into a war
What was the short term cause for WW1?
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassination
When was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated?
28th June 1914
Why did the Austrians murder Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
Bosnia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire-but only since 1908 when it had been conquered by the Austrians.Many Bosnians were still deeply unhappy about this.They wanted to join with their neighbours Serbia,and many Serbians,known as the ‘Black Hand’ decided to take drastic action to highlight their cause - they planned to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand.His visit to Sarajevo was the perfect oppurtunity
Events leading to Archduke Franz Ferdinands assassination
1) Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife arrived at Sarajevo station at 9:28am.They were driven towards the Town Hall to meet the Mayor.Crowds lined the streets and the car drove slowly so that the royal couple would wave to the royal people.
2) Six Black Hand assassins waited for the car by the Cumurja Bridge.As the open-topped car passed,one of the Serbians threw a bomb at the royal couple.The bomb ended up beneath the car behind and blew up,injuring several people.The Archduke’s car sped off to the Town Hall with a terrified Ferdinand inside
3) The Archduke cancelled the rest of his visit,but decided to visit those injured by the bomb before he went home.At 11am,he again got into the chauffeur driven car,but it drove a lot faster this time!As they passed Schillers caafe,the driver was informed that he had taken a wrong turn.He stopped to turn around
4) After the bomb attack,the assassins had spilt up and ran into the crowds.By coincidence,one of the gang members(18 year old Gavrill Princip,was standing outside the cafe.He took out a pistol,walked towards the car and fired two shots.Ferdinand was hit in the throat;his wife Sophie was shot in the stomach.Both were killed
What happens on the 28th of July?
Austria-Hungary blames Serbia for killing the Archduke.It attacks Serbia
What happens on the 29th of July
Russia,who has promised to protect Serbia against attack,gets its army ready to attack Austria-Hungary
What happens on the 1st of August?
Germany,who supports Austria-Hungary,hears anout Russian preparations for war.Germany declars war on Russia.
What happens on the 2nd of August
Britain prepares its warships
What happens on the 3rd of August
Germany,whose plan if to defeat France BEFORE attacking Russia,declares war on France
What happens on the 4th of August?
Germany asks Belgium to allow German soldiers to march through their country to attack France.Belgium says ‘no’.Germany marches in anyway.Britain,who has a deal to protect Belgium from attack(dating back to 1839) declares war on Germany
What happens on the 6th of August?
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia
What happens on the 12th of August?
Britain and France declare war on Austria-Hungary
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
The plan was to quickly defeat France with a huge knock-out blow through Belguim before moving the soldiers east to face the enormous but slow-moving,Russian army
When was the Schlieffen Plan put into action
3rd of August 1914
Why did the Schlieffen Plan go wrong?
Firstly,the Belgian army(which the German army expected to be a pushover) put up fierce resistance and slowed the charge to France right down.Then the BEF(British Expeditionary Force) a highly trained professional army of 125,000 men held the Germans back at Monsterrat.On the 19th of August the Russians launched an attack on Germany.This was far quicker than what the Germans had expected and before they had a chance to capture Paris,they were forced to send troops east to face the Russians and by September the German army retreated 40 miles behind the River Aisne.There they dug trenches and set up macnine gun nests.The British and French couldnt break through as they put their trenches directly opposite them.By the end of 1914 the trenches streched all the way from tne English Channel to Switzerland.Neither side could find a way through.The war was stuck in a stalemate
Did the basic training of soldiers prepare him for the frontlines of WW1?
It did not,the deadly fire of the machine guns forced entire armies to live almost underground for months on end.As well as the mud,the cold and the wet,they lived with the knowledge that they could lose their lives at any moment.
How did Trench Rats make life in the trenches even worse?
Dead bodies and food scraps attracted many rats to the trenches.One pair of rats can produce 880 offspring in a year and so the trenches were soon swarming with them. Some of these rats grew extremely large.Harry Patch claimed that “there were rats as big as cats” another soldier wrote “the rats were huge.They were so big they could eat a wounded man if he couldnt defend himself”.These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men
How did Food make life in the trenches even worse?
At the start of the war food was thriving,though as the army grew larger the army had to ration food as change their food supplies.It changed from bully beef bread and biscuits(usually stale) to pea soup with horsemeat with weeds and nettles as the kitchen staff had no fresh vegetables.As the kitchen staff only had to 2 large pans,everything had to be cooked in them meaning everything the men ate tasted of something else because of how poorly washed they were.For example,soldiers often complained that their tea tasted of vegetables.By the time the food reqched the front line it was always cold
How did Daily Life make life in the trenches even worse?
In the trenches,each day was the same as the last unless there was a battle.The average day began with stand to before dawn.Gathering their weapons soldiers took a place on the fire stop and as the sun rossmdired towards enemy lines in a daily ritual called morning hate,The order stand down was then given and knowing that a threat of a night raid is over.The sentries could relax.The day to day work consisted of repairing damage to the trench,filling sandbags,carrying supplies,running errands,writing letters etc but the most common was cleaning your weapons to make sure you could use it at any vital moment.The stand to was also repeated at night fall and people would be sent to no mans land.Another problem was water as it was sent in petrol cans ans chlorine of lime was added to kill bacteria though in winter it was easier as snow fall.The most consuming part of a soldiers daily routine was battles but to keep morale up the army rotated its soldiers round other sections like support and reserve trenches.In all most battalions rarely spent more than 5 days a month in the line of fire
How did disease make life in the trenches even worse?
Many soldiers fighting in WW1 suffered from trench foot.This was an infection of the fert cause by the cold,wet and dirty conditions.The feet would go numb thrn turn red or blue.If untreated,trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in amputation.Trench foot was an extreme problem in the early stages of the war.For example,during the winter of 1914-15 over 20000 men in the British army were treated for trench foot
What were duckboards in British Trenches?
These were placed on the ground to stop troops from sinking in the mud
What was the fire step in British Trenches?
Soldiers stood on these to look and fire ‘over the top’
What was the periscope in British Trenches?
Enabled troops to see over the top without risk of being shot
What were barbed wires in British Trenches?
Slowed down attacking troops.Millions of miles of barbed wire was used
What were sandbags in British Trenches?
Reinforced the walls,muffled explosion and soaked up moisture
What were communication trench in British Trenches?
Linked the front line trench to the reserve trenches
What were gas bells in British Trenches?
Would be rung to tell troops to put on gas masks
What were reserve trenches in British Trenches?
Soldiers went there to rest or to wait to go to the front line
