World War 1

Question 1

what is a war of attrition?

Answer 1

prolonged period of war with many small scale attacks
based on defense (outlasting the enemy), weaken the troops, cut off supply, launch attack

Question 2

why was trench warfare used instead of horses?

Answer 2

With the development of new technology, it was too dangerous to be in an open field with machine guns firing at you (cannons, chemical weapons, trenches, machine guns, etc)

Question 3

what was the Schlieffen plan?

Answer 3

Germany’s plan to fight a 2 front war (russia and france)

Question 4

why did the Schlieffen plan fail?

Answer 4

2 assumptions were held: Russia would take a long time to mobilize their troops, and the Britain would stay neutral (as apart of the Triple Entente, Britain promised to defend France)
Germany changed the plan and exhausted their troops, and failed to stick to the timeline

Question 5

what were Canada’s moral standards influenced by, and what are examples?

Answer 5

Britain – Conservative values
eg: influence of the church, expectation to support the british empire, duty and honour

Question 6

which women led the WCTU to fight back against the patriarchy?

Answer 6

Nellie McClung, the Womens Christian Temperance Union
fought to ban the consumption of alcohol
they believed that if they could vote, they could address and fight against social issues
women were restricted to the domestic sphere, and weren’t considered persons under the law unless the law was broken
no rights to children or property, if they did work, it was in factories, nursing or teaching

Question 7

who controlled canada’s foreign policy at the time?

Answer 7

Britain
1867 they were now an independent country –> this caused tension throughout the country (decisions were made w/out consultation)
Eg: Alaska Boundary dispute – Loss of the Lynn Canal (vital to the yukon gold fields) and Britain was more occupied with fighting in the Boer War
French Canadians: Unhappy about continued relationship with Britain – participating in the Boer war led to fracturing the laurier government w/ Henri Bourssa leading the nationalist fight
language rights were banned on the prairies

Question 8

what was the policy that Canada created to protect themselves from US Expansionism?

Answer 8

The Last Best West Policy
Offered land across the prairies if people were healthy, could work, etc.
65 hectares for 10 dollars

Question 9

what were the immigration policies at the time that made Canada racist towards minorities?

Answer 9

Immigration aimed to attract people from Britain – instead it was eastern europe and asia (less desirable)
Chinese Immigration Act placed a head tax of $50 on Chinese immigrants (people thought it wasn’t enough, which led to the vancouver riot in 1907)
Chinese Exclusion Act halted all immigration
Continuous passage act all ships had to travel non stop to Canada (Impossible for India) - Komogata Maru
Indian Act (1867) Restricted all traditional practices of Indigenous peoples
reserves, hunting & gathering practices and replaced w/ farming (the land was inadequate and that was their source for food = hunger)
residential schools = generational trauma

Question 10

What are some of the initial causes of world war 1

Answer 10

1. Imperialism: exploited land & resources of nations controlled – Industrialization! Great Powers had access to raw materials from colonies
2. Militarism: Great powers sought more land and resources (Nations colonized struggled to keep their independence)
3. Balkans conflict: Pan Slavism (the advocacy for the union of all slavic people)
   * russia: pro (warm water port access)
   * austria hungary: anti (threat to power)
   * ottoman empire: feared losing more territory (already controlled lots)
4. Alliance system
5. Nationalism: Caused nations to build up armies and led to increasing militarism

Question 11

what was the terrorist group that was created by Bosnian Serbs and what was their objective?

Answer 11

the Black Hand that wanted to free Austria Hungary

Question 12

what was the chain reaction that “sparked the war”?

Answer 12

Austria Hungary sent their prince (archduke franz ferdiand) to Bosnias capital (serajevo) and the black hand killed him and his wife
Austria Hungary blamed serbia – as apart of the triple alliance the german kaiser offered a “blank cheque” that promised to support them
serbia refused austrias ultimatum and declared war Russia mobilized its troops to defend serbia – Germany responded – Britain and France mobilized their armies – Germany violated Belgium’s neutrality by invading – when britain declared war on germany for this, canada was automatically involved as well

Question 13

what was canada’s response to the war?

Answer 13

they were automatically at war, and didn’t have the standing army
PM Robert Bordon initially promised 25 000 but more then 30 000 signed up
lots of people were restricted from joining (women - nursing roles, indigenous soldiers initially refused, racism towards Chinese and Indian soldiers)

Question 14

Who formed the Canadian Expeditionary Force?

Answer 14

(CEF) – would operate as a separate from britain corp
Sam Hughes became the minister of militia and was responsible for recruiting, training and supplying soldiers
canada was tasked with the production of artillery shells

Question 15

who was Sam Hughes?

Answer 15

inefficent leader who profited off the contracts given to manufacturers
- Ross Rifle – jammed frequentley and backfired
- boots/uniform – disintegrated due to the poor materials (cardboard) in the rain
- dismissed in 1916

Question 16

what was the War Measures Act and why was it implemented?

Answer 16

“for the security, peace, defense, order and welfare of Canada”
gave the government the extraordinary power to do anything necessary for the country

Question 17

what was suspended through the war measures act?

Answer 17

Habeaus Corpus – people could be detained or deported without reason
Many people from “enemy” countries were arrested or deported

Question 18

what was life like in the trenches?

Answer 18

earlier wars used horses –> by 1914, new weapons were too powerful to go in an open battlefield and do that
machine guns and massive artillery, airplanes
armoured tanks in 1918 but by then the trench system wasn’t used anyways
cold, damp, flooded, filled w rats, soldiers clothes were infested with lice, developed trench foot, mental exhaustion

Question 19

List all the major canadian battles in order

Answer 19

Second battle of Ypres
Somme
Vimy Ridge
Passchendaele (3 Ypres)

Question 20

Describe the second battle of Ypres

Answer 20

Belgium, April 1915
Canada’s first engagement in trench warfare
Objective: Defend Ypres and push germany back from advancing into France and Belgium
initial fighting led to a salient
Germany’s response: First large scale use of chemical weapons (CHLORINE GAS) – wiped out 1000
John McCrae wrote in flanders fields

Question 21

Describe the battle of the somme

Answer 21

France, July 1916
more then 1.25 million casualties
attempt by the allies to end trench warfare
* attempt to destroy germans with artillery
* commanders ordered troops “over the top” (marching down open battlefield)
* British tried to introduce the tank in an effort to break through german lines
* only 13 km was gained, canadians distinguished themselves

Question 22

why did using the “over the top” method fail?

Answer 22

German’s use of the machine guns
the newfoundland regiment lost 90% of its troops on the first day

Question 23

why did the somme fail?

Answer 23

• allies shelled the german lines for days prior but it did nothing
• commanders didn’t update the methods they used (reused from previous battles)
• the battle continued even though nearly 60 000 British troops were lost in the first day

Question 24

Describe the battle of Vimy Ridge

Answer 24

france, april 1917 in the beginning of the war, germany took control, for 2 yrs britain and frace tried to capture it back but were unsuccessful
4 divisions of the CEF were ordered to take the ridge under the command of arthur currie

Question 25

what made the battle of vimy sucessful

Answer 25

began prep months prior so everyone involved was prepared
ridge was bombarded for weeks to weaken their defenses
engineers dug tunnels under the ridge to get troops closer without suffering heavy losses
“Creeping Barrage/Vimy Glide” to get up the hill to attack
* artillery would fire just infront of advancing toops who would move at timed intervals
Canada captured the ridge and distinguished themselves as an elite fighting force
* followed their plan of attack in less then two hours completed their first objective
* in two days they took the last german position (the pimple)

Question 26

describe the battle of passchendaele

Answer 26

Belgium, October 1917
canadians were ordered to advance on German position the town
arthur currie intially refused due to challenges with the area (britain destroyed the drainage system)
more then 200 000 causualties on each side
allies gained 7-8 km but then germany captured the town after again

Question 27

what technology did engineers create for the battle of passchendaele

Answer 27

Duck Boards – used to travel across fields

Question 28

what did the home front look like during the war

Answer 28

Canada was influential in exporting goods to europe (left goods scarce and prices to rise)

Question 29

what were some governement created initiatives for citizens to help the war effort?

Answer 29

• victory bonds: buy them and after the war you could get cash back ($2 billion raised)
• honour rationing: introduced to help combat shortages on home front –> less use of butter and sugar (meatless friday, fuel less sunday)
• income tax: 1917, supposed to be temp, had to pay between 1 and 15% income
• coorporate tax: charged businesses 4% of revenue – many people thought this was too little, considering the profits that some companies made during the war

Question 30

what was the conscription crisis?

Answer 30

in 1917, the number of troos were declining and there was a lack of voulenteers

Question 31

canada promised not to conscript soldiers, but they passed thewhat is the Military Services Act?

Answer 31

canada promised not to conscript soldiers, but they passed the Military services act that stated if you were a certain age, and were fit, you were going to war
125 000 out of 481 000 that were called up enlisted

Question 32

what was quebecs reasoning for opposing conscription?

Answer 32

they felt little connection to the war that britain and france were fighting
french language rights were still being disrespected
fear that the agriculture sector would take hits

Question 33

who was Henri Bourssa and what was his involvement in the war

Answer 33

quebec nationalist – one of the most outspoken critics and beelived the country lost enough men and spent enough money in a war that didn’t involve them
thought it would divide the nation and he was right

Question 34

what was the name of the election that was held in 1917?

Answer 34

The Khaki election of 1917 (bordon government)

Question 35

what two things did it introduce?

Khaki election

Answer 35

1. Military Voters Act: Men and women overseas could vote
2. Wartime elections act: all canadian women related to servicement could vote, but they cancelled the vote for immigrants and objectors from enemy countries in the last 15 years

Question 36

what two factors contributed to the beginning of the end of the war?

Answer 36

1. americans enter: Germans sank the Luisitania in 1915 that held american passengers and the Zimmerman Telegram (Jan 1917) that was secret communication between Germany and Mexico that proposed an alliance if the states joined the war against germany to win back texas arizona and new mexico
2. Russians left: the failure of the Tzar led to a successful war campaign and decreasing living conditions led to the communist revolution – russia signs the** treaty of brest-litovsk** to stop all fighting on the eastern front

Question 37

what was the hundred days campaign?

Answer 37

German troops went to the western front
stuck deep in french territory by attacking weak points along the allied lines (allowed them to get within 75km of paris)
canadians were tasked with some of the toughtest battles and are able to launch a series of fast attacks to push Germans back
General Curries leadership was influential in capturing Arras and Cambrai

Question 38

what was the armistice

Answer 38

success of the allied offenses wore down the Germans who could no longer supply reinforcements, food, or supplies to other forces
German Kaiser abdicated the thron and the gov decided to negotiate a ceasefire with the allies
war ends on November 11, 1918 at 11 am

Question 39

how did returning home work?

Answer 39

between 1919 and 1921
few support programs
soldiers brought home the spanish flu (it was isolated in the trenches)
*21 mill ppl died globally
the war didn’t change ethnocentric attitudes, minorites were not celebrated

Question 40

what was the paris peace conference about?

Answer 40

a meeting in paris in 1919 w multiple countries to discuss a peace agreement after the war
marked an important moment in canada’s emerging autonomy from britain – because canada participated so much PM Bordon thought they should have a seat at the conference

Question 41

what was the treaty of versailles?

Answer 41

laid out strict restriction for germany
* 14 point plan: territory reduced, pay war repirations ($30 mil), army reduced to 100 000, surrender navy & U boats, no airforce
* agreed to the War Guilt Clause, meaning they had to accept sole responsibility for causing the war
signed June 28, 1919
harsh on the german economy just like the rest of the world