World War 1

Question 1

What was the direct cause of WW1

Answer 1

The assassination of duke Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of Austria. Austria blamed serbia for death and sent serbia an ultimatum. when serbia declined it, austria declared war.

Question 2

explain assassination of duke franz ferdinand

Answer 2

serbian terrorists in sarajevo threw a bomb at the archduke’s open car. the archduke saw the bomb and managed to throw it out of the car, injuring several other people in the process. He was rushed away but then last minute wanted to go back to see the victims of the bomb in the hospital. they took a new and unfamiliar route and ended up getting lost, stopping right in front of a cafe where one of the terrorists had gone.

Question 3

Indirect causes

Answer 3

nationalism
arms and naval race
alliances
colonialism/imperialism
war plans

Question 4

nationalism

Answer 4

Nationalism is an ideology that emphasizes loyalty, devotion, or allegiance to a nation. Each country wanted to assert that their country was the best and the most powerful which created competition

Question 5

arms and naval race

Answer 5

The increased tensions between Great Britain and Germany and led to the growth of militarism across Europe. The belief that a country needs to amass a strong military to defend the nation and achieve its geopolitical goals.

Question 6

alliances

Answer 6

a union formed for a mutual benefit
- Created a defensive atmosphere and the reassurance that one country would be supported by their alliance if they were to engage in conflict.
- threatened other countries and created hostilities

Question 7

colonialism/imperialism

Answer 7

Colonialism is the establishment of a colony in a foreign land, while imperialism is one country taking over another country or region by force or coercion.
- these ideologies created competition for territory and resources
- made countries want to take over each other

Question 8

war plans

Answer 8

a plan to win a war militarily and politically
- schlieffen plan was made by the germans in case the war was to break out to avoid fighting a two front war.
- this plan lead to world war 1 because by invading beligum, a neutral country, it involved the UK

Question 9

what were the main alliances

Answer 9

triple entente: Great britain, france, russia, serbia, usa (1917), and allies (ANZAC)
triple alliance: Germany, austria hungry, italy, ottoman empire

Question 10

who is to blame for the war

Answer 10

Germany played a large role in stating the war as they encouraged austria to declare war on serbia since they wanted war. They also invaded a neutral country and were the first to attack. However, it was austria who sent the ultimatum and later all the countries participated in the war… so i would say it is mostly Germany at fault, but that 100 percent of the blame cannot fall on them.

Question 11

why did the schlieffen plan fail

Answer 11

the schlieffen plan failed because
- the belgians resisted unexpectedly and were able to hold off the germans long enough for british troops to help and for france to get organized. the germans lost their element of surprise and their morale went down as they were expecting it to be a quick victory.
- russia mobilized a lot faster than expected and launched an attack from the eastern front
- the plan was relatively old and there were new technologies in place

Question 12

why were people happy about the start of the war

Answer 12

• the last war was too long ago to remember
• propoganda made it seem like an amazing thing (glory, excitment, masculinity)
• everyone expected it to be fast and easy
• nationalism
• arms and naval race had everyone enthusiastic about new weapons and they wanted to try them out

Question 13

what is trench warefare

Answer 13

a type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other.

Question 14

what are trenches

Answer 14

long, deep ditches dug as protective defenses. made of wood, dirt, barbed wire, etc

Question 15

what was trench life like

Answer 15

• infectious diseases
• unsanitary conditions
• lice
• trench foot
• ptsd
• disgusting food (bread made with sawdust)

Question 16

why was ww1 a trench war

Answer 16

• designed to protect troops from machine-gun fire and artillery attacks from the air.
• new weapons such as chemical warfare and poison gas, the trenches were thought to offer some degree of protection against exposure

Question 17

western front

Answer 17

border between germany and france, belgium, and britain
- battle of the somme occurred here
- frontline practically did not move throughout the whole war (serious stalemate)

Question 18

eastern front

Answer 18

frontline between germany and russia.
- higher death count than western front

Question 19

stalemate

Answer 19

a situation in which progress by opposing parties seems impossible. both sides were ‘stuck’, unable to move foreward
- new weapons
- effectiveness of trenches

Question 20

‘over the top’

Answer 20

• when soldiers would leave the trenches to launch an attack
• they had to cross no mans land and attack those in the other trenches
• usually resulted in mass casualties due to the use of machine guns
• sometimes, generals would send thousands and thousands of soldiers over the top just for everyone to die and the frontline not to move

Question 21

no mans land

Answer 21

the area of land between two enemy trench systems, not controlled by either side
- covered in barbed wire, massive holes, etc

Question 22

total war

Answer 22

all areas of military are used and includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets.

Question 23

when did the war start and end

Answer 23

1914 - 1918 (nov, 11)

Question 24

who was in the battle of the somme

Answer 24

The french army with british support

Question 25

where was battle of the somme

Answer 25

Took place by the river Somme, in france

Question 26

why did the battle of the somme fail

Answer 26

• germans could see the british and french coming
• the barbed wire stretched 30 meters wide
• german trenches were fortified with cement and well protected
• allied artillery was old and not powerful enough

Question 27

battle of the somme initial plan

Answer 27

it was originally planned to gain territory, draw troops away from verdun, and kill as many germans as possible
- mines + artillary bombardment
- german trenches smashed
- soldiers would be able to walk across no mans land with heavy packs with trench repair equipment

Question 28

who is in the battle of gallipoli

Answer 28

Turks (supported by Germany) vs french, british, ANZAC

Question 29

where was gallipoli

Answer 29

gallipoli peninsula, turkey

Question 30

why did gallipoli fail

Answer 30

• in the dardaneles strait mines and shellfire damaged the boats and they couldn’t continue
• the forces decided to move forward on foot, but they were slaughtered because the Turks knew that they were coming.
• the allied forces dug trenches, but due to disease, frostbite, etc, they withdrew the troops, leaving thousands dead.

Question 31

original gallipoli plan

Answer 31

• use the navy to go through the Dardanelles strait and attack Constantinople to relieve Russian forces (attacking austria and bringing supplies

Question 32

what new weapons were used

Answer 32

machine gun
tank
barbed wire
planes
zeppelin
radar (submarines)
submarines (u-boats)
grenades
torpedos
poison gas and gas mask
flame thrower
dreadnought (travelled in convoys)
mines

Question 33

how was the stalemate broken

Answer 33

• british blockade caused german morale to go down
• 1917 russia left the war so germany only had to fight one front
• Ludendorff offensive plan
• german u boat campaign made the usa enter the war and angered the british
• usa entered the war making supplies, power, and morale go up

Question 34

why did the central powers lose

Answer 34

• effectiveness of the british blockade
• failure of the schlieffen plan
• the usa entering the war

Question 35

schlieffen plan

Answer 35

made up by schlieffen, a german war general to avoid germany being attacked from both sides
idea was to attack france through belgium and take over the capitol in 6 weeks. then focus all their efforts on russia (since russia would not be able to mobilize quick enough)

Question 36

middle east

Answer 36

1916 to 1918 british, indian, australian, and new zealand troops attacked the turks and drove them through palestine
arab tribes attacked the turks as well
they were finally defeated in 1918

Question 37

balkans

Answer 37

aim was to land in salonika to defeat austria and bulgaria
french, serb, british, italian, russian troops
bulgarians were stronger than expected and a stalemate occurred
1915 to 1918 but once the stalemate broke, bulgaria was defeated in two weeks

Question 38

british blockade

Answer 38

british blocked off enemy ports to limit the supplies being brought to germany.
it was extremely successful since millions of people were dying of hunger and needed explosives and fertilizers weren’t reaching germany
this lowered morale and support for the war from the civilians while weakening the military

Question 39

german u-boat campaign

Answer 39

originally attacked allies warships then moved on the allies merchant ships
at the beginning, this was successful as they were sinking lots of ships with torpedos and the british were suffering
germany sunk an american ship with civilians on it which brought the usa into the war
the british and americans were bulding so many ships at that point that the germans could not sink them all
germany ran out of finances and resources

Question 40

Ludendorff offensive

Answer 40

bombardment and gas attacks
attacks by smaller, well trianed groups of soldiers instead of a wave of infantry
broke through the allies defensives

Question 41

how did the war end

Answer 41

after the ludendorff offensive, allies counterattacked in aug and by oct germans were retreating
- period known as 10 days