World War 1 - Part 1 Flashcards
What are the causes of World War 1?
- Nationalism
- Imperialism
- Technology/Weapons
How did WW1 start?
- Serbia wants to obtain land lost to Albania back from Albania
A. Serbian ultra-nationalist group BLACK HAND plans to assasinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo, Servia
B. BLACK HAND fails
C.Nationalist Gavrilo Princip kills Ferdinand and his wife - Austria- Hungary demands from Serbia
A. Reparations - monetary payments for damages to an item, person, mind
B. Place Austrian-Hungary official in Serbia to investigate the assasination
C. Serbia refuses —>Austria-Hungary invades—>Russia (ally of Serbia) declares war on Austria-Hungary
Which countries were in the triple entente?
- Great Britain
- France
- Russia
Which countries were in the triple alliance?
- Germany
- Italy
- Austria-Hungary
Which countries were the allied powers?
- Great Britain
- France
- Italy (changed sides)
- Russia
- Romania
- Serbia
- Japan
Which countries were the Central Powers?
- Germany
- Austria-Hungary
- Ottoman Empire
- Bulgaria
What was the Schieffen plan?
- Created by Alfred Von Scheiffen
- Plan in order to prevent a 2 front war
A. Germany will attack France by going through Belgium to bypass French defenses to surround Paris and demand France to surrender
B. Germany will then move its troops by train to the eastern side of the country and fight Russia
Why does Great Britain join WW1?
Belgium wanted to remain neutral and was protected by Great Britain.
Germany breaks its neutrality by attacking France through Belgium.
Great Britain joins the war.
What happens at the first Battle of the Marne?
Germany was almost successful in defeating France, but fails to take Paris.
France holds on to Paris.
Why did Germany fail to defeat France in the Battle of Marne?
- German army was spread out
- No communication between army groups
- Middle of the attack was vulnerable
What is trench warefare?
- Old style of fighting
- Defensive lines dug into the ground with bunkers
- Slow fighting, lots of death with little land to gain
What is “No Man’s Land”?
The stretch of land between the trenches of opposing sides
What was built at the front of a trench system?
Barbed wire fencing
How many trenches were there in a typical trench system and what were they called?
Three
- Front trench
- Support trench
- Reserve trench
What was located at the back of the trench system?
Long range artillery (at about 10 km behind the front line)
Where were machine guns placed in the trench system?
In concrete block houses near the support trench.
What was the purpose of airplanes in trench warefare?
To warn of the build up pf enemy troop before an attack
What was the purpose of dugouts in the trench system?
Frontline dugouts provide some protection, but not against a direct hit from an artillery shell.
Deeper (15m) dugouts (near the support trench) were well constructed and did provide protection from artillery shells
What is trench foot?
Foot injury caused by feet being wet for too long.
What is “chatting”?
Groups of men sitting around talking while killing lice with thier fingernails or candles
Why was gas so scary?
It reacts with water in airways to create acid resulting in swelling and blocked airways leading to suffocation
It also reacts with water in the eyes and causes blondness
What new weapons were used during WW1?
- Machine guns
- Gas
- Artillery
- Tanks
- Planes
- U-boats
- Dreadnoughts
What was the deadliest weapon?
Machine guns
What was the purpose of artillery?
- Create holes in trenches
- Destroy barb wire
- Kill soldiers
What was Big Bertha?
The largest and most powerful artillery weapon used during WW 1.
What was the purpose of tanks?
To protect soldiers across the battlefield
What are the drawbacks of using tanks?
They are slow, loud and hard to breathe in
What were planes used for in WW1?
- As scouts/reconnaissance
2. Dogfighting between planes, bombing trenches and ships
Who was the best known fighter pilot of WW1?
The Red Baron
What are U-boats?
German submarines which were used to destroy warships and transport ships.
Scary, ungentlemanly type of warfare.
What were dreadnoughts?
Large battleships with heavy guns
