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World War I Flashcards

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1
Q

when did world war 1 start & end

A

July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918

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2
Q

define the main causes of this war

A

Long-term, pre-existing causes, happening for 20-30 years before the war and causing distrust/tensions/anger/resentment.

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3
Q

define the spark

A

The only short-term cause that actually caused the war to start.

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4
Q

what were the four MAIN causes?

A

militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism

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5
Q

militarism definition

A
  • Building up military forces and weapons (ultimately to prove superiority)
  • This occurred a lot during the Cold War (1947-1991)
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6
Q

the naval race

A
  • The Naval Race: UK & Germany competed for highest number of dreadnoughts
  • Dreadnoughts were advanced, fast, and high-tech war ships
  • Britain had the largest fleet of ships in the world of 29 dreadnoughts and Germany wanted to rival them
  • Britain wanted to protect the British Isles and Colonies (surrounded by water)
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7
Q

britain vs germany in militarism

A
  • Germany had been growing in strength since the 1850s (defeated Austria-Hungary and France) and was also gaining in strength as a result of rapid industrialization
  • German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm, wanted to expand Germany beyond the European border by acquiring colonies.
  • They built 17 dreadnoughts by 1914, almost rivaling Britain
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8
Q

alliances definition

A
  • Forming teams with other countries for mutual protection
  • There were 2 alliances in WWI
  • From 1850-1914, nobody trusted each other
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9
Q

The Triple Entente + pros/cons

A
  • (England/Canada, France, Russia) responding to the rise in power of Germany - formed in 1907
  • Seperated, therefore difficult to communicate with each other
  • Can attack from multiple fronts
  • Agreed that if any member was attacked, the other countries would aid
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10
Q

The Triple Alliance + pros/cons

A
  • (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) - formed in 1882
  • Locations were good for sending aid to each other (food, weaponry, soldiers, etc.)
  • Surrounded by enemy countries, had to protect borders constantly
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11
Q

Imperialism:

A
  • Building up your empire by taking over or controlling other countries (called colonies)
  • The British Empire held 25% of the world, resulting in its strong nation
  • Good for the economy: colonies provide raw materials, mother country takes them and manufactures them, then exports them back
  • More colonies = more power (because of more troops/resources/money)
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12
Q

Nationalism:

A
  • Strong sense of pride in country, believing that it is destined for greatness and superior to others
  • Nationalism (extreme, idea of superiority) is not patriotism (less extreme, pride in country)
  • Behaviour was rising from late 19th century to early 20th century
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13
Q

germany nationalism

A

Germany believed they were the greatest (being in the center), jealous of Britain, anticipating war and developing plans

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14
Q

france nationalism

A

France was suspicious of Britain and tense relationship with Germany due to the Franco-Prussian war in 1870

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15
Q

italy nationalism

A

Italy resented the power of Britain and France, believed it was destined for greatness

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16
Q

The Spark:

A
  • Serbia and Bosnia broke away from Turkey
  • Serbia allied with Russia
  • Serbian nationalists were unhappy that Bosnia had been immediately taken over by Austria-Hungary bc they wanted Bosnia to be a part of Serbia
  • Crown prince of Austria, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Countess Sophia, visited Sarajevo (capital city of Bosnia), to inspect troops there.
  • Young Serbian conspirators assassinated them, which caused Austria to declare war
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17
Q

mobilizing the forces

A
  • Although Canada was independent, by the time the war began many Canadians felt patriotic towards Britain and wanted to help out
    • PM Borden offered 25 000
      troops, and 30 000
      volunteered
  • Volunteers believed the war would be over by Christmas
    - Could escape financial
    struggles by fighting
    - Believed there would be a
    sense of adventure
  • Women could not volunteer, only young and unmarried women could become nurses and ambulance drivers
  • Aboriginal people were not accepted, African and Japanese Canadians were unlikely to be accepted
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18
Q

training for WWI

A
  • Sam Hughes (Minister of Militia) was in charge of training and providing for the troops
    - Army swelled from 3000 to
    more than 30 000 soldiers
  • Basic training lasted 4 months, led to ill-prepared soldiers
  • Camp Valcartier in Quebec was built in 4 weeks to house and train soldiers
  • Training for this war allowed Canada to develop a national sense of identity
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19
Q

CEF

A
  • Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the name of the army formed by volunteers
  • arrived in France in February of 1915
  • Remained independent and fought separately, contributing to growing sense of national identity
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20
Q

financing the war

A
  • Britain needed its capital for its own military, so Canada borrowed money from the US
  • Canadians worried that this would collapse the economy - workers were laid off
  • Demand for war supplies led to rapid economic expansion
  • Canada provided Britain most of their artillery shells
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21
Q

sam hughes

A
  • Hughes was a poor administrator and the Ministry of Militia turned inefficient
  • Equipment was inappropriate (didn’t work properly) or poorly made for troops, endangering their lives
  • Hughes purchased the Ross Rifle - only worked if dry
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22
Q

the war measures act

A
  • PM Borden made the War Measures Act in 1914
  • Gave government authority to do everything necessary to meet demands of war
  • Federal government could intervene in the economy, limit freedom of Canadians, allow police to arrest without laying charges
  • Policies fostered nationalism and prejudice in Canada, endangering German business
    • Immigrants from the Triple
      Alliance were treated poorly
    • Approx 100 000 had to carry
      special identity cards
    • More than 8500 were held in
      internment camps
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23
Q

the schlieffen plan

A

Germans had a preexisting plan to attack France, created by General Schlieffen:
Enter through Belgium and surprise France

Plan was a failure
- Drew Britains into the war
- Belgium retaliated
- Russia mobilized very quickly
- Caused Germany to fight in a 2 front war: from France and from Russia

The failure led Germany to dig trenches to protect themselves, in which the opposing sides followed suit

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24
Q

trench warfare

A

The Canadian government encouraged men to enlist for war by spreading propaganda of what life was like in the trenches
- War would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good adventure and over by Christmas
- Advertising posters encouraged this idea
- Nighttime in the trenches was worse than daytime

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25
Q

poor hygiene

A
  • Soldiers went days, and sometimes months without bathing
  • Lice was a huge problem and carried the disease “trench fever”
  • Toilets were often destroyed so soldiers would use the trench itself
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26
Q

rats

A
  • Rats were attracted to the trenches by the food and the dead bodies
  • Rats carried diseases
  • Some rats grew very large (some soldiers stated like the size of cats)
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27
Q

poor diet

A

Food was limited, and sometimes soldiers didn’t get any food at all
- Bully beef

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28
Q

mud and water

A
  • When it rained the trenches would fill with dirty water and mud
  • Hypothermia from being cold and wet
  • Horses and soldiers would drown, trench foot would occur
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29
Q

trench foot

A
  • Soldiers got “trench foot” (a medical condition from wet feet)
  • swollen, extreme pain, legs amputated
30
Q

boredom

A
  • Soldiers spent days waiting for battle
  • They had to find ways to entertain themselves
31
Q

mental stress & exhaustion

A
  • Soldiers were stressed and tired of war
  • If they tried to run away, they would be killed
  • Some experienced “shell shock” a condition where they panicked or couldn’t sleep or function normally
    - Today known as PTSD
    - Labelled as “cowards” back
    then
32
Q

bayonet

A

A steel blade, shaped like a short sword, fixed to the end of a rifle and used for hand-to-hand combat.

33
Q
  1. company
  2. platoon
A
  1. A unit of soldiers, normally consisting of 100 men.
  2. A unit of soldiers, normally consisting of 50 men.
34
Q

latrine

A

trench toilets, 4-5 ft deep

35
Q

parapet

A

The inner wall of a trench, made of earth and wood and topped with sandbags to protect soldiers.

36
Q

No Man’s Land

A

area between enemy trenches and home trenches, where fighting would occur

37
Q

The Second Battle of Ypres:

A
  • April 22 - May 25 of 1914
  • Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium
  • 6000 Canadians killed, wounded, or captured
  • Germans used chlorine gas and many suffocated/choked to death
  • An international treaty was signed in 1907 that outlawed chemical warfare
  • Canadians distinguished themselves as a fighting force (battle lasted for a month despite unfair advantage), holding a significant portion of the front line until reinforcements arrived
  • John McCrae wrote “In Flanders Fields”
  • The gas mask was introduced in July of 1915, but until then urine soaked rags were used
38
Q

The Battle of the Somme:

A
  • July 1 - November 18 of 1916
  • Somme River, France
  • 1.25 million casualties
  • The Allies launched an attack against the German front line
  • The Allies had bombed the German lines for days, yet their defence remained strong and the barbed wire remained in tact
  • Troops were ordered to march across fields, and wave upon wave of men were shot down (bloodbath)
  • 58 000 British troops were killed on the first day
  • The Allies ended up only gaining 13 km of land
39
Q

The Battle of Vimy Ridge:

A
  • April 9 - 12 of 1917
  • Vimy Ridge, Northern France
  • 3500 men killed, 7000 men wounded
  • Canadian troops began by bombing and gunning down German positions for over a month
  • Meanwhile, tunnels were built to secretly move troops closer to the ridge and set bombs beneath German trenches
  • For more than two years, British and French troops had attempted to capture this ridge, but were unsuccessful
40
Q

timeline of vimy ridge

A

Canadian troops were the first successful unit to capture the ridge

April 9th → Canadian troops moved into position and in only two hours they had taken their first objective

April 10th → Canadians captured Hill 145, which was the highest point on the ridge

April 12th → Canadians took “the pimple”; the last German position

41
Q

5 signifcant things of vimy ridge

A
  1. First time all 4 divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together
  2. Had a distinct strategy of “creeping barrage”
  3. Had an aerial map of the area
  4. Made small scale model of the ridge to practice
  5. Strong leadership from Arthur Currie and General Byng
42
Q

The Battle of Passchendaele:

A
  • July 31 - November 10 of 1917
  • Passchendaele, West Flanders, Belgium
  • In October 1917, the CEF was asked to break through German lines and take back Passchendaele
  • Although the CEF was able to capture Passchendaele, Currie was adamantly against it as there was no plan - there were at least 16 000 Canadian casualties
  • The conditions of this battle were some of the worst: mud would drown soldiers and trap horses/artillery machinery
  • Canadian soldiers later received the British Empire’s highest award for military honour, and a memorial was created in Passchendaele
43
Q

arthur currie

A
  • Born 1875 in Napperton, ON
  • Joined the regular army in 1914 and worked up the ranks (people respected him because of this)
  • Argued that Canadian troops should all fight together, rather than in seperate sections (he believed that this was the key to winning a battle)
  • After Vimy, was the first Canadian promoted to Lieutenant-General and was put in charge of the Canadian Corps
44
Q

francis pegahmagabow

A
  • An Anishinaabe sniper from Parry Island (now Wakauksing First Nation)
  • Won the Military Medal for bravery at Passchendaele
  • Pegahmagabow was the first Indigenous war veteran
45
Q

German and Ukrainian Canadians:

A
  • Many Canadians feared that they were spies and were labelled enemy aliens
  • Ukraine was a part of Austria Hungary at the time
  • They were required to carry identification papers, report movements to police, and lost the right to vote
46
Q

Black Canadians:

A
  • Black people were rejected from the army and protested
  • As a result, the No. 2 Construction Battalion was created to dig trenches and build/repair roads (were not trusted on the front line)
  • 1000 black canadians served overseas by the end of the war but very little were recognized
47
Q

Indigenous Canadians:

A
  • Could not join the army, by the excuse of “Germans would think they were savages and mistreat them”
  • In 1915, government needed more troops and let them join
    Francis Pegahmagabow
48
Q

Japanese Canadians:

A
  • Masumi Mitsui
  • Saw an opportunity to fight for Canada as a means of winning their citizenship rights and fulfilling an obligation
49
Q

Chinese Canadians:

A
  • 200 volunteered and served impressively, but still faced social and economic injustices in Canada
50
Q

the homefront

A
  • Population in Canada before WWI was only 8 million, but over 600 000 men and women served
  • Although Canada sent troops to fight, they contributed to the war effort in multiple ways
  • Total War: A policy of concentrating all of a country’s resources on the war effort
  • There were two types of involvement: civilian and government (and industrial)
51
Q

women involvement

A
  • Women were not allowed to serve in the military, and instead volunteered as nurses overseas and drove ambulances
    • About 2,400 women signed
      up to be nurses
  • When their husbands left to fighting in the war, they found employment (domestic servants, food and clothing jobs, teachers, nurses, labourers)
    • Women needed a way to
      make money, since men
      were the ones doing
    • Labour force was emptied
    • Women only earned 50% of
      men’s original wages (their
      work was not universally
      accepted)
  • About 35,000 women from Ontario and Quebec worked in munitions factories
  • Women believed their contribution to war should allow them to vote
  • In 1918, women were granted the right to vote in federal elections (except for Aboriginal and immigrant women)
52
Q

Victory Bonds:

A
  • Canadians were encouraged to buy these bonds
  • Canadian government raised $2 billion which Canadians could cash for a profit when the war was over
53
Q

Volunteering:

A
  • Both men and women were encouraged to volunteer their time with the military, or other military activities (fundraising, promoting, etc.)
  • Women formed groups like the Red Cross to help soldiers at the front, and sewed pajamas and socks
54
Q

Rationing:

A
  • Since most of Canada’s resources were being relocated to Europe, Canadian civilians had to ration their food and consumption of items
  • This was called Honour Rationing where Canadians would use less butter and sugar
  • The government introduced “Meatless Mondays” and “Fuel-less Sundays”
55
Q

Munitions & Resources:

A
  • Canada was one of the largest suppliers of munitions, artillery, and shells to the Allied forces
  • Factories were producing a lot of equipment for the Allies, and businesses profited from this “boom”
  • The Canadian industry produced airplanes, ships, ammunition, timber, food, and other wartime resources
56
Q

Food:

A
  • During WWI, Canadian farmers were called on to provide food to the soldiers in Europe
  • Farmers produced as much wheat and beef as they could to send overseas
    - “Soldiers of the Soil”
57
Q

Taxation:

A

Income tax → Created in 1917, affluent individuals and families had to pay a tax of between 1 and 15 percent of their income, supposed to only last the duration of the war

Corporate tax → Introduced in 1917, charged business owners 4% of their revenue, many Canadians thought this was too low based on the profit from the war

58
Q

Propaganda:

A
  • In films, magazines, radios, political speeches, posters
  • Included victory bonds and rationing, as well as encouraging people to go to war
  • Distorted the truth: the number of Allied soldiers hurt lessened, while Entente casualties were exaggerated
59
Q

the 2 other types of government involvment

A

internment camps & conscription

60
Q

the war measures act

A
  • August 22, 1914
  • A law that gave the government unlimited power in the case of real or suspected danger
  • The point was to be able to keep Canada secure, peaceful, and safe, but many did not like this act
61
Q

more troops needed

A
  • By 1916, the war was becoming a disaster
  • Allies had suffered heavy casualties, there were many mutinies among the troops, and the Russians were close to defeat.
  • By the end of 1916, about 312 000 men had enlisted, but Borden had pledged to provide 500 000 men for the British war effort
  • Canadian soldiers were desperate for reinforcements, especially after the Somme battle
  • Borden was determined to keep his promise as this was the only way to be considered an equal to Britain
  • However, the number of volunteers for the war dropped as news from the trenches reached the homefront so the government spent lots of money on propaganda
62
Q

conscription

A
  • A recruiting system that ranks men by age. Some groups were eliminated and people who would normally be exempt from duty (old men, farmers) were forced into service
  • When conscription becomes law, you must enlist or go to jail
  • Borden promised that there would be no conscription at the start of the war
63
Q

The Military Service Act:

A
  • In order to implement Conscription, Borden introduces the Military Service Act (1916)
  • Adopted on August 29, 1917 to gather 100,000 men as reinforcements
  • The law, which contained many exceptions, was not applied consistently. Only 24,100 of the 99,561 people conscripted actually faught
  • On April 20, 1918, all exemptions were removed
  • Farms everywhere were left short of labour, and the men called away were felt they had been betrayed → “soldiers of the soil”
64
Q

extending the MSA act vote

A
  • In order to get the votes he needed for this, Borden passed two new (smart) acts:

Military Voters Act: Law that extended the right to vote to all men and women fighting in the Canadian army

War-Time Elections Act: Gave the right to vote to the wives, mothers, and sisters of soldiers serving but refused that right to citizens from enemy countries

65
Q

Reaction in Quebec:

A
  • Recruiting efforts in Quebec had failed because many French-Canadians opposed conscription and felt no loyalty to France or Britain
  • Lead by Henri Bourassa, Quebecers felt their only loyalty was to Canada
  • Canada’s 7th Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier (1896-1911) and it’s first francophone Prime Minister
  • He was against conscription
  • Worried that if they forced conscription on Quebec, they would want to separate
66
Q

Conscription Election:

A
  • Borden called on a federal election on the issue of Conscription in 1917
  • Once again he enacted the Military Voters Act and War-Time Elections Act to extend the vote to military personnel and their female relatives
  • Borden won more seats than Laurier
    • Canada was completely
      divided. English = for, French
      = against
      - Riots broke out in Quebec,
      attacking English owned
      businesses and causing
      troops to be brought in to
      control them
67
Q

The Result of Conscription:

A
  • Conscription intended to draft 100,000 more men into the war
  • War ended unexpectedly on Nov. 11, 1918. Only 25% of the conscripted men had reached Europe
  • If war had continued, conscription would have been a necessity. In the end, it’s real result was a serious blow to Canadian Unity
68
Q

timeline of the end of the war

A
  1. Russia left the war in 1917 because of an internal revolution
    - They signed a peace treaty with Germany, so Germany could focus on fighting in the Western Front rather than the Eastern
  2. The US joined the Allied in 1917 because of the sinking of Lusitania
    - Provided 500 000 powerful and fresh soldiers
  3. The “Hundred Days” was the final offensive by Allied forces against Germans
    - Canadians served as leaders, making gains but also terrible losses
  4. The End occurred on November 11, 1918 as an truce took effect
    - 66, 655 dead and 173 000 wounded from Canada
69
Q

The Treaty of Versailles:

A
  • 32 victorious countries met at Versailles, France to create a peace treaty which was finally signed on June 28, 1919
  • Britain and France wanted revenge and to ensure that
  • Germany could never rise to such power again
  • President Wilson (US) wanted gentler terms that emphasized forgiveness
  • Treaty brought certainty of a renewed war
70
Q

germany & treaty of versailles

A

Germany had to…

Land/territory: give up overseas colonies, lose 12% of its territory,

Economic: pay $32 billion to Great Britain, France, and Belgium for damages

Military: Disband Air Force, reduce size of Navy and Army,

Other: Accept independence from Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, accept full responsibility for causing the war (A War Guilt Clause)

71
Q

the new canada

A
  • Grown from colony to nation, but with great cost
  • Had its own seat at the Peace Conference & League of Nations
  • Veterans were not benefited much from the war (no steady pensions, no special medical services, no jobs)
  • Aboriginal soldiers were not recognized for the work and were treated the same as before
  • Many soldiers returned with the Spanish Flu that killed 50 000 Canadians during 1918-1919
    • Aboriginal communities
      were wiped out
72
Q

the turning point

A

**1917 (the turning point) was also significant because of conscription and Vimy Ridge

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