World War One

Question 1

Where is there evidence of the Great War and what are some examples?

Answer 1

You can find evidence in every town and village in Britain, such as the names of the dead soldiers, sailors and airmen recorded on memorials.

Question 2

Why was it called the Great War?

Answer 2

Not because it was ‘great’ and men enjoyed themselves and had a great time, becasue the world had never experienced such a big war before.

Question 3

What was WW1 briefly?

Answer 3

Millions and millions of men, split into twi sides (or alliances), spent over four years killing each other with help from the deadliest weapons the world had ever seen.

Question 4

How many people died from the war?

Answer 4

In total, around 9 million people were killed. That’s over 5000 deaths every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for over four years.

Question 5

What did many people also call this war and why?

Answer 5

‘The war to end all wars’ because of the horror felt at this enormous death toll.

Question 6

What are some examples of memorials?

Answer 6

Birmingham’s Hall of Memory - over 30,000 names of local men who died are recorded here.
Memorial in Castle High School, Dudley - a memorial to the 61 ex-students and one teacher of the school who died during the Great War.

Question 7

What is the point of memorials?

Answer 7

None of the bodies of the dead men were returned to Britain and memorials took the place of graves for grieving relatives. Many schools, factories and sports clubs built memorials to record the names of their young men who fought and died for their country.

Question 8

Ehat are reasons why something happens divided into?

Answer 8

Long-term and short-term causes.

Question 9

What are the long-term causes of the Great War?

Answer 9

Nationalism
Militarism
Imperialism
Alliances

Question 10

What is nationalism?

Answer 10

At the beginning of the twentieth century people took great pride in their countries. Especially in Europe, people were convinced that their people, country, and way of doing things were the best. For many leaders of Europe the best way to prove they were the best was to have a war with their rivals.

Question 11

What is militarism?

Answer 11

People took great pride in their armies and navies and countries spent more and more money on bigger and bigger armies. No one wanted the smallest army so the countries got caught up in an arms race. Whenever countries fell out the tempteation was always there to use their weapons because most of the time it wasn’t used which was a waste of money.

Question 12

What is imperialism?

Answer 12

Many European countries had empires. The race to gain control of other nations, particularly in Africa, led to tensions 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.

Question 13

What are alliances?

Answer 13

As each country began to feel threatened they looked for friends to back them up in war, known as allies. The idea was to put people off starting a war because it would mean fighting against three nations instead of one. However, it also meant that it would only take one small disagreement between any two nations involved and most of Europe would be dragged into a war.

Question 14

What were the two alliances that Europe split into?

Answer 14

Britain, France and Russia - the Triple Entente
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy - the Triple Alliance

Question 15

What is the backstory of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination?

Answer 15

On 28th June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, arrived in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo. It was his wedding anniversary so he was with his wife Sophie.

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 wanted Bosnia to join with them.

One gang of 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 opportunity.

Question 16

Explain Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assissination.

Answer 16

1. He and his wife arrived at Sarajevo train 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 could wave to the 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 it but it ended up beneath the car behind and blew up, injuring several people. The Archducke’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 11:00am, he again got into the chauffeur-driven car - but it drove a lot faster this time. As they passed Schiller’s cafe, the driver was informed that he’d taken a wrong turn. He stopped to turn around.
4. After the bomb attack, the assassins had split up and run into the crowds. By coincidence, one of the gang - 18 year old Gavrilo 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.

Question 17

What happened to Princip?

Answer 17

He was thought to be terminally ill with tuberculosis when he murdered Ferdinand. He was sentenced tp 20 years in prison where he survived another four years before he died there from tuberculosis.

Question 18

What happened after he was murdered?

Answer 18

28 July: Austria-Hungary blames Serbia for killing the Archduke. It attacks Serbia.
29 July: Russia, who has promised to protect Serbia against attack, gets its army ready to attack Austria-Hungary.
1 August: Germany, who supports Austria-Hungary, hears about Russian preparations for war. Germany declares war on Russia.
2 August: Britain prepares its warships.
3 August: Germany, whose plan is to defeat France before attacking Russia, declares war on France.
4 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.
6 August: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
12 August: Britain and France declare war on Austria-Hungary.

Question 19

How many countries joined the war in total?

Answer 19

28

Question 20

What did many people belive about the war?

Answer 20

It would be over by Christmas.

Question 21

How had Germany prepared for the war?

Answer 21

The generals in charge of Germany’s army had been expecting a major war for years. To get off to the best possible start, they came up with a number of plans that they could put into action when the war was declared.

Question 22

What was Germany’s worst nightmare?

Answer 22

A war against France and Russia at the same time - known as a war on two fronts. It would mean that the Germans would have to split their army in two - one going east to fight Russia and the other going west to fight France.

Question 23

What is a front?

Answer 23

The name given to the area where two armies meet each other.

Question 24

What did Germany do to deal with the problem with France and Russia?

Answer 24

They came up with a plan called the Schlieffen Plan. It’s idea was to defeat France with a huge knock-out blow through Belgium before moving the soldiers east to face the enormous, but slow-moving, Russian army.

Question 25

Why was it called the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 25

It was named after the man who thought of it.

Question 26

When was the Schlieffen Plan put into action?

Answer 26

3rd August 1914

Question 27

What went wrong about the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 27

The Belgian army - which the Germans expected to be a push-over - put up a fierce resistance and slowed the charge to France right down.

Then the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), a highly trained professional army of 125,000 men, held the Germans back at Mons.

On August 19, the Russians launched an attack on Germany. This was far quicker than the Germans had expected and before they had 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.

Question 28

What did the Germans do once they retreated 40 miles behind the River Aisne?

Answer 28

They dug trenches and set up machine gun nests.

Question 29

How did the British and the French react to Germany’s trenches? What did this mean?

Answer 29

They couldn’t break through these defences and dug their own trenches directly opposite.
By the end of 1914 the trenches streched all the way from the English Channel to Switzerland. Neither could find a way through and so the war was stuck in a stalemate.

Question 30

Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?

Answer 30

It was dreamt up in the nineteenth century. By the time it was put into action not only was Schlieffen dead but the world had changes. Transport moved around troops much quicker than it would of done in Schlieffen’s time.

Question 31

What was movement on the front like?

Answer 31

They hardly moved throughout the war.

Question 32

Where did most of the fighting take place?

Answer 32

On the western front (France and Belgium).

Question 33

What was the eastern front?

Answer 33

Where Russians fought against Germans and Austrians.

Question 34

Where else was there fighting?

Answer 34

There was also fighting in Turkey (the salonika front) when they joined in on Germany’s side.

In Italy, who joined in on Britain’s side.

As well as at sea and in the air.

Question 35

What are duckboards?

Answer 35

These were placed on the ground to stop troops sinking in the mud.

Question 36

What is a fire step?

Answer 36

Soldiers stood on these to look and fire over the top.

Question 37

What are a dugouts?

Answer 37

Rooms dug out of the back wall of trenches. Orders received by telephone.

Question 38

What is a periscope?

Answer 38

Enabled troops to see over the top without risk of being shot.

Question 39

What is barbed wire?

Answer 39

Slowed down attacking troops. Millions of miles of barbed wire was used.

Question 40

What is a concrete bunker?

Answer 40

Reinforced subterranean bunker.

Question 41

What is artillery?

Answer 41

Huge guns that fired enormous explosives or poisonous shells for miles.

Question 42

What is a machine gun nest?

Answer 42

Protected the machine-gunnner from enemy fire.

Question 43

What are sandbags?

Answer 43

Reinforced the walls, muffled explosives and soaked up moisture.

Question 44

What did aeroplanes do?

Answer 44

Helped spot targets for artillery, dropped bombs on the enemy and shot down enemy planes.

Question 45

What is a communication trench?

Answer 45

Linked the front line trench to the reserve trenches.

Question 46

What are reserve trenches?

Answer 46

Soldiers went there to rest or to wait to go to the front line.

Question 47

What are gas bells?

Answer 47

They would be rung to tell troops to put on gas masks.

Question 48

What is a ration?

Answer 48

Only giving a certain small amount

Question 49

What were trench rats like?

Answer 49

Dead bodies and food scraps attracted many rats to the trenches. A pair could produce 880 offspring in a year so they filled the strenches quickly. Some grew extremely large. As big as cats. They would eat a wounded man if he couldn’t defend himself. They would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men.

Question 50

What was food like?

Answer 50

At the beginning of the war, British soldiers were fed well, but as the size of the army grew and the war went on longer the army started to ration food.

There were only 2 large pans, so everything had to be cooked in them. They weren’t washed up well so everything tasted like something else. Their tea tasted like vegetables. By the time food reached the front line it was always cold.

Question 51

What did the soldiers eat?

Answer 51

They mainly ate ‘bully beef’ (or tinned corned beef)
Bread, Biscuits (usually stale because they took so long to reach the soldiers)
Bread made from ground up turnips (flour was short in supply as the war went on)
Thin pea soup with lumps of horse meat in it with weeds and nettles because the kitchen staff had no fresh vegetables.
Weak coffee and oxo (gravy)
Tea, fresh milk and sugar were a luxary

Question 52

What was trench foot?

Answer 52

Many soldiers in WW1 suffered from trench foot. It was an infection of the feet caused by standing for hours on end in wet, muddy trenches without being able to remove wet socks or boots. The feet would gradually go numb and the skin would turn red or blue. If untreated, trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in amputation. It was a particular problem in the early stages of war. During the winter of 1914-15 over 20,000 men in the British Army were treated for trench foot.

Question 53

What was daily life like for a soldier?

Answer 53

Nothing really ever changed from the day before unless there was a battle but this was not a daily occurance.

1. The average day began with ‘stand to’ before dawn. Gathering their weapons, soldiers took a place on the ‘fire step’ and as the sun rose fired towards enemy lines in a daily ritual called the ‘morning hate’.
2. The order ‘stand down’ was then given and knowing that the threat of a night raid was over, the senturies could relax.
3. Daily work consisted of repairing damge to the trench, filling sandbags, carrying supplies, running errands, writing letters etc. The most common task was cleaning their weapons. Every soldier possessed a Lee Enfield rifle and it was their duty to keep this thoroughly clean to prevent it from jamming at a vital moment.
4. The ‘stand to’ was repeated at nightfall before groups might be sent into the treacherous and deadly No Man’s Land.

Question 54

What was the problem with water?

Answer 54

Water was usually brought to the front line in petrol cans and chloride of lime was added to kill off bacteria, however this gave it and awful taste.
In winter, water was less of a problem because snow and ice could be melted. Occasionally, bodies were found frozen in the ice and this could cause the soldiers distress.

Question 55

Where was most of the soldiers time spent?

Answer 55

Away from the front line. To help keep morale up, the British Army often rotated its soldiers round other sections like support and reserve trenches. In all, most battalions rarely spent more than five days a month in the line of fire.