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Year 12 Modern History > World War One > Flashcards

World War One Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the reasons for stalemate on the Western Front? (4 reasons)

A
  1. Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
  2. The trench system
  3. The machine gun
  4. Leadership issues
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2
Q

Why did the failure of the Schlieffen Plan cause stalemate?

A

The plan was too rigid - it didn’t take into account the possibilities of:

  • Belgian resistance
  • Russian early mobilisation
  • exhaustion of German soldiers
  • British/French alliance
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3
Q

Why did the trench system lead to stalemate?

A
  • the defensive nature of trenches didn’t allow for movement along the front
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4
Q

What was the name of the ‘outflanking’ contest which resulted in the trench lines being dug?

A

The Race to the Sea

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5
Q

Why did the machine gun cause stalemate?

A

It was a defensive weapon - it prevented attacks that could have broken the trench lines/stalemate

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6
Q

Statistic about the machine gun during the Battle of the Somme

A

The German Maxim gun caused 90% of allied victims during this battle

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7
Q

Why did the leadership issues lead to stalemate?

A

The leaders had out of date ideas and still believed that cavalry alone would win a war
Field Marshall Joffre believed that the ‘spirit’ of French soldiers would see them across No Man’s Land

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8
Q

What was the Kaiser’s statement about the Schlieffen Plan?

A

“Paris for lunch, dinner in St. Petersburg”

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9
Q

What were the impacts of the Battle of the Marne?

A

Trench warfare was first developed, it saved Paris from defeat

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10
Q

What are some main structural features of a trench?

A
  • parapet
  • firestep
  • duckboards
  • drainage ditch
  • barbed wire
  • dugouts
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11
Q

What are the 4 types of trenches?

A
  • Front line trenches
  • Support trenches
  • Reserve trenches
  • Communication trenches
    (solders would be rotated around the front line, support and reserve trenches via the communication trenches)
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12
Q

What were some issues in the trenches?

A
  • Poor sanitation - lack of fresh food/water, using dead bodies as structural features
  • Trench fever/trench foot - caused by lice and excess water
  • Weather - winter 1916-17 ‘coldest in living memory’
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13
Q

When did the Battle of Verdun take place?

A

Feb-Nov 1916 (longest battle of WW1)

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14
Q

Who’s offensive was the Battle of verdun?

A

Germany

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15
Q

Why was the Battle of Verdun launched at Verdun?

A

it was the ‘gateway to Paris’, it was thought that if it fell, Paris would follow. It was also of historical and cultural significance to the French, so the Germans rightly assumed that they would use up resources defending the town

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16
Q

What was Falkenhayn’s aim in the Battle of Verdun?

A

He did not want to necessarily knock france out of the war, but “bleed the French army white”

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17
Q

What did Joffre say about defending in the Battle of Verdun?

A

‘they shall not pass’

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18
Q

What was the Battle of Verdun also known as?

A

The Mincing Machine

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19
Q

When was the Battle of the Somme?

A

July - Nov 1916

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20
Q

How many people were killed in the Battle of the Somme?

A

60,000 on the first day, 1 million over the course of the battle

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21
Q

What is significant about the 15th of Sep during the Somme?

A

Haig used tanks in warfare for the first time (not very significantly, however it was still a significant development in warfare)

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22
Q

How much land did the British win during the Battle of the Somme?

A

Hardly any breakthrough achieved: piece of land 32 x 10km only

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23
Q

When was the Battle of Passchendaele and who was it led by?

A

July - Nov 1917, Led by Douglas Haig

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24
Q

What was the aim of the battle of Passchendaele?

A

An attempt to break through Flanders (in Belgium) to the coast, to prevent the German ‘unrestricted submarine warfare campaign’

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25
Q

How many people died in the Battle of Passchendaele?

A

310,000 British, 260,000 German

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26
Q

What did historian John Keegan say about the Battle of Passchendaele?

A

“On the Somme [Haig] sent the flower of British youth to death or mutilation; at Passchendaele he had tipped the survivors into the slough of despond”

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27
Q

What were 4 other attempts to break the stalemate?

A
  1. launching attacks in other theatres of war e.g. Gallipoli, naval campaigns
  2. British blockade, German u-boat campaign - starve enemy into submission
  3. efforts to end hostilities by promoting peace e.g. Papal Peace Note
  4. Weapons e.g. artillery, trench mortars, tanks, gas
28
Q

What words can be used to describe War Fever?

A

enthusiasm, optimism, excitement

fear it would be ‘over by Christmas’

29
Q

Which poet gives an example of war fever?

A

Rupert Brooke - described as sentimental, romantic, patriotic and glorifying of war - he died early in the war

30
Q

What is war weariness?

A

A term describing the disillusionment felt by soldiers after years of trench warfare
The excitement of 1914 had disappeared by 1916y and the reality of trench warfare had changed soldier’s attitudes

31
Q

What was a turning point for war fever into war weariness?

A

The Battle of the Somme - appalling casualties, solders began to question their leaders and the worth of their sacrifice

32
Q

Which poets represented war weariness?

A

Wilfred Own and Siegfried Sassoon

33
Q

Describe Russian war weariness

A
  • Horrendous defeats on the eastern front combined with difficult conditions on the home from led to mutinies
  • they withdrew from the war in Feb/March 1917
34
Q

What was an indicator of French war weariness?

A
  • About 250 mutinies occurred along french sectors of the Western Front in 1917
35
Q

Describe German war weariness

A
  • German soldiers endured the horror of trench warfare, with the added worry of the starvation of their families on the home front
  • Mutinies in naval yards in 1918 that led to revolution and the abdication of the Kaiser
36
Q

What is total war and where did it occur?

A

The complete dedication of a nation’s resources and people to the war effort. This occurred in Britain and Germany

37
Q

What is DORA and what did it entail?

A

Defence of the Realm Act

  • issues in august 1914 and updated throughout the war
  • gave the government special powers to conduct the country during war time
  • government took over docks, harbours, shipping and coal production
  • daylight savings introduced
38
Q

Who was the driving force behind early total war in Germany? and who was the coordinator of the homefront for most of the war?

A

Walter Rathenau - leader of KRA which controlled labour, materials and production
for most of the war the home front was controlled by Hindenburg

39
Q

What were the impacts of the British Blockade?

A

there were food and material shortages throughout the country which needed to be dealt with

40
Q

What was the Hindenburg program?

A

August 1916

  • set increased production rates for armaments, aircraft production set at 1000 per month
  • Hindenburg created the supreme war office - allocated materials and labour
41
Q

Under which law were POW’s forced to work?

A

Patriotic Auxillary Law - men 17-60 who were prisoners of war were made to work

42
Q

What were the features of early recruitment in Britain?

A
  • War fever made early recruitment targets easy to achieve

- “pals battalions” formed while some were pressured with a White Feather

43
Q

When was conscription introduced in Britain and why?

A

January 1916

- falling numbers of volunteers

44
Q

What were the aims of propaganda in Britain?

7

A
  • promote enlistment
  • create a hatred for the enemy
  • justify Britains position and role in the war
  • encourage war-time work
  • promote war loans
  • promote conservation of resources
  • maintain morale
45
Q

What were the aims of censorship?

A

(Inverse of propaganda) - where propaganda aims to promote certain views, censorship aims to prevent others

46
Q

Germany always used conscription/recruitment (choose one)

A

conscription - no voluntary enlistment, all compulsory

47
Q

What were the aims of Germany propaganda? (2)

A
  • attempted to persuade German public that it was a defensive war
  • in the end, it convinced the public that victor was possible if not for the SDP and the ‘November criminals’

Mainly anti-British propaganda, however it was not successful as Britain’s propaganda campaign

48
Q

How effective was German censorship?

A

Very effective - so much so that the loss of the war was a genuine shock to German civilians
- tightly controlled information about causalities or peace movements

49
Q

What evidence was there to suggest a growing objection to the war? (3)

A
  • the NCF in Britain (No Conscription Fellowship)
  • Conscientious objectors - they were mainly given non-combatant roles
  • Early opposition from socialist groups and UDC (Union of Democratic Control)
50
Q

What were the impacts on Russian withdrawal?

A
  • Germany was no longer fighting a two-front war

- Ludendorff seized the opportunity to launch offensive before USA’s arrival

51
Q

What were the reasons for the entry of the USA into the war? (2)

A
  • German U-boat campaign and the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 - Feb-March 1917 there were 4 ships sunk with US civilians
  • Zimmerman Telegram - British codebreakers exposed German plot to divert US attention from European war by having Mexico attack the US border - published
52
Q

When did the USA declare war against Germany and Austria Hungary?

A

6 April 1917 Germany

7 December 1917

53
Q

What were the impacts of USA’s entry into the war? (3)

A
  • immediate impact on morale
  • US navy joined the british and introduced the convoy system
  • Involvement with fighting on the WF - 275000 US troops involved with the Second Battle of the Marne which ended Germany’s offensives
54
Q

What was the aim of Ludendorff’s spring offensive?

A

To defeat Britain and France before America arrived, in the hope that the USA would turn back with no one to support

55
Q

When did Ludendorff’s spring offensive occur?

A

March- July 1918

there were 5 offensives

56
Q

How much ground did germany make in the early days of the spring offensive?

A

65km in 9 days

57
Q

What characterised the allied counter attack to the spring offensive?

A

tanks and aeroplane - organised by Foch

58
Q

What was significant about 8 August 1918?

A

‘Black Day of the German army’

- germans fell back to the Hindenburg line - their last line of defence

59
Q

Why did the spring offensive fail? (3)

A
  • salients were produced when the Germans were making ground - these were easily attacked
  • Well-handled British defence
  • German troops were exhausted and supplies were low because of the blockade
60
Q

When was the armistice signed?

A

11 november, 1918, 11am

61
Q

What were 4 major reasons for allied victory and German collapse?

A
  1. Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
  2. British blockade
  3. Collapse of the German homefront
  4. Allied development of weapons and technology

others

  • failure of spring offensive
  • US entry into the war
  • failure of the U-boat campaign
  • weakness of the German allies
  • superiority of allied economic and military resources
  • military and political leadership
62
Q

Who were the Big Three?

A

George Clemenceau - France
David Lloyd George - Britain
Woodrow Wilson - USA

63
Q

What were Clemenceau’s goals in the Treaty of Versailles?

A
  • he demanded a harsh peace
  • his hatred of Germany made him want to ensure its demise
  • he wanted to secure france from any subsequent attack
64
Q

What were Lloyd George’s goals at the Treaty of Versailles?

A
  • he promised the British electorate revenge
  • wanted the destruction of the German fleet and colonial empire
  • re-establishment of european trade
  • prevention of any one country from dominating Europe
  • he did not support French demands for total destruction of Germany
65
Q

What were Wilson’s goals at the Treaty of Versailles?

A
  • His main aims were linked to the belief that USA had fought the war to ‘make the world safe for democracy’
  • he aimed to redraw a map of Europe based on ‘national self-determination’
  • Fourteen points - self determination and the establishment of the League of Nations were two of the major points

Year 12 Modern History (2 decks)

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