WW1 Flashcards
28th of June 1914
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Austria declares war on Serbia
28th of July 1914
Germany declares war on Russia
1st of August 1914
Germany declares war on France
3rd of August 1914
Britain declares war on Germany, Germany invades Belgium
4th of August 1914
Austria declares war on Russia
6th of August 1914
Britain and France declare war on Austria-Hungary
10th of August 1914
The Schlieffen Plan
- was supposed to help germany avoid fighting on two fronts
- on assumption that france would attack alsace-lorraine, germany was to attack north of france
- using russia’s poor railway system to defeat them
Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?
- It didn’t anticipate involvement on the UK
- France turned out to be way stronger than anticipated and was a harder opposition
- Russian railway system was improved
first battle of marne
september 1914,
- Germans, according to the Schlieffen plan were going to encircle Paris, but from the east, not from the north
- They failed to capture Paris as French army, supported by the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) was much stronger than anticipated
- The Germans were forced to withdrew and abandon the Schlieffen plan
- An example and the start of trench warfare in WW1
battle of lodz
november - december 1914,
- Germans had only 1 army unit, Russians had 3 units
- Fought in harsh winter (The Russian army was more used to these weather conditions and so was their equipment)
- One of the greatest WW1 battles
- A great example of mobile warfare
- Russian victory
second battle of ypres
april 1915,
- First large scale use of chemical weapons (chlorine)
- Led to the invention and popularisation of gas masks
- Deadlock
secret treaty of london
26 april 1915, italy joined the allied forces
battle of verdun
february-december 1916,
- French general Philippe Petain, German Erich von Falkenhayn
- The battle ended with French victory, however both countries suffered great losses
- 400 000 French casualties and 350 000 German
- One of the most intense battles of WW1, very brutal
- Falkenhayn’s aim was to bleed the French white
battle of jutland
may 31 - june 1 1916,
- Jutland is the peninsula with Denmark on it
- Both sides claimed victory
- Navy battle fought between British navy and German navy
- Britain was able to continue the blockade of German ports
battle of the somme
july - november 1916,
- France vs Germany, the French had support of the British aircraft
- The British forces led by Douglas Haig (supported by British king George V) introduced the first tank Mark I, but it had little effect
- 465 000 German casualties
- 200 000 French casualties
- 400 000 British casualties
- Became known as the futile slaughter because it was very bloody and all of the countries involved suffered from great casualties
- British prime minister at the time was David Lloyd George and he didn’t support helping the French
brusilov offensive
june - september 1916,
- Russian attack against Austro-Hungary
- Aleksei Brusilov was one of the best Russian generals
- It was the most successful Russian offensive and the greatest victory of the triple alliance
- Drew Austro-Hungarian forces away from the Italian front
- Russia withdrew from the war by Bolshevik decision
the russian february revolution
- Broke out in St. Petersburg (Petrograd)
- Russians overthrew the imperial government and placed Lvov in power
- Started with February riots over lack of food and Nicolas II was forced to abdicate when the army joined the protests
- Georgy Lvov was appointed Russian ruler in march and tried to continue Russian participation in the war but was opposed by the public
- In summer he was replaced by Aleksander Kerensky
- Provisional government – rząd tymczasowy
bolshevik (october) revolution
- Vladimir Lenin was placed in power
- Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was formally signed on the 3rd of March 1918 by which Russians withdrew from the war
- It lost territories gained by Peter the Great so polish and Baltic states
- Russian front didn’t exist anymore
First german spring offensive
started on 21st march 1918, german general was erich ludendorff
second battle of the marne
july 1918,
- Ferdinand Foch was the French commander
- France was supported by British and American troops
- Germans were forced to withdraw
battle of amiens
8th of august 1918,
- Black day of the German Army which started the 100 days campaign of the Allied Forces
- The campaign would lead to the end of the war
- Germans were no longer able to defend themselves nor maintain their position on the Western Front
- Armed Warfare
German November Revolution 1918-1919
- Broke out in the Germany navy (Kiel mutiny)
- Maximilian of Baden was appointed new chancellor
- Wilhelm II abdicated and fled the country
- On the 9th of November 1918 Germany was proclaimed a republic
- Friedrich Ebert was made the president, he was from the SPD
- The revolution formally ended when the Weimar Constitution was declared in August 1919
- The start of the Weimar Republic
the most important effects of ww1
13 million civilians died in the war, the usa emerged as a world power, there were a lot of technological advancements, a lot of monarchies collapsed