WW1 Flashcards
Winston Churchill -
British takes over PM of England during the war Churchill was serving as First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1915 he helped orchestrate the disastrous Dardanelles naval campaign and was also involved in the planning of the military landings on Gallipoli, both of which saw large losses.
David Lloyd George -
Start of war PM of England
Woodrow Wilson -
President at the start of WW1
John J. Pershing -
“Black Jack” because served with a black regiment early in his career, led the AEF (American Expeditionary Forces) during WW1 for America
Von Moltke -
leader of German army WW1
Erich Von Falkenhayn-
who replaced Moltke, continued Germany’s aggressive campaign, knew that Germany would lose the war after the Schlieffen plan failed
Georges Clemenceau-
former minister of war of France
Ferdinand Foch-
French general and served as the Allied supreme commander
Battle of Bolimov
Fought in Bolimov and it is where Germany used gas for the first time tear gas on Russia wanted to draw Russian troops away from east Prussia - failed because it was too cold.
Carpathian offensive-
Fought in the Carpathian mountains and ended up taking a lot of resources to maintain and Germany had to take resources from other battles
Paul von Hindenburg
Led the Imperial German Army during World War I after Falkenhayn
Schlieffen Plan
What was it? What role did the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of the Marne play in the abandonment of the Schlieffen Plan?
The German plan to attack France (take over Paris in 6 weeks) and then Russia. Which would have secured swift victories and tried to avoid a 2-prong war but instead it put a serious strain on the soldiers on the side of the Central powers. These 2 battles marked the end of mobile warfare on the western front. German defeat on the Marne in the West marked the beginning of trench warfare. The Battle of Tannenberg was won by the Germans and Russian general Alexander Samsonov committed suicide. These battles showed the Germans that the war would last longer than expected and the Schlieffen plan was scrapped.
Race to the Sea
French forces and German forces were racing westward toward the sea. the German army was trying to get around French trenches, and the French army was trying to prevent the Germans from getting through the trenches.
marked by a series of attempts to outflank each other
Trench Warfare
Strategy and combat techniques
What technology led to the emergence of trench warfare?
The invention of the machine gun, as well as the increase in accuracy and fire rate of guns, additionally, 75-millimeter guns, howitzers, and trench mortars, were used to destroy trenches so soldiers had nowhere to hide
made in a zigzag
Why did trench warfare result in a stalemate?
In trench warfare you were incentivized to defend, waiting until the enemy attacked, as you could inflict many more casualties on an attacking army than they could on you
The physical experience of war [i.e., What was it like to live, eat, dream, and die in a trench?]
Incredibly bad living conditions, the spread of plagues, rats.
The psychological experience of war
The space in front of the trenches is filled with dead bodies.
Total War
What is Total War?
How, when motivated by an ideology (nationalism in WW1), countries can commit much worse tragedies and accept much worse casualty levels than would normally be accepted. This can allow for the use of war crimes like the use of poison gas and unrestricted sub-warfare dictated by Kaiser Wilhelm.
How was total war part of a military strategy?
The lack of restrictions on war allowed militaries to do whatever it took to ensure a victory, including creating unnecessary civilian casualties.
What was the effect of total war on civilians? How were they brought in as both perpetrators and victims?
Does genocide emerge due to Total War?
Yes. The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire emerges due to Total War
What is propaganda? Who employed it and for what reason?
Propaganda is the use of the press to influence civilians on behalf of a government. Propaganda in WW1 was used to paint Germany as the bad guy of the war, as well as influence people to enlist in the military
How were gender roles exploited, altered, or maintained?
many man had to go to war and the women had to take over their jobs
Stalemate Becomes Slaughter: The Battle of Verdun & The Battle of the Somme
Describe the participants and winners and losers of these battles.
The Creeping Barrage
A line of shellfire just in front of canadian troops and kept it moving forward like a shield across the battlefield so soldiers couldn’t move behind it.
Verdun- French countered a major German offensive, one of the first times the French had pushed back the germans, represented a turning point in the war
Somme- won by the Allies, after the British got a lot more firepower, this is the first time in which tanks were used.
Battle of Verdun - the Germans attacking the french
of every 5 men 2 had been dead 2 injured
Germans used 96 flamethrowers
How did these two battles signal the growing pointlessness of WWI?
What is a war of attrition? How was it part of the Total War strategy? How different from 19th century wars?
A traditional war is won by laying siege to a location and gradually gaining territory.
A war of attrition is a war in which you win only by killing more of the enemy than they can kill you, continuing until the other side doesn’t have enough man-power to keep up the defense. This is an especially brutal type of war that creates immense loss of life compared to 19th century warfare which was won as soon as the other side foresaw their defeat.
Many wars in WW1 became wars of attrition because…
Russia Exits the War
Why do they leave? Consequences?
(You will not be tested on the Russian Revolution, but need to know that it is Lenin and his government that sign the .)
lost major territorial holdings
left because of the bolsheviks and scarce food/resources
The U.S. Entrance to the War
What German practice(s) led to American entrance into the war?
The German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was allowed by Kaiser Wilhelm, led Uboats to sink a British ship (Lusitania) full of civilians unprovoked. this swung US opinion in favor of joining WW1 which would culminate in them joining two years later. This coupled with the Zimmermann telegram contributed to them joining as the US people turned against Germany at this point.
Zimmerman Telegram How / why did the U.S. entry serve as a turning point in the conflict?
A coded message sent to mexico by germany propsing that they form an alliance against the U.S, it was than intercepted by the British and sent over to the U.S
How did WWI end?
Role of the U.S.? Germany? What was the Weimar Republic?
The US joining of the war dramatically pushed the war in France and Britain’s favor as they had been fighting the war for years and were exhausted unlike the US.
As Germany surrendered the war, they were forced to take the blame for the war, and influenced by the US, the treaty ruled that German would become a democracy called the Weimar republic…
Treaty of Versailles
What was it? Who negotiated it?
negotiated by Britain. Italy, France and the U.S
What were the interests of France, Great Britain and the U.S.?
U.S wanted their loans to be repaid
France and British wanted reparations from Germany expand their colonial empires in Africa
Wilson’s and Clemenceau’s points of view
Wilson wanted those in power to be punished, not the people
Clemenceau liked the treaty because of how harsh it was to Germany
What were the main terms and conditions imposed on Germany by the Treaty?
smaller army, less technology, and has to pay for the war debt, also has to acknowledge that they were responsible for the war
Know Article 231
Germany had to accept that they were responsible for the war
Germany’s responsibility for all loss and damage suffered as a consequence of the war—a moral responsibility
What was the goal of the treaty? How might it have been an attempt to resolve the purposelessness coming out of the war?
To reprimand Germany and to make them weak
What was the Weimar Republic?
The Weimar Republic was the established country after Germany fell in WW1.
How does the treaty connect with issues of “war memory?”
The Treaty of Versailles is linked to war memory as its harsh terms, especially the war guilt clause and reparations, created a sense of injustice in Germany. This negative perception influenced the nation’s memory of World War I, contributing to economic hardships and, arguably, the rise of extremism leading to World War II. The treaty’s legacy serves as a lesson in the consequences of punitive measures in peace settlements.
Evaluate the treaty’s degree of success
limited success
How were attitudes toward technology affected?
Technology was seen as a more deadly weapon than before and was all around feared by all people
3-Minute
Shift in European Thought After WWI: Age of Anxiety
How was the war remembered?
The poppy is the enduring symbol of remembrance of the First World War.
Who was considered the Sick Man of Europe?
Ottoman Empire
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Franz Ferdinand
killed before war sparked the war on June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke: Franz Ferdiand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip who was a Bosnian-Serb, which started much conflict.
Alfred Von Schlieffen
German Army Cheif and staff 1891-1905 wanted to attack France first less daunting.
What would Britain do if Belgium was attacked?
Britain would go to war
Kaiser Wilhelm II,
Emperor of Germany
Conrad Von Hotzendorf
Army Chief of Staff- Austrian
Enver Pasha
Ottoman Minister of War
Suez Canal
Friedrich KreB Von Kressenstien
Commander of first Turkish expeditioncorps lead the Turkish to attack the British on the Suez Canal
Battle of Nueve Chapelle
Was significant because it was the first planned offensive strike upon a German trench system on the Western Front conducted independently by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the First World War.
Battle of Ypres
The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies
Alexander the 2nd
The most important reform during his rule was the emancipation of the serfs, which had been halting the country’s economic development for decades. For this he is known as Alexander the Liberator.
