WW1 Battles Flashcards
What took place at the battle of Tabbenberg?
The August of 1914 Battle of Tannenberg was fought between Russian and German soldiers. It is notable for being the first battle fought in the war to be fought on the Eastern Front. The Russian army was under the command of Grand Duke Nicholas, who had come to the aid of French soldiers who were under attack from the Germans. Although it was predicted that the Russian army would have a sliding victory, on account of being larger and more powerful, the Germans actually reigned victoriously. By end of the month, the Germans had taken 92,000 prisoners and destroyed half of the Russian 2nd army.
What was the first battle of Marne
n September of 1914, the First Battle of Marne marked the end of German incursion into France and the beginning of the trench warfare so widely associated with World War One. German Field Marshal Alfried Von Schlieffen devised a plan to conquer France by his armies invading it from Lille. The army would then turn west near the English Channel before turning south to cut off the French retreat. If the plan worked, German armies would encircle the French Army from the north and capture Paris. But a French offensive in Lorraine caused the Germans to counter-attack and threw the French to a fortified barrier. The French defence strengthened and they sent their troops to reinforce the left flank. The German northern wing troops got weak after the removal of 11 divisions to fight in Belgium and East Prussia.
What took place in the battle of Gallipoli?
Lasting eight months, the 1915-1916 Battle of Gallipoli was launched by the combined British, French, Indian, New Zealand, Australia, and Canadian forces to knock out those of the Turkish Ottoman Empire that sided with Germany. The British and her allies planned to sail a huge fleet at the 65-mile Dardanelles water strait that linked the Mediterranean and Istanbul, the Ottoman capital they planned to capture. The plan aimed to force the Ottoman Empire to surrender. The plan failed miserably in part due to the outdated allies’ fleet, and many ships that were sunk by Ottoman cannons and mines.
What happened in the battle of Verdun?
Beginning on February 21st and ending on the 19th of December in 1916, the Battle of Verdun was one of the longest and most savage of all World War One battles. Nearly three-quarters of the French army fought in this battle. It began when the German army under General Erich Von Falkenhayn command, began attacking French forts and trenches with artillery fires from 1200 guns, according to Verdun Memorial Museum reports. The General intended to end the trench warfare that begun in 1914 to enable his troops to move. In the initial days, the Germans breached the French front lines and took over Fort Douaumont without a fight. Still, the French infantry in spite of heavy shelling was unmoved from their positions and repelled the Germans. After the battle ended there were over 700,000 victims - 305,000 dead or missing and about 400,000 wounded on both warring sides.
What happened in the battle of Passchendaele?
The constant shelling turned the clay into the soil and destroyed drainage systems. The left-wing of the attack was successful unlike the right-wing. In the few following days, the heaviest rains in 30 years turned the loose soil into mud which clogged rifles and halted tanks’ movements. Many men and horses drowned in this mud.
On the 16th of August, British attacks resumed with no results. There was a stalemate for a month but when weather improved attacks resumed on 20th September. The battles of Menin, Road Ridge and Polygon Wood on 26th September, as well as the Battle of Broodseinde on October 4th, had the British capture the ridge east of Ypres. On November 6 the little of what remained of Passchendaele village was captured by the British and Canadian forces. That gave Haig an excuse to halt the offensive and claim victory. That despite the fact that Passchendaele was less than five miles beyond where the Haig led offensive had begun. The three month battle of Passchendaele had 325,000 British and allied casualties and 260,000 German casualties.
What was the german spring offensive?
During the spring of 1918, German General Erich Ludendorff ordered his forces to attack the Western Front, an over 400-mile-long strip of land stretching through France and Belgium, and from the Swiss border to the North Sea. The Russians contributed to the 500,000 troops, the confident Ludendorff commanded. Knowing a German attack was imminent the British reinforced their coasts as did the French to the south of the British. But in Cambrai an incomplete British trench system left a weakness in the British line, manned by the fifth army commanded by General Hubert Gough. On March 21st 1918, the Germans attacked, and in five hours fired a million artillery shells at the fifth army. The Germans intensified their attacks with elite storm troopers armed with loud flame throwers that panicked the British. The first day of the attack resulted in 21,000 British soldiers taken prisoner as the Germans advanced through the Fifth Army lines. This German attack was the biggest breakthrough in three years of warfare on the Western Front, and Gough ordered the Fifth Army to withdraw. The British also surrendered the Somme region to the Germans. This put Paris within the German’s target as they moved their three Krupps cannons they used to shell Paris 120 kilometers away. About 183 shells landed in Paris and residents began to desert the city. Their push to Paris made German emperor Friedrich William II, declare March 24th a success with many Germans assuming the war was over. But their Paris advance by the Germans experienced hitches due to few supplies they had, bar weapons.
What happened at the battle of the Somme?
From the 1st of July until the 18th of November in 1916, a massive joint operation between British and French forces against the Germans occurred in the Somme area in northern France. Dubbed the Battle of the Somme, it had been planned in December 1915 by allied commanders the French Joseph Joffre, and the British General Douglas Haig, to counter German offensive at Verdun. The British spearheaded the offensive and faced a German defence developed for many months, according to the Imperial War Museum’s records. Despite a seven day bombardment before the 1st July attack, the British did not achieve success the military leadership of General Haig anticipated, having sent 100,000 men to capture the German trenches. Somme resulted in being a battle of attrition, and for 141 days the British advance captured only three square mile of territory.
Collectively, the opposing sides saw over a million casualties wounded, captured, or killed. But what struck the psyche of the British were the 57,470 casualties suffered on first day of battle of the Somme, which 19,240 army men were killed. That made it the bloodiest day in British military history.
