WW1-stalemate Flashcards
Where and when did Gallipoli take place?
- Turkey
- Feb 1915- Jan 1916
What was the aim of Gallipoli?
- Allied navies would clear a strait of mines to let other ships through
- They would bombard the coast to destroy Ottoman defences
- British, ANZAC & French troops would land at Gallipoli and advance to the capital
- Capturing the capital was expected to make Ottomans surrender, making things easier for allies and removing a German ally
Why did Gallipoli fail?
- Allies didn’t think the Ottomans would fight
- Allies planned based on poor info such as tourist guides
- Ottomans had warning, giving them time to prepare
- Ottomans had high ground
- When Allies launched attacks to advance, Ottoman trenches were too well hidden and defended
- Allies struggled to keep forces supplied with ammunition and water
- trenches were unsanitary
- extreme weather made conditions worse (both hot and cold)
What were the consequences of Gallipoli?
113,000 died and another 220,000 injured, and Ottomans remained in the war
Where and when did Verdun take place?
- Near the town of Verdun in France
- Feb- Dec 1916
Where and when did the Somme take place?
-Along the Somme river, France
- 1st Jul-18th Nov 1916
Where and when did Jutland take place?
- North sea
- 31st May 1916
What was the aim of Verdun?
1.Germany army aimed to win war by “bleeding French white” (attrition) - meaning they kill so many French soldiers that they can’t be replaced fast enough
2. Germany also thought attrition would weaken alliance between France and Britain
What was the aim of the Somme?
- British aimed to launch a large attack to draw German soldiers away from Verdun
- Attrition- wanted to kill many soldiers
What was the aim of Jutland?
- The German Navy aimed to sneak past the British blockade and then destroy small groups of Royal Navy ships
- However, the Royal Navy knew about the plan, and instead aimed to trap the German fleet themselves
Why did Verdun fail?
- before the attack, Germany bombarded Verdun with over 4mil shells, warning its defenders
- French retreated into 17th century forts
- General Petain successfully rallied French defenders
Why did the Somme fail?
- Germans had high ground and clear view
- British artillery leading up to attack was not as effective as they thought- shells were damaged and poor quality
- British advanced slowly
- British soldiers lacked clear orders after officers killed
- Haig refused to change tactics despite Rawlinson trying to persuade him
Why did Jutland fail?
For Germans:
- British ships more powerful and stronger, for example the dreadnought
-Jellicoe used tactic “crossing the T” which allowed as many British guns as possible to fire, and also minimised how many German guns could fire
For Britain:
- German ships were more agile and used more accurate guns
- Beatty attacked despite being outnumbered
- Beatty ordered safety doors to be kept open, which sped up firing but also made it easier for fires to spread, causing the destruction of a few British ships
- Admiral Scheer used torpedoes to stop British from chasing German fleet when it retreated
What were the consequences of Verdun?
- frontline unchanged
- Britain and France’s alliance unchanged
What were the consequences of the Somme?
- capture of Verdun avoided
- small strip of land acquired by allies
- 1,120,000 killed or injured
-Haig nicknamed “butcher of the Somme” - British morale fell
What were the consequences of Jutland? (short vs long term)
- short term - Germans won (destroyed 14 ships, killed 6097 men)
- long term - Royal Navy won (easily replaceable lost ships and men and blockade stayed in place)
What were the consequences of Passchendaele?
- British forces captured 5 miles of territory, including village of Passchendaele
- 520,000 casualties
What were the consequences of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare?
- U boat attacks on American merchant shipping led them to join war
- Nov 1918- 0.3% allied ships were being sunk by German U boats
Why did Passchendaele fail?
- German defences were strong
- huge downpour meant MUD- lots of it
- British advanced slowly, making it easier for them to be shot
- British morale fell due to appalling living conditions and constant bloody fighting
- Haig was inflexible and ignored advice
Why did Unrestricted Submarine Warfare fail?
- merchant shipping forced to use convoy system (groups travelling together)
- ships used tactics such as moving in zigzags and using smokescreens to make it harder for Germans
- British magnetic sea mines could destroy 1 in 3 U boats
- Q ships introduced - gunboats disguised as merchant shipping
What was the aim of Passchendaele?
- The British aimed to break through German lines then capture ports on the Dutch Coast - as U boats were housed in these ports, and their loss would weaken Germany’s war effort
- British generals believed they had learned from mistakes at Somme
What was the aim of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare?
- Germany wanted to use U boats (submarines) to cut off Britain’s source of materials to fight the war- especially food
- they estimated that within 5 months if enough merchant shipping was sunk
Where and when did Passchendaele take place?
- Belgium
- 31st Jul- 10 Nov 1917
Where and when did Unrestricted Submarine Warfare take place?
- Typically Atlantic and North sea
- 1915, then February 1917 to Nov 1918
What were the problems of the Schlieffen plan?
- Belgium not letting them through
- Russians mobilising in under 6 weeks
- Could Germany defeat France quickly enough?
- Assumed French wouldn’t react quickly
- Didn’t use enough soldiers
What was the reality of stage 1 of the Schlieffen plan?
- Britain declared war on Germany after they invaded Belgium
- Belgian army resisted German invasion
- Russia mobilised its forces faster than expected and troops had to be moved
What was the reality stage 2 of the Schlieffen plan?
- German attack through Belgium was delayed by the British at Mons
- The Germans marched into France. Due to lack of soldiers, they couldn’t surround Paris as they had planned
- The British and French armies met the German attackers at the Marne river, where the battle of the Marne happened on 5th-9th Sep
- Germany retreated from the Marne river and began to dig trenches
What was the reality of stage 3 of the Schlieffen plan?
- Both sides dug trenches
- The “race to the sea” - both sides realised the importance of capturing ports on the north sea coast so rushed towards there
- both sides ended up controlling some ports- Germans won Antwerp and allies won Calais
What was the Schlieffen plan?
With France to the west and Russia to the east, Germany needed a plan for how to fight two powerful enemies at the same time.
The plan was to concentrate all available German military forces on France in order to defeat them quickly and then manoeuvre the army to prepare to defend from an attack by the larger Russian army in the east.
What was Trench warfare and how did the Schlieffen plan lead to it?
- soldiers fighting from trenches they’d dug to protect themselves
- Germany dug trenches in retreating from the Marne
What was the war on two fronts and how did the Schlieffen plan lead to it?
- Germany having to fight the war in two places at once
- Germany underestimated how quickly Russia could mobilise their army and had to divide their army between France and Russia
What were trench conditions like?
- infested with lice
-very cold - rain and mud caused problems
- little food
What were military tactics in Trench warfare?
- trenches dug in zigzags, which made it hard for gunners
- soldiers up before dawn to “stand to” - getting rifles in case of an attack
- sentry duty- soldiers up all night staring into darkness in case of an attack
- battles- soldiers had a bayonet fixed on their rifles
What were generals and their ideas like in trench warfare?
- at the start, most generals expected a short war and there would be a fast victory
- generals on both sides struggled to get soldiers past machine guns
what weapons were used during trench warfare?
- rifles, bayonets, artillery, machine guns
