WW1 Term 1

Question 1

At what date did German soldiers invade Belgium?

Answer 1

4th Aug 1914

Question 2

Nations in the triple entente?

Answer 2

Britain, Russia and France

Question 3

Nations in the central powers?

Answer 3

Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy

Question 4

What was wrong with the central powers?

Answer 4

Germany was strong, however, Austria-Hungary was a huge, rickety nation which were made up of 11 quarreling nations. Italy was unreliable as it was desperate to remain neutral in the war

Question 5

Why was there hostility between France and Germany?

Answer 5

Because of the Franco-Prussian war which took place in 1871 where Germany took territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Germany expected France to launch a war of revenge on them.

Question 6

Who was the German Emperor?

Answer 6

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Question 7

How many men and boats did the German Army have by 1914?

Answer 7

97 battleships and 2.2 million men

Question 8

When did Germany believe Russia would be fully modernised by?

Answer 8

1917

Question 9

When, where and by whom was the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand shot and why?

Answer 9

The Archduke was shot on 28th June 1914 at Sarajevo,Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. This was because of a dispute between who should rule the Serbs of Bosnia.

Question 10

How did the shooting of the Archduke of Austria cause the Great War?

Answer 10

As Russia was prepared to go to war with Serbia and Germany along-side Austria-Hungary, Causing the biggest nations to be at war with each other.

Question 11

What were the three phases of the Schliffen plan?

Answer 11

Phase 1 - Germany knew they could not fight France and Russia at the same time so they estimated that Russia would take 6 weeks to mobilise. So they would need a quick defeat on France

Phase 2 - Germany decides that they can go through Belgium, as Belgium is poorly equipped and would not fight if Germany passed through. They assumed that Britain would stay neutral and if they did attack it would take them too long to help the French.

Phase 3 - They assumed that taking Paris would force France to make peace with Germany and the troops could then make their way to Russia using the trains.

Question 12

When was the ‘Treaty of London’ formed?

Answer 12

1839

Question 13

What did the Kaiser call the Treaty of London?

Answer 13

A scrap of paper

Question 14

What did the Kaiser call the British army?

Answer 14

‘that contemptible little army’

Question 15

What was plan XVII?

Answer 15

A French offensive as a counter on the Schliffen plan where Joseph Joffre, in 1913 planned a huge offensive on the German frontier on northern Alsace-Lorraine. The plan was a failure as the French were unable to break the German defenses and there were 300,000 French casualties.

Question 16

Failure of the Schliffen plan

Answer 16

Belgian resistance - unexpected resistance from the Belgians which caused the troops to be exhausted and caused major delays in the Schliffen plan.

British involvement - The British were able to reach Belgium in time as 120,000 soldiers were shipped from Britain to Belgium in a week.

Moltke was too far from the front line - General Helmuth Von Moltke was isolated from the front lines as he was in his headquaters in Luxemborg.

German advance East of Paris- Germany was unable to fully encircle Paris as they were under time pressure

Long German supply lines - took very long for the Germans to resupply

Question 17

Define M.A.I.N

Answer 17

Militarism - the belief that a government should maintain a strong military and be able to use it to defend or promote national interests.

Alliances- A mutually beneficial relationship between two or more countries to aid each other when neccesary

Imperialism - A country which extends its power using means such as colonialism, military etc.

Nationalism - the belief that one’s country is superior and/or special to the detriment of others.

Question 18

Explain the battle of Mons

Answer 18

The battle was on the 23 Aug 1914 and the first of the B.E.F. Sir John French deployed his men along a 40 km front. They were outnumbered 70000 men to 160000 men and 300 artillery guns to 600. The B.E.F fought with such flair that it was believed that the British had 28 machine guns per battalion where in reality they had 2. However, by evening it was very clear that the British were heavily outnumbered and so French ordered a retreat. There were 8000 British casualties.

Question 19

Explain the battle of Marne

Answer 19

Marne was held from the 6th to the 12th of September 1914 where Britain and France counter-attacked Germany. 150000 French soldiers attacked the German right flank and as a result a 30 mile gap opened in the German lines and the Germans ordered a retreat. The Allies pushed back 40 miles. There were 250000 French and 12733 British casualties and 250000 German casualties

Question 20

Explain the Race to the Sea

Answer 20

October 1914 - Germany failed at capturing France
8th October - Germans took Ostend
15th October- took Antwerp
18th October- recaptured Ypres
After race to the sea - Both sides ‘dug in’ for the winter in a line of trenches 470 km long from the North Sea to the French-Swiss border.

Question 21

What method was used to make a more difficult target for gunners?

Answer 21

Dig the trenches in a zig-zag

Question 22

How long were the supposed and actual times that soldiers were meant to spend in the front line?

Answer 22

Supposed to stay in the front line for 8 days, stayed in trenches for 2 to 3 weeks.

Question 23

Talk about the Living Conditions of soldiers

Answer 23

Lice - Fed on blood 12 times a day and could only get rid of them by crack them off with a fingernail or burn them out of the seams of clothing with a candle. This process became a social occasion called chatting

Frostbite- many soldiers wore extra underclothes or even newspaper. In 1917 21,000 British soldiers had frostbite.

Trench Foot - where soldier’s feet became infected from the mud and water and led to gangrene. Meant leg had to be amputated.

Heat- the heat of the summer led to increased stench of latrines and dead bodies. Each division also had 6000 horses which produced 40 tonnes of manure a day.

Question 24

What was a normal soldier’s daily routine

Answer 24

Half an hour before dawn the soldiers had to stand to in case of an enemy attack. The men slept in dug outs or funk holes.

Question 25

Explain going ‘over the top’

Answer 25

Men would go into the space between the two front lines to charge the enemy front line. They were often caught in barbed wire and mowed down by enemy machine gunners.

Question 26

When was poisonous gas first used?

Answer 26

22 April 1915 in Langemarck

Question 27

3 types of gas

Answer 27

Chlorine gas - caused victims ti drown in water produced in their own lungs.

Phosgene gas - 18 times more powerful than chlone gas, hard to smell and impossible to see. Takes victims 48 hrs to die.

Mustard gas - Burned exposed skin, sometimes to the bone. Could burn out lungs.

Question 28

What is the problem with gas attacks?

Answer 28

If the wind changed then the gas could drift back and harm those who sent it. Gas mask were developed making gas attacks nearly obsolete.

Question 29

Development of the tank

Answer 29

First tank called ‘Mother’ appeared in 1916. First used in battle in 15 Sep 1916. First tanks had many disadvantages as the 8 man crews were poorly trained, very noisy, temp up to 38 C and could only move at 4 mile per hour.