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History > WW1 Term 2 > Flashcards

WW1 Term 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a war of attrition?

A

A war where both sides try to win by wearing the other’s resources out.

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2
Q

What is a stalemate?

A

A situation where neither side can gain an advantage over the other.

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3
Q

How were battles usually carried out in 1915?

A

Enemy trenches would be bombarded by artillery guns for 24 hrs, phase 2 usually involved infantry going over the top. The trenches were defended by barbed wire and machine guns.

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4
Q

Describe the battle of Loos

A

On the 25th of Sep 1915 the British 1st army commanded by Sir Douglas Haig attacked German positions at Loos, using a two-pronged formations . Haig had found out that the area was flat and open to German machine gun fire. So he decided to attack on a very narrow frontage to have concentrated fire. He also discovered poison gas where he needed perfect conditions. However, as he need to work with the french he could only attack on the 25th so if the weather was good he could release the gas and if not he would have to release the gas in the following days if weather permitted. The attack on Germany began successfully with 250,000 shells fired in 20 minutes. The gas was also released at 0515 but had no effect. However in one place the gas ended up poisoning 2632 of his own men with 7 fatalities. After the 1st day of the battle the reserve troops, who were meant to come earlier, finally arrived. These troops consisted of new soldiers who had just landed in France and forced to march 50 miles in 4 days. When these reserves got to the front line, their inexperience meant they could not cope with the German counter-attack, and the British went from a success to narrowly avoiding a retreat. Between the 26th and the 28th many British lost their lives to German machine gun fire. The battle ended on the 28th with 50,000 British casualties and 25,000 German casualties.

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5
Q

What did Haig call the reserve troops in the Battle of Loos?

A

“poor fellows”

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6
Q

When and why did Russia start to fight Germany?

A

They started fighting with Germany in August 1914 and did it to take some of the pressure of Britain and France on the Western Front

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7
Q

Who were the German commanders in charge of fighting with Russia

A

Hindenburg and Lundenorff

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8
Q

What were the weaknesses of the Russian Army?

A
  • Badly equipped and poorly led, some regiments had 1 rifle to every 10 men
  • Hindenburg and Lundenorff were able to decode the secret Russian battle plans in advance
  • Had very few reserve troops
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9
Q

Where did the two main crucial battles of the eastern front occur

A

At Tannenburg and the Masurian lakes

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10
Q

How many Russian prisoners were taken in the two main battles?

A

135,000

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11
Q

How big was the front that Russia had to defend against?

A

800km

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12
Q

What did the Russian Commander do after such a great failure in 1914

A

He killed himself

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13
Q

Who took charge of the Russian army in 1915

A

Tsar (emperor) Nicholas II

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14
Q

Who took charge of the Russian Army in 1916

A

General Alexei Brusilov

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15
Q

When did the Brusilov offensive take place and why is it important

A

Took place in June 1916, Russians took 250,000 prisoners in 3 weeks, however there were few reserve troops and Russia faced 1,000,000 casualties and 1,000,000 deserters.

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16
Q

What was important about March 1918

A

The signing of the ‘Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

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17
Q

Describe the events that occurred in March 1918

A
  • The Tsar was overthrown by a revolution in Russia
  • Bolshevik leader Lenin seized power in Oct 1917 and wanted to make peace with Germany
  • treaty shows that Germany had gained a large amount of territory from Russia.
  • Under the treaty 1/3 of wheat producing land, 1/4 of its population and 6,000 million deutschmarks was given to Germany for war damages
  • After the signing Russia was out of the war
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18
Q

Who fought in the Gallipoli campaign

A

NZ, Australia, France and Britain against Turkey

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19
Q

Who are the Westerners and Easterners?

A

Westerners were those who believed that a breakthrough was going to happen in the Western Front and the Easterners are those who believed that attacking Turkey would help win the War.

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20
Q

What was Turkey’s nickname and why?

A

“The Soft Underbelly of Europe”, as they are Germany’s weakest ally.

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21
Q

What was Dardanelles

A

The straits that protected the Turkish capital of Constantinople

22
Q

Describe the naval attack

A
  • First plan to capture Dardanelles was to attack by sea.
  • Used inexperienced troops as main troops left in the Western Front
  • Led by Sir John de Robeck and began in Feb 1915
  • 23 allied ships attacked the straits
  • Marines landed and spiked Turkish guns.
  • Naval attack was nearly successful until 3 allied ships were sunk by mines
  • attack called off to prevent futher losses but the Turks were down to their last line of mines and Turkish gunners had run out of ammo
23
Q

Describe the events of the military campaign

A
  • supply shipments were loaded incorrectly and had to be sent back to Egypt to be reloaded.
  • this took a month and Turkish spies spotted the Allies and the allies lost their element of surprise
  • Inexperienced General Sir Ian Hamilton was in charge but he had no up-to-date maps and his information on Turkish positions was from 1906.
  • On 25th April Allied forces attack on different parts of the Gallipoli peninsula.
  • In some areas the troops dug trenches but an incorrect order was sent out and the troops were forced to retreat
  • The troops made unsuccessful attacks on each other’s front lines.
24
Q

How would the Gallipoli campaign help in the war?

A

If it was successful troops could help Russia with their fight on the Eastern Front.

25
Q

When was the Suvla Bay attack

A

6th August 1915

26
Q

Who was given to Hamilton instead of an experienced commander?

A

General Stopford, and inexperienced commander who had never seen wartime before

27
Q

Describe the events of Suvla Bay

A
  • Stopford landed his raw recruits in the dark.
  • the various units became very confused and could not identify each other
  • Sat on beach for 2 days.
28
Q

How many casualties did the British War Office say there were?

A

5,000 Allied casualties

29
Q

Why is the number of casualties the British War Office claimed there were incorrect?

A

Because they lost 6,500 men in the first week alone

30
Q

How many casualties in the whole campaign on both sides?

A

500,000 casualties

31
Q

Since when have Britain held control of the sea?

A

Since the battle of Trafalgar in 1805

32
Q

When did Germany start to challenge the Royal Navy

A

In 1898 when Germany started building their own fleet.

33
Q

How many ships did Britain have in 1904

A

154

34
Q

What did Sir John Fisher say in response to the ageing ships

A

“scrap the lot”

35
Q

Features of a Dreadnought

A
  • 21 knots
  • 5 twin turrets
  • Released in 1906
  • 27x70mm guns
  • 5 torpedo tubes
  • Armour up to 300 mm thick
  • Turbine engines.
36
Q

In 1914 how many dreadnoughts did each side have?

A

Britain had 18 dreadnoughts and Germany had 13 dreadnoughts.

37
Q

What happened by December 1914

A

The British had destroyed all German squadrons sailing outside of the North Sea

38
Q

Why was it important for Britain to hold control of the seas?

A
  • Forced to get resources from overseas and need sea to do that
  • did not want to lose it to rivals
  • to prevent neutral countries from trading with Germany
  • protect from invasion of sea
  • needed to get troops from other countries
39
Q

What is a blockade?

A

Where a nation uses the sea and their navy to stop a country from getting supplies through the seas. If a blockade is imposed it is possible to starve the blockaded country

40
Q

Describe the Battle of Jutland

A
  • 31 May 1916
  • Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer planned to lure the British Grand Fleet in Rosyth by attacking merchant ships and use the rest of their ships to attack Jellicoe’s fleet, hoping to reduce the size of Jellicoe’s fleet.
  • However, Jellicoe was aware of Scheer’s plan and sailed out much earlier than expected and was instead waiting to attack Scheer.
  • Although Jellicoe’s fleet outnumbered Scheer’s, Scheer had much better guns and faster boats.
  • Scheer destroyed the HMS Indefatigable and the HMS Queen Mary costing 2,868 British lives.
  • The German fleet remained in port for the rest of the war.
41
Q

What does U-boat stand for

A

Untersee boat

42
Q

What is restricted submarine warfare

A

Submarine warfare where before an attack on a ship the submarine would warn the opposers

43
Q

What is unrestricted warfare

A

Submarine warfare where it is not required to warn the opposers.

44
Q

How many on board died in the Lusitania

A

1,198 out of the 2000 passengers were killed by a single torpedo, the boat sank in 18 minutes. Out of those who were killed, 168 were American.

45
Q

What effect did the sinking of the Lusitania have on Britain, USA and Germany

A

Britain- Claimed that Germany had ruthlessly sunk an unarmed passenger liner

USA-was furious and protested to the German government. Some called for USA to join the war

Germany- called a halt to unrestricted warfare soon after the sinking.

46
Q

How many U boats did Germany have in 1917?

A

300

47
Q

Why did Germany continue with the U boat campaign when it was certain that they would enrage USA?

A

Germany believed that Britain would have come to terms with them before USA could do anything.

48
Q

How many ships were sunk every month in 1917

A

Jan - 35
Feb - 86
Mar - 103
Apr - 155

49
Q

When did USA declare war on Germany?

A

6 April 1917

50
Q

What methods were used to oppose the U-boats?

A

Q Ships - decoy ships disguised as merchant ships would wait for the submarine to surface so that they could warn the ship but before they could do that they were shot by the Q-boats.

Mines- destroyed more U boats than any other weapon.

Depth Charges - Bombs that go off at a certain depth and were only second to mines

Long Range Aircraft - Used to sight U boats in the water and so can protect convoys

Convoys - US warships surrounded merchant ships, introduced in mid-1917. Depth Charges are even more effective in convoys.

History (3 decks)

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