WW2

Question 1

What was the Schlieffen plan?

Answer 1

Idea to win a war in Europe. Germany would send 90% of its troops to France through Belgium and Holland. It would aim to do this as quickly as possible then take Paris. Without the French in the war Britain and Russia would not likely fight for a long time. The other 10% would hold off Russia. The plan aimed to avoid war on two fronts.

Question 2

Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?

Answer 2

The German high command felt the plan was too daring. They lessened the commitment of troops to the west front and changed the route to avoid Holland. They also faced heavy resistance from Belgium

Question 3

What was Britains professional army?

Answer 3

The BEF British and expeditionary force. Nicknamed the “The old contemptibles.

Question 4

What happened to the BEF

Answer 4

At the battle of YRPES it was all but destroyed. Ypres marked the end of the BEF and more importantly the movement war now both sides neither stronger than the other adopted defences formations I.e trenches.

Question 5

What was the race to the sea?

Answer 5

Germany wanted to take the crucial port of Calais. Both armies moved towards the sea trying to outflank each other. Germany wanted Calais to cut supplies from Britain. Neither side could gain control so eventually troops dug in and two lines emerged . This didn’t change much throughout the whole war

Question 6

Why was Verdun important.

Answer 6

It was a very important historic French town , it served a place of military pride . If taken by the Germany’s the French would suffer a huge moral loss.

Question 7

Why was the battle of verdun important

Answer 7

Longest battle of the war and crucially it caused the battle of the Somme.

Question 8

Why did the battle of the Somme take place?

Answer 8

To relieve pressure from verdun and hopefully make a big break through which would spread the German forces and dal a huge moral blow

Question 9

Describe th effectiveness of tanks

Answer 9

Where very scary, they caused the moral of the enemy to suffer, however they weren’t very reliable over half the tanks going to the Somme broke down before arriving.

Question 10

Describe the effectiveness of the machine gun

Answer 10

Both sides used the machine gun. It did not break stalemate it was a defensive weapon . It meant crossing no mans land would be near impossible

Question 11

Explain the use of gas

Answer 11

Horrible chemical weapon that caused panic and fear however it only accounted for 4% of war deaths.

Question 12

Why was the war at sea important?

Answer 12

It meant Britain could supply itself across the channel without it the British people and soldiers may of starved

Question 13

What were Britains main aims at sea.?

Answer 13

To maintain valuable supply routes between bBritain and her allies. To shock Germany by blockade

Question 14

What function did Germany’s navy serve?

Answer 14

It was sometimes thought of a deterrent. Germans hoped it would be a useful negotiating tool in future peace talks . However the immense cost of the navy put pressure on the admirals to use the fleet in large scale combat.

Question 15

What aims did both sides hold at the battle of Jutland?

Answer 15

Germany wanted to inflict as much damage on an unsuspecting British fleet as possible bringing it closer to the German size. Britain wants to inflict as much damage as possible.

Question 16

At the battle of Jutland what was a problem with admiral Scheers plan?

Answer 16

He wanted to use a decoy attack to lure part of jellicoes fleet out and then destroy it. However admiral jellicoe knew about the plan before and started sailing much earlier than Scheer would have expected.

Question 17

Who won at the battle of Jutland?

Answer 17

Both sides. Germany inflicted a huge amount of damage on the British fleet more than Britain did to Germany. However Britain claimed victory as at the end it still had a bigger fleet, Germany never risked another major sea battle and it maintained control of the North Sea

Question 18

Describe jellicoes tactic of blockading Germany

Answer 18

Jellicoes ‘s blockade caused imports to Germany to fall by 60% during the war. Daily calories per person fell to 1000 from 2240. This caused food riots and in 1917 a turnip winter occurred where a traditional animal food replaced the potato

Question 19

What huge success did Germany have at sea?

Answer 19

Unrestricted submarine warfare caused rationing

Question 20

Why was the Gallipoli campaign flawed before it started?

Answer 20

Sir Ian Hamilton led the allied forces at Gallipoli. He had been advised he would need 150,000 men to take it. However Lord Kitchener who opposed the plan originally only gave half that. The element of surprise had also been lost after March naval raids. This led to 70000 more Turkish troops arriving.

Question 21

What went wrong initially at Gallipoli

Answer 21

Some landing points were completely missed, this meant the troops faced adverse landing places with large cliffs preventing the, leaving the beach. Other places Turkish machine gunners had direct line of sight and caused huge damage. Furthermore Hamilton was miles off the shore unaware of the crisis unfolding and could not change the plan.

Question 22

How did the environment play a decisive role at Gallipoli?

Answer 22

Hot weather meant there was a shortage of fresh water, the food was ridden with flys and soldiers had difficulty burying corpses meaning disease was rife. The onset of winter brought no relief as torrential floods threw men out to sea and snow brought the danger of frostbite.

Question 23

How did Stopford’s decision impact the plan?

Answer 23

20,000 British troops landed ashore at Suvla bay and faced very little opposition. However StopFord didn’t want to move inland, this meant Turkish defenders had time to set up their positions and a stalemate similar to the original landing took place.

Question 24

In October 1915 Gallipoli what happened

Answer 24

He was replaced by General Sir Charles Munro. Munro quickly with little prospect of success withdrew the allied forces. Over a million men were involved on both sides with a third becoming casualties. The invaders lost 44000 men. It was a huge military blunder leading the their resignation of Winston Churchill and the
Rime minister to be replaced.

Question 25

What was the reason for the Gallipoli campaign?

Answer 25

To try and end the stalemate on the western front by pulling troops away from it .

Question 26

When did Russia join the war?

Answer 26

August 1914

Question 27

When did Russia sign Brest-Litovsk treaty

Answer 27

March 1918

Question 28

How was the Russian military doing in 1916

Answer 28

German forces had invaded Russia and Russia had lost 1.5 million men. It also created a huge refugee crisis.

Question 29

What led to Russia’s downfall?

Answer 29

It’s lack of food, peasants hoarding grain and the lack of transport networks to move food to where it was necessary meant a starving population.

Question 30

What happened in February 1917 in Russia

Answer 30

Nicholas II was forced to abdicate

Question 31

What were the main terms at the Brest-Litovsk treaty

Answer 31

Russia lost 290000 square miles of land. A quarter of its population a quarter of its industry 90 percent of its coal mines. And all is Turkish land gained in the Russo Turkish war.

Question 32

How did Germany and Britain tackle the problem of food shortages

Answer 32

Great Britain increased area of farmland and imports from the USA. They introduced rationing in 1918. Germany developed substitute goods such as acorns and beech nuts as coffee. Millions of pigs killed to save grain. Limits rationing in 1914, after the disastrous potato harvest in 1916 , turnips were issued as a replacement