WWI Flashcards
who was on each side of the war?
between central powers ( germany, austria-hunagry, hungaria, bulgaria and ottomoan empire) and the allied powers ( france, russia, belgium, serbia and britain) later joined by USA and Italy
start and end of the war
started july 28th 1914, ended november 11th 1918
why did the war happen?
- militarism, nationalism, imperialism, alliances, and economic rivalry
triple entente
britain, russia and france formed in 1907
triple alliance
german, austria-hungary and italy, may 1882
july days
days in between the assassination and the start of the war
schlieffen plan
-created december 1905, employed august 1914
-created by senior general in german army, count alfred von schlieffem
-germany was worried being encircled by france and russia
why did the schelieffen plan fail
-6 week timetable
-BEF slowed down at battle of Mons
- belgium army slowed down german advance at forts around leige
plan 17-slowed down german supplies of food and ammunition by 2 weeks
-soldiers were tired, hungry and un-equipped
-General Von Kluck changes the plan
-battle of marne- germans forced back to the river aisne, began to dig trenches
-russia mobolised in 15 days instead of 6 weeks
what was deadlock on the western front?
both sides dug trenches from which they launched repeated attacks
-very little gain
-high number of casualties
why was there deadlock?
-failure of schlieffen plan, strength of defences, ineffective weapons, no new tactics, the mud
role of aircraft
-gather intelligence on the enemy
–> monitoring troop movements, trench layout and supply chains
- at first in 1914, airplanes were extremely primitive, unarmed and unreliable and highly dangerous ‘string bags’
how did aircraft improve in 1918?
-fighters, fitted with machine guns, much faster and menurverable
-bombers, could carry heavy loads of bombs and drop them on distant targets
-by 1918, 10,000 planes were being used and over 50,000 airmen killed
role of machine guns
- defends trenches, fairly new weapon
-fires 400 to 600 bullets per minute with a range of 2,000km
-germans had 12,000 in 1914, Britain didnt use machine guns until 1915
-required 4 to 6 operators, more suited for defence than attack
-could overheat or jam
-prolonged stalemate rather than breaking it
improvement of machine guns
-1918, being used by all armies
-rate of fire vastly increased and some handheld ‘light machine guns’ had been developed
–> e.g. the lewis gun
role of poison gas
-help soldiers break into enemys trench–> causes terror
-released from canisters into no mans land
what was poison gas like in 1914
-chlorine gas was first used by the germans at the 2nd battle of ypres, 1915
-britain used chlorine gas at the battle of loos (sept 1915)
improvement of poison gas
-1917, more lethal gases were developed–> mustard gas
-gas shells were introduced, overcomed problem of wind direction
-specialised gas masks and protective clothing for soldiers, dogs, horses and pigeons
-psychological weapon, little impact on breaking stalemate
role of tanks
-used to cross difficult ground, destroy machine guns, provide cover for advancing infantry and crush barbed wire in front of enemy trenches
what were tanks like in 1914?
-used first by british at the battle of the somme (1916)
-they moved at a walking pace, not very meneurverable
-more than half broke down
- germs didnt use tanks until 1918
improvment of tanks
-1917 at cambrai, over 400 tanks were used and achieved great success, infantry couldnt keep up
role of artillery
-bombarded enemy lines by firing huge shells (up to 108kg)
what was artillery like?
-1914, not very accurate and difficult to range targets
-sometimes bombarded their own trenches
-1915, 50% of british shells were duds
how did artillery improve
- shells improved in quality
-new tactics–> the creeping barrage and the box barrage
-spotter aircraft, spotter balloons, being used to send live info to the artillery about where and what to fire at
battle of the somme date
1st july 1916 to 18th november 1916
took place on the river of the somme in france
4 key outcomes of the battle of the somme
-57,000 british casualties and 8,000 german casualties
-by november, 620000 for the allies and 450,000 for the germans
-at most, the allies advanced 15km along the western front
-germans called off their attacks at verdun
why was the battle of the somme unsuccessful?
-new attack was coming
- week b4 the attack: 1.73 million shells were fired at german lines
- general haig told soldiers to advance slowly towards enemy trenches, believed they would be undefended
battle of Passchendaele
-july 1917, 10th november 1917
-british and canada VS the germans led by the general haig
result of the battle of Passchendaele
- 3 months of fighting, Paschendaele was cauptured
- 240,000 british and 220,000 germans wounded or killed
-allies captured 800m of territory, haig failed to complete the main objective (connection to the northern coast)
why did the battle of Passchendaele fail?
-germans knew the attack was coming
-heavy rain turned the battle field into quagmire, knee-deep in liquid mud, britain fired 4 million shells in the first week with heavy rain
what was the german naval threat
-britain had the largest navi in 1914
-naval arms race, caused a stalemate at sea for most of the war
battle of heligoland
-28th august 1914
-british attacks on german destroyers in the north sea
-british sqaudron of 31 destroyers, 2 cruisers, 8 submarines attacked a german patrol
3 key outcomes of the battle of heligoland
-3 german cruisers, and 1 destroyer sunk, 3 more cruisers badly damaged, 712 german soldiers dead, 530 injured, 336 taken prisoner
-britain–> damage to 1 cruiser and 3 destroyers, 35 soldiers dead, 40 injured
-german kaiser was angry at the loss of ships, further action must be approved by him –> no major fleets for several months ater
german raids
-attacks on british ships and towns
-november 3rd- december 6th 1914
-germans bombarded great yarmouth in november and then in december, they bombarded scarborough, whitby and hartlepool
the naval race
-germany believed to become a world power they needed to challenge the british navy
-1898 and 1900 germany passed the navy laws
-by 1905, germany had began to build more battleships and cruisers
-german naval chief, admiral tirpitz set up the naval league
-britain built best ever battleship, HMS dreadnought
-germany responded by building Rheinland
-between 1906 adn 1914, britain built 29 dreadnoughts and germany built 17
arms race on land
-1906, Richard Haldane (british war minister) formed BEF of 144,000 soldiers who could travel immediatley to france in support of french troops if war was declared
plan 17
-the need to take alsace loraine back under french control
-1913, french army cheif (general joffre) came up with plan 17
-the french troops would cross river Rhine and advance on Berlin
first Moroccan crisis
-1905 to 1906
-when france lost alsace lorain, french were trading in morocco for minerals
-april 1904, france and britain would have a mandate over morocco, in return france would give up any interests they had in egypt
first moroccan crisis german reaction
-kaiser wilhelm II, said publicly eh was interested in having equal economic rights in morocco
-31 march 1905, kaiser wilhelm II landed at Tangier, with the intention of showing a german interest
-german politicians looking for a ‘place in the sun’
-germany assured sultan aziz to protect independence of morocco
algerciras conference
-1906
-conference held in argentina
-austria hungary supporting germany
-final agreement, france would have a controlling interest in moroccan affairs
-only worsened tensions
-showed entente cordial was strong
-angered kaiser wilhelm II and caused second moroccan crisis
second moroccan crisis
-1911 to 1912
-rebel tribes rose up against the sultan and surrounded fez
-sultan asked france for help, france sent small group of soldiers to fez in may 1911
second moroccan crisis german reaction
-believed france caused a tribal revolt to occupy morocco
-july 1st 1911, german gunboat SMS panther arrived in agadir, portect interests of german people living in morocco
-france sent more troops in response
outcome of moroccan crisis
-further strengthened entente cordiale
-division between entente powers and germany increased
bosnian crisis
-1908 to 1909
-organisation, ‘young turk’ forced turkeys ruler to restore turkey democratic constitution
-autria hungary annexed bosnia
-formation of balkan legue
-russia supported serbia and protested to austria hungary
-germany supported austria hungary
first balkan war
-october 1912 to may 1913
second balkan war
-june 1913 to august 1913
assassination of franz ferdinand
-june 28th 1914
- in Sarajevo
- shot by gavrilo princip, black hand gang
submarine warfare
-1915 to 1918
-Tirpitz advised the kaiser that germany should use unrestricted submarine warfare to weaken Britain
-february 4th 1915, german government announced all merchant shipping entering or leaving british waters would get destroyed
-only 4% of ships supplying british were sunk
anti u boat measures
-huge minefields were set in the english channel
-depth charges were developed, they exploded and destroyed submarines if they were dropped from ships nearby
-British priminister, David lloyd George persuaded royal navy to use a convoy system
-british introduced q ships
successes of anti u boat measures
-20/63 u boats were sunk in 1917, hit a mine
-1915 to end of 1917, depth charges destroyed 5 submarines, improved design destroyed 22 u boats
-1918, 1% of ships in convoys were sunk by u boats
-q ships were responsible for 10% of all u boats sunk
sinking of luistania
-7th may 1915
-german submarine U20 torpedoed lusitania 18km off the coast of Ireland
-sank in 18 minutes
-1198/1959 passengers drowned, 128 of them were americans
-
effects of the galipoli campaign
-480,000 allied soldiers took part
-204,000 men wounded
-48,000 men killed
-many soldiers became sick due to the condintions, typhoid and dynestry
-the dardanelles were still closed to russian ships and russia faced the propspect of slow starvation
-stalemate on western front wasnt broken
-germany able to stengthen position on western front
-turkish morale was high, confident troops
operation michael
-march to june 1918
-600 german guns began a powerful 5 hour bombardment on 21st march
-release of mustard gas
-hutier techniques
-germany advanced 65km pyyric victory, pointless land, didnt know how to defend, broke stalemate for the first time
why the lundendorf offensive?
-germany transferred 500,000 troops to western front, 1.4 million in total
-USA declared war on germany
failure of Ludendorff offensive
-ludendorff sent too many men into french territory
-german troops gone too far and fast into french territory, supplies couldnt keep up
-german advance created a salient, 130km long and 65km wide
entry of USA into the war
-april 1917
-november 1918, almost 2 million american soldiers in Europe
what did US soldiers do in france?
-build over 1600km of railway lines
-16,000 km of telegraph and telephone cables
-enlarged french ports, more ships could deliver men and supplies
hundred days offensive
-8th august to 11th november 1918
battle of amiens
-8th august 1918
❖At Amiens an artillery attack and creeping barrage broke through the German lines and allowed an Allied advance of 25km. Allied troops also captured 48,000 German soldiers.
❖After breaking the front line at Amiens, the Allies forced the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line which was broken by 8th October. At this point, the Germans were now in all-out retreat.
the armistice
-abdicated by the kaiser on 9th november, and escaped to holland
-11th november 1918, germans agreed to allies terms for an armistice
-reasons for germanys defeat
-food
-famine
-flu
-political turmoil
when did britain join war
4th august 1914
when did austria annex bosnia
1908
the admiral leading the british grand fleet in 1914
jon jellicoe
treaty of fez
-4th november 1911
-gave france control over morroco and gave germany control over part of the congo
galipoli campaign
-25th april 1915
-churchill was blamded for the failure of the campaign
-british and anzac troops landed at galopili penisula but failed to destroy the turkish forts
-a brirish naval bombardment (february 1915) failed to destroy the turkish forts on galipoli penisula and open the dardanelles sea route to russia
treaty of Brest litovsk
-ended Russias participation in ww1
-signed march 3td 1918
Zimmerman telegram
-caused USA to enter WWI
-sent 11th January 1917
-sent by German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman to mexico
-if use was to join the war, they wanted to persuade Mexico to invade USA
-the germans offered to provide military and financial support
-government of Mexico didn’t agree
when was the battle of mons
23-24 august 1914
when was the battle of marne
5-11 september 1914
battle of jutland dates
31st may 1916 until 1st june 1916
battle of jutland
-decisive victory
-largest naval battle
-between britain and germany off the coast of Denmark
-The Germans intended to draw out the British fleet and make a surprise attack. However, the British already knew of the plan and had sent its fleet ready to attack 259 warships, with 100,000 men on board, fought at Jutland
-The British suffered the most damage, with 14 ships and 6,000 lives lost. Germany only lost nine ships and 2,500 men. However, both sides claimed victory as, while the Germans had sunk more ships, the German fleet never again left port for fear of being destroyed. Britain continued to control the North Sea.
consequences of first balkan war
Turkey gave up its land in Europe and this was divided between the Balkan states
what happened in first balkan war
The Turkish were overpowered by the Balkan forces, and surrendered after just 50 days of actual fighting.
causes of second balkan war
Bulgaria was not happy with the way in which Turkey’s land had been divided up among the Balkan League countries
what happened in second balkan war
Bulgaria invaded Greece and Serbia in June. However, Bulgaria did not expect the unified response from the other countries and was forced to ask for an armistice.
why did the battle of somme happen
It was part of an offensive to force the Germans back and achieve victory on the Western Front. It was also launched to help relieve pressure on the French, who were under attack at Verdun to the south.
aims of the battle of passchendaele
Haig wanted to break through German lines and control the coast. He wanted to capture naval bases to make it harder for the Germans to carry out submarine attacks on British ships.
when was hindenburg line broken
8th october 1918
british naval blockade
-british stopped all ships heading to germany, around 12,000 intercepted
-caused 500,000 deaths in germany
battle of dogger bank
-24th jan 1915
-german cruiser blucher was sunk-954 men died
-britain lost no ships, 15 men died
