World War I

World War I

Learning Objective: Examine the course of World War I

Multiple Choice

WWI began because of the assassination of ______________________________.

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• Pope Pius V

• King John II

• Duke of Buckingham

Multiple Choice

The M in MAIN stands for _______________________

• Mercantilism

• Militarism

• Marxism

• Marshall Plan

Multiple Choice

The A in MAIN stands for _________________.

• Absolutism

• Apartheid

• Alliances

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Multiple Choice

The I in MAIN stands for ____________________________.

• Imperialism

• Industrialization

• Independence Movements

• Indulgences

Multiple Choice

The N in MAIN stands for __________________.

• Neolithic Revolution

• Napoleon

• Nonalignment

• Nationalism

What are Casualties?

​Casualties = Killed + Wounded + Missing

​

​Casualties and Deaths are NOT interchangeable and do NOT mean the same thing

Overview of WWI

• WWI not called World War I until after World War II broke out

  • ​Originally called The Great War

    • ​Massive war and was unlike any previous war

• ​War lasted from 1914 until 1919

• ​Fighting lasted from 1914 until 1918

• Over 70 million military personnel were mobilized

• ​~ 41 million casualties

  • ​20 million deaths

    • ​~9.7 million = military

    • ~ 10 million = civilians​

  • ​21 million wounded

​Central Powers

• Germany, Austria-Hungary to start

• Called Central Powers because they are located in the heart of Europe

• Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire join Central Power​s in hopes of regaining lost territories

​Allied Powers

• ​Originally Great Britain, France, & Russia

• ​Japan joined due to alliance with Britain

• ​Italy joined after arguing that Triple Alliance was only valid in a defensive war and accused A-H and Germany of starting the war

• ​USA will join later but at the start of the war, Wilson declared that the US would remain neutral in the conflict

  • ​"The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before another."

​The Schlieffen Plan

• ​Created by General Alfred von Schlieffen long before WWI started

  • Needed in the event Germany had to fight both France in the west and Russia in the east

• ​Speed was of the essence

  • ​very quickly destroy France while Russia was mobilizing its large army (~6 weeks)

  • Invade neighboring countries and launching a surprise attack on Paris

  • ​then focus on defeating Russia once it had mobilized

• Plan disregarded any political problems from this invasion

​Schlieffen Plan

• Hoped to surround Paris and would be a military masterpiece

• ​August 4, 1914 - Invaded Belgium, Belgium asks GB for aid, GB declares war on Germany

• ​Faced heavier resistance in Belgium than expected

• ​By early September, Germany came very close to succeeding and were within 20 miles of Paris

  • ​Over 600 taxicabs ferried any available soldier from Paris to the front

  • ​After 4 days of fighting near the Marne River, Germany ordered to retreat

• ​Russia mobilized quicker than anticipated and began attacking Germany

• ​Germany forced to abandon plan

​Schlieffen Plan

The Western Front​

​France and Germany

​First Battle of the Marne

• ​September 6-12, 1914

• ​Offensive attack by France and GB against Germans invading Belgium

• ​Allied victory

• ​Marks the end of the German sweep into France (Schlieffen Plan)

• ​Marks the beginning of trench warfare

​Race to the Sea

• ​September-October 1914

• ​Both sides dig trenches and then try to get around the other side's

• ​Causes both to build more trenches

• ​Lasts until they run out of land and reach the North Sea

Trench Warfare

• ​Turned war into a bloody stalemate

  • ​Became a war of attrition

  • ​a conflict in which each side tried to wear the other down by killing as many of its men as possible

• ​Hundreds of miles of trenches built to protect from enemy fire

• ​Battles fought from the trenches

• ​Equaled huge loss of life for very little land gained

• ​Space between opposing trenches known as "no man's land"

• ​When an attack was ordered, men would leave their trench and enter 'no man's land" to try an attack the other side

• ​Attack met with machine gun and artillery fire

• ​Safety in trenches not guaranteed

Multiple Choice

What was the main reason fighting stalled into trench warfare along the Western front?

• All participating countries wanted the war to last longer so they could make more money.
• Trench warfare was easier than regular styles of battle.
• Trench warfare allowed the soldiers to fight in a comfortable environment.
• Deadlier weapons on both side made trenches the best way to defend themselves.

Trench Warfare - No Man's Land

• area of land between opposing trenches

• ​Width depended on the section of trenches

  • ​1 km to a few hundred yards

    • Could hear others in the opposing trenches​

• ​Covered with barbed wire

• ​Entering No Man's Land during day could be disastrous

• ​Men would use nightfall to repair barbed wire, send spies to opposing trenches, and/or recover the injured

​An aerial photograph showing opposing trenches and no man's land between Loos and Hulluch during World War I

​No Man's Land at Vimy Ridge, February 2014

​

Multiple Choice

What was the land between the trenches called during WWI?

• Dead Man's land
• No Man's land
• Military land
• Dangerous land

Multiple Choice

A situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible. Fighting with trenches, mines, and barbed wire. This is called a ......

• Combatant

• Casualties

• Artillery

• Stalemate

​Life in the Trenches

• ​Quality of life = misery

• ​Lots of rain

• "The men slept in mud, washed in mud, ate mude, and dreamed mud"

• ​Rat infestations were common

• ​Fresh food not common

• ​Trench foot was common

  • ​Condition that results from your feet being wet for too long

​New Technologies - Machine Guns

• Very heavy (60-140 lbs) and bulky

• ​Required 4-6 people to operate

• ​In theory, could fire 400-600 rounds per minute

• ​Reality:

  • ​Overheat constantly and would not work without cooling tactics

    • ​Either used water buckets to cool or would let them cool down naturally

  • ​Could only be used in short bursts due to overheating

  • ​Jammed frequently

  • ​Required multiple machine guns to be grouped together for constant defense

​

Each machine gun was estimated to be as valuable as ~80 rifles in battle

​German soldiers using a WWI machine gun

​New Technologies - Poison Gas

• Chemical warfare first used in battle by French (tear gas) to little success

  • ​Inspired the Germans to experiment and develop their own

• April 22, 1915 - ​First use of poison gas at Second Battle of Ypres

• Poison Gas used by both sides in an effort to win war of attrition

• Gas masks needed to be on hand at all times just in case

• ​Main gases

  • ​Chlorine Gas/Phosgene - introduced 1915

  • ​Mustard Gas - introduced 1917

​German soldiers igniting chlorine gas canisters during Second Battle of Ypres, April 22, 1915

Multiple Choice

A weapon developed that burns your eyes and lungs attacking the respiratory system?

• Machine Guns

• Submarines

• Artillery

• Poison Gas

New Technologies - Submarines

• German U-Boat

• ​214 ft long, carried 35 men, 12 torpedoes

• ​Could travel underwater for two hours at a time

• ​Used to target Allied ships and merchant ships providing supplies to Britain

• ​Practiced unrestricted submarine warfare

​Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

• ​Introduced by the Germans in early 1915

• ​Britain had created a blockade of the North Sea, restricting Germany's access to supplies

• ​Germany then declared the area around the British Isles was a war zone

• ​Merchant ships, regardless of country of origin, would be attacked by the German U-Boats

​New Technologies - Airplanes

• ​Used primarily for reconnaissance

• ​Occasionally used for bombing civilian cities

​New Technologies - Zeppelins

• ​Used by Germans

• Filled w/ hydrogen

• Could travel up to 85 mph

• Could carry up to 2 tons of bombs​

• ​First air attack January 19, 1915

• ​Were used to bomb British towns and cities

• Not used on battlefields

​New Technologies - Tanks

• ​Invented by the British

• Needed a way to break the stalemate caused by trenches

• September 15, 1916 - ​Used in battle for first time

• Weighed 14 tons​

• Very unreliable

  • ​First battle: 49 tanks deployed, only 25 actually moved

• ​Only moved 2 mph

• ​Got stuck in trenches

• ​British continued to make improvements throughout the war

​First official photograph of a tank going into action

​New Technologies - Flamethrowers

• ​Created by the Germans

• ​Adopted by British and French

• ​Used to try to gain an advantage on Western Front

• ​Eventually used against tanks

​French troops using flamethrowers on a German Trench, 1916.

Technology - Mortars and Artillery ​

• Mortar: short, stumpy ​tube that fires projectiles at a sharp angle so it falls straight down on the enemy

• ​Artillery: Heavy guns

  • ​Responsible for ~60% of battlefield casualties

​French trench mortar ready for firing along the Somme, 1917

​Black and white photograph of the building of a 16 inch gun in trunnion. Printed on back: "Weight of gun 344000 pounds / Weight of projectile 2340 pounds / Weight of powder charge 850 pounds / Range 45000 yards"

​Artillery shell being hoisted and loaded into artillery gun by British

Multiple Choice

What type of advancements made machine guns, artillery, poison gas, airplanes, and submarines so deadly during WWI?

• Nationalism advancements
• technology advancements
• allied advancements
• war advancements 

Multiple Choice

Two examples of new technologies used in WWI are

• submarines and poisonous gas

• bayonets and cannons

• warships and guns

• freeze dried food and roadside bombs

Eastern Front

• ​Border between Germany and Russian Empire

• ​More mobile than Western Front

• ​Russian Empire

  • ​Country not industrialized by start of war

    • ​Resulted in near constant shortages of food, guns, ammunition, clothing, boots, blankets, etc.

  • ​Relied on supplies from Allies but could not get them

    • ​Germans controlled Baltic Sea and practiced unrestricted submarine warfare elsewhere

    • ​Ottoman Empire controlled Russian access to Mediterranean Sea

  • ​Only had one advantage: large population (~150 million)

Multiple Choice

The Russians had already finished going through Industrialization so joining & staying invloved in WWI was easy.

• True

• False

Other Major Battles​

​

​Battle of Tannenberg

• ​August 16-30, 1914

• ​Eastern Front

• ​Russia vs. Germany

• ​German victory

• ​Stopped Russian advance into Germany

• ​Resulted in almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army

• ​Proved Germany could defeat larger armies through superior tactics and training

• ​Casualties:

  • ​Central Powers: ~14,000

  • ​Allies: 122,000-170,000

​Gallipoli Campaign

• ​February 1915 - January 1916

• ​Naval Allied attack on Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles Straits

• ​Wanted to weaken Ottoman Empire and get supplies to Russia

• ​Unprepared to fight in that terrain

• ​Allies forced to retreat

• ​Allies lost over 500,000 soldiers

Multiple Choice

The whole purpose of the Gallipoli campaign through the Ottoman empire was so that British could resupply the Russians.

• True

• False

​Battle of Verdun

• ​February 12-December 18, 1916

• ​German attack

• ​Wanted to break the French's will

• ​French lines hold

• ​Serves as a symbol of French resiliency

• ​Longest battle of WWI

• ​One of the bloodiest

• ​First flamethrowers used during Verdun

• ​~1 million casualties

​Long Max, a German long-range gun, at Verdun. Biggest gun used during WWI

​Battle of the Somme

• ​July 1-November 18, 1916

• ​Launched by the British to take pressure off French troops at Verdun

• ​Day 1 - single bloodiest day in British military history

  • ​57,000 total casualties (British only)

    • ​20,000 dead

• ​August 31, 1916 - Harry Butters is first American lost in WWI

• ​Over 3 million men fought in battle, over 1 million casualties

• ​Allies only gained 6 miles

  • Largest territorial gain since First Battle of the Marne​

• ​September 1916 - Tanks used in battle for the first time

  • ​Brand new technology and extremely unreliable

​Allied bomb being detonated on Hawthorne Ridge, which signaled to the Germans an attack was coming. July 1, 1916

​Ariel view of Somme trenches

Gas attack on the Somme​

​British tank near Thiepval (Battle of the Somme), September 25, 1916

Multiple Choice

How is the western front in World War I best characterized?

• A stagnant war fought from trenches, with neither side gaining or losing much ground in spite of huge casualties

• One of the most dynamic front lines of the twentieth century

• The first war front in history dominated by airpower

• A mostly inactive front, along which both sides took a primarily defensive stance, resulting in relatively few casualties

1917 Russia

• ​Russia ruled by Tsar Nicholas II (Romanov family)

  • Ruled Russia for 304 years

• ​Russia faced heavy losses and had many internal issues

• ​March 1917 - February Revolution: Tsar abdicates the throne and a provisional government is put in power

• ​Russian army becoming increasingly ineffective

• October 26, 1917 - Russia stops fighting in WWI

• November 7-8, 1917 - ​Discontent over the government and continued involvement leads to October Revolution and Bolsheviks take power

• ​March 1918 - Russia and Germany sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

  • ​Russia officially withdraws from WWI

  • ​Russia must give up vast territories

Multiple Choice

The Romanov family ruled Russia for hundreds of years before the 1917 Revolution. The last Czar's name was __________________.

• Vladimir Lenin
• Joseph Stalin
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Nicholas II

​Impact of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• ​No more fighting on the Eastern Front

  • Germany and A-H can focus all forces on Western Front​

• ​Russia no longer in war

• ​Russia's losses:

  • ​34% of population

  • ​32% of farmlands

  • ​54% of industry

  • ​26% of railroads

  • ​89% of coalmines

  • ​300 million gold roubles for war reparations

• ​Lenin would pay any price to keep communist revolution alive

• ​Most likely believed Russia would get land back if Germany lost WWI