World War I

• The war was fought on the Western Front, which stretched from Switzerland to Belgium.
• Imperialism refers to the desire by European powers to expand their empires overseas through colonization or influence over other countries.
• Trench warfare involved soldiers living in muddy, cramped conditions with little food or medical care.
• 1907 – France makes a new cannon and advances rifle size. Russia will have 13 dreadnoughts
• 1909 – Russia started work on the railway, and France put more money into the army. Britain expanded its navy and have 11 dreadnoughts to Germany’s 6
• 1911 – France & Russia spend over $600m annually to Germany’s $428
• 1913 – France & Russia spend over $800m soon to be $1000m but Germany only spend $500m almost $550m. France army has 1.6m soldiers to Germany’s 1.5m
• By 1914, Germany had 17 HMS Dreadnoughts to Britain 29
• Province of Bosnia – Part of Ottoman but they’re becoming weak, so Bosnia try to gain freedom. In 1875, Ottomans allowed Austrians to rule Bosnia but they remained under the control of Ottoman. Disappointing as they wanted to join Serbia but Austria making life better
• Russian Empire – Great power but weakest of them, all ports frozen except Sevastopol in Black Sea, Balkans loved them – area to expand, Austrians also want them
• Ottoman Empire – Controlled Asia, Europe, and NE Africa. Slowly declining and losing provinces. On the verge of civil war – people want to overthrow the Sultan in Turkey
• Kingdom of Serbia – Broke away from the Ottoman in 1878. Most of the public is nationalist – they want to merge with Bosnia as many Serbs live there
• AH Empire – Worried about nationalism rise, Serbia encouraging our people to become nationalist
• First Balkan War (1912): Causes Annexation of Bosnia angered Serbs & Bulgarians, Young Turks overthrew Emperor, Nationalism & Imperialism ideas rise
• First Balkan War (1912): Main Events – Serbia & Bulgaria form Balkan League (BL) with Greece & Montenegro. October ’12, BL declares war on Turks. AH gets ‘Great Powers’ to meet in London for a peace conference
• First Balkan War (1912): Consequences – Turks pushed back to Adrianople. Great Powers ended war and threw Ottomans out of Europe for good. League won everything and kept it – except Albania as they became independent
• Second Balkan War (1913): Causes – No one satisfied with the end of 1st war. BL were fighting each other for land. Bulgaria was jealous Serbs had most land
• Second Balkan War (1913): Main Events – Bulgaria attacks Serbia. Serbia is backed up by Romania & Allies. Turks seized the opportunity to back Bulgaria wanting to enter Europe again. Bulgaria & Turks were overwhelmed and lost
• Second Balkan War (1913): Consequences – Bulgaria lost almost 50% of land gained from the 1st war. Turks were forced to retreat. Bulgaria now sided with Germany & AH. Serbia (Real Winner) doubled their land & aimed to expand North towards AH
• Italy sat out as they knew Germany already lost
• Declared war on Germany on 4th August
• In 1839, Britain promised to defend Belgium if attacked, which was used as an excuse to enter the war.
• On 25th July 1914, Serbia rejected an ultimatum from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, leading to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia the following day.
• In 1905, Germany had to fight France and Russia.
• Germany created the Schlieffen Plan, aimed to distract French with a rapid invasion into Belgium and then into Paris, leading to a French surrender.
• Germany thought Russia would take 6 weeks to mobilize its army.
• Battle of Neuve-Chapelle:

  Aims & Preparations – First time British Expeditionary Force (BEF) used trench warfare. Idea of battle was by Field Marshall Sir John French – wanted to regain Lille. Neuve-Chapelle was town before Lille under German control. French had battle commander, but General Douglas Haig planned battle.
• Battle of Neuve-Chapelle: 1st day of battle – 10th March 1915, Royal Flying Corps carried out reconnaissance of battlefield giving Haig photos of German lines. He then launched ‘Hurricane Bombardment’ followed by British & Indian troops
• Battle of Neuve-Chapelle: Following days – Haig’s instructions failed to reach General Rawlinson (Corps commander) so Rawlinson moved slowly after day one. Was slow to reinforce and continue attack therefore giving Germany a chance to regroup and reinforce. It was foggy & misty so couldn’t get clear pics therefore going in blind without backup
• Battle of Neuve-Chapelle: Consequences & Reasons for failure – 11,000 British & Indian troops died to Germany’s 10,000. Barely any land gained. Haig & BEF knew now communication was vital and artillery fire was essential. Haig was still optimistic
• Battle of Somme: Lead up to battle – British gov made young men sign up to army – called them ‘Kitchener Battalions.’ General Haig promoted to Leader BEF, was impressed by new men’s morale. Feb 1916, Germany attack in South (against Verdun). Verdun was lynchpin of the whole French Front. French asked British for help so they sent troops to river at Somme to draw attention away from Verdun
• Battle of Somme: Preparing for battle – General Haig planned big attack near river Somme. Germany launched attack on Verdun. British gathered 500,000 army so Germans responded. Was over 1500 artillery & over 1.5 million shells shot but this only warned Germany for battle. Haig thought Germans would have fallen but they were still intact
• Battle of Somme: 1st July – Biggest day of disaster for British. Haig confident that their 7day barrage destroyed German lines so they walked into no man’ land thinking trenches were empty – East Surrey Regiment kicked a footy over to check, but Germans were ready for them. Their machine guns injured 57,470 British soldiers & killed 19,240.
• Battle of Somme: 2nd July to Nov – Haig saw 1st day as opportunity missed and wanted to keep fighting – launched several battles but were called off in November as weather was bad. Over 620,000 allied soldiers died and gained some control
• Battle of Passchendaele: Aims & Preparation – 1917, things bad for allies. Russian revolution in progress & French soldiers started refusing orders in French Army Military. German submarines (U-boats) were sinking British ships fast. Haig launched attack on Ypres (Belgian town). Used ‘bite n hold’ tactics hoping they would trap Germany and maybe take U-boat bases in northern Belgium
• Battle of Passchendaele: Gough’s Battle – Gough was commander of 5th army & given task to fight the battle. Aimed his battle at the village of Passchendaele, he ignored Haig’s tactics and went for victory. 31st July, 33,000 killed & injured soldiers due to artillery attack – 40% of army’s strength
• Battle of Passchendaele: Haig loses faith in Gough – Haig replaced Gough with General Plumber who used his tactics – winning small victories. Rain made impossible to continue due to mud clogged battlefield. So British couldn’t exploit their success – were now vulnerable & suffered another massacre
• Gallipoli Campaign (1915) – War was at a halt & Britain wanted an easy, quick win
• Britain knew AH & Turkey were weak in their alliance with Germany, so they focused on AH to get to Germany.
• Britain thought Gallipoli could be the answer to their problems.