World War 1

• the schlieffen plant did not work as Germany expected. The German kaiser, Wilhelm II asked the Belgians to let his army march through their territory to attack France but they refused
• even though Belgium refused to let the germans enter, it did not stop Wilhelm II from invading Belgium
• The day following the German invasion of Belgium, Britain sent Germany an ultimatum, withdraw by midnight or face war. Germany hadn't expected Britain to stand by their promise of protecting Belgium
• The British declared was on Germany. The Belgiums fought off the germans as long as they could before the British could arrive in France to support the French army.
• france and Britain were aware of the schlieffen plan and France had developed plan 17- an invasion of Germany via the Alsace Lorraine frontier followed by an attack on its capital of Berlin while the germans were busy trying to get through Belgium
• The Russians mobilised faster then the germans were expecting, and invaded Germany on august 17th, giving the French enough time to put plan 17 into action.
• the German commander, count Helmuth von Moltke split his army and defended Germany on more than one front
• august 23rd, germans were met by the BEF (British expeditionary force) in Belgium. the British troops held the germans back long enough for the French to retreat and reorganise
• plan 17 failed because the French were not able to invade Germany due to the German machine guns. the French who did survive regrouped by the Marne river
• what was the schlieffen plan?

  The Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan envisioned defeating France by invading it through Belgium and then pushing the German forces East to fight the Russian armies.
• the germans had planned to head straight to Paris but they lacked the power with so many of their men in other fronts, so they were forces to head south and face the French at the Marne River
• The French won the battle of the Marne. The germans retreated to the sine river and dug trenches to defend themselves, and the allied forces followed and dug trenches as well
• the British army needed more men and recruitment methods were made. posters were made. men were shamed by others if they didn't join. women would wave white feathers, a sign of cowardice to men who had not volunteered.
• government propaganda made the war look a lot nicer then it was and the enemy's cruelty was exaggerated
• both sides knew how important sea access was and now they pushed north extending their trenches, known as The Race To The Sea
• by the end of 1914, the trench lines stretched from the Belgian coast to Switzerland, and the armies had reached a stalemate.
• why did the two armies reach a stalemate?

  because trenches were easy to defend but harder to attack, new tactics would be needed
• behind the frontline, communication trenches allowed troops to move forward and back.
• "saps" were short dead end trenches that were dug out into no mans land to allow listening posts to be set up
• what made attacking trenches so hard?

  they were deep and heavily fortified by wood, iron and sandbags. machine guns and lines of barbed wire defended them and sentries were positioned every few yards to spot an attack
• the generals were not used to this type of fighting. trench warfare required strategic planning and creative tactics
• the trenches were full of rats, lice, fleas, dead bodies, faeces, and mud that was so deep it could swallow soldiers
• thousands of soldiers suffered trench foot where their feet would get infected after being wet and muddy for weeks on end. as the temperature dropped, many men got frostbite
• soldiers were paid one shilling a day, and each day was spent taking turns on sentry duty, collecting food rations, and repairing and digging trenches
• neither side could break the stalemate, so new tactics had to be used. what was one of these tactics?


  poison gas.
• what were the different types of poison gas?

  chlorine gas-drowned men in water in lungs, phosgene-caused the lungs to froth yellow gunk, mustard gas-burned men's skin and lungs
• the allies had no protection from the gas so they had to use a sock or cloth drenched in urine over the nose and mouth
• February 1916- the germans attacked the French fortress of Verdun. massive artillery barrage was followed by advancing infantry, gas shells and flame throwers. the French had to retreat
• by November, the French were beginning to win the battle of Verdun. the British ordered a counter attack at the Somme, further up the line to aid the France.
• why did the British order a counter attack at somme?

  to make the germans fight two major battles at once, forcing them to divide their forces
• the British took months to prepare for the battle of the somme. the British could not clear the German barbed wire, but Sir Douglas Haig, the British commander, ordered advance
• July 1916- British troops were sent over the top with orders to advance slowly in a line towards the German trenches. this made them an easy target for the German machine guns
• the battle of the somme went til November, with the British advancing around fifteen kilometres. more than one million soldiers had been killed- 400,000 were British
• the germans were not beaten at the battle of the somme but it had weared them down.
• Douglas Haig was named as a hero and promoted to field marshal and made an earl. to some, his decision to send troops over the top gave him the name "the butcher of the somme"
• tanks were used the first time during the battle of the somme. Haig sent the forty nine he had instead of waiting for more, wanting to have the element of surprise.
• tanks had tracks not heir wheels which allowed them to pass over barbed wire, ordinary gun fire could not stop them.
• early tanks often broke down, got stuck in the mud or toppled over.
• tanks did help to boost British morale and terrify germans
• aircrafts were introduced in WW1. they could survey the battlefield and bomb enemy positions.