Transcript PowerPoint: The War to End All Wars

HISTORY 30
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
CANADA AND WORLD WAR I
To Our Soldier Boys
To you, O Men of the Singing Souls,
A sacred pledge, we give in fee,
The proud, high name of our mother Queen's,
To bear as yours, beyond the sea.
Because you are noble and strong and good,
We give to your keeping, our crest of gold,
That an age-old bond of our motherhood
May bind us all in her sacred fold.
And the sun sinks low, and the twilight falls
On your long trench lines and our campus grey,
And over the world the Queen's voice calls,
To those who are absent, at closing day.
And then in the halls of our Mother's home,
We shall keep the fires and tapers aglow
Till the trumpets burst with a triumph blast
For the new fledged heroes of long ago.
To each has been given his separate vial
The draught of life, or the draught of love.
Thine is the sweeter and in the while
May ours to the taste, not tasteless prove.
Charlotte Whitton
Queen's Arts, M.A., 1917
Canada: A Nation Evolves
World War I was very influential in the shaping of Canada as a
nation. Canada earned recognition, respect and admiration
from the rest of the world through their successful and
dedicated participation in WWI. Canadians successfully
participated in a war that introduced the horrors of modern
warfare to the world. Technology developed at a rapid pace
during WWI because of the increasing demands of modern
warfare.
Although many Canadian lives were lost during the war,
Canada grew stronger as a nation, and moved closer to
becoming an independent nation. A distinctive and lasting
Canadian identity was forged on the battlefields of Europe
during WWI. Canadian women also made tremendous strides
during the war, some voting for the first time, several serving
as nurses and volunteers at the front, and many others
becoming well established in the Canadian labor force.
World War I brought many issues of racism to the
forefront in Canada. The unjust internment of many
"enemy aliens" or immigrants from "enemy" countries
in Canada during WWI will be remembered as one of the
most embarrassing aspects of Canadian history. The
immigrant population of Canada today, including those
who came from war torn Europe after 1918, has become
a major part of the Canadian identity.
WHAT CAUSED WORLD WAR I
In the last few decades of the nineteenth century, European
nations were often involved in conflicts with each other. The
French had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the
German armies in 1871. Afterward, France and Germany
raced to see who could build the bigger army. They began
stockpiling cannons, explosives, and other artillery to fuel
their rival war machines. By 1914, the European powers had
squared off against each other in two hostile camps. France,
Russia, and Britain stood together on one side; Germany,
Austri-Hungary, and Italy stood against them on the other
Militarism: Was a cause of
the war, similar to the arms
race of the “Cold War” era.
Britain had a great navy,
Germany wanted a great
navy too. Germany and
France competed for larger
armies. The more one nation
built up its army and navy,
the more other nations felt
they had to do the same.
For Twenty years, the nations of Europe had
been making alliances. It was thought the
alliances would promote peace. Each
country would be protected by others in
case of war. making it foolish for one
country to wage war on another.
The danger of these alliances was that an
argument between two countries could draw
all the other nations into a fight. This is just
what happened when a conflict between
Austria-Hungary and Serbia led to World
War 1.
In the summer of 1914 there were two
alliances. The Triple Alliance composed of
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, stood
opposed to the Triple Entente composed of
Britain, France, and Russia.
Another cause was that European nations
ruled smaller countries, called colonies,
and competed with each other to amass
more colonies. Gatehring colonies became
known as IMPERIALISM. Both France
and Britain had many colonies in Africa
and Asia. Now Germany and Italy
decided they wanted a colonial empire
too.
In addition to political conflicts, the
causes of the war included such
forces as NATIONALISM, or
patriotism. Nationalism led
European nations to compete for
the largest army and navy, or the
greatest industrial development. It
also gave groups of subject peoples
the idea of forming independent
nations of their own.
The war that would destroy European society had been
coming for a long time. The nineteenth century had been
an era of great progress,
and of turmoil and conflict as well. New nations had been
created. The balance of power that existed in 1815, at the
end of the era of Napoleon, was disturbed.
Adding to the danger was a false sense of security. Local
wars had flared up in the nineteenth century, but a major
war was regarded as unlikely. Looking back at 1914
today, however, we can see that each of the major
countries of Europe had interests that would bring it into
conflict with at least one of the other great powers.
On June 28, 1914, Gacrilo Princip, a nineteen-year-old Serbian
revolutionary, fired two pistols shots. One killed Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, the nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph of
Austria-Hungary and heir to the Austrian throne. The other
killed Sophie, his wife.
Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible. On July 5 Austria
asked for and recieved from Germany a "blank check" of
support for any action Austria-Hungary might take against
Serbia.
On July 23 Austria sent a series of demands to the Serbians.
The demands were designed to humiliate and virtually destroy
the Serbian nation. Still, Serbia agreed to most but not all of
the demands.
Austria reacted on July 28 by declaring war on Serbia. The
Russians prepared to defend Serbia. On July 31 the Germans
sent a warning to Russia to stop mobilizing its army for war.
the Russians ignored the warning, and Germany declared war
on Russia on August 1. France came to the aid of its Russian
ally by declaring war on Germany. The British hesitated, but
when the Germans marched into Belgium, they declared war
on Germany on Aug 4.
Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, refused to back
Germany and Austria-Hungary. Italy claimed the Triple
Alliance was for defensive purposes only and Austria's
declaration of war against Serbia was no defensive.
So in August, 1914, the guns of the war went off. The system of
alliances for keeping peace had brought the great
nations of Europe into war with one another.
TIMELINE FOR CANADA
1914
July 29 ~ Britain warns Canada of deteriorating situation in Europe.
Aug 02 ~ Canada offers Britain troops for overseas service.
Aug 05 ~ Britain declares war. Canada is automatically at war.
Aug 06 ~ Britain accepts Canada's offer of troops.
Aug 19 ~ The first volunteers begin to arrive at Valcartier camp.
Sept 04 ~ Aproximately 32,000 men have assembled at Valcartier.
Oct 03 ~ 1st contingent Canadian Expeditionary Force sails for
England.
Oct 14 ~ 1st contingent C.E.F. arrives in England.
Dec 21 ~ Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry arrives in
France. The first Canadian unit committed to battle in the Great War.
1915
Feb 07 ~ 1st Canadian Division begins moving to France.
Mar 03 ~ 1st Canadian Division is made responsible for 6000m of
front near Fleurbaix.
April 01 ~ 1st Canadian Division is moved north to the Ypres Salient.
Apr 22 ~ Battle of Ypres. First use of poison gas against French.
Apr 24 ~ Battle of St.Julien. First use of poison gas against Canadian
troops.
May 05 ~ Lt-Col John McCrae of the Canadian Expeditionary Force
composed the well-known poem In Flanders Fields.
May 18 ~ Battle of Festubert.
May 25 ~ Second Canadian Division formed in Canada.
June 15 ~ Battle of Givenchy.
Sept 19 ~ Newfoundland Regiment lands at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli.
Nov 16 ~ Canadian's launched their first trench raid at Riviere Douve.
Dec 20 ~ Newfoundland Regiment evacuated from Suvla Bay
Dec 25 ~ 3rd Canadian Division formed.
1916
Apr 06 ~ The Battle of St.Eloi Craters.
Jun 02 ~ Battle of Mount Sorrel. Major General Mercer killed.
Sept 15 ~ Battle of Courcelette. First use of the tank and the rolling
barrage.
Sept 26 ~ Battle of Thiepval Ridge.
Nov ~ Sir Samuel Hughes Minister of Militia and Defense is sacked by
Prime Minister Borden.
1917
Apr 09 ~ The Battle of Vimy Ridge.
June 11 ~ Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden introduced a Military
Service Bill.
Aug 15 ~ Battle for Hill 70. First use of mustard gas against Canadians.
Oct 26 ~ The Battle of Passchendaele
Aug 29 ~ Conscription became law in Canada.
Nov ~ Prime Minister Borden's Unionists win a majority in the federal
election.
Nov 20 ~ The Battle of Cambrai.
Dec 06 ~ The Halifax Explosion. French munitions vessel Mont Blanc
explodes in Halifax Harbour killing almost 1600 people.
1918
Jan ~ Conscription now in force.
March 21 ~ German Offensive begins.
March 30 ~ Canadian Cavalry attack at Moreuil Wood.
Aug 08 ~ The Battle of Amiens. The beginning of what is known as
Canada's Hundred Days.
Aug 26 ~ The Battle of the Scarpe.
Sept 02 ~ The Battle of the Drocourt-Queant Line.
Sept 27 ~ The Battle of the Canal Du Nord and Cambrai.
Nov 02 ~ The Canadian Corps capture the town of Valenciennes in its
last major battle of the war.
Nov 10 ~ The Canadian Corps Reached the outskirts of Mons.
Nov 11 ~ At 10:58am Private George Price of the 28th Battalion is
killed by a sniper. Two minutes later at 11:00am the armistice came into
effect. The war was over.
The First World War
August of 1914 Britain declared war on Germany
- Being an integral part of the Empire, Canada was automatically
at war with Germany
-there was enthusiasm for the war effort in both English and French
Canada
-large number of enlistments prompted Borden to declare that there
was no need for conscription.
War Measures Act
-to direct the nation’s economic activity toward producing the
necessities of war.
-Suspended the right of habeus corpus
-Arrest and detain without specific charges
-Deport without trial
Conscription
-enthusiasm and the number of volunteers waned
-August 1917 – Military Service Act
-Single men, between 20 and 35
-seriously divided English and French Canada
-riots occurred in Quebec City and Montreal
-many in the labour movement opposed to conscription
-concern over profiteering
-farmers
-opposed by Wilfred Laurier
December 6, 1917
Halifax Harbour Disaster
-French munition ship exploded in Halifax destroying most of the
city and killing close to 2,000
Chapter 7: War On The Western Front
refer to text: page 132
-August 4, 1914 – 1918
-More than 60,000 Canadians never returned
-250,000 returned home battle-scarred
-modern weaponery – casualties beyond anything ever
imagined
Causes
Alliances Triple Entente – France, Russia, and Britain
(also known as the “Allies”)
Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
(also known as the “Central Powers”)
Militarism: the policy of building up military forces and weaponry
and threatening armed aggression
(naval race – dreadnought – Britain & Germany)
Imperialism: possession of faraway colonies
-the extension of one nation’s authority or control over other lands by
economic, political, or military means.
-Germany looked to the Balkans and the Middle East
-railway proposed through the Balkans to the Middle East
-opposed by Britain – threat of German aggressiveness
-opposed by Russia – cut of access to the Mediterranean
Nationalism: deep patriotism and loyalty to the home country, was on
the rise in Europe
-expansion part of national pride and superiority
Trigger
-Austro-Hungarian Empire not a nation of one people
-Austrians, Hungarians, Slavs
-Autria-Hungary united 1867 – annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in
1908 – Slav resentment – wished to join Serbia
-June 28, 1914 – archduke of Austria, Francis Ferdinand
-Serbian terrorists (the Black Hand)
-Gavrillo Princip – shot Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophia
-Austria blamed Serbia for the assassination
-Declared war on Serbia
-Russia mobilized to defend Serbia
-Germany declared war on Russia
-France declared war on Germany
-Germany declared war on France
-Moved through Belgium to attack France
-When Germany invaded Belgium
-Britain declared war on Germany – Canada was at war
World War I had begun
Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 page 147
(Refer to Text page 130 - 146)
Write out the questions
1.What was Canadians’ reaction to the outbreak of war? Would
Canadians react in a similar way if Canada were involved in a
major conflict today?
2.What was the purpose of alliances in the pre-war years? What
was the unintended result of the emergence of opposing
alliances?
3.Why did an arms race develop in Europe at the beginning of the
twentieth century? If an arms race were to develop in the
future, would it likely lead to a major conflict?
4.Why did many European nations consider it important to
acquire vast empires?
5.Why did the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
occur? How did the resulting actions lead to the outbreak of
World War I?
British Ultimatum! War is Declared. Hell’s Let Loose!
Headline - Ottawa Free Pree, 4 Aug. 1914
COMPARISON OF WORLD WAR I TO OTHER WARS
War
Date
Length
in days
Life Lost
Cost in dollars
Napoleonic Wars
1793-1815
8,168
1,900,000
6,250,000,000
U.S. Civil War
1861-1865
2,456
656,000
3,700,000,000
Franco-Prussian
1870-1871
405
280,000
1,580,000,000
Boer War
1899-1902
962
90,898
1,000,000,000
Russo-Japanese
1904-1905
576
555,900
2,259,000,000
First World War
1914-1918
1,538
14,500,000 281,887,000,000
After two months of fighting and 200,000 casualties
the British army had gained 200 yards
Canada's Role in World War I
1914 ~ 1918
The Price Of Victory
Enlisted
595 000
Served overseas
418 000
Killed in Action
35 666
Died of wounds
12 420
Died of disease
5 405
Wounded
155 799
Prisoners of War
3 575
Presumed dead
4 671
Missing
Deaths in Canada
Total Dead
425
2 221
60 383
Population of Canada 7.5 million
BATTLES
Major operations participated in by the Canadian Expeditionary Force
A Ypres April - May 1915
B Festubert & Givenchy May - June
1915
C St Eloi Craters March - April 1916
D Mount Sorrel 2 - 13 June 1916
E Somme July - November 1916
F Vimy Ridge 9 - 12 April 1917
G The Scarpe April - May1917
H Hill 70 15 - 25 August 1917
J Passchendaele 26 October - 10 Nov.
1917
K Amiens 8 - 11 August 1918
L Arras 26 August - 3 September 1918
M Canal du Nord & Cambrai 27 Sept. 11 Oct. 1918
N Capture of Valenciennes 1-2 Nov.
1918
Canada's Hundred Days
August 4 to November 11, 1918 has come to be known as "Canada's
Hundred Days," for in this period the Canadian Corps was in the
vanguard of the successful march to Mons.
When the Allied advance began the
Canadian Corps was assigned the task of
spearheading an attack on an important
salient near Amiens on August 8. Utter
secrecy was vital since the Germans had
come to regard any movement of
Canadian troops as a sign of imminent
A German machine gunner killed on
the Western Front, 1918.
attack. To deceive the enemy part of the
corps was sent north to the Ypres section. After making their presence
known to the Germans they hurried back to Amiens. Preparations for
battle were carried out at night, and there was no preliminary
bombardment to warn the enemy of impending action. Surprise was
complete. Flanked by Australians and French, and spearheaded by
tanks, the Canadians advanced twelve miles in three days. The morale of
the German High Command was badly shaken. In Ludendorff's words,
August 8 was the "black day of the German army".
The Allied plan was to advance on a broad front with a series of
connected attacks in sensitive areas. Therefore, after the breakthrough at
Amiens, the Canadians were shifted back to Arras and given the task of
cracking the Hindenburg Line - Germany's main line of defence.
Between August 26 and September 2, in hard continuous fighting, the
Canadian Corps fought through strong German positions to the heavily
fortified line of the Canal du Nord.
Assisted by fifteen tanks from the
British Tanks Corps, they successfully
crossed this formidable barrier. A
breakthrough of the German defences
had finally been achieved. Victory was
not far off. Early in October Cambrai
was captured in one of the bloodiest
battles of the war. Then, in an uninterrupted advance, the Canadians
fought their way through Valenciennes, Mont Houy and reached
historic Mons on the day the armistice was signed. The war was over.
The Canadian troops remained in Europe to share in the allied
occupation. They crossed the Rhine into Germany at Bonn where Sir
Arthur Currie was accorded the distinction of taking the salute in
honour of Canadian achievements.
Finally, in 1919 the Canadian troops came home where they were
greeted by grateful and enthusiastic crowds in cities and villages
across the country.
The Aftermath
The armistice of November 11, 1918 brought relief to the whole
world. The horrible struggle with its death, destruction and misery
was at last halted. It had truly been a world war. Sixty-five million
men from thirty nations bore arms in it; at least ten million men
were killed; twenty-nine million more were wounded, captured or
missing; and the financial cost was measured in hundreds of
billions of dollars. Never before had there been such a conflict.
The "Great War" was also a landmark in Canadian national
development. In 1914 Canada entered the war as a colony, a mere
extension of Britain overseas; in 1918 she was forging visibly
ahead to nationhood. Canada began the war with one division of
citizen soldiers under the command of a British general, and
ended with a superb fighting force under the command of one of
her own sons.
For a nation of eight million people Canada's war effort was
remarkable. A total of 619,636 men and women served in the
Canadian forces in the First World War, and of these 66,655 gave
their lives and another 172,950 were wounded. Nearly one of every
ten Canadians who fought in the war did not return.
It was this Canadian war record that won for Canada a separate
signature on the Peace Treaty signifying that national status had been
achieved. Nationhood was purchased for Canada by the gallant men
who stood fast at Ypres, stormed Regina Trench, climbed the heights
of Vimy Ridge, captured Passchendaele, and entered Mons on
November 11, 1918.
World War I (Trenches on the Web) - A very comprehensive World War One
resource. Includes many photos, posters, and links.
http://www.worldwar1.com/
The Great War Series - This series combines onto one page, all material in
The War Times Journal which relates to World War One .
http://www.wtj.com/pl/pages/greatwar.htm
Veterans Affairs Canada: An Historical Perspective: First World WarCanadian government page. Lots of text.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/historical/firstwar/firstwar.htm
World War I Document Archive - Excellent resource includes documents
and personal reminiscences. Good Canadian links .
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/
World War I (1914-1918) - Canada Forces College Links page. Also in
French. http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/links/milhist/wwi.html
Canadian Great War Homepage - An overview of Canada's role in this
terrible conflict. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ww1can/
Military history: World War I (1914-1918)
http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/links/milhist/wwi.html
The Canadian Military Heritage Project
http://www.rootsweb.com/~canmil/links.htm
Canadian War Museum - Gallery Tour
http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/tour/trww1eng.html
An Archival Look At WW I
http://stauffer.queensu.ca/webarch/Resources3.htm
The National Archives of Canada
http://www.archives.ca/05/0518_e.html