Transcript Fighting WWIx

WORLD WAR 1
Fighting the War
Nature of World War I
The Great War was different from
other wars
Larger armies
Higher casualties
Civilians and all resources involved
Greater technology
Start of the War
On August 2 Germany occupied Luxembourg,
and asked Belgium for free passage to
France. The Belgians refused.
On August 3 Germany declared war on
France, and on August 4 invaded Belgium.
Britain declared war on Germany that same
day.
Schlieffen Plan
Count Alfred von Schlieffen
drew up the Schlieffen Plan
in 1897 when he was
German Chief of Staff.
Its aim was to avoid a two
front war between France
and Russia
Schlieffen Plan - Basics
Quick defeat of France (in 41 days)
Invade France through neutral Belgium and
move rapidly on to capture Paris
Use 90% of Germany's armed forces to attack
France
Rest of the German Army sent to defensive
positions in near Russia
Once France surrendered, Germany would then
send all troops to defeat the Russians in the east
rather then having to fight on two fronts at once.
Battle of Liege – First Battle
German Second Army crossed into
neutral Belgium to attack France
Belgians resisted
But were heavily outnumbered
The Battle of Liege ran for twelve days
from August 5-16, 1914
Resulted in surprisingly heavy German
losses
Problems with the Schlieffen Plan
French surrender had to be quick for it
to work
Russia’s modernization was making the
plan obsolete
Resistance of the Belgians
Invading Belgium risked war with Britain
Britain got its Expeditionary Forces
quickly to France and Belgium
The Western Front
August 4-24, 1914 - Germany invaded
Belgium, but it took much longer and cost
more troops than Germany anticipated.
German General Moltke diverted 90,000
troops to the Eastern Front to stop the
advancing Russian troops.
Many believe this move cost Germany the
Western Front and possibly the entire war.
France’s Plan 17
France’s Plan 17 was their response to
the Schlieffen Plan
French General Joseph-Jacques-Césaire
Joffre chose to not reinforce against the
invasion in Belgium
Instead, he kept troops on the FrenchGerman border for offensives into Alsace
and Lorraine
The Miracle of the Marne
By late August, the fighting
was along the Marne River.
The French had to move
troops to the battle and
they used everything they
had to transport troops to
the front… even donkey
carts and taxis.
The troops made it and
stopped the German
advance.
World-wide Scope of War
For the first time, fighting
was nearly world wide.
Although the most brutal
conflicts occurred in
Europe, the fighting
encompassed various
regions on three continents.
Once the U.S. became
involved, nations from
every major continent had
joined the conflict. It was
the first true “WORLD” war.
Land war in Europe 1915
Trench Warfare starts
Both sides set up
defensive positions
as the lines
expanded north
Several rows of
trenches and
defensive positions
were built
Defensive lines
eventually reached
the English Channel
Germany’s use of
trenches freed up
troops to be sent to
the Eastern Front
Neither side made
notable advances
for years, but
casualties kept
rising
Deadlock: Trench Warfare
Deadlock: Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare Conditions
1/3 of all Allied casualties were sustained in
trenches.
Rats - could grow as big as cats and produced
900 offspring a year.
Lice!
Trench Fever - severe pain followed by a high
fever
Trench Foot - infection of the feet caused by the
cold, wet and unsanitary conditions of the
trenches.
Boredom
One soldier wrote:
“We set to work to bury people.
We pushed them into the sides of
the trenches but bits of them
kept getting uncovered and
sticking out, like people in a badly
made bed. Hands were the
worst; they would escape from
the sand, pointing, begging even waving! There was one
which we all shook when we
passed, saying, "Good morning,"
in a posh voice. Everybody did it.
The bottom of the trench was
springy like a mattress because of
all the bodies underneath…”
Leonard Thompson - quoted in
Ronald Blythe, Akenfield
Deadlock: No Man’s Land
Crossing No Man’s Land was
the most dangerous job a
soldier could face. Lifting
your head out of your own
trench exposed you to
sniper fire.
The Germans first mastered
the problem of observing
their enemy safely. Their
solution… the periscope.
Deadlock: No Man’s Land
“There were times when no man’s land was crossed in
the morning by one side and the afternoon by the other.
Both sides attack, counter-attack, and then the first side
counter-counter attacks only to be attacked again the
next day when the cycle began anew.”
War on the Eastern Front
The Allies launched an
assault on Ottoman forces
at Gallipoli
Designed to knock Ottoman
Empire out of war and create
supply lines to Russia
It was an amphibious
assault starting in April
1915
By January 1916, the Allies
had made no headway and
conceded defeat
Land War in Europe 1916
Deadlock Battles: Verdun 1916
Verdun was strategic for French morale and
defense
The Germans launched an offensive at Verdun
starting on February 21 and lasting to December
18, 1916.
At the end of the battle, the Germans had only
advanced 8km
Casualties: 542,000 French and 434,00 Germans
Deadlock Battles: Verdun 1916
Deadlock Battles: Somme 1916
Fought between July and
November 1916, the
Battle of the Somme was
designed to take some
pressure of Verdun
The battle began with the
single costliest day in the
history of the British
Empire… 58,000
casualties.
Deadlock Battles: Somme 1916
Many troops were killed or
wounded the moment they
stepped out of the front lines
into No Man's Land.
The result of the battle was
not conclusive, but both sides
claim to have achieved their
goals.
500,000 Germans, 300,000
British and 200,000 French
were casualties in the
gruesome conflict over a few
square miles of terrain.
Eastern Front: Brusilov Offensive
Russia launched an offensive
against Austria-Hungary in
June 1916
Russia made initial gains, but
its momentum was halted
due to insufficient supplies
and reinforcements
Germany transferred troops
from Verdun effectively
ending the offensive
Russia suffered over 1 million
men lost, but did fatally
cripple Austria-Hungary’s
army
Land War in Europe 1917
Western Front: Stalemate Cont’d
The trench warfare stalemate
continued through 1917
USA entered the war in April
1917, but troops didn’t arrive
for several months
Even so, the knowledge that
the USA was entering the
war detrimentally impacted
the German morale
Neutral in thought and deed…
At first, Woodrow Wilson sought to remain
neutral in what he termed “a European conflict.”
Later, he argued for what he called The 14
Points For Peace in Europe. He supported an
equitable peace that would end the fighting and
solve the issues behind the war. He called the
concept “Peace without victory.”
He argued that a war that resulted in victory for
one side or the other would simply lead to hard
feelings and a continuation of the hostilities at
some later date.
The US Enters The War
There were a number of reasons that the United
States eventually joined the war.
U.S. had better relations with both Britain and France
than it did with Germany
Propaganda depicting Germany as evil doomed
Wilson’s efforts
Three things ended his hopes of being a
peaceful, neutral negotiator…
Threat to commerce posed by German Submarines
The Zimmermann Note
Germany continued to violate promises to eliminate
objectionable war tactics.
The US Enters The War
“We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil of false
pretence about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the
world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples
included: for the rights of nations great and small and the
privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of
obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its
peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political
liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest,
no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material
compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but
one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be
satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the
faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”
Wilson’s War Address - 1917
Eastern Front: Russia Retreats
Russian civilians and economy
suffered and morale in the army
was low.
Tsar Nicholas was seen as
incompetent.
As a result, Russia was torn apart
by not two, but FOUR factions.
Those supporting the czar
The communists
A democracy faction
Separate nationalist movements
Russia Leaves the War
In October 1917, the
Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir
Lenin, took control of the
government
The Bolshevik leaders
ended Russia’s involvement
in WWI when they signed
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
with Germany in March
1918.
Losses of Land
The Treaty
of BrestLitovsk
• Russia lost the
Baltics, the
Caucasus, and
Poland to
Germany
• Germancontrolled
Ukraine and
Finland became
nations
• Massive losses
to Russia’s
population,
industry and
agriculture
Economic
Punishments
• Large payments
were be made
to Germany for
past damages
and unpaid
loans
• Germany gained
the right to
export goods
duty-free from
Russia and
Ukraine
Effects
• Germany gained
much needed
resources for
their war effort
• The poor
treatment of
Russia created a
lot of bad blood
toward
Germany
(Russia-Germany )
Central Powers' delegates at Brest-Litovsk
Communism takes hold
By 1921, the Bolsheviks, or
Communist party had secured
control of Russia and
established a new nation – the
Soviet Union.
To keep the eastern front
active during the war, the
Americans kept a strong
military force in northern
Russia.
That force DID fight against
the communists during the
revolution, in part causing
Russians to distrust the west.
Land War in Europe 1918
Germany’s Last Offensive
In March 1918, Germany launched its last
offensive
Used new infiltration tactics
Hurricane barrage of artillery
Massive infantry advance
Initially made progress, advance 65 km in the first
week
Germany lost momentum due to lack of reserve
forces and supplies
Germany was forced to withdraw and kept
withdrawing until the armistice on November 11,
1918
Germany’s Last Offensive
The price of war
The number of men mobilized by both
sides: the central powers (Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey), and
the allied powers (Britain and Empire,
France, Belgium, Russia, Italy, USA), totaled
over 65 million.
When the fighting was finally over, no one
could tell exactly how many had been killed
but historians estimate that up to 10 million
men lost their lives on the battlefield - and
another 20 million were wounded.
Motives for Ending the War
Germany:
Blockades stopped
supplies
Shortage of troops and
supplies
Low morale and desertion
Kaiser fled Germany
Spanish flu killed 1 in 6
soldiers
Austria:
Labor force crippled
Low food supplies
Desertions and riots
Battle losses
Armistice signed at the
11th hour, of the 11th
day, of the 11th month
of 1918.
Armistice Day
Technology of WWI
Technology of Death
Machine
Guns
Trenches
BarbedWire
Accurate
Artillery
New Weapons: Machine Guns
Perhaps the most
devastatingly effective
weapon of the war was the
machine gun.
It may not have been the
most powerful, but a great
percentage of the war’s
casualties were inflicted by
machine gun bullets.
They made crossing No
Man’s Land a virtual
suicide mission.
New Weapons: Fighter Planes
The earliest planes were
just observation scouts.
They were unarmed and
the pilots were often
quite respectful of one
another.
Once they figured out
how to fire the machine
gun without hitting the
propeller blades, the air
.war changed.
New Weapons: Fighter Planes
Some of the more famous of
the pilots during the war
were German.
The most famous of all was
Baron Manfred von
Richthoven… the Red Baron.
He earned his nickname
from his bright red tri-plane.
The Red Baron had more
than 80 “kills” before he was
killed by a British pilot’s
machinegun fire.
New Weapons: Fighter Planes
America’s greatest pilot
of the war was Eddie
Rickenbacker.
He was credited with
shooting down more
than 20 German planes.
An “ACE” was a person
who shot down just 5!
America’s Eddie Rickenbacker
Technology: Poison Gas
The debut of the first poison
gas, chlorine - came on April
22, 1915, at the Second
Battle of Ypres.
The French believed the gas
was a smoke screen for a
German advance.
The effects of chlorine gas
were severe. Within seconds
of inhaling its vapor it
destroyed the victim's lungs,
bringing on choking attacks.
Poison Gas at Ypres: 1915
The Germans' use of
chlorine gas provoked
immediate widespread
condemnation.
It also damaged German
relations with the neutral
powers, including the U.S.
The gas attacks were used
in propaganda use by the
British (even though they
planned to use it too).
New Weapons Poison Gas
Many types of poison gasses
were used.
Mustard Gas was a blistering
gas that ruined both the skin
and the lungs and was very
hard to protect against.
Others were choking,
suffocating gasses like
Chlorine and Phosgene,
which if breathed, destroyed
the lungs and left the victim
unable to get any oxygen.
New Weapons Poison Gas
Invented by
Garret
Morgan, an
AfricanAmerican, the
gas masks
saved untold
thousands of
lives.
Before gas masks, the most effective protection
against gas was a cloth soaked in.. Human urine!
New Weapons Poison Gas
Even after the development
of the gas mask, it provided
little defense against
damages to skin.
After the war, poison gas
was banned as a weapon of
war.
In spite of the ban, nations
still stockpiled these
weapons.
New Weapons: The Tank
Another World War I innovation was something the British
privately called a “land ship”. Developed secretly in Britain,
its codename, given because the shape of the shell
resembled water carriers, was 'tank'.
New Weapons: The Tank
The first combat tank was ready by January 1916.
They were slow and could not cross trenches, but
were still a surprising force when committed to
combat.
New Weapons: The Tank
The commanders learned that tanks worked best when
used to lead the infantry into battle. By late 1917, tank
tactics improved. The quality of the tanks improved as
well, leading to their acceptance by all nations.
New Weapons: The Tank
The first American made Tank arriving in France.
Americans had learned from early design failures
by the British and French.
New Weapons: The Submarine
Although not a “new”
weapon, the submarine
came into common use
during WWI.
Germany saw the sub as
a way to even the odds
against Britain’s larger
and more powerful fleet.
New Weapons: The Submarine
Secrecy and surprise were the sub’s best
weapons.
Germany’s subs often struck without warning
and to devastating effect.
This tactic of unannounced attack was one of the
reasons the U.S. became involved in the war.
New Weapons: The Submarine
The Destroyer ship was created and armed
with weapons to fight the submarine.
The most common was called the depth charge.
It looked like a big barrel that was filled with
explosives and dropped on a submarine while it
was under water.