Transcript WWI

Main players in WWI
Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy (joined Allies in 1915)
Bulgaria
Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
Allied Powers
Great Britain and it’s colonies
France
Russia (left Allies in 1917)
Serbia
United States (joined war in 1917)
The Schlieffen Plan
To avoid a two front war, Germany planned
to move first against the French and then
turn east and fight Russia.
The plan was to invade through Belgium
and avoid the French defenses along the
German border.
The plan was flawed. The left flank was to
thin. The French stopped the Germans at
the Battle of Marne (Sept 1914).
The result, a race to the channel and
“Trench warfare”. The stalemate had
begun.
Stalemate: Trench Warfare
A continuous trench lines, 1000 km long
in total, stretched from the English
Channel to the Swiss border.
Most offenses resulted in heavy
casualties but gained little territory.
An aerial
photograph of the
opposing trenches
and no-man's
land in Artois,
France, July 22,
1917. German
trenches are at the
right and bottom,
British trenches are
at the top left. The
vertical line to the
left of centre
indicates the course
of a pre-war road.
Stalemate: Trench Warfare
British trench, France, July 1916
Stalemate: Trench Warfare
German soldiers resting in a trench near Ypres in Flanders.
Picture made in the beginning of the trench warfare.
Stalemate: Trench Warfare
These terrible conditions caused the condition known
as “trench foot”, when a foot started to rot, turned
black and eventually it had to be amputated. Typhus
and a disease named “trench fever” (a high fever for
five or so days), killed some soldiers. Many soldiers
went weeks without a good wash and this caused
skin diseases and meant most front line soldiers
caught lice.
Stalemate: Trench Warfare
Trench foot
Louse
Trench fever
Western Front: Canadian Battles
We have to remember that when Britain declared war, Canada was automatically at war. (Lack of
sovereignty.)
Battles that Canadians participated in and how these battles changed Canada’s image both internationally
and nationally. (increase of nationalism and patriotism)
Ypres (April 1915):
First German use of chlorine gas (chemical warfare was used to try and get by the trenches).
Stopped the German advance through Belgium but with 6000 casualties.
Gave Canada the image of tough fighters.
Somme (July 1, 1916):
4 month battle along the Somme River valley. Ended in November 1916.
Plan was to bombard German lines with heavy artillery for 7 days, then walk in and take trenches but it was
not effective since the Germans went underground and were not affected by artillery.
Extremely heavy casualties. The British lost 420,000 casualties, the French 200,000 and the Germans
450,000. 20,000 Allied dead on the first day alone.
Entire Nfld. regiment wiped-out (710 dead or wounded out of 750 men) at Beaumont Hamel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZmqVxSB2pk
Brought the reality of war losses home
Battle of the Somme: Destroyed Forest (left)and
Destroyed Soldiers (above)
Recruiting Sergeant by Great Big Sea
Two recruiting sergeants came to the CLB,
for the sons of the merchants, to join the Blue Puttees
So all the hands enlisted, five hundred young men
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me
They crossed the broad Atlantic in the brave Florizel,
And on the sands of Suvla, they entered into hell
And on those bloody beaches, the first of them fell
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me
[Chorus]
So it's over the mountains, and over the sea
Come brave Newfoundlanders and join the Blue Puttees
You'll fight in Flanders, and at Gallipoli
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me
Then the call came from London, for the last July drive
To the trenches with the regiment, prepare yourselves to die
The roll call next morning, just a handful survived.
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me
[Chorus]
The stone men on Water Street still cry for the day
When the pride of the city went marching away
A thousand men slaughtered, to hear the King say
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me
[Chorus x3]
Above: Nfld. Regiment at the Somme 1916.
Below: Somme in 2004 (Beaumont Hamel)
Vimy Ridge (April 1917):
Canada is said to “have grown up here”.
Canadians took the ridge in a matter of days after several
months of other Battalions of other nations fighting there.
It was our greatest victory and in the view of many
historians, made this colony a nation…..separate from the
British Empire.
The cost ……10,000 casualties
Above: Soldiers returning from Vimy Ridge.
Below: “Over the top” at Vimy.
Vimy Ridge today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvjpoBoyrs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3UsybMZXk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCnN6FFmQVU
Passchendaele (3rd battle of YpresNov. 1917).
The battle was fought for control of the village of
Passchendaele near the town of Ypres in West Flanders,
Belgium.
Passchendaele has become synonymous with the misery of
fighting in terrible conditions (rain, cold, mud, etc.)
Canadian generals recommended against it because of
impossible odds, but Canadians did win the battle.
16,000 Canadian dead.
We viewed our forces with intense pride.
Village of
Passchendaele
before and after
pictures.
Amiens (Aug. 1918 – Nov. 1918):
Allies launched a series of offensives against the Central
Powers on the Western Front from 8 August, 1918,to 11
November, 1918 beginning with the Battle of Amiens.
Allied offensive later known as the Canada’s Hundred Days
Offensive that ultimately led to the end of World War I.
Amiens was one of the first major battles involving armored
warfare and marked the end of trench warfare on the
Western Front.
During this period the Canadian corps fought and won nine
major battles.
In terms of numbers, during those 96 days the Canadian
Corps' of roughly 100 000 men, engaged and defeated or
put to flight elements of forty seven German divisions,
which represented one quarter of the German forces
fighting on the Western Front. Affirming its reputation as
the British Army’s best.
However their successes came at a heavy cost, the
Canadians suffered 20% of their battle-sustained casualties
of the war during this period..
United Canadians at home and changed our international
image.
Differences – Eastern vs. Western Fronts
The length of the front in the East was much longer
than in the West.
The theatre of war was roughly a distance of more
than 1,600 kilometers.
This had a drastic effect on the nature of the warfare.
While World War I on the Western Front developed
into trench warfare, the battle lines on the Eastern
Front were much more fluid and trenches never truly
developed.
This was because the greater length of the front
ensured that the density of soldiers in the line was
lower so the line was easier to break.
The sparse communication networks made it difficult
for the defender to rush reinforcements to the
rupture in the line
There was also the fact that the terrain in the Eastern
European theatre was quite solid, often making it
near impossible to construct anything resembling the
complicated trench systems on the Western Front
Eastern Front Con’t.
The Russians were effective early in the war due to sheer
numbers.
This early Russian success in 1914 was a reason for
concern to the Central Powers and caused considerable
German forces to be transferred to the East to take
pressure off the Austrians.
By May 1915, the German and Austro-Hungarian troops in
the Eastern Front functioned under a unified command.
They began an offensive which soon turned into a general
advance and then a strategic retreat by the Russian army.
The Russian retreat was not so much a tactical error, but
they suffered heavily from a lack of supplies, particularly
in artillery and ammunition.
Changes on the Eastern Front
In June of 1916 many people were very
unhappy with the state of the Russian war
effort………3.6 million dead.
Spring of 1917- Riots protesting the shortage
of food leads to abdication of Tsar Nicholas II.
Instability in Russia allows the Germans to
advance quickly on the Eastern Front.
Revolution in Russia (Oct. 1917)
Led by Vladimir Lenin, the communists seized power
in Russia.
Lenin, as well as most Russians, no longer wanted to
be in the war. Too much suffering by the people.
The entire royal family was executed by the new
communist government in 1918.
The Royal Family became scapegoats (a person or
group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer
in their place) for the Communists, blaming them for
Russia being in the war as well as the problems and
suffering in Russia.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
(Mar. 1918)
The new communist government wanted out
of WWI.
Peace treaty signed between Russia and the
Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk
Soviets renounced all claim to and affirmed
the independence of
Finland
Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania)
Belarus
Ukraine
In all, the treaty took away a third of Russia's
population, half of her industry and ninetenths of her coal mines.
Armistice
Armistice:
is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not
necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made
to negotiate a lasting peace.
Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918 at 11am.
On November 11th l918,
at 10:58 a.m. – two
minutes before the
armistice, George Price,
28th Canadian Battalion,
was shot and killed by a
German sniper. Likely the
last allied soldier to be
killed in that war.
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I.
It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June, 1919, exactly
five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties.
Although the armistice signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of
negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty.
Canada signed the Treaty of Versailles separately from Britain and we were viewed as an equal ally to Britain.
Treaty of Versailles con’t.
Germany was forced to sign (diktat…no negotiations) otherwise hostilities would be renewed.
Main provisions of the treaty:
1.
Germany had to accept sole responsibility for the War (one of the most important and controversial
……later known as the War Guilt clause)
2.
Germany had to disarm
• No draft, no air force
• Army limited to 100,000 men
• Navy limited to 15,000 men
3.
Germany had give up substantial territories in Europe and in their colonies
• Lost all colonies in Africa and Asia
4.
Germany had pay reparations to certain countries
• $ 33,000,000,000
• saddled with unimaginable debt that would plunge the country into economic hardship
5.
Germany and Austria could never unify into one nation
The new government called the Weimar Republic replaced the 2nd Reich (formerly led by Wilhelm II who was now
holed up in the Netherlands). The new gov’t did not want to sign the Treaty but in the end did not have a choice.
A legacy of bitterness would be left that would pave the way for the rise of Hitler and the Second World War.
Land Taken from Germany
New Destructive Weapons
CHANGED FOREVER: EUROPE (1914)
CHANGED FOREVER: EUROPE (1919)
Conscription Crisis of 1917
Conscription:
• the draft; compulsory, mandatory
service in a nation’s armed forces
After the Battle of the Somme (1916), Canada was in
desperate need to replenish its supply of soldiers;
however, there were very few volunteers to replace
them. The recruiting effort in Quebec had failed, and
Canada turned to its only unused option: conscription.
Almost all French Canadians opposed conscription:
they felt that they had no particular loyalty to either
Britain or France. They felt their only loyalty was to
Quebec.
English Canadians generally supported the war effort
as they felt stronger ties to the British Empire.
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 caused a considerable
rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and
Francophone. This became a problem again for
Canada in WW II.
VS.
The Human Cost Of War
Of the 65 million men who fought in World War 1:
• 8 million men were killed in battle.
• 2 million died of illness and disease.
• 21.2 million were wounded.
• 7.8 million were taken prisoner or went missing in
action.
• 6.6 million civilians were killed.
• 65,000 Canadians lost their lives
The Financial Cost of War
The war took its toll on the whole of the European Economy, financially Europe was on it's
knees.
Many industries that were thriving in peace time were retooled for war production . When the
war was over, governments didn't help them retool back to what they used to produce ,
therefore many went broke.
Also, because of the high death and wounded toll, many villages, towns and cities were robbed
of skilled laborers, skills that took a long time to learn and rebuilding required many of these
people. This ruined the economic infrastructure and crippled many rural and urban areas.
Estimated costs for each nation are listed below
in US DOLLARS
United States : 22,625,253,000
Italy : 12,413,998,000
Great Britain : 35,334,012,000
Germany : 37,775,000,000 (does not include rep. payments)
France : 24,265,583,000
Austria-Hungary : 20,622,960,000
Russia : 22,293,950,000
Turkey : 1,430,000,000
Canada : 1,665,576,000