WWI: The Great War

1. WWI: The Great War 1914-1918

2. The Two Sides • Triple Entente – 1904/1907 (Allied Powers): • England, France, Russia, (Italian neutral in 1914, then becomes Entente) • Triple Alliance - 1882 (Central Powers) • Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey (Italy = neutrality then entente) • US Joins 1917, “…Make the world safe for democracy.”

5. How/Why did so many countries get involved? • Alliances • Colonialism

6. http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/ • Interactive war map

7. The War Begins • Quick (both sides assumed) • Germany’s Plan "Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner." • Schlieffen Plan • Belgium to Paris in 42 days, force French surrender. Then move East and defeat the Russians before they were fully prepared to fight. • Offensive

8. Schlieffen Plan in Action • Aug 3, 1914 - Germany Invades Belgium • Major atrocities, off track • Battle Trattenberg (Germany) • 27,000 in a day • Fail to take Paris • Cannot destroy French or British resistance along Marne River • Sept. 1914

9. Things get bogged down • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N84Iq1PnEPQ • 2 min. trenches War Horse • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-3x2khwZ0 • 2 min no man’s land War Horse

10. Monday, December 3, 2012 • Why did things get “bogged down” by the fall of 1914

12. I've a Little Wet Home in a TrenchI've a little wet home in a trenchWhere the rainstorms continually drench,There's a dead cow close byWith her feet in towards the skyAnd she gives off a terrible stench.Underneath, in the place of a floor,There's a mass of wet mud and some straw,But with shells dropping there,There's no place to compare,With my little wet home in the trench.

13. The Trenches • September,1914: German’s first to employ • Allies followed suit • Germans had higher elevation, Allies dug through water-logged areas • Many lines - connected in zigzag shape • Front about 7 feet deep, 6 feet wide • Barbed wire, sandbags & machine gun posts in front • support trenches in the back • Rotation system • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_vt_trench_life.shtml - virtual tour trench

15. No Man’s Land

19. Fighting In Trenches • 50 yards – 1 mile between trenches = No Man’s Land • Plant mines • Night time = danger • Reconnaissance Patrols • Raiding Parties • The return • Small advancements

20. Living in the Water

22. Trench Foot

23. Not so fun facts about trenches • A single pair of rats could produced up to 880/year • The British Army treated 20,000 soldiers for trench foot during the winter of 1914-15. • A lit candle was fairly effective in removing lice • Soldiers in the trenches often depended on impure water collected from shell-holes or other cavities

24. February 1916: Verdun • “Bleed France white” • Psychological significance in France • June - 2.5 miles away & Germany faltered • Attention turns to Somme… • Dec 1916: French 360,000 – Germans 340,000 • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/western_front/index_embed.shtml

26. July 1916: Somme • Relieve the French at Verdun • 8 day bombardment – 1.6 million shells fired • Try to walk across No Man’s Land (750,000 Brits) • German’s had taken cover, many duds • 58,000 casualties first day (20,000 dead) • German transfer men from Verdun • Through Nov. • Use of tanks • Brits and French take 12 km – 420,000 British; 200,000 French; 500,000 German • http://www.history.com/videos/1916-battle-of-the-somme#1916-battle-of-the-somme

27. An example of modern war: Somme • “It was too late to change course. At precisely 7:30 in the morning on July 1, whistles blew along the British front lines, which stretched more than 12 miles. In unison, infantry soldiers loaded with more than 70 pounds of clothing and equipment clambered out of their trenches and set out at a walk across no-man's-land in neat, orderly lines. They were tangled in barbed wire or cut down by withering machine-gun fire before they could come close to the German trenches. The toll was devastating: 19,240 men died in a single day. The British officer corps, expected to lead their men "over the top," suffered especially high losses… • …The Battle of the Somme dragged on inconclusively for another five months. By the time winter set in, the British had gained two miles of ground - and lost 420,000 young men. Almost nothing was accomplished, and a total of about 1.5 million French, British and German soldiers were killed or wounded. The Somme defined the futility of trench warfare. It was the bloodiest single battle in history.” • http://www.history.com/videos/1916-battle-of-the-somme#1916-battle-of-the-somme

28. Why was Somme significant?

29. Machine Guns, Bolt Action Rifle, Artillery Zeppelin, Tank, Planes Read about each of these weapons & then make two lists1. List the three weapons that you think made WWI the most “deadly” 2. List the three weapons that you think made this a “modern” war.

31. “The Chemists’ War” • "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-colored blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."[ • Tear Gas – French 1914 • Chlorine Gas – Germans 1915 • Yellow green cloud • Slow death, asphyxiation • Cover mouth with wet cloth (urine) • Blow back on you • Gas masks • White Star” Chlorine and Phosgene French) – 24 hours • Mustard gas, German, 1917 • Internal and external bleeding

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33. The War in the East: Lots of Russian Casualties, Not too Enough Success for Germany

34. The War on the Seas

35. The German’s were losing on land • No great naval battles • Naval blockades – both sides – England advantage • German U-boats (submarines) Feb 1915 – Germans used • Impact on “neutral” countries • Could u-boats destroy Britain before American intervenes? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCIsQT_jCg • 1916 – Uboats destroyed 1/3 of a million tons per month then 1917 up to 400,000 plus, 500,000 plus, April 800,000 tons • By April 1917 – 6 weeks of food for British people • German’s lost bet - 6 April 1917 Americans arrive – anti sub devises – hydrophones, aircraft – sailed merchant ships with convoys

36. http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_gallipoli.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/western_front/index_embed.shtml • Interactive map of battles

38. http://www.realmilitaryflix.com/public/414.cfm

39. Each battalion had its own supply of rum that it distributed to its soldiers. • Each division of 20,000 men received 300 gallons. • Every soldier carried iron rations -- emergency food that consisted of a can of bully bee, biscuits and a tin of tea and sugar. • A single pair of rats could produced up to 880 offspring in a year • A total of 3,894 men in the British Army were convicted of self-inflicted wounds. A firing-squad offense -- none were executed, but all served prison terms. • The British Army treated 20,000 soldiers for trench foot during the winter of 1914-15. • One-third of all casualties on the Western Front may have been killed or wounded in a trench. • A lit candle was fairly effective in removing lice, but the skill of burning the lice without setting yourself on fire was difficult to learn. • Soldiers in the trenches often depended on impure water collected from shell-holes or other cavities, causing dysentery.

40. "I had a peculiar passion for the navy. It sprang to no small extent from my English blood. When I was a little boy... I admired the proud British ships. There awoke in me the will to build ships of my own like these some day, and when I was grown up to possess a fine navy as the English."-- Kaiser Wilhelm II, autobiography My Early Life