The Nature of the First World War

1. The Nature of the First World War 1914-1918

2. Schlieffen Plan • Avoid a two front war • Attack one at a time • 6 weeks to take France • Austria will hold off Russia • Attack north through Belgium and circle around Paris • Trap the French against the Alps

3. Early Battles of WW1 • Battle of the Marne – stops the Schlieffen Plan in it’s tracks. Will cause the German Army to retreat to a defensive position. Trench Warfare will ensue • Battle of Ypres – Germans will try to drive the British back to seize the port of Calais. Famous for Flanders Fields, and gas attacks from both sides • Battle of Tannenberg – Eastern Front. An outnumbered German Army will capture two Russian armies with little trouble (Bad news for Russia

4. Gallipoli • Gallipoli (1915) – b\c of stalemate on the Western Front the British will try to open a front in the Balkans. Will suffer massive casualties and lead to the firing of the British Minister of Defense, Winston Churchill.

5. Trench Warfare • Machine guns and Heavy artillery require soldiers to take cover • 14 000 miles of trenches will be dug on a 750 mile front • The area between them would be referred to as No Mans Land • Western Front would be known as a war with out Flanks

6. Trenches • The Front line would be made up of 4 lines of defenses with communication trenches connecting them • Barbed wire would be lined in front of them • Dugouts were dug into them • Sappers would dig tunnels into no mans land and set off massive explosions

7. Technology and the Change in Warfare • Mass production (could supply million man armies) • Trains and steamships could mass transport soldiers and goods • Communication – Radio(still relied on wires) and telephone • Machine guns, rifles that fire 1000 yards, heavy artillery (rifled 15-20 miles) creates a death zone between enemy lines. • War needs to take on a defensive posture. The weapons are too good

8. More Trenches

9. Sappers

10. New Weapons The Machine Gun Heavy Artillery

11. U-Boats Airplanes

12. Dreadnaughts Poison Gas (Mustard and Chlorine)

13. Total War • All these European powers went all in • Losing could not be an option b\c it would mean ruin • The Stalemate on the Western Front meant no one could win a decisive victory • Governments turned to their populations • Total War means the total resources of society are committed to the fighting effort • Gov’t would ration and conscript/draft soldiers into military service • Income tax was introduced in Canada to help pay the cost of the war • 6 million went to war in 1914, and 65 million by the end

14. Propaganda- systematic effort to spread opinions or beliefs especially by distorting the truth

15. Promises and Deception • 1915 the secret Treaty of London promised Austrian territory (Balkans) to Italy if they switched sides • 1917 Balfour Declaration promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine to win Jewish support • Britain coaxed Arab leaders into revolt by promising to liberate them from the Turks • 1917 – Germany sneaks Vladimir Lenin into Russia to start a Revolution

16. Unrestricted Naval Warfare • United States industrial might was supplying the British and French war effort • British navy defeated the German navy at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and was choking off German supply lines • German high command declares the Waters around Europe a battle ground and any ship carry supplies to England or France is to be sunk • The United States will declare war on Germany

17. Late Battles • 1916 – Jutland: the show down between the German and British navies. Germany realized how quickly they could have lost their fleet that cost billions of dollars. They will resort to their U-Boats • 1916 – Verdun: Symbol of French military glory. 1 million German shells bombing seven French forts. 280 000 Ger. And 315 000 French and the Germans gain 7 km.

18. The Battle of the Somme • 1916 – Counter the Ger. Offensive • July 1st 748 of the Newfoundland Reg. will be lost at Beaumont Hamel • 60 000 British Casualties on the first day • 450 000 Ger. And 420 000 British Casualties for 10 km of ground

19. Vimy • April 9th 1917 – first offensive lead and fought by Canadians • Arthur Currie (School Teacher) commands • Creeping Barrage – Use the artillery as a shield to protect infantry • Every one knew their job and was on a strict time line • Counter Battery took German Artillery out of the game (Sound ranging and flash spotting)

20. More Vimy

21. 1918 • Russia pulls out of the War because of Communist take over • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk gives the Ukraine to Germany • Spring sees a German offensive to make the final push to take Paris • The French and British stop them at the Marne River for a second time

22. Last Two Months • Sept. 27th 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II is forced to step down • Bread riots break out in the Streets of Berlin • German Banks efuse to loan any more money to fight the War • November 11th, 1918 Germany offically surrenders • Jan. to July 1919 – Paris Peace talks present Germany with the terms of Surrender. The Treaty of Versailles