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HIST2128 Germany, 1871-1933: From Empire to Republic

HIST2128 Germany, 1871-1933: From Empire to Republic. War 1914-15 Lecture 13 19 March 2012. Invasion of Belgium. Advance of 1,5 mill. German troops (3 Aug): → More Belgian resistance than expected → Crushing of fortresses with Big Berthas & policy of frightfulness ( Schrecklichkeit )

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HIST2128 Germany, 1871-1933: From Empire to Republic

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  1. HIST2128Germany, 1871-1933: From Empire to Republic War 1914-15 Lecture 13 19 March 2012

  2. Invasion of Belgium • Advance of 1,5 mill. German troops (3 Aug): → More Belgian resistance than expected → Crushing of fortresses with Big Berthas & policy of frightfulness (Schrecklichkeit) = Occupation of Brussels (20 Aug) = Creation of German Military Government- General of Belgium

  3. Battle of the Marne (6-12 Sep 1914) • Rapid transfer of F troops from Alsace-Lorraine to North • Mons & Le Cateau: G ≠ F + British Expeditionary Force = heavy casualties + retreat • Paris emptied + all F reservists moved to front • G furthest advance: River Marne (25 miles from Paris) = Withdrawal of G troops to River Aisne ► ‘The Miracle of the Marne’ (for Allies) ► Moltke ‘a broken man’ + replaced by General Falkenhayn as German Chief of Staff

  4. First Battle of Ypres (Oct-Nov 1914) G attack in coastal plain of B Flandres around Ypres → BEF almost wiped out: • Both sides entrenched on Western front • G: Conquest of most of B + 1/10 of F with 667,000 † • Allies: Paris & F channel ports saved with F 995,000 † + GB 96,000 † = Scale of loss unimaginable before war

  5. Trench System • 700 miles from B channel coast to Swiss border • Distance in-between as little as 100-200 metres • Major bulges at Ypres & Verdun as Allies’ major strategic points = Complex system for ‘war of immobility’

  6. Trenches with rooms for comfort and deeper bunkers for protection against heavy gunfire: Most trenches were zigzagged to render them less to enemy fire and protected by parapets of sandbags & thick rolls of barbed wire

  7. Weapons (1) • For defending troops: Machine-gunmost important front-line weapon → M-G ca. 600 rounds of ammunition a minute ≠ rifle only 15 rounds →1 M-G man + protection= more powerful than advancing masses • For attacking troops: Rifles with fixed bayonets = More troops in West killed in attack than in defence

  8. Weapons (2) • Heavy artillery: Guns + howitzers • Huge quantities of high explosive or shrapnel at enemy trenches + buildings → More armour: Steel helmets → More camouflage uniform-colour: Horizon- blue (F), Khaki (GB), Field-grey (G)

  9. Weapons (3) • Poison gas (chlorine) first used by G to compensate for troops moved to East (Apr 1915) • Linen masks for GB & Canadian troops • Later phosgene gas & mustard gas • Demoralising & for 3% affected also deadly • Not decisive for war • Also endangered attackers at wind changes

  10. Weapons (4) • Airplanes for military reconnaissance + most effective aerial photography (G, F, GB) • Air combat first by pot-shots with revolver, then forward-firing machine-gun • Air bombing of enemy trenches & support lines = Famous (Red) Baron von Richthofen (G) = Neither side with marked superiority = No deciding war factor

  11. Weapons (5) • Tanks = Armoured vehicles with caterpillar system to cross trenches & barbed-wire entanglements • Invented by Ernst Swinton (GB) • Clumsy & vulnerable (1916) • Effectively used in Battle of Cambrai (1917) • Important in last stages of war (1918) • G slow to take up idea: Few produced

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