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WWI Battles

WWI Battles. SSBAT criticize the motives, strategies, and outcomes of WWI after viewing the WWI Battles lecture. Schlieffen Plan. Defeat France b/f Russia is mobilized French will immediately retake Alsace-Lorraine. Plan failed: Germans held up by Belgians

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WWI Battles

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  1. WWI Battles • SSBAT criticize the motives, strategies, and outcomes of WWI after viewing the WWI Battles lecture

  2. Schlieffen Plan • Defeat France b/f Russia is mobilized • French will immediately retake Alsace-Lorraine. • Plan failed: • Germans held up by Belgians • Stopped by French & British at the Battle of the Marne. • Russians also mobilized more quickly than expected.

  3. WWI War Goals • France • regain Alasace/Lorraine, Saar Basin (coal region) • create a DMZ (Rhineland) as a buffer • cripple Germany’s military • get German & Turkish colonies in Africa & Mid-East • Great Britain • get German & Turkish colonies in Africa & Mid-East • Italy • wanted land from Austria-Hungary

  4. WWI War Goals • Russia • wanted control of the Dardenelle & Bosporus Straits • Austria-Hungary • self preservation • Germany • part of France, Luxembourg, Belgium, western Russia • A-H and the Balkans as a “sphere of influence” • take over French and British colonies in Africa • United States • win an end the war • Wilson’s 14 Points

  5. Stalemate • Both sides dig in: • Barbed wire entanglements • 10 miles exchanged in 2 years. • Mass is supreme principle • Cross b/w 19th C & modern warfare

  6. Trench Warfare • Machine gun and artillery make it difficult to attack a trench. • Artillery creates “No Man’s Land” - Impassable • E-tool most important “weapon” • Huge casualties for attackers • Chlorine & Mustard Gas • First used against French in 1915

  7. Major Battles • Battle of Verdun, 1916 • Battle of the Marne, 1914, 1918 • Battle of Ypres, 1914, 1915, 1917 • Battle of the Somme, 1916 • Battle of Cambrai, 1917 • Battle for Belleau Wood, 1918

  8. Battle of Verdun • German attack to frighten French - Feb 23 1916 • General Henri Petain commander of Verdun • March: Germans attack - advance 3km • Small attacks during Summer & Autumn • French counter-attack – 2km over six weeks • Longest battle – Feb – Dec 1916 • Losses: French 550,000 – German 434,000

  9. Battles of the Marne • Battle that stopped German advance • 1914- German army advancing through Belgium and northern France • 1918- Germans pushing again. The four years in between had cost hundreds of thousands of lives • Armies were still exactly where they were when they started.

  10. Battles of Ypres (E-Pray) • 1914- attempt by the British to stop the advances of Germans • 1915- First use of poison gas • 1917- Over-ambitious aims, bad weather, and bad judgments led to horrific losses. • Total casualties: over 250,000

  11. Battle of Somme(Some) • “Big Push” attack across river Somme by British • Huge Failure: • Soldiers didn’t follow orders • Artillery didn’t dislodge German wire • Didn’t destroy machine-gun posts • Biggest slaughters in military history

  12. Battle of Cambrai(Comebray) • First full-scale offensive with the tank • 476 British tanks charge towards German lines • Success surprised both sides • British were not prepared for the victory

  13. Battle for Belleau Wood (Below Wood) “Beautiful Water” • First US Marines in WWI combat - 4 June 1918 • 5 June 1918 Marines assist French forces • Retreating Frenchman advise Marines to retreat. Capt Lloyd Williams replies “Retreat, hell. We just got here.” • Marines pick off Germans at 800 yards • 200 yds considered far to Germans

  14. Belleau Wood • Dan Daly • “Come on you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?” • 26 June US victory • Devil Dog • Title given Marines by Germans “Teufel Hunden”

  15. Casualties • Great Britain 1,000,000 • France 1,300,000 • Russia 1,700,000 • Germany and allies 3,500,000 • America 50,000 • At least 5,500 people died per day during the War

  16. WWI Weapons Machine gun Tank Airplane Poison gas / chemical weapons Subs (Invented in Revolutionary War) Radios

  17. Tanks • Brits introduce in Sept 1916 • Means to cross No Man’s Land w/ protection • Employed piecemeal to be decisive • Unreliable and slow

  18. Submarines • Germans announce submarine blockade • Part physical, part psychological weapon • Draws resources from offensive operations • Civilian control of production • Gap = protection for merchant ships?

  19. Aviation • Used for reconnaissance/spotting • Wireless communication critical development in spotting • Arial combat • Troops don’t like planes • Drop bombs on railways, intersections, factories, etc. Von Richtofen “Red Baron”

  20. “Jenny” JN-4

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