Major offensives and

Canadian Involvement in
WWI

Second Battle of Ypres April

1915
The Germans attempted to force a breakthrough in the Allied

lines for victory; intended to divert attention and test gas

First major engagement in WWI for the Canadian

Expeditionary Forces (Imperials)

Ypres was important psychologically and strategically because

it was the last major Belgian town in Allied hands which also
provided access to French ports
This battle was where poison gas was first used and though

there were many casualties neither side gained much

advantage.

Ypres 22-24 April 1915

22 April 1915 a gas attack rolled over the French (who were to the left of the

Canadians) they either suffocated or fled

Germans used chlorine gas attack against the Canadian First Division.

With the wind in Germany's favour, anything short of a full retreat

would have put the Canadians in the path of the gas and the
Canadians pushed forward, breathing through water- or urine-soaked
rags as makeshift gas masks.
The Canadians held their ground until they were reinforced by British

troops a day and a half later.

Result: the battle earned the Canadian forces great respect (reputation as

tough and dependable) though it came at a cost of some 6,000 men.

It was in 1915 after proving themselves at Ypres that Canada insisted on

Canadian only fighting units

Second Battle of Ypres

The Germans were victorious and could have

claimed the knock-out punch they strived for

had they anticipated their own success
The German infantry were surprised at their

own success and did not have enough reserves

to capture the Allied territory completely

General Haig:
Promoter of
The Big
Push

The Somme July to

November 1916
Intended to be a decisive breakthrough, the Battle

of the Somme instead became a byword for futile

and indiscriminate slaughter, with General Haig's
tactics remaining controversial even today.
A.k.a Supposed to relieve pressure on Verdun by

causing huge German causalities

Critics suggest that ineffective and callous British

generals ordered their soldiers forward in fruitless

and costly attacks, giving them neither proper
weapons nor effective tactics to break through the
enemy trenches.

The Somme July to

November 1916
Under the command of General Haig there was a

massive attack launched near the Somme River. Mass

slaughter of troops resulted from Haigs tactics with
Allied soldiers marching into German machine gun fire.
Tactics involved heavy bombardment of German

position but the Germans had deep dugouts and the

shelling was counter-productive
It was supposed to be an easy walk
400 000 British and 200 000 French troops died for an

advance of 7 miles. Including the German casualties,

the total loss was over one million men.

Verdun - Feb to December

1916
Verdun - It was ten months of continuous

mass slaughter. The French were nearly

starving and poorly armed. This battle was a
disaster with over 500 000 French casualties
and almost as many German casualties.
The large significance of this battle is that it

was the longest and one of the bloodiest of the

First World War
"Ils ne passeront pas" ("They shall not pass")

Vimy Ridge April 1917

Considered one of the greatest battles in Canadian history

and significant in its progress to full independence

Canadian bravery and valour led to the tremendous

victory for the entire Allied Force and was considered the
turning point of WWI.
Canadian forces were initially commanded by Julian Byng

though Arthur Currie (Canadian) was also involved

It was the first time the whole Canadians corps fought

together, and they achieved a magnificent victory, sweeping

the Germans off the ridge.

Canadians led by Julian Byng

Vimy Ridge
After the Somme campaign in the fall, Byng

instigated a variety of reforms designed to improve

the Corps training and tactical performance
The German fortifications consisted of three layers

of trenches, barbed wire and deep tunnels. The

natural slope of the hill provided little cover for
attacking Allied troops.
French attempts to wrest control of the ridge

throughout 1915 were rebuffed, resulting in some

150,000 French casualties.

Vimy Ridge Impact on Canada

Canada had been successful where others had

failed and had in fact taken more ground,

prisoners and equipment than in any other
British offensive
Canada earned a seat on the Imperial War

Cabinet and the right to be a signatory on the

Treaty of Versailles at the end of the war
Canadas sense of nationhood and

independence came out of this battle

Passchendaele (Third Battle of

Ypres)
General Haig was determined to retake

Passchendaele though it held no strategic

value. The conditions were terrible with
soldiers and horses drowning in the mud.
Systematic drainage systems kept the area

dry but these had been destroyed by years of

shelling. (The water table was high, 1 meter)

Passchendaele
Wounded Canadians on their way to an aid-post, Battle of Passchendaele, November 1917
(courtesy Library and Archives Canada/PA-2107).

The mud
The mud gummed up rifle barrels and

breeches, making them difficult to fire. It

swallowed up soldiers as they slept. It slowed
stretcher-bearers wading waist-deep as
they tried to carry wounded away from the
fighting to a crawl. Ironically, the mud also
saved lives, cushioning many of the shells
that landed, preventing their explosion.
Richard Foot

July to October 1917

Currie objected to the battle because of the

anticipated cost of lives but Haig was insistent

The Canadians arrived in mid-October were shocked

by the terrible battlefield conditions. They were to

be shock troops.
Currie ordered the construction of new roads, the

building or improvement of gun pits, and the repair

and extension of tramlines (light railways). The
Germans on top of Passchendaele ridge fired
continuously.

Passchendaele (Third Battle of

Ypres)
Almost 400 000 British troops were slaughtered for insignificant

territorial gains. At the end of this offensive both sides realized

that the war was not going to be won by going over the top.
Passchendaele is often remembered as the low point of the

British war effort, remains synonymous with the terrible and

costly fighting on the Western Front.
Unceasing rain and shellfire reduced the battlefield to a vast

bog of bodies, water-filled shell craters, and mud in which the

attack ground to a halt. After months of fighting,
Passchendaele ridge was still stubbornly held by German
troops and Haig ordered the Canadian Corps to defeat the
Germans.

Ypres - FYI
Citizens evacuated May 1915 and came back

in 1919 to a town that was literally flattened

by war
After the war 150 military cemeteries were

built

Factors at play at the end of the

war
Russian revolution
Declaration that U-Boats will destroy neutral

vessels
Hundred Days Campaign
Illness - influenza

Russia
In 1914 Russia kept the Germans busy but suffered

great losses. In 1914 Russia lost at two battles,

Tannenberg and the First Battle of the Masurian
Lakes; Russia lost two entire armies (over 250,000
men).
By mid-1915 Russia had lost fifteen percent of its

territory and twenty percent of its population. The

Russian army was being bled to death as soldiers
often went into battle without rifles, hoping to be
able to scavenge guns from fallen compatriots.

In 1916 Russia almost eliminated Austria-Hungary as

a military power and this provided relief for the

French at Verdun and the British at the Somme.
There were food riots labour unrest and immense

dissatisfaction with the war

The economic, social and political conditions in

Russia were unstable and ripe for revolution. In

1917 the tsar was overthrown in 1917 and Russia
pulled out of the war and signed the Treaty of BrestLitovsk.

Shipping
The Allies developed the convoy system

where ships travelled in groups accompanied

by the armed forces
The British passenger ship the Lusitania was

sunk in 1915
Feb 1917 Germany declares that U-Boats will
fire on neutral ships any ships that come into
the war zone
This threat prompted the USA to enter the war
New bodies!!! Equipment!!!

The American involvement was essential to

Hundred Days Campaign:

8 August to 11 November 1918
The reputation of the Canadian Corps was

such that their involvement would signal

imminent battle
A large offensive was planned in France in

August 1918 and Canadian went north to Ypres

making it seem as if a major attack was coming
there
The Canadians secretly hurried back to the
Amiens sector for the real attack
No bombardment preceded the attack and the

Germans were taken by surprise

Chinese labourers construct light railway leading to the front. To

release more soldiers to fight, armies relied on paid labourers behind
the lines. Approximately 80,000 Chinese worked on the Western
Front during the war. After the Armistice, the Chinese Labour Corps
cleared corpses and debris from the battlefields.

Armistice - November 11, 1918

11 November 1918 an armistice was

signed between representatives of German

and Allied forces effectively ending the war
(5:00 a.m.) in effect 11:00 a.m.
Paris Peace Conference - from January to

June 1919 an assembly of nations met in

Paris to draw up the new European peace.

Council of Four Prime Minister David Lloyd

George of Britain, Prime Minister Vittorio

Emanuele of Italy, Premier Georges
Clemenceau of France, President Woodrow
Wilson of the US

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles
Wilsons 14 point plan failed in the face of fervent need

to blame and make Germany and Austria-Hungary pay

for the war
He called for: open covenants of peace, openly arrived

at
Reduction of armaments
Freedom of commerce and trade
Self-determination of peoples
General association of nations to guarantee peace
(League of Nations)
Signed 28 June 1919 five years after the

assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife

Georges Clemenceau wanted to prevent a

repeat and sought to cripple Germany

Treaty of Versailles
Encouraged Peace

Discouraged Peace

War-Guilt clause (blame)

Reparations

Creation of League of Nations

No secret alliances

Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Yugoslavia, Finland,

Lithuania, Hungary, Austria and
Czechoslovakia are granted status as nationstates

Military/Arms limitations
Loss of territory (A&L, France

controls Rhineland, lose colonies)

Germany forbidden to join League of

Nations
Germany and Austria forbidden to

unite
Re-drawing of the map where new

nations had their own minorities