World War I

● It was a mistake and could have been avoided.

● WWI was the beginning of the modern era.
● It was stupid and started because of a domino effect.
● It had an impact in most of the countries.

The most effective weapon used during World War One wasn’t
the shell or the tank, it was morale

Wednesday:
Know the alliances: which country is on which side.
Effect of WWI on women
Know where and why of the assassination; Balkans, powder keg, ethnic rivalries
Shell Shock
Western Front, process of “going over the top” and No Man’s Land
Purpose for fighting in the Middle East

Thursday:
Gallipoli
Know the causes of WWI and be able to put them in chronological order
Treaty of Versailles
Difficulties on the Italian Front
Reasons for why the Schlieffen Plan failed
Why the Germans lost the war

To Finish:
Know how to label an image of a trench
Start and end date of WWI
Reasons why Russia pulled out of the conflict
Elements of sea warfare
EFFECT OF WWI ON WOMEN:
● WOMEN WHO HELPED WITH RECRUITMENT:
○ Suffragists and Suffragettes: suspended their campaigns advocating women’s right to
vote and many were released from prison.
○ The Order of the White Feather: encouraged women to give white feathers, a symbol of
cowardice, to men not in the armed forces.
○ The Mothers’ Union: published posters urging mothers to send their sons.
○ Active Service League: took an oath promising to “persuade every man I know to offer
his services to our country.”

● Women went to work to alleviate labor shortage:

○ Office jobs: women were hired only as desk clerks initially.
○ Munitions work: the need was so great that the government began hiring women, even if
the work was tiring and dangerous, with the same wages as men. They quickly became
skilled. There were terrible accidents (such as the explosion at Silverton, London January
1917) and handling TNT explosives caused breathing difficulties, rashes and yellowing of
the skin, digestion problems, blood poisoning and even brain damage.
○ Women gained access to a whole range of jobs that had been previously reserved for
men: bus conductors, postal workers, farm labourers, coal deliverers, grave diggers, road
layers, welders, and steel workers.
○ Women’s Volunteer Police Service.
○ Women’s Hospital Corps.
○ Women's Land Army: 260,000 women served as farmers.
○ Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WAAC): in 1918, the first women’s army unit was founded,
though its members were never involved in front line fighting.
○ Women Nurses: in medical stations near the front line.
○ Salvation Army: sent women volunteers as nurses, cooks, and helpers to aid soldiers on
the Western Front.

CAUSES:
1. IMPERIALISM:
○ Ownership of colonies
 ○ Colonie provided cheap raw materials
○ Britain was the leader and was the most strong
○ Germany started growing very fast and was full of natural resources
○ Germany was seen to overtake Britain
○ Kaiser Wilhelmina II wanted Germany to be number one
○ Germany threatened the balance of power in Europe
○ Germany and France almost went to war twice over Morocco
○ Germany was more aggressive (ex. Military)
○ It had a lot of coal and steel and was the most threatening.
○ Nobody wanted to lose their empire, power
○ They wanted territory
○ The were not willing to step back

2. NATIONALISM:
○ Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism, marked by believing that one’s country is
superior to another.
○ The Ottoman Empire was facing growing nationalism from the many ethnic groups in
its empire who wanted their independence
○ The Empires were afraid to dissolve
○ Nationalism in the Balkans led the area to be called ‘the powder keg of Europe’.
○ There was an extreme form of patriotism
○ The Balkan Wars (1912-13) saw the creation of a strong Serbia, which Austria-Hungary
feared because they had Serbians in their own empire (didn’t want to lose them to Serbia,
worried about it inspiring other groups to rebel and eventually disintegrating their
empire).
○ Russia, in particular, was actively supporting and encouraging Slavic independence, as
they were Slavs themselves, and because they wanted allies in the region, so that they
could access the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles Strait.
○ WWI started in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Sarajevo

3. MILITARISM:
○ The government is governed by the military
○ Spending a lot of money in military
○ They spending a lot of time in drawing war plans, they have a plan for everything
○ Wanted to get as many weapons as possible and had an arms race.
○ They wanted to show that they had more than everyone else
 ○ As one country increased its armies, so all the others felt obliged to increase their
armed forces to keep the ‘balance of power’.

4. MOBILIZATION
○ It was very difficult to create war and mobilization plans and it took a very long time.
○ Mobilization schedules for each country in Europe were so precise and efficient that if
one country mobilized against another, it would mean victory. As a result, one country’s
mobilization meant that the other country would instantly have to mobilize as well if it
wanted a chance to defend itself from the attack.
○ Mobilization locked action and you could not stop it
○ Other countries dragged other ones to war, by using them in mobilization
○ Germany had only an attack plan and no defense

5. ALLIANCE:
○ Alliances are treaties of friendship between countries who promise to support each
other in a war; this was meant to deter war. As the chain grows and countries start
making alliances, this can actually lead to countries “falling” into war rather than being
able to find a diplomatic solution.
○ Triple Alliance (1882): Germany, Austro-Hungarian and Italy
○ Triple Entente (1907): Britain, France and Russia.

6. ASSASSINATION OF FRANZ FERDINAND:

○ The emperor of Austria-Hungary was called Franz Josef and was too difficult to kill
○ Franz Ferdinand was his brother and decided to kill him
○ He was important in economics
○ Him and wife Sophie go to Sarajevo and we’re not liked
○ Take part of a military parade
○ Ferdinand knew that the trip was dangerous
○ There was a terroristic band called Black Hand that were Serbians and were waiting for
him
○ Arrive to Sarajevo on June 28 1914, Serbia’s National Day
○ They try to kill him by thorough him grenades
○ A terrorist through a grenade but it explodes in the car back.
○ They then decide to go see them and redo the same streets
○ They do a wrong turn and a terrorist, Gavrilo Princip, shoots at the wife and Ferdinand
○ He went to prison for 20 years and died 4 years before the end of WWI
○ He says that he is not sorry to have started all of this.
DECLARATIONS OF WAR:
● July 28, 1914 WWI Starts:
○ Austria-Hungary declared war to Serbia
○ They received a blank chèque form Germany

● July 29:
○ Russia mobilizes

● August 1:
○ Germany declared war on Russia

● August 3:
○ Germany declared war on France

● August 4:
○ Germany declared war on Belgium and invaded.
○ Britain declared war on Germany
○ Britain was obliged to defend Belgium

FRONTS:
● The Western Front:
○ France against Germany
○ The Battle of the Somme July 1918

● The Eastern Front or Russian Front:

○ Russia against Austro-Hungarian and Germany
○ Battle of Tannenberg Aug. 1914

● The Italian Front:

○ Italian against Austro-Hungarian
○ Battle of Caporetto Oct. 1917

● North Sea blockade

 ● The Balkan Campaign

● Middle Eastern Campaign

WESTERN FRONT:
● Battle in Belgium because it was easier and had higher ground
● They they tried outflank each other: overtake them and cut their pass by blocking them
● It was a race, but then they got blocked by the sea.
● While racing they left soldiers behind and digging trenches
● Trenches from temporary shelters became complex defending systems and made them
as a maze for enemies to find soldiers not in an easy ways
● German ones were the best ones and most cured, they got the best positions on higher
ground.
● The BR had been decimated
● The FR lost a million soldier
● The British and the France were stuck in a stalemate

GOING TO THE TOP:

● It means to get in no man’s land and start attacking about of your trenches
● You hide in the holes made by the bombs to hide
● Defenders have advantage because they are hidden in the trenches
● The others are already in the no man’s land
● It was almost impossible to take over Terence’s

NO MAN’S LAND:
● Ground between two opposing trenches (about 200 meters or so usually).
● Craters here were often used at night time as listening posts to spy on the enemy.
● They were connected to the front line trench through a narrow underground passage called a sap
(usually built by ex-miners; would also try to dig under enemy trenches and put bombs).
● Barbed Wire was used to protect the front line trenches; (1) so that enemy soldiers couldn’t get
close enough to throw in grenades and (2) to channel attacking soldiers into machine gun fire.
● They were virtually impassible.
PTSD:
● Shell shock (or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) resulted from constant sound of shelling
and fear of death. It caused men to shake violently, be unable to speak, suffer panic
attacks and cry. It was recognised in 1915 as a mental illness. It was treated with rest,
hypnosis, counseling and electric shock therapy.
● Cowardice and Desertion were crimes, if found guilty in court, punishable by firing
squad.

MIDDLE EAST:
● Turkey threatened British oil reserves in Persia and Egypt, so fighting erupted in
Mesopotamia and Palestine.
● Between 1916-1918 the Allied troops (BR, ANZAC, Indian) tried to back the Turks.
● The Arab, who were mad that they were under their rule, attacked the Turks wanting
independence from them, led by a British T.E. Lawrence of Arabia.
● The Allies continues advance
● The Turks surrendered November 3, 1918.
MORALE:
● Enthusiasm:
○ No war between Great Powers since 1871
○ Excited to use their new and modern things

● Recruitment:
○ Country needed more soldiers
○ Many wanted to volunteer
○ Other were recruited by Britain
○ Government began to spread propaganda

● Conscription:
○ By 1916 soldiers between 18-40 years old had to register for service and to be drafted

● Teenager:
○ At those time not many people had passports
○ If you were higher than 1,60cm and has wide shoulders you would be considered an adult

● Conscientious object:
○ People refused to go to war for religious reasons and were seated to death, sent to
prison, to the front working hospitals
○ Only 16000 out of 8 million were conscientious

● Censorship:
○ The government censored bad and negative news in letters to the ones in the trenches
○ Only positive and victories were reported and shared
○ Losses were not reported and shared
○ Newspapers that did not collaborated were shut down

● Battle of the Somme as a turning point:

○ Many supported the war wholeheartedly until 1916
○ This battle changed the mood completely

● 12.5 million letters sent to the front line each week.

FAILURE OF THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN:
● First Failure
○ Theory:
■ Attack France through Belgium before Britain could mobilize
○ Reality:
■ Belgium resisted and slowed down Germany
■ Allowed Britain to come help and slowed more Germany
■ Got to France more tired Germany decided to invade Paris, but France
knew that they were coming

● Second Failure:
○ Theory:
■ “keep the right wing strong” with majority of Germany army fighting
France
○ Reality:
■ Russians mobilized soon than anticipated
■ German soldiers had to go back

● Third Failure:
○ Theory:
■ Paris would have been easy to beat, expecting France to be unpreparedù
■ France would be stationed at the border with Alsace-Lorraine, expecting
to fight there.
○ Reality:
■ The French try to attack at Alsace-Lorraine but they lose many soldiers
■ They abandon plan 17 and go to Paris
■ A joint BR/FR army battled the GE in the Battle of Marne, blocking the
advance of the GE in Paris.
■ Buses and taxis were used to move the soldiers.

ISONZO/ITALIAN FRONT:
 ● Italia Irredenta:
○ Neutral Italy had been promised territory from A-H by the BR if she joined the war on
the side of the Allies.

● Difficulties:
○ Italy and A-H were soon bogged down in trench warfare.
○ They battled at high altitudes and with very cold winters.
○ Numerous avalanches were caused by both sides purposefully firing artillery shells into
the mountainsides, or also occurring naturally.
○ Equipment was hard to bring and had to be brought by hand or on pack animals.
○ They were at a stalemate for two and a half years until the Battle of Caporetto.

● Battle of Caporetto:
○ The GE arrived to reinforce A-H, fearful that the Italians would break through after
doing good in the conflict up to that point.
○ The GE and AH succeeded in pulling off a sneak attack.
○ They eventually push the Italians back to the Piave River, just before Venice.

● Impact:
○ It was the worst defeat in Italian military history.
○ The Italians lost 300,000
○ Cadorna was replaced by Diaz
○ The Allies sent eleven BR/FR divisions as back up.
○ The Italian Government called to arms the 99 Boys that were born in 1899 and were
turning 18 in 1917.
○ The government changed.

WHY DID GERMANS LOSS IN 1918

● BR Blockade of GE very effective: Germany started running out of fuel, chemicals,
fertilizers. GE ships were trapped in port. The ‘Turnip Winter’ of 1917 led to starvation,
rationing, queueing for food, riots, and civilians demanding an end to the war.
● Failure of the GE Spring Offensive/ Hundred Days/ Operation Michael: When RU
surrendered, GE transferred troops to the Western Front; they wanted to try to break through
before America joined the war and the blockade devastated them. This was their last chance.
They used ‘stormtroopers’ (specially trained, small groups of soldiers, surprise attacks) and this
 was so successful, they got within 60 km of Paris, but moved faster than their supply lines and
discipline broke down as they looted for food. They were exhausted and overstretched; 880,000
GE casualties resulted.
● USA Enters War of the Allies: as a new member Increased Allied troop morale, brought
American industry and manpower.
● Defeat of GE’s alliances leaves GE weakened: Bulgaria surrendered to the
Serbians/French in September. The Turks surrendered to the British/Arabs in October.
A-H surrendered as minorities in the army mutinied against the Austrians in November.
● Revolution in GE: from monarchy to democracy:Discontent over food shortages,
mutinies, strikes, a serious flu epidemic, and impact of Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
led to great tension within GE. The Kaiser Wilhelm II leaves the crown. The new
government concluded an armistice (aka ‘truce’ or ‘ceasefire’) on November 11, 1918.

BATTLE OF GALLIPOLI:
● Plan:
○ Winston Churchill, head of the navy, came up with the idea.
○ The BR navy was going to sweep the Dardanelles, seize Constantinople and take Turkey
out of the war.

● Reasons:
○ BR would avoid getting bogged down on land as had happened on the Western Front
○ Germany would lose an ally
○ They would be able to get supplies to Russia by sea
○ They could get into the Balkans and attack AH
○ It would relieve Russia by drawing back AH troops

● Attack:
○ A joint BR, FR and ANZAC force of warships began their assault
○ The area wa too heavily defended by the Turks under German leadership and they lost
may ships
○ They aborted the mission and decided to invade by land, so that by taking that peninsula
they could make their boats pass easily.
○ In April they got the hilly beaches Helles.

● Deadlocked:
 ○ Neither side could break the deadlock and more troops poured onto the area.
○ Conditions were awful, especially in the summer and disease was rampant.
○ In November the poorly equipped troops faced frostbite and there were many casualties.

● Failure:
○ Due to bad planning and leadership.
○ Failing technology and superiority of Turkish troops, in December, they decided to pull
out and successfully evacuated the troops.
○ Churchill was humiliated.

TREATIES:
● Peace treaty with Austria
● Peace treaty with Hungary
● Peace treaty with Bulgaria
● Peace treaty with Germany
● Peace treaty with

TREATY OF VERSAILLES:
● War Guilt:
○ The Treaty said that Germany was to blame for causing the war

● Reparations:
○ They claimed reparations for damage caused during the war .
○ In 1921, with annual installments, they had to pay a sum of 6600 million.
○ Took away 10% of German industry and 15% of its agricultural land

● Military Restrictions:
○ The French desire for security meant the German armed forces to be reduced: Air
Force had to be disbanded;the army was limited to 100000 soldiers; navy was
limited to 15000 sailors, only 6 battleships and no submarines; the Rhineland
would be occupied by the Allies for 15 years, no German troops allowed in the
area.
● Territorial losses:
○ Germany lost 13% of its land that contained 6 million of its people.
○ Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France
○ West Prussia and Posen were lost to Poland
○ After votes by the people who lived there, some areas were lost:
■ Eugene and Malmedy to Belgium
■ Northern Schleswig to Denmark
■ Part of Upper Silesia to Poland
■ Danzig took from League of a nations as free city
■ Memel taken from League and then from Lithuania
■ Saarland was taken from the League for 15 years.
TRENCHES:
● Form of Trench:
○ Parapets are some sandbags to protect the trench and to see enemies or shoot
while being protected
○ Firestep was a step to get into a fire position
○ Dugout were made to be protected by bombing, sleep, eat
○ Parados were the back walls
○ Duckboards were made to protect from water and prevent trench foot
● Map:
○ Fire trench/front-line was were the most of battle actions took place
○ No man’s land was the land between the two trenches
○ Support trench was were the backup soldiers were
○ Communication trenches were the corrido
○ The trenches weren’t straight because when an enemy entered it would have been
easy to kill everyone.
○ The literines were holes in the ground as bathrooms
○ Listening post
○ Heavy artillery

WAR AT SEA:
● Objective:
○ control the seas to stop shipments of supplies on merchant ships.
○ The navy was very cautious and feared losing battleships, so there were few actual
battles.

● North Sea Blockade:

○ The British Blockade of German porta was crucial in Germany’s defeat.
○ They stopped all ships heading for GE ports turning back or sinking any with
food or war supplies.
○ 12,000 ships were intercepted, on,y 80 slipping through.
○ It is estimated 400,000-800,000 died in GE as a result of starvation caused by
the blockade.
 ○ No fertilizers could get in, nor animal feed, so they struggled to farm and had to
slaughter farm animals.

● New Technology:
○ Many thought Dreadnoughts would be key in battle, but submarines and
torpedoes were the most effective developments.
○ Depth charges (underwater bombs that went off at certain depths) were also
used.
○ The convoy system refers to merchant ships traveling together, guarded by
warships.
○ Planes could also be used to spot submarines and provide important intel and
backup.
○ Q Ships were ships that appeared to be defenseless merchant ships, but they were
actually heavily defended with guns disguised as cabins.
○ BR and US were building ships non stop, so much so that in 1917, it would have
been impossible for the GE to keep up and sink them all!

● Battle of Jutland:
○ Attempting to end the BR Blockade the GE lured the BR fleet into battle.
○ They say GE won because it sunk 14 ships, inflicted heavier losses and their ships
were better for battle.
○ They say BR won because GR navy rarely went to sea again after losing 11 ships
and it had to resort to unrestricted submarine warfare.

● German Unrestricted Submarine Warfare:

○ Protocol foresaw u-boats, warning ships, inspecting and allowing crew to
abandon ship.
○ Because of Q Ships they stopped inspecting
○ The GE began attacking any ship regardless of country, in BR waters without
warning
○ They sunk thee BR passenger ship Lusitania: killling 1,000 onboard, including
American.
○ The german stopped of fear of drawing the US in th war
○ They started again sea war without restrictions and had a big success
 ○ The BR remained with only 6 weeks of food left
○ America declares war on GE

EASTERN FRONT:
● Battle of Tannenberg:
○ In the first month it represented Russia’s worst defeat of the entire conflict.
○ Over 30000 Russian casualties
○ Only 10000 out of 150000 managed to escape
○ Defeat was very bad that General Aleksandr Samsonov committed suicide
○ Russia retried
○ Diversion of GE troops saved Paris

● Tremendous Strain on Russia:

○ Russian soldiers were not motivated to attack Germany because the country's
treaty obligations towards its Allies
○ They were badly led, poorly equipped and underfed and had to walk, not like GE
who got trains.
○ Lack of discipline that led to several desert actions and mutinies.
○ Keeping soldiers fed meant civilians went hungry

● The Two Russian Revolutions:

○ Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and a Provisional Government tried ruling for a
few months, but was overthrown by the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917.
○ Lending come to power
○ Russia leaves the war
○ Makes a separate peace with Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
 ● Conditions were horrible:
○ Boredom
○ Sleep deprived
○ Away from home and could only write letters s
○ Smelly: rotting dead bodies and water
○ Literines are not high if and many bacterias spreaded
○ A lot of trench foot
○ Big rats: brought diseases
○ Lice and a lot of fever
○ Many panic attacks because of bombs
○ A lot of shooting and could not see out, they had a periscope
○ Many people got hurt to get home
● Hygiene:
○ Shave daily
○ Lices
○ Rats everywhere
○ Epidemics like hyphold, dysentery and cholera spread a lot depending on
weather conditions.
○ Trench foot would bring to amputation

TYPICAL LIFE IN A TRENCH:

● 5am: Stand-to (be ready)
● 5.30am: Rum ration
● 6am: Stand down half an hour after daylight
● 7am: Breakfast (bacon and tea)
● After 8am: Clean selves and weapons, tidy trench
● Noon: Dinner(Lunch)
● After lunch: Sleep and downtime
● 5pm: Tea (Dinner)
 ● 6pm: Stand-to half an hour before dusk
● 6.30pm: Stand-down half an hour after dusk
● 6.30pm onwards: Work all night with some time for rest

FOOD IN THE TRENCHES:

● British had to shave everyday except their mustache
● British ate more meat but it was not good quality
● They ate also potatoes
● The only food they could grow was turn-ups
● They had a whole
● Boiling

SOLDIER KIT:

GOING TO THE TOP:

● It means to get in no man’s land and start attacking about of your trenches
● You hide in the holes made by the bombs to hide
● Defenders have advantage because they are hidden in the trenches
● The others are already in the no man’s land
● It was almost impossible to take over Terence’s

ROUTINE WORK:
● Repair and dig trenches
● Training
● Clean literines
● Get in listening posts

FREE TIME:
● sleeping
● Writing
● Reading
 ● Football matches
● Concerts
● Drinking
● Smoking
● Playing card or chess
● Receiving parcels
● Diary writing

WHY THE THREE YEARS OF STALEMATE:

CAVALRY:
● they were very vulnerable
● We’re massacred

POISON GAS:
● mustard gas
● slowly burned
● Blinded
● Killed many
● Many gas masks
TANKS:
● Invented by Br
● Not easy to use

DOGS:
● Messages
● Getting rats
● Search hidden enemies
● Carried medical supplies
● Watchdogs

COMMUNICATION:
● From dogs
● From carrier pigeons
AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR (1917):

WAR IN THE AIR:

● Planes:
○ Very primitive and dangerous
○ They first did reconnaissance work and took pictures of enemy trenches.
○ The FR, BR, AU, GE all had their flying aces engaged in one-on-one combat in the
skies (called a ‘dogfight’).
○ The most famous was the Red Baron (Baron von Richthofen), who shot down 80
Allied planes.
○ Initially used pistols or rifles to shoot
○ In 1915 they added machine guns.
○ End of war redesigned heavy bombers
○ There were 23000 BR planes from 37 at the start

● GE Zeppelins:

HOME FRONT:
● Defense of the Realm Act (DORA): gave the government special powers to take over
industries and land needed for the war effort, censor newspapers, etc.
● First Zeppelin air raids.
● Munitions Crisis: BR soldiers allowed 3 rounds a day.
● More BR soldiers died in the Battle of the Somme than any other before, half a million
with little to show for it. First public criticism of the war.
● Food shortages due to the blockade; the government took over 2.5 million acres of new
farmland to feed BR. Food prices continued to rise and food queues got longer.
Compulsory rationing introduced on sugar, butter, meat and beer.
● Women over 30 voted for the first time in BR in 1918.

Alliances: A union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or
organizations.
Allies: The nations who joined together to fight the Central Powers during World War I; they
included France, Great Britain, Russia, Belgium, Italy, the United States, and several smaller
countries.
Armistice: A temporary stop in fighting, or truce.
Arms Race: A competition between nations for superiority in the development and
accumulation of weapons.
Artillery: Large-caliber weapons such as cannons and missile launchers that are capable
of firing shells from a long distance.
Balance of Power: In international relations, states may secure their survival by
preventing any one state from gaining enough military power to dominate all others
Balkans: Comprise the areas of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,
Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania.
Barrage: A concentrated artillery bombardment over a wide area.
Black Hand: A secret Serbian society that used terrorist methods to promote the
liberation of Serbs outside Serbia from Austria-Hungary or Ottoman rule and was
instrumental in planning the assassination of the Austrian archduke Franz
Ferdinand (1914).
Blockade: An act or means of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering
or leaving.
Bolsheviks: A group of radical Russian activists who led the 1917 revolution in that
country.
Bond: A certificate of debt issued by a government that promises repayment at a later
date, plus interest; bonds were sold to raise money to support the war effort.
Campaign: A series of military operations undertaken to achieve a larger goal in war; a
campaign will often consisted of a number of battles.
Casualty: A soldier injured, killed, captured, or missing in the course of a battle; military
strategists counted casualties as a way of assessing the damage done in a battle or