Europe

Plunges into
War
Grade 9 History
Yu Pengfei
• Main idea: One European nation after another was drawn into
a large and industrialized war that resulted in many casualties.
• Terms and names:
Central Power
Allies
Western Front 西部战线
Schlieffen Plan 施里芬计划
trench warfare 壕沟战
Eastern Front 东部战线
• First World War oversimplify:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHSQAEam2yc
 Russia began Russian’s
Austria
moving its army mobilization
declared war
toward the Russian- triggered German’s
on Serbia
Austrian border action

German German In response, Great

declared war declared war Britain declared war on
on Russia on France Germany.

The Great War Begins

 I. The Great War Begins
A. Nations Take Sides
• 1. Triple Entente 三国协约 -the Allied Powers/Allies-Great
Britain, France, and Russia
 I. The Great War Begins
A. Nations Take Sides
• 2. Triple Alliance 三国同盟 - Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy,
Ottoman’s
 I. The Great War Begins
A. Nations Take Sides
• 4. Austria-Hungary and Germany were known as the Central
Powers because they were in the center of Europe
 Central powers: Germany,
Austria-Hungary. Italy quitted
and Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
joined.
Nations take
sides
Great Britain, France, Russia.
Italy and Japan joined.
• Why did Italy joined the Triple Entente?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzjjBQl0fu0
 3. Question
Why did Italy leave the Triple Alliance and join the
Triple Entente?

Italy argued that the treaty it signed with German and

Austria-Hungary was a defensive one.

Italy government believed that the Triple Entente

will win the war.

Italy hope that it could gain territory from Austria-

Hungary.
 I. The Great War Begins
A. Nations Take Sides

• The Japanese were interested in taking

control of German possessions.

• They were already allies with the British, so

they communicated with the British, and they
came to an agreement that if Japan were to
attack German possessions in the Pacific and
in China, then Japan could take control of
them.
 The excitement of war
• Many Europeans seemingly believed that the war had given them a
higher purpose, a renewed dedication to the greatness of their nations.
• The next morning I was in Austria. In every station placards had been
put up announcing general mobilization. The trains were filled with
fresh recruits, banners were flying, music sounded, and in Vienna I
found the entire city in a tumult… there were parades in the street,
flags, ribbons, and music burst forth everywhere, young recruits were
marching triumphantly, their faces lighting up at the cheering…
Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday
 The excitement of war
• In any case I mean to go into this business… That is the simple duty
of every one of us. And this feeling is universal among the soldiers,
especially since the night when England’s declaration of war was
announced in the barracks. We none of us got to sleep till three
o’clock in the morning, we were so full of excitement, fury, and
enthusiasm. It is a joy to go to the Front with such comrades. We are
bound to be victorious! Nothing else is possible in the face of such
determination to win.
Walter Limmer, Letter to His Parents
 Question

• Why did the war creates such feelings

of patriotism and enthusiasm?
 II. A Bloody Stalemate
A. Conflict Grinds Along
• 1. The deadlock region in Northern France became known as
the Western Front
 • The war turned into a long and bloody
stalemate, or deadlock, along the battlefields
of France.
• Followed the Schlieffen Plan, German forces
had swept into France and reached the
5. A Bloody outskirts of Paris. Allies regrouped and
stopped Germans in the valley of Marne river,
Stalemate northeast of France.
• The First Battle of the Marne was the single
most important event of the war. A quick
victory in the west no longer seemed possible.
 Poison Gas: the
chemical
weapons-’gas’ was Machine Gun: the machine
introduced by gun was much improved by
the time of World War I.
New Germans but used by
both sides.
weapons of
war
Submarine: in 1914, the
Germans introduced the
Tank: first introduced by submarine as an effective
the British in 1916 at the warship. The weapon used
Battle of the Somme. by the submarine was
missile.
Interpreting Maps
 What geographic
disadvantage did Germany
and Austria-Hungary face in
fighting the war?
Interpreting
Maps
How might this have affected
their war strategy?
 II. A Bloody Stalemate
A. Conflict Grinds Along
• 2. Germany developed the Schlieffen Plan 史里芬计划 , named
after Alfred Graf von Schlieffen. It was designed to fight the war on
two fronts; France to the West and Russia to the East; for this
plan to work the war needed to end quickly.
 II. A Bloody Stalemate
B. War in the Trenches
• In the battle of the Somme, in the Verdun Valley, on the first
day of fighting the British lost 20,000 men; by the time the
Battle of Somme 索姆河战役 ended in November there were
over a half million casualties-total of 9 miles were won and lost
 • In February 1916, the Germans launched a massive attack against the
French near Verdun. Both Germany and French lost more than 300000
The men.
slaughter • July 1916, in order to relieve the pressure on the French, British decided to
reached a attacked the Germans in the valley of the Somme River.
• By the end of November, each side(Germany-British and French) had
peak suffered more than half a million casualties.
Important battles
• First Battle of the Marne
• 第一次马恩河战役，又名马恩河奇迹（英语：
Miracle of Marne ）是第一次世界大战西部战线的一
次战役。这场战役发生在 1914 年 9 月 5 日至 12 日。
在这场战役中，英法联军合力击退了德意志帝国军。
第一次马恩河战役是德军自八月的边境战役并向巴
黎郊区推进以来，对法国攻势的高峰。六组法国军
团及英国远征军沿马恩河展开反击，迫使德军撒退
至法国西北，导致日后的埃纳河战役及“奔向大
海”的行动。虽然马恩河战役对协约国是一场胜利，
但亦导致长达四年的西线堑壕战。
• 马恩河战役在短短数天内决定了整个战争的局势，德国的施里芬计划彻底失
败，再也不可能迅速结束西线的战场。至于协约国方面，联军守住了巴黎并
迫使德军撤退，但其胜利不足以将德军击溃或者驱离出他们所占领的地区。
双方为了获取更安全的掩护开始挖掘壕沟，传统的运动战被将领舍弃，转而
采取壕沟战，让接下来四年的僵局留下难以抹灭的历史印象。
Battle of Verdun 凡尔登战役
Battle of Verdun 凡尔登战役
• 1916 年 2 月 21 日 -12 月 19 日
• nations: Germany ， France
• Total number of soldiers: 2000000
• Death and casualty: 1000000
Background
• 1914 年德国没能取得迅速胜利，欧洲战场在西线形成胶着状态的战壕战，
交战双方谁都不能前进一步。 1915 年，德国的几次进攻努力都没有能够奏
效。德国将军冯 · 法金汉认为如果对法国加强打击，迫使法军投入所有兵力，
会使法国因消耗而亡。他选择了位于默兹高地上的凡尔登要塞作为主要进攻
点，凡尔登是法国东北部的一座小城市，是德国通往巴黎的主要交通要道，
有“巴黎钥匙”之称。此外，凡尔登亦是高卢民族情感的发源地，无论是情
感还是战略层面，法国都不可能放弃凡尔登。因此，进攻此处可以让法国
“流尽最后一滴血”。 1916 年发生于此的著名的凡尔登战役，是第一次世
界大战的转折点，德意志帝国也从此逐步走向最后失败。
• 1916 年 2 月，德国皇太子亲率 21 万德军，向凡尔登发动了猛烈进攻。
• 凡尔登的保卫力量比较虚弱，但由于气候条件不佳，德国的进攻被迫延迟，为法国调集援兵提供了时
间，法国调集了两个师进入这个地区。
• 1916 年 2 月 21 日德军动用 1,200 门大炮对 40 公里的战线进行了 9 个小时的集中轰击，发射了 100 万发
炮弹，然后用 3 个军（第 3 、第 7 、第 18 军）的兵力进攻，先头部队用火焰喷射器扫清战壕， 23 日德
国军队已经前进了将近 5 公里，法国军队被迫后撤。

• 2 月 25 日法军总司令霞飞任命亨利 · 菲利普 · 贝当将军为凡尔登地区总指挥，贝当将军指挥的第 20 军

进入凡尔登的当天，就收到了杜奥蒙要塞失陷的战报，由于法军第 33 团的顽强抵抗，再加上当时天降
大雪，德军对杜奥蒙村的进攻受阻，法军利用唯一一条与后方保持联系的巴勒迪克 - 凡尔登公路（法国
人称为“圣路”）把握时间向凡尔登运送人员补给，一周内组织 3,900 辆卡车，运送人员 190,000 和
25,000 吨的物资，这是人类战史上首次大规模的汽车运输。法军的大批援军及时赶到，加强了纵深防
御，扭转了战役开始阶段的不利局面，使战役陷入拉锯战。
End
• 1916 年索姆河战役打响，迫使德军从凡尔登抽调部分兵力去对付
北面的英法联军。到了秋季，德军已经非常疲惫，德军总司令保
罗 · 冯 · 兴登堡撤换了法金汉将军，任命埃里希 · 鲁登道夫为凡尔
登战役司令。

• 1916 年 10 月 21 日法军发起反攻，使用了新式 400 毫米口径的大

炮和徐进弹幕射击技术， 10 月 24 日夺回杜奥蒙要塞， 11 月 2 日
德军放弃沃要塞， 12 月 11 日德军完全退到战役开始时的战线。
Aftermath 余波
• 贝当由于坚持战场上的部队必须定期轮换，致使 70% 的法军都参与了这场
战役，而德军只有 20% 参与了。残酷的战斗造成了心理上的影响，几乎导
致法军叛变，由于答应士兵今后再也不参加向德军进攻的严酷的战斗，才使
叛变没有真正发生。以后法军士兵拒绝进行进攻性的战斗，只是守在战壕中
进行保卫战。

• 凡尔登战役的胜利使得法国更相信要塞防御系统，从而导致修建马奇诺防线，
凡尔登战役也成为法国决心保卫自己的信心的象征。
On your own
• Investigate one important battle during the First World War, then give
a presentation during the class
• You should
• explain the background of this battle
• the warring nations of two sides
• The chief leaders
• The aftermath
• In your presentation, you must contain maps of the battle, provide
picture of the battleground of soldiers.
Option two
• Investigate one of the new weapons which first introduced during the
WWI, give a presentation during the class.
• Invention of this weapon
• Which country
• How did it work
• The effect of this weapon
 • Trench warfare: by
early 1915, opposing
armies on the
Western Front had
dug miles of parallel
trenches to protect
themselves from
enemy fire.
War in the Trenches
 • Dingbat: shell shocked,
nervous or mad
• Cooties: nickname for body or
head lice.
• Napoo gun: finished, Dead of
completely destroyed. (the
gun is comically broken, no
actual gun would have it's
barrel bent like this unless run
over by a tank)
Shell Shocked: Subjected to heavy fire; might result in a loss of • Iron rations: A soldier's dry
sensation. rations; Usually consisting of
Souvenir: Permanent wound, scar, or shrapnel in a soldier's body.
No Man's Land: the space between lines of opposing sides.
rice, barley, bread, biscuits,
Blighty wound: An injury serious enough to warrant being sent salt, and bacon.
home.
Life in the trenches
 • Soldiers fought each other from trenches,
armies traded huge losses of human life
for pitifully small land gains.
• “The men slept in mud, washed in mud,
ate mud, and dreamed mud”
Life in the • “Shells of all calibers kept raining on our
trenches sector, the trenches disappeared, filled
with earth…the air was unbreathable. Our
blinded, wounded, crawling, and shouting
soldiers kept falling on top of us and died
splashing us with blood. It was living hell”.
 Eastern Front: during World War One, the
stretch of battlefield along the German and
Russian border.

The battle of Russians and Serbs battled Germans and

the East Front Austro-Hungarians.

A more mobile war than that in the west.

Russia Struggles
• By 1916, Russia’s war effort was near collapse.
• a. Russia had yet to become industrialized.
• b. as a result, Russian army was continually short on food, guns,
ammunition, clothes, boots, and blankets.
• c. the Allied aid shipments were limited by German control of the
Baltic Sea.
Russian army suffered enormous casualties, and it kept conscripting
soldiers from its population.