History paper 1 section B part 2 Flashcards
what was the main reason for the schlieffen plan
to avoid a war on two fronts
what would the schlieffen plan violate
belgian neutrality
who was commited to protect britain since when and why
since 1839 britain in the treaty of london had committed to protect belgium for their neutrality so protect themselves
when had the schlieffen plan been drawn up n by who
1905 by count alfred von schlieffen
what did the plan prevent germany doing to its army
splitting it in two
what did the plan depend upon
time
what was the plan
defeat france in 5-6 weeks then in the 8 weeks it thought it would take russia to mobilise then go and defeat russia
when did the plan go into action SPlan
August 1914
what was the first part of the plan
invading belgium on aug 4th
why did the schlieffen plan fail -belgium and what did it give france and britain
belgium army fought with more effect than expected and it slowed germany down and gave britain and france time to mobilise
what else also slowed germany down - they were powerful and what did they use
the arrival of the BEF they were the professional army that used the Lee Enfield rifles so well germany thought they had 28 machine guns per battalion in reality they had 2
who led the BEF
sir john french
what also made the plan fail - russia
russia mobilised much faster than expected
who was the german commander and what did he do to deal with a fast mobilised russia
Von Moltke sent 100,000 troops east to deal with russia
what was the french plan called
plan seventeen
where did the french cut off the german forces
the river Marne
what was the change to the SP - paris
instead of encircling paris germany did a hammer blow attack on the city
where were tiring german forces driven back to by british and french forces
the river Aisne
what did the germans do at the river Aisne
dug trenches
what had germany failed to do
capture paris
after the marne where did the forces go
northwards
where did the british halt germany
Ypres
where did britain retain access to
channel ports
why was it important that britain retaines the channel ports
to help bring supplies and troops to france in the war
what now set in and what did both sides dig
stalemate set in and trenches were dug
what had come to an end by the end of 1914
a war of movement
what did both sides prepare for
a spring offensive in 1915
where was the key battle zone for WW1
the western front
where did this western front line of trenches stretch from
channel coast in belgium area to swiss border
what was it now a war of and what did this sort of war mean
it was a war of attrition little movement and the aim was to wear down the enemy
how exactly step by step did the attacks take place think of the people and weapons
1- an artillery barrage - used guns from behind the lines for hours in a hope of ruining opposition trench and barbed wire
2- infantry went over the top into no mans land and attack with rifles and bayonets
3- infantry over power remaining soldiers and take trench
why didnt this method of attack work
1- artillery did not work trenches were too well dug
2- the infantry was an easy target in no mans land crossfire was often used
what percentage of wounds did shells and trench mortar cause the british soldiers
58%
what percentage of injury did rifles and machine guns cause british troops
39%
what two battles were tanks used at and were they effective
Flers and the somme
not effective too slow
why was there no change in tatics
because generals believed there was no other way of fighting
the generals were criticised for the tatics but how did the soldiers feel
the soldiers were very bitter as they could see it wasnt working and there was a huge casualty number
what did the generals do to make attacks more effective
new weapons and equipment were used eg tanks gas masks helmets
did the generals send untrained men into the somme and evidence
no they didnt there were practice trenches on sailsbury plain
how deep were the trenches
2 meters deep
what was uses to support the trench and what was put ag the front
sandbags were put at the sides and a parapet was put at the front
what did the parapet do to the depth of the trenches
increased the depth to 3 meters
