Part Two (stalemate)

Question 1

Why was the Schlieffeen plan created ?

Answer 1

To deal with the problem at being at war with France and Russia (the Franco-Russian alliance) the war at two fronts

Question 2

Who created the Schlieffen plan ?

Answer 2

General count Alfred Von Schlieffen

Question 3

What was the aim of the Schlieffen plan ?

Answer 3

He did not want to split up his army and want to fight one war of the west and one war on the east. Therefore his aim was to beat the countries one at a time

Question 4

What was the plan of the Schlieffen Plan ?

Answer 4

He planned to attack France first since he assumed that it would take Russia two to four week to mobilise there army. This would give Germany time to beat France, the turn around and attack the Russians

Question 5

How did the Germans go about attacking France ?

Answer 5

They planned attack
through Belgium. Since it lacked larger military forces and the French would expect it. Once in France they would advance to Paris, the French would be outflanked and surrounded.

Question 6

Why did the Germans want to attack Paris ?

Answer 6

The Schlieffen plan predicted that Paris could be defeated in 40 days, giving the Germans time to turn their forces and attack the Russians

Question 7

How did Belgium cause the Schlieffen plan to slow ?

Answer 7

The German advance was slowed down at the Belgium city of Mons, near the French border for four to five days

Question 8

What slowed down the Germans at Mons ?

Answer 8

The British Expeditionary Force , the British rifle-fire was so fast that the Germans thought they were being machine gunned

Question 9

What did the British Expeditionary force prove to the Germans and why did it change the Schlieffen plan ?

Answer 9

That the British were effective even when outnumbered, the Belgium’s causing a delay meant that Germany had to abandon their plan of sweeping around paris to capture it

Question 10

What other problem did the Germans have at Paris ?

Answer 10

Their food, water and ammunition could not keep up with them, meaning the Germans were exhausted after only a few weeks of war

Question 11

What did the Germans decide to do one they reached the River Marne ?

Answer 11

Since 11 divisions were sent to the east to fight the Russians, they swerved to the south east away from paris meaning they marched into the valley of the River Marne

Question 12

How did the German’s marching into the valley of the River Marne benefit the French and Biritish ?

Answer 12

It gave the French and British an opportunity to attack

Question 13

How did the british and French attacking from the west force the schlieffen plan to get changed ?

Answer 13

He had to turn westwards to meet the attack instead of continuing with the advance

Question 14

When was it clear that the Schlieffen plan had failed ?

Answer 14

When the British and French troop began to advance forcing the Germans to retreat to the river of Aisine ( this was known as as the battle of Marne)

Question 15

What were the casualties from the Battle of Marne ?

Answer 15

Two million solider fought

More than half a million were injured or killed in less than one week of fighting

Question 16

What did the Germans have to do since the Schlieffen plan failed ?

Answer 16

They had to start digging in to protect themselves from the gunfire and bombs. The French and British did the same, facing the German positions

Question 17

What was the ‘race to the sea’ ?

Answer 17

Both sides had dug in and none could go forward so they started to try and outflank each other by trying to go around and behind the other, they built trenches as they went

Question 18

What casualties were there from the wars taking place during the race to the sea ?

Answer 18

120,00 soliders were killed as a result to stop the Germans outflanking them

Question 19

By November both sides had reached the English channel, How far did the trenches stretch by now ?

Answer 19

400 miles, this created stalemate. The war of movement was over and trench warfare had began (each side was push 50 to 60 miles before being pushed back)

Question 20

What was the formation of the trench system ?

Answer 20

They were built in a zig zag pattern :

No man’s land : shell fire and wet weather turns the ground muddy making it difficult to crops

Front line trenches and dug out: Protect troops yet shell fire would destroy them

Support trench

Machine gun post

Deep dugouts - could withstand shell fire

Reserve trenches

Long range artillery fires, positioned ten kilometres from front line

Question 21

What did a trench consist of ?

Answer 21

• Dugout
• Duckboard
• Fire step
• Ammunition shelf
• Elbow rest
• Sand bags
• Barbed wire

Question 22

What was the everyday routine in the trenches ?

Answer 22

One third of men were on guard duties

One third of mean repaired the trench and collected good, water, letters, ammunition and first aid supplies

One third of men would res, write letter, draw, paint, play cards of cook

Question 23

What was the monthly routine in the trenches ?

Answer 23

In a typical month, a spikier nugget serve four days in the four days in the front line, four days in the support trenches, four days, eight days in the reserve trenches and the rest on the lines in the Local town

Question 24

What was stand to ?

Answer 24

A time during dawn and dusk when there was the high test stare of alert since it was difficult to spot attacks

Question 25

What was trench humour ?

Answer 25

They made up rude songs, told naughty jokes and drew funny pictures and cartoons

Question 26

What were the luxuries of war ?

Answer 26

Every week more than 12 million Parcels were sent from home They wrote home yet don’t write about the horrors of war since they would upset loved ones and they letter would be checked by a commanding officer in case the letters being intercepted by the enemy and that they were not giving away any army secrets

Question 27

What was hygiene like in the trenches ?

Answer 27

- Lice - Buckets used as toilets - Rats

Question 28

What was good like in the trenches ?

Answer 28

Basic food : Stew, breads and hard biscuits Treats: Jam, Bacon and cheese Water tasted of chlorine to kill germs Rum in harsh weather germans drunk beer and brandy

Question 29

What was mental health like in the trenches ?

Answer 29

Shell Shock : Some people shook uncontrollably Some became paralysed

Question 30

Wat were the weapons used in trench warfare ?

Answer 30

- Artillery (60 percent of all wounds) - Machine guns (caused 40 percent of all British wounds) - Rifle (light and accurate) - Bayonet ( 49 centimetre knife at the end of a rifle) - Grenades - Falme throwers (deadly in small places like dugouts) - Tanks (British invention)

Question 31

Why is the battler of Verdun ?

Answer 31

It was the longest battle of the First world war

Question 32

What was the plan ?

Answer 32

To capture the forts of a Verdun since they were a symbol of France’s pride . He did not think it was necessary in beating the French, yet he wanted to ‘bleed France white’ since he knew the French would die defending this city

Question 33

What is the war of attrition ?

Answer 33

Wearing down the enemy until they collapse

Question 34

What were the French tactics at the battle of Verdun ?

Answer 34

The General realised that defending Verdun was going to caused many French casualties so he was determined to inflict the maximum damage on German soliders too

Question 35

When did the Germans finally take one of the forts ?

Answer 35

In early June, it was proved to their final success

Question 36

How did the battle of verdun move to the battle of the Somme ?

Answer 36

The British launched a major attack in the German positions at the River Somme and an attack by the Russians in the Eastern Front weakened the Germans at Verdun

Question 37

What were the results of the battle of Verdun ?

Answer 37

23 million shells fired Verdun destroyed The Germans lost 280,000 men Despite losing more men the French through themselves as the winners, ye t neither side has made an real military gains

Question 38

Why was the Battle of the Somme significant ?

Answer 38

One of the largest battles (3 million men taking part) One of the bloodiest battles (one million men were wounded or killed)

Question 39

What was the plan of the battle of the somme ?

Answer 39

To break stalemate and push the Germans back, Britain and France panned a coordinated attack. Instead of sending troops to Verdun the british lead an attack at the Somme to gain ground and relieve pressure from the French

Question 40

How did the Germans avoid the 1,500,000 shells fired in eight days in the 24 June 1916 ?

Answer 40

They knew the attack was coming, they secretly pulled from their front-lines and took shelter in concrete dugouts, stretched wire in a 30- metre- wide ban in front of their trenches, all the shells did was lift the wire and some of them were such bad quality that they did explode

Question 41

What did the German do after the bombing stopped ?

Answer 41

They left there shelters, dragged their machine guns to the front-lines and waited for the attack on foot to begin

Question 42

What happened during the attack during the battle of the somme ?

Answer 42

The British walked to the German trenches, the Germans cut down the attacking force easily. Despite the heavy losses, Haig still continued to send people ‘over the top’

Question 43

What were the results of the Battle of the Somme ?

Answer 43

British and French gained a strip of land 25 kilometres and 6 kilometres wide However suffered more losses than Germany - Britain and France - 620,00 - Germany - 500000

Question 44

Why was the battle of Passchendaele significant ?

Answer 44

It was the muddiest battle that was fought

Question 45

What was the aim of the battle of passendaele and why was it the right time do launch an attach then ?

Answer 45

To capture the forts that the Germans were using as submarine bases Haig thought it was a good time to launch an attack them since the USA just entered the war and there supplies were on way and Russia was just about to pull out of the war

Question 46

How did Haig attack ?

Answer 46

He began with an artillery bombardment that lasted ten days. It was over 4,500,000 million shells from 3000 guns

Question 47

Why was the mud lethal in the battle of Passendaele ?

Answer 47

Troops had to carry boards as an attempt to get over the mud If soldiers slip of the boards they would be weighted down by equipment and drown in the mud Men and horses bodies rot in the mud and the mud began to stink One of the British officers said “My God we really sent kent to go fight in that ?”

Question 48

What was the result of the war ?

Answer 48

The artillery bombardment had failed yet the British soldiers kept attacking until they reached the village of Passchendaele and attacks were called off

Question 49

What were the casualties of the battle of Passchendaele?

Answer 49

400,000 British soliders 300,000 German soilders Haig’s reputation was further discredited

Question 50

Why did Turkey support Germany ?

Answer 50

Since Germany promised to improve the turks army so the turks agreed to an alliance with Germany

Question 51

How did France and Britain think they could help Russia in the war they were fighting in the Caucasus Mountains in Turkey ?

Answer 51

They thought that if they gained control of the Dardanelles then they would be able to send supplies to Russia by sea

Question 52

Why did Winston Churchill think it was a good idea to attack italy ?

Answer 52

- Weaken Germany (Germany would have to send soldiers to help weakening their army and the west and eastern front) - Would give the French and British a chance to break throught enemy lines enemy lines - After a quick attack of turkey, neighbouring countries would join freaked and Britain to defeat AH leaving Germany isolated and surrounded

Question 53

What was Phase 1 of the Gallipoli campaign ?

Answer 53

British and French ships began their attack and cleared the entrance to Dardanelles clear of Turkish forts and mines

Question 54

What was phase 2 of the Gallipoli campaign ?

Answer 54

A new line of mines in the water sunk three ships and severely damaged ships. The rest of the ships retreated

Question 55

What is phase 3 of the Gallipoli campaign?

Answer 55

Land attack : 70,000 soliders begin invading but grisly had recieved information about the attack that was coming and quickly moved 84,000 turkish troops along the coast and told them to prepare for an invasion from the sea

Question 56

What was a result of the land invasion ?

Answer 56

Troops dug in to defend themselves

Question 57

What were the results of the Gallipoli campaign ?

Answer 57

No aims of Churchill was meet apart from diverting and weakening Germany and other achievements included, no troops dies during the evacuation, a few submarines managed to get throught to the Dardanelles and sink some of Turkey’s war and supply ships, severely affect the war efforts

Question 58

Why is having control the seas important ?

Answer 58

- Countries get supplies such as (food and oils) from abroad. Control over the seas help to protect boats bringing supplies in - Also you can stop other supply ships from getting to its enemy (BLOCKADE)

Question 59

How did Britain cause a blockade ?

Answer 59

They named the north sea a war zone and that any ships entering it would do so at its own risk

Question 60

Why did the British blockade affect Germany ?

Answer 60

Germany’s supply ships could only give Germany supplies by going through the north sea

Question 61

What effects did the blockade have on Germany ?

Answer 61

Coal , oil and steel supplies could not get through , so industry struggles Fertilisers for crops were in shorts supply so 420,000 Germans starved to death A lack of vital medicine Major protests against the war

Question 62

Why did Germany and Britain not want to lose their navy in a large-scale sea battle ?

Answer 62

Like the British naval commander Jellicoe said ‘the war could be lost in an afternoon’ if the british navy was destroyed

Question 63

What were the 3 small sea battles and there consequences?

Answer 63

- In August three German ships sunk (battle of heligoland) , - In November Germans sunk two British ships off the coast of Chile - The British hit back 2 weeks later, sank four German ships, off the coast of Argentina - 2000 German sailors drowned, including the admiral and his two sons - Early 1915, another German warships was destroyed in the North sea at Dogger Bank

Question 64

What happened for at the battle of Jutland that was unfortunate for the Germans ?

Answer 64

The British captured a German code book so could listen in on what messages the ships were sending to each other

Question 65

How did Germany use u-boats ?

Answer 65

To wage an underwater war on their enemy

Question 66

How did the Germans use their u boats in the war under the sea ?

Answer 66

In ten early stages of the war, the Germans announced that all ships entering British waters would be attacked by one of the Germany’s U-boats

Question 67

How did the British respond to unrestricted submarine warfare ?

Answer 67

They responded by laying minefields around Britain to protect the coast and prevent u-boats from using the English channel They also used Q-ships

Question 68

What were Q - ships ?

Answer 68

The British used Q-ships that were heavily armed warships disguised as supply ships, they lured U-boats into attacking before firing upon them

Question 69

How was the use of U-boats effective for the Germans ?

Answer 69

The German u-boat campaign sank an average of two supply ships a day and hundered of thousands of tonnes of supplies to get through to Britain

Question 70

What stopped the U-boat campaign for a while ?

Answer 70

The sinking of the Lusitania Over 1000 passengers drowned, including 128 Americans. It increases the tension between US and Germany, the USA remembered this attack, referring to it when declaring war on Germany in 1917

Question 71

What happened during the in the second U - boat campaign ?

Answer 71

Five hundred supply ships heading for Britain were destroyed in eight weeks. By April, the U-boat campaign had been so successful that Britain was only left with six weeks of food supply

Question 72

How did Britain respond to the second U- boat camping ?

Answer 72

The British responded to the renewed threat by introducing a convoy system

Question 73

What was the convoy system ?

Answer 73

The convoy system meant they the supply ships sailed close together in larger groups, protected by warships

Question 74

What were depth charges ?

Answer 74

Bones that dropped into the water than exploded at certain depths used to attack u-boats

Question 75

How was longe-range aircraft used to attack u boats ?

Answer 75

They were developed to fly overhead looking for u-boats near the surface of the water

Question 76

How effective was the convoy system ?

Answer 76

Only five of the eight hundred ships bringing supplies to Britain were sunk