The British On The Western Front Flashcards
What was the Schlieffen plan?
Created by General Alfred Von Schlieffen, it was Germans military tactics. They planned to sweep through an unguarded Belgium, round Paris and then cut off the French forces in the east of the country
What went wrong with the Schlieffen plan?
Progress through Belgium was slower than expected
They changed the plan midway through and met the French and British army in Paris (Battle of the Marne) where they eventually retreated, finishing the Schlieffen plan
What happened after the battle of the Marne?
Both sides built trenches for protection and to make sure they cannot be outflanked. Both sides extended their trenches sideways in a ‘race to the sea’ so they could begin surrounding the other with their trench, but neither side reached the sea or overtook each other
Describe the battle at Ypres? (Nov 1914)
Near the Belgian Coast, the Germans tried to smash through the French and British defences. They failed suffering 134,000 casualties with the Allies suffering 142,000. The German defeat meant the war was a stalemate for a while, the stretch of land became known as the western front
How did most people think the war would be fought?
By quick moving armies and ‘would be over by Christmas’
What was the reality of how the war was fought?
Millions of soldiers were dug into strong positions on each side causing the war to grind to a halt, the generals did not know what to do. The men sent out into no mans land were almost always shot instantly. A break through was never made on the Western Front, so both sides began the policy of ‘attrition’ which was wearing the enemy down and hoping they could last longer with their supplies
What was the battle at Verdun? (1916)
Verdun was very valuable to the French, so (lead by General Falkenhayn) the Germans loaded masses of military and attacked the French at Verdun. After many French casualties the Germans called of this attack because the British had launched the Somme offences
Describe the use of machine guns in the war?
A new invention, shooting 500bullets per minute they were very deadly. The German army immediately built many and they were their key weapon, the allies did not realised how effective machine guns were at first however by the middle of the war they saw their mistake and also made many
What gas was being used and what did it cause?
Chlorine and Phosgene gas cause suffocation
Mustard gas ate away at the lungs causing a slow agonising death
The invention of gas masks quickly limited their impact
What were artillery shells?
Used a lot by the British, some could shoot up to 13km to destroy enemy trenches. However they often churned up the ground in no mans land making it very hard to cross
What was the ‘creeping barrage’ strategy for the British?
Artillery fire would move forwards just ahead of the infantry (had to be developed to move quicker - 50m per minute)
If this went wrong the artillery fire would kill some of it’s own soldiers.
Also it was a very obvious attack as the Germans could see it from miles off
The role of tanks in the war?
The invention was initially rejected as impractical, however (as shown at the Somme) they are a force to be reckoned with by terrifying German soldiers. At Cambrai (1917) tanks drove Germans back 8km
What were the issue with tanks?
The machines were very unreliable and break down, they could only move at walking pace.
In 1918 Germans invented bullets that could pierce a tanks armour
What was the battle of the Somme? (1916)
The British launched a major attack along the river Somme. The British general Haig was hoping to make the breakthrough however most generals just wanted to ‘kill as many Germans as possible’
Events of the battle of the Somme? (1916)
The British fired half a million shells. After the shells stopped (and they thought all Germans were dead) the British troops slowly advanced across no mans land. Germans had been sheltering in specially designed deeper dugouts, when the shells stopped they rushed out to their machine guns. Germans killed 20,000 British troops in the next few hours, a disaster for the British
