WW1 Flashcards
(93 cards)
1
Q
What were the leading causes of WW1?
A
Rival alliances, national competitiveness, an arms
race and a climate of tension among the major powers
2
Q
What is an arms race?
A
A race to get better and stronger weapons before their enemy
3
Q
What is the Schlieffen Plan?
A
The idea that Germany would eventually fight France and Russia, but not at the same time. Would invade France from the north, as France expected them to attack in the east. They would defeat France in the time it takes Russia to mobilise, then attack them
4
Q
Who were in the Triple Entente?
A
Britain, Russia, France
5
Q
Who was in the Triple Alliance?
A
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
6
Q
What did Austria-Hungary and Russia both want?
A
The Balkans
7
Q
Why did France want revenge on Germany?
A
For taking Alsace and Lorraine
8
Q
What was the action that sparked WW1?
A
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie.
9
Q
How did Australia enter the war?
A
“Australia will stand behind our Mother Country to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling’.
10
Q
What was Australia’s thoughts on the war?
A
They thought the
war would be short and home by Christmas
11
Q
What was the Defence Act 1903?
A
It limited the Australian Army
to service in defence of Australia and only on Australian territory
12
Q
How did Australia fight overseas?
A
Only by volunteers
13
Q
Why did Australians enlist?
A
Wanted adventure, wanting to avoid the disapproval of young women, better pay, feelings of duty, and hatred for Germans
14
Q
Why did Aboriginals enlist?
A
Share common experiences with other Australian
soldiers, be judged on their abilities more than on their race increase their knowledge of the world and receive equal pay to whites
15
Q
Who was oppposed to war?
A
The Society of Friends (Quakers)
16
Q
How did women serve in the war?
A
Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS)
17
Q
What was the cause of the stalemate?
A
Coudn’t make any progress without breaking enemy lines
18
Q
What was Winston Churchill’s plan?
A
Force Turkey out of the war
Re-open the supply route to Russia
Open up a new front from which to attack Germany’s other main ally, Austria–Hungary
Move on to defeat Germany on the Western Front.
19
Q
How did the Gallipoli campaign come along?
A
Because of failed naval assaults
20
Q
When did the Anzacs land on Gallipoli?
A
25 April 1915
21
Q
What was the Anzac’s first plan?
A
To try to get to the mountains
22
Q
Why could they not succeed their day 1 objectives
A
They had to support right-flank troops that were being attacked
23
Q
What was the result of the first day?
A
Advanced only about 900 metres at a cost of about 2000 casualties
24
Q
Why were the Turks prepared for Gallipoli?
A
The failed naval bombardment
25
What did the Anzacs do for protection?
Dig trenches
26
What did they use the trenches for?
These were the places where the Anzacs ate, slept, wrote letters home, smoked cigarettes and waited until they were called to active duty
27
What caused the ceasefire?
42 000 Turks advanced in an attempt to break through Anzac
lines, both sides suffering massive casualties
28
What were the living conditions of trench warfare?
In summer there were plagues
of disease-carrying flies and fleas. In winter there was bitter cold, mud and ice. There was dysentery, diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and lice
29
What was the casualty rate?
23%
30
What was the goal of Lone Pine?
It was to attack the Turks at Lone Pine and the Nek to distract them from Allied troops landing at Suvla Bay
31
How was the Lone Pine carried out?
They surprised the Turks by emerging from underground tunnels
32
What was the problem with the Lone Pine?
They became easy targets for Turkish gunfire until they found a way into the Turkish trenches
33
What was the result of the Lone Pine?
The Anzacs succeeded, but suffered 2300 casualties and
the Turks suffered 6000
34
What happened at the Nek?
When hundreds of men from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade went ‘over the top’ of theirtrenches at ‘Baby 700’
35
Why did the Nek fail?
1. New Zealand troops attacked 24 hours late
2. Artillery shells overshot their targets
3. A seven-minute gap between the end of the artillery
bombardment and the beginning of the infantry attack
meant that the Turks had both warning of what was to
come and enough time to prepare for it
36
What was the result of the Nek?
The Anzacs had 372 casualties in 45 minutes
37
What was happening back at home?
Some British military strategists were beginning to think that they had little chance of defeating Turkish troops
At the same time, campaign leader Sir Ian Hamilton’s
largely optimistic reports failed to indicate just how bad the situation was
38
What happened to Sir Ian Hamilton?
He got dismissed, as a letter was read out, about the concern of Hamilton's preformance
39
What did the new commander do?
Advised evacuation rather than continue with what he predicted would be a 30–40 per cent casualty rate
40
How did the evacuation work?
They kept silent for a period of time then, when the Turks appeared to find out what was
happening, they opened fire. They evacuated with only 2 casualties in the process
41
Final casualty count
26,000, with 10,000 deaths
42
What was the goal of the battle of the Somme?
To cut the Germans off from behind and make them so demoralised that they would surrender
43
How did the Germans have forewarning of the battle of the Somme?
* Overheard field telephone messages
* The movements of British reconnaissance
aircraft
* The observations of their own pilots.
44
When did the battle of the Somme start?
1st July 1916
45
What was the first thing to happen in the battle of the Somme?
* German defences were well prepared
* British mines went off too early
* British artillery fire failed to destroy the barbed wire protecting the German trenches
46
What was the result of the battle of the Somme?
60,000 casualties in the first day, as when they advanced into no-man's land, they were met with non-stop machine gun barrage
and they got trapped in the German's barb wire
47
What was the goal of the battle of Fromelles?
To divert German attention from the main action to the south and prevent
them sending reinforcements there
48
What was the result of the battle of Fromelles and why?
5533 casualties, Planning was rushed and the soldiers lacked experience
49
What was Pozières?
A German-held town, with the First Australian Division having the task of capturing it
50
What was the result of Pozières?
They captured it within a few hours, but it took another 7 weeks to seal the claim
51
What was the battle of Passchendaele?
Part of a British attempt to break through the
German lines towards the place where the German U- boats were berthed
52
What was the result of Passchendaele and number of casualties?
There were 10 attempts to get Passchendaele. Men became bogged down, but their General insisted that they proceed. Overall, there was 38,000 Australian casualties
53
What happened in the battle of Hamel?
The Anzacs captured the city of Hamel and fought for 100 days fiercely until they broke the German's defence line. This is the battle that caused Germany to sign the armistice, ending the war
54
What was the international peace conference rules about POW's?
* be ‘humanely treated’
* their food and clothing would match the standard of that of the nation’s own soldiers
* they would not be forced to do war work and would be compensated for work they did do
* governments would provide information about them and allow them to send letters home
* governments would return them to their own countries as soon as possible after the war ended.
55
Explain the POW's of WW1
8 million men became POW's. More than 4000 Australians became POW's of Turkey and Germany
56
POW's of the Turks
217 Australian troops, 25% died in captivity. COnditions were poor. There was insufficient food and inadequate medical help
57
POW's of the Germans
3,800 Australian troops. 8% died in captivity. The conditions were similar to those of the Turks. They reported being on starvation rations, and forced to work in dangerous conditions
58
What did the Red Cross do?
Gave POW's food parcels
59
What is The War Precautions Act 1914
Increased the Commonwealth government power to make rules about anything related to Australia's war effort imposed strict censorship of information, limited hotel trading hours, prevented and trade with enemy countries
60
What were some offences under the War Precautions Act?
Selling badges without authority
Selling goods issued by the Red Cross
Spreading reports likely to cause alarm
Failing to notify change of address
Trespassing on railways
61
Changes in economy due to the war
Since trade was interrupted, it encouraged Australia to manufacture goods for itself. Australia was producing 400 items that had previously been available only as imports
62
Enemy aliens of German descent
Nearly 36 000 people of German origin living in Australia in 1911. War made Australians suspicious of non-British
63
Rules for people of German descent
They were forbidden to buy and sell property.
They were not allowed to speak German on the telephone, in schools or during religious services.
They lost their right to vote
They had to transfer any shares they owned to the government
The legislation did not require proof that someone was aiding the enemy.
64
What is an intermittent camp?
A place that they sent "enemy aliens", people of German descent. They did not have a trial, and did not have any information on how long they would be there
65
Why did German boys join the AIF?
Their fathers encouraged it to show loyalty to Australia
66
What was Australian women’s main wartime
work?>
Volunteer work, in "female jobs"
67
Who formed the Australian Red Cross?
Lady Helen Munro-Ferguson
68
What is the ACF?
The Australian Comforts Fund
69
What did the ACF provide?
Cakes, chewing gum, tobacco, hankerchiefs, biscuits, extra clothing and newspapers
70
Importance of socks
Prevented trench foot. By late 1918, The ACF knitted over 1.3 million pairs of socks
71
How did women get into "non-female" jobs?
They worked in those jobs as a reserve while the men were at war. Since women were paid less, when the men returned, the employers didn't want to give up the women
72
Why did the idea of conscription come about?
Less people were volunteering as word of the conditions got to the men
73
Who pushed conscription?
PM Billy Hughes
74
What was the result of the first conscription referendum?
It was very close, 3 states said yes, three said no, but the vote was "no"
75
Why was there a need for a second referendum?
The PM wanted to try again, as the first referendum question was quite verbose
76
What was the result of the second referendum?
Still close, but 4 of the 6 states voted "no"
77
What was the aftermath of the two referendums?
It showed that war brought a division in Australia
78
Who supported conscription?
* Academics from Sydney and Melbourne universities
* Protestant church leaders and businessmen
* former Prime Minister Alfred Deakin.
79
Why did people support conscription
* Extension of their loyalty to Britain.
* A response in a campaign against the evil ‘Hun’.
* A means of supporting those men who were already fighting.
80
Who supported anti-conscription?
* The Society of Friends (Quakers)
* The Women’s Peace Army
81
Why did people go against conscription?
* People thought conscription was wrong because war itself was immoral.
* It was unjust to force someone to go to war.
* Some beleived that it would deprive them of workers
82
What did Archbishop Mannix beleive about conscription?
He thought that it proved that the British could behave just as barbarically as
the ‘Huns’
83
The Spanish Flu
1918 - 1920. It infected 500 mill people, killing 10% of all that got it
84
Impact on returning soldiers
Many soldiers found it hard to adjust to everyday life and resented Australia’s inability to adequately provide for their employment and housing needs
85
Trauma of returned soldiers
- Alcoholism and domestic violence were additional aspects of the
returned soldier’s difficulty in resuming ‘ordinary’ life among people
who could not imagine the horrors they had seen and been part of.
- Many soldiers suffered permanent psychological trauma;
86
Governmemt initiatives for returned soldiers
The RSL and repatriation assistance, that provided:
* employment advice and job training for ex-soldiers
* pensions for the disabled, for those unable to earn a livelihood and for the widows and children of the war dead
* free medical and hospital care for war veterans and accommodation for those who were permanently incapacitated
* artificial limbs for those who suffered amputations.
87
Taxes on the return of soldiers
Increased, as people had to pay for the economical burden that war created
88
What does Anzac day consist of?
Dawn services and The Anzac Day March
89
What is part of Remembrance Day?
1 minute silence and the laying of the wreath
90
What does the Australian War Memorial contain?
* the Roll of Honour, a series of panels listing all those who died in the war
* relics of war experiences
* a series of visual displays depicting the day-to-day experiences of those who fought
91
What did the Gallipoli campaign do to Australians?
Symbolises Australia’s coming of age as a nation
and demonstrates the qualities that characterise Australians
92
What is the debate of the Anzac legend?
Some think of it as Australia’s ‘baptism of fire’. Some think that it is distorting the reality of our history
93
What are some critisisms to Anzac day?
Things celebrated in it are not uniquely Australian; the fact that someone is heroic does not necessarily mean that they are
morally right and World War I caused so much division
