The Beginning of the EndPasschendaele and Canada’s Hundred Days

Passchendaele

• The Canadian Corps, a _____________ strong fighting formation, was ordered to the Passchendaele front, east of Ypres, in mid-_____________ 1917.

Horrible Conditions

• Launched on 31 July 1917, the British offensive in Flanders had aimed to drive the Germans away from the essential _____________ _____________ and to eliminate _____________ bases on the coast.

• However, unceasing rain and shellfire reduced the battlefield to a vast _____________ of bodies, _____________ -_____________ shell craters, and mud in which the attack ground to a halt.

• After _____________ of fighting, Passchendaele ridge was still stubbornly held by German troops.

• Sir Douglas _____________, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, ordered the _____________ to deliver victory.

Deliberate Preparation and Attack

• Sir Arthur _____________, commander of the Canadian Corps, _____________ to the battle, fearing it could not be won without a terrible expenditure in lives

• But Haig was _____________ for a _____________ victory and insisted on the effort

• Having no choice but to attack, Currie prepared _____________ for the fight, understanding that deliberate _____________, especially for his artillery and engineers, was the key to advancing.

• The Canadians arrived in Flanders in mid-October to relieve Australian and New Zealand troops and were _____________ by the terrible battlefield conditions.

• Currie ordered the _____________ of new roads, the building or improvement of gun pits, and the repair and extension of _____________ (light railways).

• _____________ and _____________ transported hundreds of thousands of shells to the front to prepare for the artillery barrage that would prepare for the infantry’s attack.

• The Germans atop Passchendaele ridge _____________ continuously on these efforts, killing or wounding _____________.

• Once his preparations were ready, Currie launched a deliberate or ‘_____________’ attack on _____________

• The first of four phases in a battle he estimated might cost _____________ Canadians killed or wounded.

• By mid-_____________, having captured the ridge, his estimate proved eerily accurate, with _____________ Canadian fallen.

The Legacy of Passchendaele

• The British lost an estimated _____________ casualties at Passchendaele to the German’s _____________, making it one of the war’s most costly battles of attrition.

• The Allies could better _____________ the losses, especially with the recent entry of the _____________ _____________ on their side

• Passchendaele is often remembered as the _____________ point of the British war effort

The Great War – Battle of Passchendaele

• https:// youtu.be/znhLF1bZAFg

• http:// video.vac-acc.gc.ca/Heroes/Passchendaele_ENG.mp4

The Russian Revolution

• Due to massive _____________ from the war and an economy that couldn’t _____________ its people or support the _____________, the people of Russia rose up against Czar _____________ on _____________

• Czar Nicholas abdicated the throne on _____________. A new government was formed in his place

• Due to the new governments _____________ involvement in World War I and a lack of _____________, a second revolution occurred on _____________

• This second revolution lead to the world’s first _____________ government under Vladimir _____________.

• He reached an agreement with Germany to pull Russia out of the war on _____________

The 1918 German Spring Offensives

• Early in 1918, Germany began launching a series of major _____________ in March that pushed the Allied lines back, advancing to within _____________ of Paris.

• Despite these successes, this was to be Germany’s _____________ major effort to _____________ the war as they had _____________ their army.

• After years of war, their resources of men and supplies were _____________.

• Meanwhile, the Allied forces were being _____________ by American troops after the entry of the United States into the war in 1917.

• The Allies _____________ and stopped the enemy advance, then set about to make their own major _____________ to finally _____________ the war.

Canada’s Hundred Days

• The Canadian army had earned the _____________ for being the _____________ -_____________ Allied troops on the Western Front.

• When the Allies planned the offensives that would ultimately win the war, _____________ soldiers were given the responsibility of being at the _____________ of the attacks.

• The Canadian Corps’ reputation was such that the mere _____________ of

Canadians on a section of the front would _____________ the enemy that an attack was coming.

• This meant that great _____________ would be involved in the movements of the Canadian Corps.

• A large offensive was planned in France in _____________ 1918 and some Canadian troops were shifted north to _____________, Belgium.

• This made the Germans think a major attack was coming there before the Canadians _____________ hurried back to the _____________ sector for the real attack.

• On _____________, Canada led the way in an offensive that saw them advance _____________ in three days.

• This offensive was launched _____________ a long preliminary artillery bombardment as was usually done and the Germans were taken totally by _____________.

• This breakthrough _____________ enemy morale, with the German high commander calling it “the _____________ day of the German Army.”

• With Allied leaders’ hopes now _____________ for an end to the war in _____________, they kept up the pressure on the Germans.

• There would be little _____________ for the victorious Canadians.

• They were moved back north to the _____________ sector and tasked with helping break the _____________ Line—now the enemy’s main defensive line.

• After a week of fierce fighting against some of Germany’s finest troops, the Canadians broke the _____________ -_____________ Line in front of the Hindenburg Line by _____________.

• Next up was the _____________ du _____________, which formed part of the _____________ Hindenburg Line.

• The canal’s was a _____________ position to attack

• The Canadians, along with a British division, planned to cross a 2,500m_____________ wide _____________ section of the canal.

• However, this was a _____________ that could cause Allied troops and equipment to bunch up and become _____________ targets.

• To cover the advance, Currie unleashed the _____________ single-day bombardment of the entire war and the _____________ attack was a stunning success.

• The Canadians broke through _____________ lines of German defenses and pressed on to capture _____________ Wood.

• Combined with _____________ successes along the British front, the _____________ Line was now breached.

• With German resistance _____________, the Armistice was finally signed on _____________, _____________.

• Canadians fought to the very _____________ with the war’s last Canadian combat death—Private George Lawrence _____________ —happening just _____________ minutes before the fighting officially ended.

• On November 11th the Canadians entered _____________, Belgium—a place of great symbolic meaning.

• This was where the British Army had its _____________ significant battle against the invading Germans in the summer of _____________.

• The war was finally _____________.

• More than _____________ Canadians advanced _____________, took approximately _____________ prisoners, and captured nearly _____________ artillery pieces, machine guns and mortars.

• Much of the captured pieces of equipment was sent back to Canada as _____________ of war.

Sacrifice

• The triumphs during Canada’s Hundred Days were _____________, but came at a _____________ price.

• More than _____________ Canadians and Newfoundlanders were killed and approximately _____________ wounded during the last _____________ months of fighting.

• By the end of the First World War, Canada—at the time a country of less than _____________ citizens—would see more than _____________ men and women serve in uniform.

• The conflict took a great toll, with more than _____________ Canadians and Newfoundlanders dying and over _____________ being wounded.

Legacy

• After more than _____________ years of fighting, the war was finally over.

• Many of Canada’s soldiers would serve as part of an _____________ force in Germany, however, before finally being sent home in _____________.

• Canada’s accomplishments had earned it a newfound _____________ and a recognition—both at home and around the world—that it was an _____________ country in its own right

• This earned Canada a separate _____________ on the Treaty of _____________ that formally ended the First World War.

• The war also served as an example of the country’s commitment to defend _____________ and _____________.

Canada’s Hundred Days

• https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oJJHuK0NkI