World War I1914 - 1918

Mr. Mizell, Humanities

Essential Question

•How did the Western and Eastern Fronts differ?

Recall our WWI Map

The Western Front: Beginning

• Germany and A-H vs France and Great Britain• Germans invaded

Belgium to attack France–Part of the Schlieffen

Plan

What is the Schlieffen Plan?

• Schlieffen Plan – if Germany had to fight on two fronts (against France and Russia), hit France first then go after Russia

German Advance• Germans get within a few

miles of Paris but French and British counterattack–Both sides lose over 200,000

men

Stalemate in Trenches

• Settles into a stalemate–Both sides dig trenches–War becomes defensive, not

mobile

The Eastern Front• Russia vs A-H, Germany,

Ottoman Empire• Covered greater distance–More mobile, not use trenches

as much

Russia’s Problems• Russia is severely undersupplied–Did not have the industrial economy that

other European countries had–Suffers heavy casualties

• Russian Revolution (1917)–Drops out of the war

• Video clip from WWI in Color – Eastern Front

The Eastern Front: Middle East• Fighting within the Ottoman Empire–Today: Turkey and the Middle East

• British work with Arabs to defeat the Ottoman Empire–T.E. Lawrence leads Arab troops–Uses hit and run tactics

T. E. Lawrence & the “Arab Revolt”, 1916-18

Lawrence of Arabia

• Video clip from Lawrence of Arabia–Notice how the armies are quite

different from the ones in Europe

• How did the two fronts differ?•What is Russia’s problem?