World War One

SSWH16.B

The Race to the Sea

Battle of the Marne – German armies are stopped on the outskirts of Paris.

This defeat meant that the Schlieffen Plan was a failure. It looked good on paper, so why didn’t it work?

Both sides begin to try to outflank each other. This steady marching of units towards the English Channel became known as the Race to the Sea.

Both sides ran out of room to advance to the North, and met at the Battle of Ypres.

Battle of Ypres

Lasted from early October until late November.

The German attack was halted by the British troop’s rate of fire.

Eventually both sides fell back to defensive positions due to a combination of exhaustion and the approach of winter.

The lines on the Western Front were set.

Both sides dug in, and trench warfare was born.

Trench Networks

Y

Trench Networks

Troops lived in the trenches. They were usually rotated out with reserve units every 12 days.

This was exactly the opposite of what infantry warfare had been before WWI.

Battles of 1916

Battle of Verdun

February-June

20,000,000 artillery shells fired.

By the time the Battle ended, there were 200,000 dead.

Battle of the Somme

July-November

Casualties:

• British: 420,000

• French: 200,000

• German: 500,000

Ground gained: 12 Kilometers

Eastern Front

Stalemate in the West

Germany shifts its focus to the Eastern Front.

The war in the East was very different.

• Armies were more mobile

• No trenches

• Russia & Serbia v. Germany & Austria-Hungary

• 1st Battle @ town of Tannenberg. German victory. 30,000 Russians dead.

Gallipoli

The German u-boat campaign, combined with the Central Power’s control over the Dardanelles, made it impossible for the Entente Powers to resupply the Russians.

Winston Churchill planned an invasion of the Dardanelles. The struggle to take control of the straits became known as the Gallipoli Campaign.

The fight lasted almost all of 1915, and by the time the Entente Powers chose to evacuate they had lost 250,000 men.

Eastern Front

Russia had some serious disadvantages.

Of all of the nations involved in the Great War, Russia was the least industrialized.

• Fewer guns

• Less ammunition

• Longer supply chain

• Food shortages

Eastern Front

Results of the Eastern Front:

• From 1914 – 1917 the Russians required the deployment of hundreds of thousands of German soldiers.

• War losses and civilian hardships caused unrest. In 1917 the Romanov Dynasty was toppled, and Czar Nicholas was forced to step down = Russian Revolution. (we’ll get to that)

The United States Enters the War

Germany returns to Unrestricted Submarine Warfare – February 1st, 1917.

• Germany hopes that their u-boats can sink so much shipping that England is forced to ask for peace within a few months.

Zimmermann Note – January, 1917.

• Germany knew that returning to unrestricted submarine warfare would anger the U.S., so before they did, they proposed an alliance with Mexico in case the U.S. did declare war. America finds out.

April, 1917 – President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany.

Great War Comes to an End

After they won the war on the Eastern front, Germany threw everything they had into one last push on the Western front.

• They nearly made it to Paris. They were again stopped at the Marne River (2nd Battle of the Marne)

The Entente Powers launched a counterattack with the help of 140,000 fresh American troops and 350 tanks.

• From there, the Entente forces began to slowly move into Germany.

In 1918, German troops (and sailors) mutinied and turned against their leaders. In November, Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to step down.

• On 11/11/18 a representative of the new German Republican government met with French General Foch and signed an armistice. The “War to end all wars” had ended.

Total War

Total War: (n) – A type of war in which the countries involved devote all of their resources to the war effort.

• Government control of industry

• Drafts

• Rationing

• Propoganda

Propaganda Posters