World War One 1914-1918 • Definition of War/Countries Involved • Background Information WWI • 4 Causes of World War I (p. 275) • Declaring War (p. 276) • Canada & Newfoundland Join In (p 277) • Regiments and Battles (p. 278) • In The Trenches (p. 282-283) • War In the Air (p. 284) • War at Sea (p. 285) • Into Battle (A Study of 3 Battles)

What Is War? War is a state of prolonged large-scale violence/conflict involving two or more groups or countries.

Toward War Page 274 There were two main alliances in Europe: The countries of Europe had all started to form alliances. An alliance is like joining a team – everyone on the team agrees to stick together if one is to get attacked or experiences problems. There were two main alliances in Europe: Triple Entente (also known as the Allied Powers) – included Russia, France, Great Britain Triple Alliance (also known as the Central Powers) – included Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary Note that: later, other countries joined each of these alliances

A Chain of Events Nationalism is a sense of pride and duty owed to your country. It was an important part of what led to the events that caused WWI. • The larger countries wanted to get larger. (ex. Austria-Hungary) • Smaller countries wanted to protect themselves against being taken over. (ex. Serbia) • Other groups wanted independence so that they could form their own countries. (ex. Bosnia)

The countries involved in WWI                                                                                                                                             

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8A_8gUc3Y

Causes of World War I Page 275 1. The Arms Race In 1914 England and Germany were in an arms race. This means that the two countries were competing to see which could build the largest store of arms or weapons. Upon building this store of weapons countries will often want to use them against each other – resulting in a war/battle.

Causes of World War I Page 275 2. Trouble in the Balkans The first trouble began in an area of southeastern Europe known as the Balkans. In 1908 Austria-Hungary took control of a part of the Balkans called Bosnia and Herzegovina. Other countries (such as Serbia) thought they too would soon be taken over because they were nearby. People in Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted their independence.

Causes of World War I Page 275 3. The Black Hand A Serbian group known as the Black Hand wanted to keep Austria-Hungary from taking over their country. The Black Hand also wanted to help free Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Causes of World War I Page 275 4. The Assassination An assassination refers to the killing of a prominent person by surprise attack, often for political reasons. Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary) and his wife, Sophia, were assassinated in the city of Sarajevo, in the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Black Hand killed them both after hearing that they were to visit Sarajevo. This was a way of protesting Austro-Hungarian control of Bosnia – Herzegovina. On June 28, 1914 Gavrilo Princip (a 19 yr. old) with the Black Hand shot and killed the duke and his wife as they were riding in a car. Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyZ4EWVMSpw&feature=related

Declaring War 1914 28 July → Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Serbia asked Russia for help and France also joined in as they were part of the Triple Entente 1 August → Germany declared war on Russia.

Declaring War 1914 3 August → Germany declared war on France. 4 August → Britain declared war on Germany France, Great Britain and Russia (The Triple Entente/Allies) were now against Germany and Austria-Hungary (The Triple Alliance/Central Powers)

World Map

Countries Involved Triple Entente: “The Allies” 1. Serbia 5. Canada 2. Russia 6. Newfoundland 3. France 7. The USA 4. Britain 8. Parts of India and Africa 9. Italy (changed sides in 1915) Triple Alliance: “The Central Powers” 1. Austria-Hungary 2. Germany “The Allies”

Canada and Newfoundland Join In By Sept. 10 1914 – 30,000 Canadian soldiers and 8,000 horses joined training. 1000 men from NL signed up for the war. Over 4,000 members of Aboriginal nations joined Canada’s forces.

Several thousand Canadian women volunteered as nurses or to drive vehicles. By the time the war ended, more than 600,000 Canadians or Newfoundlanders had served (out of an approximate population of 7 000 000).

Regiments and Battalions - Terms to know: Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) The name of the army that Canada sent to Europe. Newfoundland Regiment Newfoundland soldiers enrolled in their own army called the Newfoundland Regiment. Battalion A group of about 1000 soldiers. Soldiers in battalions were loyal to each other because they were generally from the same area.

Open your books and read the article found on pages 279-281 A Closer Look Who enlisted? First Nations, Inuit, and Métis British-Canadians French-Canadians African-Canadians Newfoundlanders Open your books and read the article found on pages 279-281

The Fighting Newfoundlander Thomas Pittman of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, was donated by the Bowring family to the city in 1922 to commemorate the sacrifice of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians during the First World War. In the 95 years since its unveiling, the monument has come to be seen as a tribute to veterans of later wars and conflicts.

In The Trenches (p. 282-283)

In The Trenches (p. 282-283) Germany had established strategic locations – areas where soldiers can see what’s going on and would attempt to stop the other side from passing through. (Ex: on a hill) Each side also had a front line or an edge of the land it had taken over. The space between the two front lines was called no man’s land.

What is a trench? Why would soldiers make them? Trenches are ditches that are about 2 meters deep that provided soldiers with a way to protect themselves from their enemies while fighting at the front lines.

Cross Section of a Trench (p. 282)

Discussion: Conditions in the Trench Soldiers would often live in trenches for a few weeks or months. Since most areas where trenches were dug had a layer of sand on the top, and clay nearer the bottom, water would pass through the sand and often be held in the trench by the waterlogged clay. As a result the trenches kept collapsing and would always fill with water. Soldiers had to try to prepare food, sleep and fight in the wet, cold, filthy and crowded trenches. (ex. Trench foot, Flu, rats, lice)

Advancing on the Enemy Going Over the Top (p. 283)

Going Over the Top The only way to take ground from an enemy was for soldiers to go ‘over the top.’ This means that they have to come out of their trenches and go across no man’s land. No man’s land is the land between the two enemy trenches. It was very dangerous, soldiers had to be cautious of gunfire, landmines and barbed wire. Sometimes enemies were fighting over less than a kilometer of land.

Going Over the Top Soldiers on attack could only carry light weapons such as rifles, namely the Ross Rifle. Soldiers defending the trench could use large guns also called artillery or machine guns The combination of artillery and machine guns and trenches sometimes created a stalemate – where neither side could advance on each other during fighting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XO0YOCwRn0

War in the Air Aircraft was used for flying over enemy territory to see where the troops could pick out routes for attacks. Fighter planes had built-in machine guns to shoot at other planes. Pilots from both sides met in the air to fight it out and this was called a dogfight. The best strategy was to approach a plane from behind and shoot it down.

Canadians in the Air Canadian pilots did not have an air force until the end of WWI. Canadians became the best fighter pilots and many joined the British Royal Air Force (RAF) Pilots that shot down five enemy aircraft became known as an ace. A Canadian group of fighter pilots called the Black Flight caused the war in the air to turn against the Germans. The Black Flight shot down over 87 German airplanes in two months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z25T-s0gu8M

The War at Sea` Canada did not have much of a Navy during WWI. The main role of Canada’s ships was to get supplies to England. The Germans designed Unterseeboats – or U-boats (Small submarines) that carried torpedoes to sink supply boats traveling together The Allies had an idea to use Convoys (groups of ships traveling together) to bring supplies to Britain. German U-boats had a harder time stopping convoys and they could not stop supplies from getting to Britain.

Into Battle We will study three main Battles: 1. The Second Battle of Ypres (p. 288) 2. The Battle of the Somme (p. 290) 3. The Battle of Vimy Ridge (p. 292) Note: After studying these 3 battles we are finished this chapter.

Battle of Ypres (p. 288) Ypres is a town in Belgium. Canadian troops were sent to Ypres to fight the Germans. They remained at a stalemate from February to April 1915. In April the Germans waited for the wind to blow toward the Canadian troops’ trenches and released tonnes of chlorine gas into the air. Clouds of thick, green, deadly gas choked the soldiers. The Germans attacked the trenches. The troops struggled to stay alive. The next day the Germans released more gas, Canadian troops used handkerchiefs soaked in mud or urine to avoid the gas while fighting. Over 6035 Canadians died while they held the line for 16 days until reinforcements came The battle was considered a victory for the Allies (Canadian troops).

The Battle of the Somme (P. 290-291) Soldiers now used gas masks and metal helmets for protection. Allied commanders decided to stage a more forceful attack on the Germans on all 3 front lines: the Western, Eastern and Italian. French soldiers had undergone heavy fighting in Verdun, France and needed help so the British and Canadian forces were on their own to fight at the Western front, near Somme, France.

Beaumont Hamel ‘Big Push’ was decided as the method of attack by the Canadian soldiers on the Germans. The big push is a straight-on attack. Foot soldiers could break through German lines and them soldiers on horseback could ride through. July 1st 1916 100,000 soldiers went over the top and marched toward the Germans, but the Germans were expecting them. Many, many soldiers died near the town of Beaumont Hamel (out of 801 soldiers that joined the Newfoundland Regiment, only 68 survived). To this day July 1st is a day of mourning and remembrance in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Battle of the Somme (P. 290-291) The Battle of Somme lasted 141 days. The Allies had advanced only 11 kilometres By Nov. both sides were exhausted and stopped fighting. In total about 200 000 Allied soldiers died, including 8000 Canadians.

Battle of Vimy Ridge (P. 292) In 1917, Allied troops tried again to ‘push through’ the Western front. The Canadians were supposed to take over Vimy Ridge – a hill that Germans had built up to be well protected and well supplied, and gave them control over a wide area of land The heads of British and Canadian forces wanted to avoid the kind of direct attack that had failed at the Somme.

Battle of Vimy Ridge (P. 292) Canadians built a model of Vimy Ridge and practiced their attack. They bombarded the enemy with gunfire for several days then made a surprise attack. In a blinding sleet storm, Canadian soldiers crept up the hill in the middle of their own gunfire They overtook the Germans in their trenches and overtook the ridge Canadians took over Vimy Ridge, however many were wounded and many died.