World War I The Great War The War to End All Wars

The Schlieffen Plan Germany’s main problem was the prospect of having to fight a “two-front” war (fighting on both sides) To combat this, German Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen devised a plan to knock France out quickly before Russia could mobilize Called for a rapid invasion of France by using a “wheeling movement” through Belgium If it worked, France would fall in 4 weeks and German troops could be moved to the east via railroads to defeat the Russians

World War I 1914

Western Front  After the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, the western front devolved into stagnant TRENCH WARFARE  Battle front did not shift more than 10 miles during the next three years  Defensive weapons were superior to offensive

TRENCH WARFARE  Deep interlocking trenches  Barbed wire  Land mines  Machine guns  Casualties by December 1914  700,000 Germans  850,000 French  90,000 British War of attrition…wear down the enemy

Trench warfare cont… The Trench: Important points Advantages: easy to make, easy to defend, cheap to build, don’t need lots of men to defend them. Disadvantages: wet, cold, hard to get in an out of without being seen by the enemy. Trenches were very dirty and unhygienic as there was no running water or flushing toilets.

Russian and Balkan Fronts  Vast distances and poor transportation facilities led to a more fluid war  Germans had to counter the surprise Russian advance into East Prussia  Within weeks no Russians were on German soil  In the Balkans, the Austrians were being rocked by the Serbs

1915 Russia Sucks, attrition continues in the west and its all about the straits.

Russia Russia was handicapped by inferior leadership and inadequate arms By summer 1915, Russians had retreated 200 miles into Russia Russian casualties… –2,500,000 men –30 % of industry captured –15% of territory under German control

Western Front Trenches, trenches, trenches Massive artillery barrages, large-scale assaults NO movement…line unchanged Appalling loss of life

Battle for the Straits November of 1914 TURKEY (Ottoman Empire) had joined the Central Powers November of 1914 TURKEY (Ottoman Empire) had joined the Central Powers Turkey controlled the two straits that led from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea Turkey controlled the two straits that led from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea Dardanelles and Bosporus Dardanelles and Bosporus GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN March 1915 GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN March 1915

TURKEY Bosporus Dardanelles

Gallipoli Campaign Naval Battle –Attempt to open straits –Allies had to supply Russia –5 Allied ships sunk or badly damaged Allied command decided not to attack again on second day Turks out of ammo…allies did not know Amphibious Landing Gallipoli on peninsula near Dardanelles Year-long stalemate…massive casualties…FAILURE

Russia now left to starve…completely cut off from allies… This led to total economic collapse… Continued loss of battle after battle and massive loss of life along with starvation created political instability… REVOLUTION … is imminent

brought continued bloodletting Europeans died in unprecedented numbers By year’s end, England, France and Russia were on the verge of collapse The USA remained “neutral”…though she traded vigorously with the allies Futile attempts at movement in the west resulted in more blood

VERDUN 1916 February to July 1916 February to July 1916 German offensive in France German offensive in France –10 mile advance for German army only to be driven back again to original point –6 months  300,000 German casualties  350,000 French  NO change in position…nothing gained

Somme 1916 July – November 1916 July – November 1916 British Offensive in Northern France British Offensive in Northern France –British lose 60,000 men on 1st day! –British introduce the Tank for the first time –Casualties  420,000 British  200,000 French  500,000 German