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War on different fronts
A World War War on different fronts Look at the following maps. 1. What is it of? 2. Why do you think it turned out like this? 3. What do you think the impact of this could have been?
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1. What is it of. 2. Why do you think it turned out like this. 3
1. What is it of? 2. Why do you think it turned out like this? 3. What do you think the impact of this could have been? Map of the World showing the participants in World War I. Those fighting on the side of the Triple Entente (at one point or another) are depicted in green, the Central Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.
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A plot of all military engagements in WWI
1. What is it of? 2. Why do you think it turned out like this? 3. What do you think the impact of this could have been? A plot of all military engagements in WWI
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War on different fronts
A World War War on different fronts Learning Objectives: To explain the different fronts of the First World War. To analyse the consequences of these fronts. 1. What is it of? 2. Why do you think it turned out like this? 3. What do you think the impact of this could have been?
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A World War The First World War was fought on many different fronts, this was due to the range of countries and Empires involved in the war. Today we will look at four major fronts in the First World War: The Western Front The Eastern Front Gallipoli The war at sea
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A World War Working in groups you will be investigating the key aspects of these fronts, looking for the differences and similarities between them. You will EACH need to complete the fact file table about each front everyone needs to complete. Finished? Which country struggled the most of the ones you have looked at?
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A World War What do you think were the main consequences of a world war? In pairs write a top three biggest consequences.
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Why do you think we mainly remember the Western Front over other parts of the First World War?
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Western Front Eastern Front Gallipoli The War at Sea Who was fighting? (main countries) Where did the fighting take place? Allied casualties/losses Central powers casualties/losses Biggest battles Why did war break out there?
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Key battles on the Western Front
1914 Sept 6-12: First Battle of the Marne This battle halted the German advance, prompting trench warfare. The French incurred 250,000 losses, the Germans suffered similar. The British recorded 12,733 casualties. 1915 April 22-May 25: Second Battle of Ypres The first large-scale use of chemical weapons. Some 10,000 troops were affected by the gas. Half died within 10 minutes. Losses were estimated at 69,000 Allied troops (59,000 British, 10,000 French), against 35,000 German. 1916 Feb 21-Dec 18: Battle of Verdun Rather than take the town, the Germans hoped to inflict crippling losses on the defending French forces. An estimated one million were lost (roughly even) by the time the Germans were driven back. July 1-Nov 18: Battle of the Somme The main Allied attack on the western front in British casualties on the first day totalled 58,000, the worst single day loss of the war. Total losses were 420,000 British, 200,000 French and 500,000 German. 1917 July 31-Nov 6: Third Battle of Ypres - Passchendaele Intended to be the major breakthrough in Flanders, Allied progress was slowed by terrible mud. The British Expeditionary Force suffered some 310,000 casualties, the Germans 260,000.
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Belligerents German Empire Austria-Hungary Bulgaria (1916–17) Ottoman Empire(1916–17) Russian Empire(1914–17) Russian Republic(1917) Romania (1916–17) Russian SFSR(1918) Casualties and losses Total: more than 3,500,000 casualties Total: more than 10,000,000 casualties Eastern Front The line of fighting on the Eastern side of Europe between Russia and Germany and Austria-Hungary is known as the Eastern Front. Fighting began on the Eastern front when Russia invaded East Prussia (Germany) on 17th August Germany immediately launched a counter-offensive and pushed Russia back. This pattern of attack and counter-attack continued for the first two years of the war and meant that the Eastern Front changed position as land was captured and lost by both sides. The map above, shows the geographical location of the Eastern front stretching from Riga in the north to Czernowitz in the south. The orange line shows the position of the Eastern Front in Each coloured square represents 50,000 men. Red represents the Russian army, yellow, German soldiers and blue Austro-Hungarian. Battles fought along this front include - Tannenberg, August 1914; Masurian Lakes, September 1914; Bolimov, January 1915; Lake Naroch, March 1916; Riga, September 1917.
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British Empire Australia India Newfoundland New Zealand United Kingdom
Belligerents British Empire Australia India Newfoundland New Zealand United Kingdom France French West Africa Ottoman EmpireSupported by German Empire[1] Austria-Hungary[2] Strength 5 divisions (initial) 15 divisions (final) Total 489,000 British 79,000 French[4] Supported by ~2,000 civilian labourers[3] 6 divisions (initial) 16 divisions (final) Total 315,500[4] Casualties and losses 252,000[5] 218,000 – 251,000[5] Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula is located in the south of Turkey. In 1915, the allied commanders decided to try to attack Germany by attacking her ally, Turkey. Allied soldiers, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, were sent to the Peninsula while British ships tried to force a way through the Dardanelles. The entire mission was a failure. The allies lost more than 50,000 men but gained hardly any land. The map above shows the front line. The blue line shows the allies position while the green shows the Turkish line. Many soldiers became sick due to the unsanitary conditions, especially from enteric fever, dysentery and diarrhoea. It is estimated that at least 145,000 British soldiers became ill during the campaign. Turkish sick are given as 64,000.
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Experience of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) soldiers at Gallipoli
The area occupied by the New Zealanders and Australians at Anzac was tiny – less than six square kilometres. At its furthest point, the distance between the front line and the beach was just over 900 metres. Conditions were harsh. The area possessed no natural water source, so there were constant shortages. Water, food, ammunition, and other supplies arrived at Anzac on ships and were landed on the beach with great difficulty. Troops lived on a staple diet of tinned bully beef, army biscuits and jam; fresh fruit and vegetables were non-existent. Sanitation was also a problem. With up to 25,000 men packed into such a cramped space, latrines filled up fast and there was limited space for new ones. Body lice became endemic, and diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and enteric fever (typhoid) flourished in the unsanitary conditions. The stench of the dead made living conditions even worse. Unburied corpses littered no man’s land, while others lay in shallow graves close to the dugouts of the living. In the searing heat of summer, the rotting corpses, food and body waste were the perfect breeding ground for flies and the diseases they spread. Swarms of flies tormented the men, turning simple tasks such as preparing and eating food into horrible ordeals. Psychological pressures magnified the physical hardships. Service in the front line was always dangerous. Opposing trenches were extremely close – barely four metres apart in some places. At this range, enemy hand grenades, or ‘bombs’, caused a steady stream of casualties. Danger also lurked behind the front line. No place within the tiny perimeter was safe from enemy fire, and Ottoman shells and snipers took a toll of troops in support areas. Medical treatment For those wounded on Gallipoli, the wait for treatment and evacuation was often long and agonising. Compared with the organisation and efficiency of the Western Front, medical services at Gallipoli were a shambles. The evacuation framework for casualties — moving wounded from field ambulances to casualty clearing stations, and then military hospitals — fell apart, as poor planning and the sheer scale of casualties overwhelmed the available medical resources. Day by day the sun grew hotter and hotter until it burned down scorchingly hot. There was scarcely any shade. The bivvies themselves were swelteringly hot. The ground was almost red hot. There was little stirring of air beneath the great cliffs. Men soon commenced to shed their clothing. Slacks were ripped off at the knees and the vogue of shorts commenced. Coats were flung off and then shirts. The ‘Tommy hats’ in which the New Zealanders had landed were soon thrown away and replaced by Australian felts, pith helmets or the New Zealand issue of unfortunate members of the reinforcement drafts … Within six weeks of landing the fashionable costume had become boots, shorts, identity disk, hat and when circumstances permitted a cheerful smile. The whole was topped off by a most glorious coat of sunburn. Ormond Burton, The Silent Division, 1935
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Theatres of war (where the fighting took place)
The War at Sea Even before hostilities began, Germany and Britain were involved in a naval race for mastery of the seas. Britain had a long tradition of being the master of the seas and Germany knew that she was unlikely to win a naval war against Britain. For this reason, Germany tended to avoid open naval conflict with Britain. Britain's main naval tactic was to keep German ships in German ports and to block supplies from reaching Germany. Germany's main naval tactic was to post u-boats in the Atlantic ocean and to destroy ships taking supplies from America and other countries to Britain. On 7th May 1915, the passenger liner Lusitania, was torpedoed by a German submarine. Nearly 1200 civilians lost their lives. The most notable sea battle of World War One was the Battle of Jutland between Germany and Britain which ended inconclusively. Theatres of war (where the fighting took place) The North Sea The North Sea was the main theater of the war for surface action. The British Grand Fleet took position against the German High Seas Fleet. Major battles included those at Heligoland Bight), Dogger Bank, and Jutland. Atlantic In 1915, Germany declared a naval blockade of Britain, to be enforced by its U-boats. The U-boats sank hundreds of Allied merchant ships. However, submarines normally attack by stealth. This made it difficult to give warning before attacking a merchant ship or to rescue survivors. This resulted in many civilian deaths, especially when passenger ships were sunk. This turned neutral opinion against the Central Powers, as countries like the U.S. and Brazil suffered casualties and losses to their trade. Mediterranean The main fleet action was the Triple Entente attempt to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war by an attack on Constantinople in This attempt turned into the Battle of Gallipoli which resulted in a Triple Entente defeat. Black Sea The war in the Black Sea started when the Ottoman Fleet bombarded several Russian cities in October 1914. Baltic Sea In the Baltic Sea, Germany and Russia were the main combatants, with a number of British submarines sailing through the Kattegat to assist the Russians.
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Life Aboard a U-Boat No other vessel of war presented poorer living conditions than that of a U-boat. Each war patrol could take anywhere between three weeks to six months. During this time, U-boat crews were not able to bathe, shave or change their clothes. The crew of a U-boat is made up of specialists and seamen. Specialist crew, such as radioman, torpedomen and machinemen were responsible for the operation and maintenance of equipment aboard the U-boat. Other general duty tasks such as loading torpedoes, standing watch on the bridge, operating deck guns and housekeeping activities were performed by the seamen. Standing on watch duty during stormy weather was frowned upon by the crewmen. The harsh environment of the North Atlantic meant that icy waves constantly swept over the conning tower, completely submerging the boat and the watch crew for brief periods. They were issued with special foul-weather coats, but these did little to keep them dry. In addition, crewmen had little chance to dry their clothes during a patrol. The watch crews were secured by safety lines to keep them from being washed overboard. They were allowed only the clothes on their backs and a single change of underwear and socks. To remove salt from their skin caused by seawater exposure, crews were issued with special saltwater soap, but this was unpopular as it left a scummy film on the skin. Food aboard a U-boat was another interesting topic. At the beginning of a journey, as much food was cramped into every nook and cranny available in the U-boat. This resulted in one of the toilets being filled to capacity with food. They brought the best foods available with them, including fresh meat, sausages, bread loaves, fresh fruits and vegetables, but the small refrigerators meant that food spoilt quickly, especially in the damp environment of a U-boat. Very soon, fresh loaves of bread would sprout white fungi, which the crews promptly nicknamed as “Rabbits”, due to the white fuzzy appearance. By that time, food consisted mainly of canned goods supplemented by a soy based filler called Bratlingspulver. Issued by the military for U-boat crews, the crew unkindly referred to it as “diesel food”, due to the constant exposure of diesel exhaust that surrounded them. Commanders organized games and competitions to keep morale high and their minds away from home. On long patrols, maintaining morale was a delicate and important matter. The forward torpedo room which also doubled up as the crew's quarters. Six bunks had to be folded up to accommodate two spare torpedoes.
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Task 2 1 – A report from a senior officer in the British forces explaining the differences between the different fronts, and links between them, and justifying which is the most important front. 2 – A letter from a soldier who has fought on two fronts, comparing the similarities and differences and links between them. 3 – An explanation of what the fighting is like on each front from the point of view of a soldier. 4 – Four drawings or diary entries demonstrating the differences between the fronts.
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Significance
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