1. WWI: The Great War
the 'Triple Alliance' of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy against the 'Triple Entente' of France, Russia and Great Britain, so that an attack on any one major power by another would produce a general European war. In Britain's case this was not a formal alliance, but an informal military commitment with the French. The Italians also were less secure in their alliance; in 1914 they were to stand neutral, and a year later they joined the Entente powers

2. What do you notice??

3. The Two Sides Central Powers (was _____________)
Germany, Austria-Hungary and TURKEY
Italy declared neutrality in 1914 WHEN WAR BROKE OUT (were part of Triple Alliance)
Allied Powers (was _____________)
England, France, Russia,
Italian became PART OF ALLIED in 1915

4. What about the USA?
US Joins 1917 to, “…Make the world safe for democracy.”
Never became part of an alliance, but fought alongside the Allied Powers

5. How does this map differ from the previous maps???

6. How WWI became a WORLD war?
Spread through Europe because of alliances
Dragged into it even if do not want to be
Spread out of Europe because of Colonialism/ Imperialism
Mother country at war, so are you!

7. The War Plans Both sides thought it would be quick & easy
Germans, French, Russians, A-H all had offensive strategies (prior to WWI)
What is this an example of????
German Schlieffen Plan, “Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner”.
Belgium to Paris in 42 days, force French surrender. Then move East and defeat the Russians before they were fully prepared to fight.
Offensive Strategy – go in and get them!!!
What is Germany’s objective with this strategy?
Anticipated a great naval battle
Interactive war map
Xtreme
French = get A-L back - Russia & A-H; British protect Brave little Belgium
nationalism – think best

8. Schlieffen Plan in Action
Aug 3, Germany Invades Belgium to get to Paris
Belgium is neutral! (impact of this)
French launch attack in northeast (Alsace Lorraine)
French lose 27,000 in one day
How was that possible???
German plan started to fall apart!
Tired & far from Germany
25 miles short of Paris
Could not destroy French or British resistance along Marne River
Germans forced into a two front war
As a Germans army crossed into Belgium, heading for Paris, the Russian Army - moving faster than the German generals had anticipated -- was already pushing into East Prussia. The German forces on the Eastern Front, however, quickly defeated the Tsar's army at the Battle of Tannenberg.
Therefore, Belgium's neutrality was not honored. Germany enjoyed early success, steamrolling Belgium, and quickly taking ground inside France. However, France - with the help of UK and Canadian troops - was able to bog down the German military in trench warfare, forcing them into a two-front war after all. In the west, as the German army invaded Belgium, rumors and stories quickly spread of the atrocities the German soldiers inflicted upon Belgium civilians.
The French, believing the German thrust into Belgium to be a fake, launched their own offensive on the eastern border between France and Germany the operations were disastrous, with the French army losing 27,000 soldiers in a single day. When the German invasion of France failed to take Paris or destroy French and British resistance on the river Marne, stalemate quickly followed, and a line of trenches soon stretched along the war's Western Front from the Swiss Alps to the English Channel. Christmas Eve of 1914 saw an extraordinary truce between the men fighting in the trenches that had been called "the last twitch of the 19th century."

9. Things Get Bogged Down: Trench Warfare
September,1914: German’s first to employ trenches
Allies followed suit
Trenches –intricate holes in the ground for protection
What type of war is it now? How will this change things?
Erich Von Falkenhayn trench guy
Germans had higher elevation, Allies dug through water-logged areas

10. Trenches Many lines - connected in zig zag shape
Front about 7 feet deep, 6 feet wide
Barbed wire, sandbags & machine gun posts in front
support trenches in the back
Rotation system for the front versus back lines of the trench (3 weeks)
About 1 mile between enemy trenches – known as “No Man’s Land”
Hold on to parts France and Belgium that Germany occupied after WWI – provide protection from advancing French troops
Both sides quickly recognized that assaults against the enemy trenches were suicide if begun in broad daylight, so attacks tended to take place just before dawn or right at dawn. Poison gases tended to be more effective in the mornings, as the colder air and absence of wind allowed the gases to stay closer to the ground for longer periods of time.
Except for artillery shelling, daytime was relatively safe for the soldiers on the front line. Once the sun went down, men crawled out of their trenches to conduct raids, investigate the layout of the terrain, and eavesdrop near the enemy lines to pick up information on their strengths, weakness and strategies.
7,000 British killed/disabled/wounded a day
British established a three-week rotation schedule. A week in the front trench was followed by a week in the support trench, which was followed by a week in the reserve trenches. During this third week, the men could relax with sports, concerts and plays, keeping their minds away from life on the front.
The Allies used four "types" of trenches. The first, the front-line trench (or firing-and-attack trench), was located from 50 yards to 1 mile from the German's front trench. Several hundred yards behind the front-line trench was the support trench, with men and supplies that could immediately assist those on the front line. The reserve trench was dug several hundred yards further back and contained men and supplies that were available in emergencies should the first trenches be overrun. Connecting these trenches were communication trenches, which allowed movement of messages, supplies, and men among the trenches. Some underground networks connected gun emplacements and bunkers with the communication trenches
German trench life was much different. They constructed elaborate and sophisticated tunnel and trench structures, sometimes with living quarters more than 50 feet below the surface. These trenches had electricity, beds, toilets and other niceties of life that contrasted sharply with the open-air trenches of the Allies

11. Frontline – 7 feet deep, 6 feet wide, zip zag shape so could not shoot straight on if other jumped in- machine gun posts outside front line behind barbed wire - - listening posts by no man’s land

12. Fighting In Trenches Night time = most danger
Reconnaissance Patrols (eavesdrop & steal plans)
No Man’s Land – plant mines
Most deadly area
Very small advancements
2 min. trenches War Horse
2 min no man’s land War Horse
Raiding Parties to capture men & interrogate
The return had to worry about friendly fire
Reconnaissance Patrols
Small patrols of men were often sent into No Man's Land to discover information about the enemy. All men had to take turns in this very dangerous work. The patrols usually went out at night. They would cautiously inch their way forward on their stomachs and try to get within earshot of the enemy trenches. The commanders also organised raiding parties. A typical raiding party would comprise of 30 men. It was standard procedure for everyone to blacken their faces with grease-paint or burnt cork. The men carried cut down rifles, coshes, sheath-knives and grenades. One of the main objectives of these raids was to capture German soldiers for interrogation.
Men on patrols considered returning to their own trenches as the most dangerous part of the operation. Nervous sentries often fired at any movement in front of them and caused many casualties. On one occasion a sentry killed two of his own men with one shot.
It could take as long as a year to dig a tunnel and place a mine. As well as digging their own tunnels, the miners had to listen out for enemy tunnellers. On occasions miners accidentally dug into the opposing side's tunnel and an underground fight took place. When an enemy's tunnel was found it was usually destroyed by placing an explosive charge inside. At the beginning of the 20th century most military commanders placed a great deal of emphasis on using the infantry for massed bayonet charges supported by the cavalry and mobile field artillery. Leaders of the French Army were particularly keen on this approach and favoured sending its infantry into action without equipment for entrenchment. Their commanders argued that defensive precautions were unnecessary as repeated waves of massed assault, delivered with sufficient speed and aggression, could not fail. Infantry tactics had to be reassessed after armies suffered heavy casualties during attacks against machine-guns. The French infantry were forced to retreat during the invasion of Lorraine and the Germans experienced heavy losses when storming the fortress at Liege during August Despite the support of Preliminary Bombardment, Chlorine Gas and Flame-Throwers, the infantry failed to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front during The following year, new tactics such as Creeping Barrage and tank attacks, also failed to breakdown entrenched defences. The same was also true of the infiltration tactics tried by the Germans in It was only at Amiens in 1918, when Colonel John Fuller managed to persuade General Henry Rawlinson to use 412 tanks followed by soldiers and supported by over 1,000 combat aircraft that the Allies managed to breakthrough the German frontline on the Western Front.

13. What does this tell us?
I've a Little Wet Home in a Trench   I've a little wet home in a trench Where the rainstorms continually drench, There's a dead cow close by With her feet in towards the sky And she gives off a terrible stench.   Underneath, in the place of a floor, There's a mass of wet mud and some straw, But with shells dropping there, There's no place to compare, With my little wet home in the trench.

14. Living in the Water

15. The British Army treated 20,000 soldiers for trench foot during the winter of 1914-15.
Bad water
Lice
Rats
A total of 3,894 men in the British Army were convicted of self-inflicted wounds.
1/3 of all casualties on the Western Front

16. Back to the Fighting…..

17. February-Dec 1916: Verdun
Germans wanted to - “Bleed France white”
Verdun had psychological significance in France
Germans attacked (flame throwers), 10,000 prisoners
June miles away & Germany faltered
Attention turns to Somme…
Dec 1916: over 300,000 deaths & 750,00 wounded
Longest single battle WWI
The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War One. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in It was to make General Philippe Pétain a hero in France. The German attack and the subsequent battle was to last over 300 days
launching a massive German attack on a narrow stretch of land that had historic sentiment for the French – Verdun. The area around Verdun contained twenty major forts and forty smaller ones that had historically protected the eastern border of France and had been modernised in the early years of the Twentieth Century.
assumed that the French would be an easy opponent and that it would be the French who would take massive casualties – and not the Germans. In fact, all the forts around the area had been weakened as the French High Command had moved ammunition out of the forts to other areas on the Western Front. Also the trenches dug for defence had not been completed.
Flame throwers were used in large numbers for the first time to help the Germans advance the eight miles they needed to if they were to capture Verdun. By February 25th, the Germans had captured 10,000 French prisoners. One forts manned by 56 old people – media did not immediately tell public of fall
the summer, France had achieved some form of air supremacy over the Germans but this counted for nothing as the battle on the ground was one of simple attrition as the casualties mounted on both sides.
Just 150 miles away, life in the French capital went on as 'normal'. Here, those French soldiers lucky enough to get leave from Verdun found an alien world. Food was plentiful and the one day in the week that was meant to be meat-free was not kept by the majority.
A French factory worker earned sixty times the pay of a French soldier over the course of a week. The rumblings of discontent in the French army could be heard in the summer of in 1917 it was to mutiny.
On June 1st, Germany launched a massive attack at Verdun. By June 23rd, they got within 2.5 miles from Verdun itself -but this attack faltered as the German army itself had given all that it had and it could give no more. On June 24th, the bombardment on the Sommecould be heard at Verdun and with days, the battle at the Somme was to dominate military planners on the Western Front. By the end of October 1916, the French had re-captured the two forts at Vaux and Douaumont but the surrounding land where the battle had been fought since February was a wasteland. The battle at Verdun continued to December - ironically after the Somme conflict was considered to have ended.
It is said that the French lost over 360,000 and the Germans nearly 340,000.

19. July –Nov 1916: Somme 8 day bombardment – 1.6 million shells fired
French & British attack Germans to relieve French at Verdun
8 day bombardment – 1.6 million shells fired
Try to walk across No Man’s Land (750,000 Brits)
German’s had taken cover, many duds
58,000 casualties first day (20,000 dead)
German transfer men from Verdun
Brits and French take 12 km
Casualties : 420,000 British; 200,000 French; 500,000 German
Use of Tanks…
Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops (one third of them killed) on the first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, which to this day remains a one-day record.
Today the battle is remembered for a number of reasons. Firstly, the opening day of the battle on 1 July 1916 saw the British Army suffer the worst one-day combat losses in its history, with 57,470 men becoming casualties Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme Offensive took place between 1 July to 18 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name . It was an offensive by the British and French armies, against the German Army, which since invading France in August 1914 had occupied large areas of that country. One of the largest battles of the First World War by the time fighting had petered out in late autumn more than 1.5 million casualties had been suffered by the forces involved. It is understood to have been one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded.
The offensive was planned late in 1915 and was intended as a joint French-British attack. The French Commander in Chief, Joffre, conceived the idea as a battle of attrition, the aim being to drain the German forces of reserves, although territorial gain was a secondary aim.
Although in actuality British forces comprised by far the bulk of the offensive forces, Joffre and Haig originally intended for the attack to be a predominantly French offensive. However the German onslaught at Verdun at the start of 1916, where the German Army Chief of Staff, von Falkenhayn promised to 'bleed France white', resulted in the diversion of virtually all French manpower and efforts.
the French demanded that the planned date of the attack, 1 August 1916, be brought forward to 1 July, the aim chiefly being to divert German resources from Verdun in the defence of the Somme
The attack was preceded by an eight-day preliminary bombardment of the German lines, beginning on Saturday 24 June - firing 1.6 million shells. The expectation was that the ferocity of the bombardment would entirely destroy all forward German defences, enabling the attacking British troops to practically walk across No Man's Land and take possession of the German front lines from the battered and dazed German troops.
27 divisions of men went into the attack - 750,000 men - of which over 80% were comprised from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Ranged against them in the German trenches were 16 divisions of the German Second Army.
However, unconcealed preparations for the assault and the week-long bombardment gave the Germans clear warning. However the advance artillery bombardment failed to destroy either the German front line barbed wire or the heavily-built concrete bunkers the Germans had carefully and robustly constructed. Much of the munitions used by the British proved to be 'duds' - badly constructed and ineffective. Many charges did not go off; even today farmers of the Western Front unearth many tons of unexploded 'iron harvest' each year.
During the bombardment the German troops sought effective shelter in such bunkers, emerging only with the ceasing of the British artillery bombardmen
The British troops were for the most part forced back into their trenches by the effectiveness of the German machine gun response.
Many troops were killed or wounded the moment they stepped out of the front lines into No Man's Land. Many men walked slowly towards the German lines, laden down with supplies, expecting little or no opposition. They made for incredulously easy targets for the German machine-gunners.
Despite heavy losses during the first day - 58,000 British troops alone - 20,000 were dead: their largest single loss. Sixty per cent of all officers involved on the first day were killed. - Many 'Pals' Battalions, comprising men from the same town, had enlisted together to serve together. They suffered catastrophic losses: whole units died together and for weeks after the initial assault, local newspapers would be filled with lists of dead, wounded and missing.Haig persisted with the offensive in the following days. Advances were made, but these were limited and often ultimately repulsed. Rawlinson's forces secured the first line of German trenches on 11 July. On that day German troops were transferred from Verdun to contribute to the German defence, doubling the number of men available for the defence.
Haig was convinced - as were the Germans - that the enemy was on the point of exhaustion and that a breakthrough was imminent. Thus the offensive was maintained throughout the summer and into November.
When the bombardment began, the Germans simply moved underground and waited. Around 7.30am on 1 July, whistles blew to signal the start of the attack. With the shelling over, the Germans left their bunkers and set up their positions.
desspite the slow but progressive British advance, poor weather - snow - brought a halt to the Somme offensive on 18 November. During the attack the British and French had gained 12 kilometres of ground, the taking of which resulted in 420,000 estimated British casualties, including many of the volunteer 'pal's' battalions, plus a further 200,000 French casualties. German casualties were estimated to run at around 500,000.
On 15 September Haig renewed the offensive, using tanks for the first time. However, lightly armed, small in number and often subject to mechanical failure, they made little impact.
Torrential rains in October turned the battlegrounds into a muddy quagmire and in mid-November the battle ended, with the Allies having advanced only 8km (five miles). Only success releaving French at Verdun
Tanks first used – most sunk!
Started to make pamphlets to learn from mistakes –s tandardize war more
some commanders learned the importance of concentrating artillery fire.

20. An example of modern war: Somme
“It was too late to change course. At precisely 7:30 in the morning on July 1, whistles blew along the British front lines, which stretched more than 12 miles. In unison, infantry soldiers loaded with more than 70 pounds of clothing and equipment clambered out of their trenches and set out at a walk across no-man's-land in neat, orderly lines. They were tangled in barbed wire or cut down by withering machine- gun fire before they could come close to the German trenches. The toll was devastating: 19,240 men died in a single day. The British officer corps, expected to lead their men "over the top," suffered especially high losses…
…The Battle of the Somme dragged on inconclusively for another five months. By the time winter set in, the British had gained two miles of ground - and lost 420,000 young men. Almost nothing was accomplished, and a total of about 1.5 million French, British and German soldiers were killed or wounded. The Somme defined the futility of trench warfare. It was the bloodiest single battle in history.”
somme
Trench warfare made sense, in theory. Use artillery to pound the enemy's trenches to jelly, then send your own soldiers strolling across no-man's-land to score an easy win. That was the game plan, anyway. Take the Somme, perhaps the defining battle of the First World War: British general Sir Douglas Haig ordered a week of shelling to soften up the German lines in June British gunners sent 1.7 million shells - 12,000 tons' worth of shrapnel and high explosives -- whistling down on German trenches.
The problem was the German generals were using the same playbook. For more than a year, they had been reinforcing their positions, building sturdy concrete bunkers and deep trench systems. Instead of destroying the German defenses, the British bombardment simply let the well-fortified Germans know an attack was imminent. When the artillery fire stopped, German machine-gunners emerged and prepared a devastating welcome for the British infantry.

21. Why are these battles so deadly??

22. Machine Guns, Bolt Action Rifle, Artillery Zeppelin, Tank, Planes Read about each of these weapons & then make two lists 1. List the three weapons that you think made WWI the most “deadly” 2. List the three weapons that you think made this a “modern” war.
Machine Guns = 900lbs = no more Calvary and bombardments
It was important to have the right weather conditions before a gas attack could be made. When the British Army launched a gas attack on 25th September in 1915, the wind blew it back into the faces of the advancing troops. This problem was solved in 1916 when gas shells were produced for use with heavy artillery. This increased the army's range of attack and helped to protect their own troops when weather conditions were not completely ideal. After the first German chlorine gas attacks, Allied troops were supplied with masks of cotton pads that had been soaked in urine. It was found that the ammonia in the pad neutralized the chlorine. These pads were held over the face until the soldiers could escape from the poisonous fumes. Other soldiers preferred to use handkerchiefs, a sock, a flannel body-belt, dampened with a solution of bicarbonate of soda, and tied across the mouth and nose until the gas passed over. Soldiers found it difficult to fight like this and attempts were made to develop a better means of protecting men against gas attacks. By July 1915 soldiers were given efficient gas masks and anti-asphyxiation respirators. One disadvantage for the side that launched chlorine gas attacks was that it made the victim cough and therefore limited his intake of the poison. Both sides found that phosgene was more effective than chlorine. Only a small amount was needed to make it impossible for the soldier to keep fighting. It also killed its victim within 48 hours of the attack. Advancing armies also used a mixture of chlorine and phosgene called 'white star'.
Rifle 15 rounds/minute – 1,400 meters away; machine gun 400 rounds/minute 4-6 men to operate – flate surface - long range weapons – weighed 9001bs 12 men to operate

24. “The Chemists’ War” Tear Gas – French 1914 Chlorine Gas – Germans 1915
Yellow green cloud
Slow death, asphyxiation
Cover mouth with wet cloth (urine)
Blow back on you
Gas masks
White Star” Chlorine and Phosgene French) – 24 hours
Mustard gas, German, 1917
Internal and external bleeding
"I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-colored blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."[
Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon used. It was fired into the trenches in shells. It is colorless and takes 12 hours to take effect. Effects include: blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks
The flame-thrower used pressurized air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen to force oil through a nozzle. Ignited by a small charge, the oil became a jet of flame. Operated by two men, they were mainly used to clear enemy soldiers from front-line trenches. At first they had a range of 25 meters but later this was increased to 40 meters. This meant they were only effective over narrow areas of No Man's Land. Another problem was that the flame-thrower was difficult to move around and only contained enough oil to burn 40 seconds at the time. It was one of the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war. It was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take effect. Yperite was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.
Mustard Gas
Mustard Gas (Yperite) was first used by the German Army in September It was one of the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war. It was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take effect. Yperite was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.
British soldiers blinded by mustard gas
British Gas Casualties: Deaths Non-Fatal Chlorine 1, ,457 Mustard Gas 4,086 16,526 The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became very sore and they began to vomit. Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning.
In 1911 the Italians, at war with Turkey in Libya, became the first to make military use of the airplane, dropping grenades from a German-built monoplane.  In 1912 they also dropped bombs from an airship.
A typical British aircraft at the outbreak of the war was the general purpose BE2c, with a top speed of 116 km/h (72 mph).  Powered by a 90 hp engine, it could remain aloft for over three hours.  By the end of the war aircraft were designed for specific tasks.  Built for speed and manoeuvrability, the SE5a fighter of 1917 was powered by a 200 hp engine and had a top speed of 222 km/h (138 mph).
The more modern tank was not developed until just before the end of the war. It could carry 10 men, had a revolving turret and could reach 4mph

25. ] Nation Fatal Non-fatal Russia 56,000 419,340 Germany 9,000 200,000
France
8,000
190,000
British Empire (includes Canada)
8,109
188,706
A-Hungary
3,000
100,000
USA
1,462
72,807
Italy
4,627
Estimated gas casualties[35]
60,000
Total
88,498
1,240,853

26. The War in the East: Lots of Russian Casualties, Not too Much Success for Germany

27. The War on the Seas

28. The German’s were losing on land
No great naval battles
Naval blockades – both sides – England advantage
German U-boats (submarines) Feb 1915 – Germans used
Impact on “neutral” countries
Could u-boats destroy Britain before American intervenes?
1916 – Uboats destroyed 1/3 of a million tons per month then 1917 up to 400,000 plus, 500,000 plus, April 800,000 tons
By April 1917 – 6 weeks of food for British people
German’s lost bet - 6 April 1917 Americans arrive – anti sub devises – hydrophones, aircraft – sailed merchant ships with convoys

29.
embed.shtml
Interactive map of battles

30. How might this impact the USA?

32. Each battalion had its own supply of rum that it distributed to its soldiers.
Each division of 20,000 men received 300 gallons.
Every soldier carried iron rations -- emergency food that consisted of a can of bully bee, biscuits and a tin of tea and sugar.
A single pair of rats could produced up to 880 offspring in a year
A total of 3,894 men in the British Army were convicted of self-inflicted wounds. A firing- squad offense -- none were executed, but all served prison terms.
The British Army treated 20,000 soldiers for trench foot during the winter of
One-third of all casualties on the Western Front may have been killed or wounded in a trench.
A lit candle was fairly effective in removing lice, but the skill of burning the lice without setting yourself on fire was difficult to learn.
Soldiers in the trenches often depended on impure water collected from shell-holes or other cavities, causing dysentery.  

33. "I had a peculiar passion for the navy
"I had a peculiar passion for the navy. It sprang to no small extent from my English blood. When I was a little boy... I admired the proud British ships. There awoke in me the will to build ships of my own like these some day, and when I was grown up to possess a fine navy as the English." -- Kaiser Wilhelm II, autobiography My Early Life
Germany's monarch, Kaiser Wilhelm II had a withered and useless left arm caused by the use of forceps when he was born that also affected him psychologically and emotionally. He never wanted himself or Germany to appear weak; hence he developed a strong will, an aggressive demeanor and an arrogance that led to a complex mix of stubbornness and instability.

34. new Trafalgar: a decisive clash between British and German battleships
new Trafalgar: a decisive clash between British and German battleships. fragile Unterseeboot (U-Boat) rather than the mighty dreadnought that was to mount the most dangerous challenge to British maritime security during World War One. Just as was to occur later, in World War Two, U-Boat attacks on merchant shipping in the Atlantic brought Britain to the point of defeat. It was not until May 1916 that a major fleet action occurred. The Battle of Jutland was tactically indecisive, but nevertheless an important strategic victory for the Royal Navy, because the Germans returned to port and never again made a serious attempt to challenge the British Grand Fleet. Both Britain and Germany strove to starve each other into submission through the use of naval blockades. Britain was heavily reliant on foodstuffs and munitions carried across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada and neutral America. The sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania by U-20 in May 1915 underlined this risk. 128 Americans were among the 1,198 people who died. campaign had sunk about 750,000 tons of Allied shipping, which was too little to make much of an impact on Britain's economy especially after the sinking of Sussex, and Germany again called off the campaign. By the time of the next unrestricted submarine offensive, early in 1917, the strategic situation had undergone profound changes and Germany was determined to prosecute the campaign to its utmost even if America came into the war as a consequence. In 1916, the German army took a terrible battering at the hands of the British and French on the Somme and at Verdun. This helped to discredit the existing army high command, and led to the appointment of Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg