1. Europe Plunges into War
Chapter 13 Section 2 Notes
Europe Plunges into War

2. The Great War Begins
World is divided into 2 camps (Triple Alliance & Triple Entente)
Russia will begin to move its army along Russian Austrian border
Will also mobilize its troops along German border
By 1914 the lines were drawn and Germany and Austria will make the Central Powers
GB, France, Russia will become to be known as Allies
Japan will join the Allies within weeks and eventually Italy switches sides due to Germanys “unjust starting of a war”

3. A Bloody Stalemate
By Fall of 1914 war will turn into a stalemate specifically in France
This region in northern France will become to be known as the Western Front
Because Germany had to fight a war on 2 fronts they came up with a special plan known as the Schlieffen Plan
Plan called for quickly defeating France so that all focus can be shifted on to Russia
Germans felt this was a good idea because of how un industrialized Russia was

4. By September German forces were on the outskirts of Paris and were about to take the country completely
But on September 5th the allies regrouped themselves and attacked the German army northeast of Paris in valley of Marne River
It took 4 days of fighting then finally the Germans will be ordered to retreat
This was most important battle of the war because it destroyed the German’s Schlieffen Plan.
By now Russian forces had already invaded Germany in the eastern front

5. In response the Germanys will pull back its large army front the western front and sent them to fight the Russians in the east reducing the western front back into a stalemate
By 1915 armies on both sides had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire
This will set the stage to what will be known as trench warfare
This style warfare left in its path little gain with huge amounts of human lives

6. The space between trenches was known as no mans land
Staying put would also mean death due to artillery gun fire/bombardment
Western front will be nicknamed as the “terrain of death”
Stretched 500 miles from the North Sea to the Swiss Border

7. New tools/weapons of war will be used
New Machine guns, poison gasses, armored tanks, and larger artillery
Combined together, these new technological war inventions will only add to the amount of total lives taken from WW1
This slaughter will peak in 1916 at Battle of Verdun (France)
Germans will launch a massive attack costing each side more than 300,000 lives

8. GB will try to offer some relief to France by attacking a place northwest of Verdun (Battle of Somme) but in one day alone 20,000 British soldiers will be killed
At the end of it all Germany will gain all of 4 miles in Battle of Verdun
Great Britain will gain roughly 5 miles in Battle of Somme
With all side losing nearly half a million soldiers

9. Battle of the Eastern Front
Stretch of battlefield along the Russian and German border
Going to fight Germans and Austria Hungarians
At beginning of war on eastern front Russia will start it by launching attacks into Austria and Germany
Germany will counterattack and in a 4 day battle will drive the Russians into a full retreat
30,000 Russian soldiers killed during those 4 days
Russian forces will do much better against Austrians. Will win 2 large battles in which will bring the Russian army deep into Austria Hungary

10. Then Austria Hungary with the aid of Germany will regroup and push the Russians out of the country
By 1916 Russia was near collapsing
Due to not being industrialized( could not make ANY supplies needed for war. Food, machines, weapons, ammo, clothes, etc.)
Could not receive much aid due to Germanys submarine warfare campaign in the Baltic Sea
The only asset the Russian army had were its large numbers
Throughout the war Russian losses will be extremely high but the army will be continually rebuilt from the Russian population

11. Due to large numbers the Russians were able to keep the Germans occupied for 3 years in the East
As a result Germany could not give 100% of its force to defeating Britain and France in the West