Chapter 29, Section 2 – “Europe Plunges Into War”

World History 9

Chapter 29, section 2 – “Europe Plunges into War”

1. After Austria declared war on ______Serbia_____, Russia began mobilization. Germany then declared war on ____Russia______. Germany then declared war on __France______. Then _Britain______declared war on ___Germany______.

2. What countries made up the Central Powers? Germany and Austria-Hungary, later joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria

3. What countries made up the Allies? Britain, France, Russia; later Italy

4. What country switched sides from the Triple Alliance to the Allies? Italy

5. What was the Western Front? Deadlocked region in northern France

6. Germany’s strategy was called the Schlieffen Plan. Briefly describe it. In order to avoid fighting a war on two fronts at the same time, Germany planned to attack and defeat France in the west, and then rush to the east to fight Russia. They believed Russia would be slow to mobilize since they lacked a railroad system. Required a quick victory in France.

7. Why was the Schlieffen Plan a failure? First Battle of the Marne – Germans defeated by the French, so a quick victory in the west was not possible. Russia quickly mobilized and had already invaded Germany. Germans had to send more troops to the west, where the western Front turned into a stalemate.

8. What is a stalemate? (Hint: it’s not defined in the book.) Deadlock – no one can move or make progress.

9. What is trench warfare? What was life like in the trenches? Miles of parallel trenches are dug for protection from enemy fire. Space between is called “no man’s land”. Trenches stretched nearly 500 miles from North Sea to Swiss border. Terrible conditions: mud, rats, no fresh food, can’t sleep, artillery shells fell on them burying soldiers 10. Use the chart to briefly describe each of the new weapons used in WW1.

Weapon Description Poison Gas Introduced by Germans, but used by both sides Needed gas masks Caused blindness, blisters, death by choking

Machine Gun Fires ammo automatically Could wipe out waves of attackers, making it difficult for them to advance

Tank Armored combat vehicle on chain tracks Could cross many terrains Introduced by British in 1916 at Battle of the Somme

Submarine Introduced by Germans in 1914 Primary weapon was torpedoes against ships

11. How many men were lost at the Battle of Verdun? How much land was gained by whom? How many casualties were there at the Battle of the Somme? How much land was gained by whom? So…overall, how can you characterize the war on the Western Front? Verdun (Feb, 1916) – Germans attack French; each side lost more than 300,000 men; Germans advanced about 4 miles Sommes (July 1916) – British attack Germans; more than 20,000 Brits killed on first day; By the end in November, each side suffered more than half a million casualties; Brits gained about 5 miles/

So…Lots of death and very little movement by either side

12. What was the Eastern Front? What countries were involved in the fighting there? Stretch of battlefield along German and Russian borders. Russians and Serbs vs Germans and Austro-Hungarians.

13. Who initially had the upper hand in the fighting on the Eastern Front? Germany

14. Compare and contrast the war on the Western and Eastern Fronts? Eastern front was more mobile than western, but both characterized by huge loss of life

15. What were some of the reasons for Russia’s war difficulties? What was there one asset? Russia not yet industrialized, so shortages of food, guns, ammo, clothes, boots, blankets; German control of the Black Sea prevented Allies from getting supplies to Russia; North Sea blocked by submarine warfare; Ottoman controls of straits from Med to Black Sea Asset: Huge population so could continually replenish their ranks – kept hundreds of thousands of German troops at eastern front, so couldn’t put full effort into Western front.