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THE WESTERN FRONT World War

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THE WESTERN FRONT World War INTRODUCTORY NOTES movement in their efforts to win. Also there is the opportunity to examine other aspects of life on the By 1907 Europe was divided into two armed camps Western Front which affected the life of the ordinary that involved all the major European powers, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. While the alliances soldier, such as living conditions, food, medical problems, army routine, discipline and humour. were meant to increase the security of each country, instead they ensured that a war that involved any of these powers would probably involve all of them. WAR PLANS Between the Anglo-French Cordiale of 1904 and the outbreak of war in 1914, there were a number of There had not been major war in Europe since 1870. Teacher's Notes crises in Morocco and the Balkans, any of which Much had changed since then. Population growth meant could have sparked a war. more men were available to be conscripted, industrial advancements meant armies could be equipped with It was the assassination of the Austrian heir to the more devastating weapons, railways meant armies could throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, be more easily moved and supplied. Every army had a 1914, that finally ignited the European powder keg. general staff, whose job it was to ensure their nations THE WESTERN Following the declaration of war on Serbia by Austria- army was properly equipped and organised for war and to Hungary on July 28, 1914, the Russian Government prepare plans to cover the most likely scenario. ordered its army to mobilise. Events seemed to follow each other in an inevitable sequence, like a row of The German Plan known as the Schlieffen Plan, was FRONT toppling dominoes. There was no turning back from devised by the Head of the German General Staff from this timetable of death. The Great War had to run its 1892 to 1906, Alfred von Schlieffen. Schlieffen believed course. This war stands out from earlier wars the most likely war was one in which Germany would because of the vast scale of the conflict and the have to fight both France and Russia. He believed that the World War One immensity of its destructiveness. This war was a war German army could defeat the Russian or the French of nations, a total war, a war of modern technologies. armies but not both at the same time. The Schlieffen Plan The statesman of pre-1914 had no vision of what a was a gamble. The Germans were going to stake twentieth-century war would really be like. everything on a massive attack on France in the first six weeks of the war, then turn on the Russians before they An examination of documentary film provides an had time to mobilise. As the German border with France added dimension to the study of the Great War and was heavily fortified, the only way was to invade France should be used along with other available sources by going through Belgium. The plan envisaged the such as letters, photographs, diaries, speeches, mobilisation of eight German armies. One would be sent newspapers, posters, cartoons, official documents, to the east to protect East Prussia from the Russians, war poetry and memoirs. two would guard the French frontier and the other five This video concentrates on the main theatre of the would storm through Belgium and Luxembourg in a First World War, the Western Front. It was the belief mighty arc and march on Paris from the north. of politicians and generals that success on this front When war did break out, the Russians instead of taking would bring about overall victory. From the video an six weeks to mobilise, mobilised without declaring war. It insight can be gained of what it was like serving on was too late for the Germans to make a new plan, so the Western Front. The material examines trench they altered the situation to make it fit their plans. They warfare. It examines the huge, costly offensives which rapidly declared war on Russia, declared war on France were made across a shell-torn no-man's land, against and invaded Belgium. However to the astonishment of the barbed wire, machine guns and artillery fire. It Germans, the Russians invaded East Prussia and gained Duration: 40 min examines the periods in 1914 and again in 1918 when a victory over the German Eighth Army on August 19, the armies were not dug into semipermanent trenches Years: 11-12 1914, throwing the German military plan into disarray. The and instead were managing to achieve some French also had a plan, known as Plan 17. This entailed Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 a headlong advance across the border, relying on the On the Western Front the efforts of each side to as to why there were no immediate strength and courage of the French soldiers to scatter outflank each other ended when both sides ran out of prospects of a quick victory on the the Germans. When the French did put their plan into room, having reached the sea. By the end of the First Western Front in 1915? action on August 20, 1914, their armies met with Battle of Ypres, the Western Front was well disaster. The French were slaughtered by the German entrenched, stretching from the North Sea to artillery and machine guns. In twelve days they lost Switzerland. This continuous line of trenches NEW WEAPONS AND DEVELOPMENTS 211,000 men including ten percent of their officers. stretched over 750 kilometres. Trenches were not ON THE WESTERN FRONT All the war plans failed. This failure was most built in straight lines, but had bays and traverses to confine the main trench. Behind it there could be a From the early days of trench warfare until its demise disastrous for the Germans. The Battle of the Marne in in March 1918, the armies of both sides experimented early September marked the collapse of the only plan support trench and a reserve trench. This was a new type of warfare. The attacking army not only had the with new weapons and methods. Sometimes these the Germans had to win a swift victory and avoid war new experiments were initially successful, with the on two fronts. problem of crossing no-mans land and entering the enemy's defences, they had to capture the enemy's defence finding an answer and the deadlock defences and exploit the gap created by the line. continuing. Two of these innovations were the use of gas and tanks. Understanding the issues. While the first trenches were quite basic, by 1915 the first real trench systems appeared. by 1917, the GAS: The first successful use of gas was at the Map Study: On a map outline France, Germany, second Battle of Ypres in 1915. The Germans Belgium and Luxembourg, plot the Germans were defending the Hindenburg Line, a system of concrete fire positions and deep shelters. released chlorine gas, an acute lung irritant, from proposed lines of advance under the hundreds of metal cylinders in trenches. When a Schlieffen Plan and Plan 17. Also, plot favourable wind blew towards the enemy, the gas was the two plans in practice, August- Understanding the issues: released to form a vast cloud which drifted towards September 1914. the Allied lines and gave the Germans an initial Research: Outline the form of Belgian resistance to Map study: On a map of the Western Front, mark success. the Germans in August 1914. In what down the location of the following significant battles: Mons, Ypres, It was not long before most of the combatants were ways did the Battle of the Marne destroy using various forms of gas in addition to chlorine, Germany's plan to defeat France within Verdun, Champagne, Loos, Passchendaele and the Somme. such as phosgene, tear gas and mustard gas. In all the first six weeks of the war? about 25 types of poison gas were used. Gas was Discussion: Was the Schlieffen Plan tactically Research: 'In 1915, the Allies attacking techniques used in increasing frequency as the war went on, the feasible? To what extent did German steadily improved, but the Germans Germans by 1918 for example, covering whole areas military plans prevent diplomatic solutions defensive methods improved as well'. with mustard gas to make the areas dangerous for to the outbreak of war? Use a number of battles that occurred troops. Film Study: What reasons does the film put forward on the Western Front in 1915, to To counter the impact of gas attacks, gas masks for thefailure of both the Schlieffen Plan illustrate how success often seemed were developed, improving in their effectiveness over and Plan 17? close for the Allies, but every attack the years. However gas masks were exhausting to failed to achieve its target. wear over long periods of time. Discussion: Examine the role of other 'fronts' in TANKS: The British were the first to use tanks at the TRENCH WARFARE attempting to break the deadline on the Battle of the Somme in 1916. They initially used a Industrial progress meant there was a massive Western Front. How much blame for the model known as the Mark 1, which was slow, increase in powerful weapons of destruction. However high casualty rate on the Western Front unreliable, difficult to operate and unpleasant for this was not matched by an increase in mobility on the should be placed on the incompetence crews, who had to put up with deafening noise and battlefield. Soldiers were forced to seek refuge from the of generals on both sides, and how exhaust fumes.
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