Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Europe Plunges Into War (The Battle on the Eastern Front (The Eastern…

- - - - Germany develops the Schlieffen Plan, named after the designer of the plan General Alfred Graf Von Schlieffen.
        
        The plan was to defeat France quickly and then rush back to defeat Russia. The Germans felt they could carry out this plan because Russia's railroad system lagged behind the rest of Europe.
        
        Why Germany attack France first?
        
        Germany attacked France first because of how far behind Russia's railroads were. They thought they could defeat France before Russia could supply their troops.
        
        Interdependence
        
        The Schliefen Plan
        
        At first a quick victory seemed possible. By September German forces had reached the outskirts of Paris. On September 5th the Allis regrouped and attacked the Germans northeast of Paris, in the in the valley of the Marne River.
        
        Every soldier available was was hurled into the battle. When reinforcements were needed 600 taxicabs an soldiers from Paris to the front. After 4 days of fighting the German general ordered a retreat.
        
        Although it was only the first major clash on the Western Front this First Battle of the Marne was very important, because it ruined the Schlieffen Plan.
        
        The Germans had to send troops east for defense, and the war on the Western Front quickly turned into a stalemate.
        
        Value
        
        War
        
        Leadership
    - - By 1915 opposing armies the western front dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire. This set the stage for what became trench warfare.
        
        In trench warfare soldiers fought each other from trenches. Armies traded huge losses of human life for pathetically small land gains.
        
        Why were land gains so small?
        
        The battles in the trenches prevented troops from covering much ground. The stalemate stopped any movement.
        
        Life in the trenches was pure misery. The men were always covered in mud, the trenches were filled with rats, fresh food was never nearby, and sleep was nearly impossible.
        
        Life in the trenches
        
        Balance
        
        The space between enemy trenches was known as "no man's land." Soldiers charged though no man's land on attacks, and were usually met with machine gun fire.
        
        Staying put did not guarantee safety either. Artillery was used to bring death right into the trenches. This also contributed to the feeling of hopelessness in the trenches.
        
        The Western Front became a "terrain of death." It stretched nearly 500 miles from the North Sea to the Swiss border.
        
        Military strategists were at a loss. New tools of war (machine guns, poison gas, tanks, and large artillery) did not speed up the war. All this did was kill more people more efficiently. The slaughter reached a peak in 1916.
        
        In February the Germans launched a massive attack against the French near Verdun. Each side lost over 300,000 troops. The Germans gained about 4 miles near Verdun. In July the British sent troops to relieve pressure on the French.
        
        British troops attacked Germans in the valley of the Somme River. In the first day alone over 20,000 British troops died. By the end of the battle each side had suffered half a million casualties. The British gained about 5 miles in the Somme valley.
        
        Alliance
        
        Change
- - - - Why might the war on the Eastern Front have been more mobile than that on the Western Front?
        The Russians struggled to supply their troops, so getting in a war of attrition wouldn't suit them well.
      - Invasion: The Russians invaded both Germany and Austria-Hungary.
    - - This was hurt even further by German control of sea routes and U-Boats patrolling the North Sea.
      - The Russians did have massive amounts of troops, and this alone kept Germany from being able to throw its full force at the west.
      - How did Russia’s industrialization affect its war effort?
        It greatly hurt it's war effort by not being able to supply its huge troop numbers. With Russia's size, if it had been able to supply itself, it could have caused Germany much more severe trouble than it did.
      - War: World War 1 was one of the biggest wars ever.
      - Russian Industrialization
- - - - Nations Take Sides
        
        Allies
        
        Germany and Austria-Hungary were the first ones to be with the Aliies
        
        Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria later joined the Aliies in hope of getting back their lost territory
        
        What country had taken over territories that Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire wanted to regain?
        
        The country of Russia had taken over a lot Bulgarian and Ottoman Empire territories.
        
        Invasion
        
        Central Powers
        
        Great Britain, France and Russia were the first three countries to be apart of the Central Powers
        
        Japan later joined the Allies, as did Italy. They were apart of the Triple Alliance, but left because they felt that the other side started the war in an unjustified way.
      - Why did Germany declare war on France?
        
        They declared war on France because they didn't want France to have time to react to Russia's aid request
      - Alliance
      - Alliance Map