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WW1 - Final Exams - Coggle Diagram
WW1 - Final Exams
Causes of War
Alliances
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4th August 1914 - Britain declares war on Germany; their entry into the war is largely governed by their connections with Belgium.
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Desires of Kaiser Wilhelm:
- Weltpolitik: The desire for a “place in the sun” and establishment of an empire.
- To replace Britain as a leading naval power.
Nationalism
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25th June 1914 - The Black Hand assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Princip acted as a scapegoat for AH, allowing them to escalate hostility between Serbia.
1912-1913 - A series of wars in the Balkans establishes a much more powerful presence for Serbia within Europe, increasing their military competence (Balkans Crisis).
Imperialism
1914 - By this point, 90% of Africa was formally controlled by European powers.
1905 - The Schlieffen Plan is conceived, demonstrating the Kaiser's willingness and desire to annex European powers in order to establish an empire.
1905/1906 - The First Moroccan Crisis occurs: A conference is held in Algeciras and the Kaiser is humiliated.
1911 - The Second Moroccan Crisis occurs: Germany sends the SMS Panther in response to the arrival of French troops in Fez. Britain responds by sending naval support and Germany withdraws from Agadir Port.
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3rd August 1914 - The Schlieffen Plan is executed. Failures include:
- German troops to the right were exhausted and failed to keep up pace, failing to surround Paris.
- Von Moltke changed the plan: he reduced the number of infantry divisions on the right flank from 75 to 54.
- Belgian forts at Liège held back the advance for 12 days.
- Battle of Mons.
- Russia only took 10 days to mobilise rather than 6 weeks.
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Militarism
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1906 - Dreadnaughts begin to be manufactured by Britain: they would eventually product 29 while Germany would produce 17.
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July Crisis:
- 23rd July - 10 point ultimatum is given but only 9 points are agreed to.
- 28th July - AH declares war on Serbia.
Course of War
War of Movement
23rd August 1914 - The Battle of Mons, between the BEF and the Germany. German triumph but are ultimately slowed.
5th/12th September 1914 - First Battle of the Marne: the allies split the German forces up and established a flank, forcing them to move back to the River Aisne. 400 miles of trenches were dug here.
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Stalemate
1915/1916 - The Gallipoli Campaign: allies hope to establish a new front to divert German troops from the current fronts. Naval mines surrounded the Gallipoli Peninsula and the attempt was futile.
Reasons for the Gallipoli Campaign's Failure:
- Poor communication by the British.
- Disease.
- Heat.
- Landscape.
- Naval mines.
War of Attrition
21st February 1916 - Battle of the Verdun: the longest battle of world war one, lasting 10 months. It was a French victory that led directly to the Battle of the Somme as Britain wished to relive pressure off the French.
July/November 1917 - The Battle of Passchendaele: it is deemed "the battle of the mud"; the allies captures 5 miles in three months and endured harsh weather (320,000 allied casualties, 260,000 German casualties).
Trench Warfare:
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- Only ~40% of time spent in trenches.
- Comradeship developed.
- During rest periods, troops wrote letters and played cards.
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- Medical issues such as trenchfoot developed.
- Many students suffered from PTSD / shellshock.
- Lack of morale due to little movement on the Western Front.
July/November 1916 - The Battle of the Somme: The most detrimental conflict. Britain lost 420,000 men whilst Germany lost 500,000. Field Marshall Haig's tactics were deemed archaic and irresponsible. 60,000 British troops were killed on the first day. Five kilo gained. Began with weeklong bombardment.
Technology and Tactics
Chlorine gas was first used in 1915 by the German army. The issue of this was the potential for gas to blow back. Additionally, gas masks were introduced.
The development of German U-boats was combated by Britain developing a convoy system to protect merchant ships.
At the start of the war, planes were mostly used for reconnaissance. By 1918, they improved through: larger fuel tanks, stronger materials and the introduction of both formations and radio.
Tanks were first used in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme; they were very unreliable and often broke down during an advance. They did -however- provide a major morale boost.
War at Sea
1914 - A naval blockade is established in the North Sea, preventing supplies from reaching Germany.
28th August 1914 - The Heligoland Bight: The British Navy attack German naval patrols. 4 German ships are sunk.
May 1916 - The Battle of Jutland: German Admiral Von Sheer attempts to lure a British fleet out of their marina. 14 British ships and 9 German ships were sunk. The German fleet pulled out of the battle and this ended WW1's naval warfare. Decoded messages allowed Britain to know about the attack. Britain loses 6000 sailors and Germany loses 2550.
Ludendorff Offensive
March 1918 - Germany moves 500,000 troops to the western front following the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany attempts to launch an offensive before US troops arrive.
15th July 1918 - After successfully pushing the allies back to the Marne (4th phase saw 9 miles captured), the German forces are left exhausted. The second Battle of the Marne takes place.
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Resulted in more than 600,000 causalities for the Germans.
End of War
America's Entry
7th May 1915 - The RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-Boat, claiming over 100 lives.
January 1917 - The Zimmerman Telegram is sent; Germany offers Mexico parts of the US (Texas, Arizona and New Mexico). The US would eventually declare war in April.
January 1917 - Germany revives unrestricted submarine warfare, angering the US.
- The US has 1.5 million troops in France by August 1918.
- The US only lost 48,000 troops in battle over the course of the war.
- France and Germany both lost over 1 million.
- US troops were trained to a much higher degree (such as the AEF).
Russia Withdraws
February 1917 - The First Bolshevik Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and a new provisional government is formed.
October 1917 - Unhappy with the newly formed provisional government's decision to remain in the war, a second revolution occurs with Vladimir Lenin leading. He promised "Peace, Bread and Land".
Russia decided to withdraw from war as:
- The country had faced mass poverty.
- The Tsar had taken control of the military, he was unqualified for this.
- Millions of Russian troops had been wounded or killed.
- They wanted to focus on building a communist state based upon the ideas of Karl Marx.
3rd March 1918 - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Russia withdrew from the war but were faced with economic devastation. 74% of iron and coal mines were given to Germany with Russia losing land such as Poland, Latvia and Estonia.
100 Day Offensive
8th August 1918 - Germany faces their 'Black Day': British, French, Australian and Canadian troops launch a counter-offensive, they reach the Hindenburg line. Germany is in full retreat by October.
Other Events
Mutiny and Abdication
25th October 1918 - The Keil Mutiny: A Germany Navy corps refuses to launch an attack on allied forces as it is deemed a 'suicide mission'. By the 5th November, there was mass protesting in Germany.
7th November 1918 - Fearing that a revolution similar that of Russia will transpire, the SPD issue an ultimatum to the Kaiser, demanding his abdication. He accepts on the 9th November and the armistice is signed two days later.
TOV
28th June 1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed: It is a diktat treaty . France wished to see Germany crushed, the US wished only for peace and Britain wanted Germany to recover its economic strength.
Germany was to pay £6.6 billion to the allies as reparations, lost Alsace-Lorraine, lost colonies to the League of Nations, has their army reduced to 100,000 soldiers. They were prohibited from having submarines or battleships and the Rhineland was demilitarised.
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