WWI Warfare and Weapons
Trench Warfare
Rat infested
Lice and worse
Lice caused trench fever
Trench foot- fungal infection caused by cold and wet conditions
Trenches were also death traps for many soldiers all it took was one grenade and many soldiers lost their lives
10 feet deep and 15 feet wide at the top
Supplied the soldiers with protection and safety from most enemy bullets and artillery
Tank WArfare
Beginning of the Tank-
Sketches made by Leonardo de Vinci
Battle of Flers
Unreliable
Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Swinton
Germans, British, etc. already had fighting
Vehicles..
Ability of tank
Max speed of 4 mph on flat land
Turn sharply at top speed
Cross an eight feet gap
Working radius of 20 miles
10 men with 2 machine guns on board & 1 light artillery gun
400+ mile stretch of land
Trenches & lack of movement
Tanks had caterpillar tracks
US had 84 tanks
UK had 1,391 tanks
France had 4,000 tanks
Tanks and the western front
Aerial Warfare
Anthony Fokker
Dutch
Machine gun fire through propeller
Germans
Advantage over Allies
70 different types of planes
Hot air balloons
Allies and Central Powers
Fired artillery rounds
Importance of Aerial Warfare
Eastern Front-used on a smaller scale
Most nations in the war developed Air Force
Too dependent on weather
Aircraft- useful for spying
Naval Warfare
Central Power
Germany *
austria hungary
Ottoman Empire
bulgaria
Allies
Britain *
Russia
France *
Italy
US
Naval Tactics
German U Boats
During WW1 Germany built 360 U-Boat submarines
Sank nearly half of the british and french boats
11 million tons
Used torpedos
Cruisers
Carried the big guns
Protected by armour
Big slow
Very costly
Compared to a tank
Merchant/ Battleships
Cheaper form of weapon
Were used for long distance travel
Had defensive mechanism
High value trade
Rifles
British Army-Lee Enfield .303
German Infantry-Gewehr 98
Barbed Wire
Western Front
Slowed attackers
Made advancing over no man’s land nightmarish
Machine Guns
Refined and made easier to carry during WWI
Germans- Maschinengewehr 08
400 rounds a minute
British- Vickers machine gun
450-500 bullets a min
Artillery
Caused majority of casualties
Field guns
Could fire 2 rounds of 290 lb shells a minute
Poisonous Gas
Germans-chlorine gas
British-chlorine gas, phosgene and mustard gas
1 million gas casualties on all sides
Causes of WWI-
Allied Powers
--
England
France
Russia
US
Italy
Serbia
Belgium
--
Central Powers
--
Germany
Austria Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgeria
Nationalism- deep devotion of pride to one's specific country
Competition and rivalries began and developed between the European Nations for territories to take over
Militarism- Powerful military source
Wars caused huge arms race for military technology between each country
Imperialism- when one country takes over another
led to rivalry and distrust among European nations and often almost led to war
Alliance system- agreements between nations to provide aid and protect one another
designed to keep peace in Europe but lead to distrust
--
Zimmerman Note-
A telegram sent from Germany to Mexico that proposed an alliance between them
Germany asked Mexico to attack America but British forces intercepts them and tells America
America gets fed up and enters the war giving the allies the much needed reinforcements they needed
Germany upset US by attacking ships
Sinking of the Lusitania-
Germany warned that they would sink any boat coming across the Atlantic
Resulted in American public angered towards Germany
------
Propaganda and Home front
-
Food administrations wanted to provide food for troops and allies in Europe
"Food Will Win the War"
Food Pledge
Women urged to register
Didn't want to waste paper- trees
- Appointed by President Wilson
- Persuaded industry to..
raise wages
improve working conditions
--open themselves to negotiations
National War Labor Board - authorized in 1918
Treaty of versailles
2nd point
Absolute freedom of the sea outside territorial waters
3rd point
Removing of economic barriers
The removal of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equal trade for all
4th point reduction of armaments
Adequate guarantees given and taken that national will reduce to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety
5th no colonisation
6th
- Russia is allowed to determan their own government all germans will leave russia
Comments
You need to title each blog by week as I stated in class. You are missing two weeks.