WW1 features—6 mark history IGCSE paper 2

1.     Describe two features of the Triple Alliance.

1. Reason for its formation

• Initially G + AH allied together in 1879, to ensure mutual support if attacked from Russia

• Dual alliance = triple alliance in 1882, Italy joined, gain support against France

2. Military terms of agreement

• TA military alliance

• Each member would provide support if attacked by great powers

• G + AH promised to support Italy if attacked by France, Italy remain neutral if war between AH + R

This provided a sense of security and deterrence against potential aggressors.

1.     Describe two features of the Triple Entente. [6] same

1. Membership formed 1907, Britain joined russia and France alliance (entente cordial)

2. Promise of support—agree ‘moral obligation’ to support each other, but no formal agreement on help if attacked

1.     Describe two features of the alliance system. [6]

1. Triple alliance

2. Triple entente

1.     Describe two features of the naval race. [6]

1) Introduction of dreadnoughts.
- Large, new powerful battleships launched by Britain in 1906.: 29cm thick walls sides, 35cm thick deck, 800 soldiers carry, 32km firing range
- Began a race for which country could build the most
- By 1914 Britain had 29 and Germany had 17 (Germany and Britain tensions).

2) German Naval Law.
- Germans challenged British naval supremacy, allowed for 46 battleships and 60 cruisers to be built, military priority towards naval improvements, Tirpitz Plan - risk theory, risk expanding navy as Britain won't risk a battle (worried Britain).

1.     Describe two features of the Anglo-German naval rivalry. [6]

1) Introduction of dreadnoughts.
- Large, new powerful battleships launched by Britain in 1906.
- Began a race for which country could build the most
- By 1914 Britain had 29 and Germany had 17 (Germany and Britain tensions).

2) German Naval Law.
- Germans challenged British naval supremacy, allowed for 46 battleships and 60 cruisers to be built, military priority towards naval improvements, Tirpitz Plan - risk theory, risk expanding navy as Britain won't risk a battle (worried Britain).

1.     Describe two features of the first Moroccan Crisis (1905-6). [6]

1) Kaiser's visit to tangier March 31st 1905.
- Kaiser visited tangier to support sovereignty of the sultan
- this posed a provocative challenge towards the French, and to British potential of German naval port in Morocco which threatened British Gilbrata port

2) Algeciras conference 1906.
- Agreed that France would have controlling interest in Morocco, all nations are free to trade with Morocco.
ALSO: German isolation in Europe - 12 countries attended, only Austria-Hungary supported Germany.

1.     Describe two features of the second Moroccan Crisis (1911). [6]

French intervention.
- May 1911 - France sent troops to Fez to put down the rebellion against Sultan Abdelhafid (claiming they were protecting citizens).
- Treaty of Fez 4th November 1911 -effectively ended Morocco's independence after producing a protectorate on 30th March 1912.

2) German intervention.
- On July 1 1911, the Germans sent gunboat SMS Panther to Moroccan port of Agadir.
- They also claimed that they were protecting the German citizens of Morocco.

1.     Describe two features of the Bosnian Crisis (1908-9). [6]

Congress of Berlin (1878)
- allowed to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily
- Provinces officially remained possessions of the Ottoman Empire.
- Power vacuum after Young Turk lead to annexation

2) Annexation
In September 1908, AH took advantage of ‘young Turks’ revolution in turkey allowed annexed BH to prevent Ottoman attempts at recovering the land.
- Bulgarian declaration of independence.
- AH saw growing nationalism, sought to show dominance in the Balkans and therefore annexed Bosnia.

1.     Describe two features of the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). [6]

1) First Balkan War
- 1912-1913
- Balkan League (Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia & Greece)
- Remove Ottoman empire from Europe.
- Creation of Albania
- Treaty of London

2) Second Balkan War
- 1913
- Anti-Bulgarian Pact (Montenegro, Serbia & Greece)
- Ottomans and Romania later join war.
- Started because Bulgaria thought did most of work.
- 2/3 of active army in first war
- Wanted all Macedonia.
- Was doing well until Romania and Ottomans join
- Serbia doubled in size.

1.     Describe two features of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. [6]—black hand

1) June 28th, 1914 - killed by Gavrilo Princip (member of the Black hand gang)
- assassination aimed to break off Austria
- Hungary's south Slav province so they could be combined with Yugoslavia.

2) impact on outbreak of WW1
- Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is arguably the reason for the outbreak of war.
- Austria-Hungary was enraged and with Germany's support declared war on Serbia on 28 July, while Germany declared war on Russia, and so on and so forth.

1.     Describe two features of the July Crisis (1914). [6]

Germany declaration of support for- A-H.
- The blank check on 5th July 1914 gave AH confidence that Germany had their back, so they were able to declare war on Serbia

2) Britain's declaration of war on Germany.
- Germany sent troops through Belgium on Aug 3rd which violated treaty of London, so Britain entered the war on 4th August.

1.     Describe two features of the Schlieffen Plan. [6]

 Dependence on speed-

-        

-       The plan was dependent on the fast invasion of Paris by Germany to cause France to surrender.

-       However, Germany’s advance through Belgium was much slower than anticipated. The battle of Mons on the 23^rd and 24^th August further slowed down German troops by 48 hours.

-       The delay meant the German troops had to avoid Paris all together as they did not have enough troops as

 

Relied on Russia being slow to mobilise

-       The German Schlieffen plan relied on Russia’s slow mobilisation—estimated 6 weeks, in order for it to succeed, as Germany wouldn’t  be able to fight both Russia and France at the same time. The plan was to invade France, take Paris, forcing France to surrender and then turn around to fight Russia.

-       However, Russia mobilised fast and Germany had to withdraw troops from France to defend eastern German borders from Russia

 

Failure

-       Overestimated the time for Russian mobilisation (Germans estimated 6 weeks)

-       Battle of Mons – 23^rd to 24^th August delayed German advance by 48 hours thanks to Belgian troops and BEF

-       Germany had to withdraw troops from France to defend eastern German borders from Russia

-      

Aims

To avoid germany fighting war on two fronts

1.     Describe two features of the Battle of the Somme. [6]

Huge number of casualties for small gain

-       620,000 allied and 450,000 German troops killed,

-       Only 15km land gained

-       Just  on the first night there were almost 60,000 allied troops killed

Use of new weapons

-       New weapon, the tank was used for the first time in the Battle of Somme,

-       Only 50 were ready for use for war , 29 of them broke down before reaching the battlefield and the rest soon got stuck in the mud on the battlefield.

1.     Describe two features of the Battle of Passchendaele. [6]

Bad conditions

-       Land was turned into mud, made worse by bombardment by 4 million shells

-       HQ 8km away could smell the rotting bodies

-       Horses/men sunk + died in the mud

-       Was very difficult to navigate, even fight or gain ground

Limited success

-       After 3 months there was a small 8km land gain by the allies

-       240,000 allied, 220,000 German soldiers dead

 

1.     Describe two features of trench warfare. [6]

Sickness and disease

-       Troops were to stand in Muddy and wet trenches for hours.

-       Caused trench foot disease; 20,000 British men in winter 1914 were treated for it

-       Difficult to keep clean in trenches, lice was spread around with no way to get rid of it

-       Rats would also be in trenches and no mans land, feeding off dead soldiers and foods

Gas

-       Chlorine or mustard gas was used to attack enemies,

 

Attritional warfare

-       Barbed wire, Constant shelling and machine gun fire made capturing or crossing trenches very difficult

-       No new methods or weapons were being developed at the time

-       No progress was made by either side

1.     Describe two features of the trench system. [6]

Defence methods

-       Barbed wire; Prevented / enemies who were able to cross no mans land from entering trenches

Sandbags;  Absorbed/blocked bullets from enemy fire and protection from artillery shrapnel bursts, ,

 

German compared to British trenches

-       German trenches more advanced and better overall, went deeper and had stronger defence; reinforced walls

 

1.     Describe two features of tanks in the First World War. [6]

Effectiveness

-       Could pass through barbed wire easily unlike troops on foot

Use in Amiens 1918 (8/8/18)

-       made crossing through no mans land possible

-       Also had heavy armour which made them resistant to enemy fire

Initial failure

-       As they are new weapons, 50 they were used first in the Somme where 29 broke down before even reaching the battle field and the rest got stuck in mud  bb

1.     Describe two features of the war in the air. [6]

Dog fights

-       As planes began to be armed with weapons and machine guns, allied and German fighter planes would attack each other

-       Planes would also shoot at enemy trenches

Observation planes

-       Would report back what the enemies were doing, good visuals from above, before Somme in 1916 Germans were prepared—could see British troops and supplies arriving

-       Able to see Troop movements, retreats and attacks before anyone else

Development: at start only few hundred and flimsily constructed, couldn’t fire/attack, but towards end were equipped with guns and 10,000 planes by 1918

Effectiveness

1.     Describe two features of allied leadership in the First World War. [6]

1) Successful unity at the end of the war.
-All united under French general Foch, who led the successful hundreds day offensive.
- This led to a successful creeping barrage and a huge advancement with huge psychological victories such as Passchendaele, the Somme, and Cambrai.

2) Bad leadership during battle of the Somme.
- General Haig sent 200,000 walking over the top (57,540 dead in first day)
- Over 420,000 British Casualties

1.     Describe two features of the war at sea. [6]

Unrestricted submarine warfare

-       Germans declared unrestricted submarine warfare

-       Warned not to to North Atlantic sea or they would attack , fire torpedos

Lead to sinking of lustantainia

 

Raids

-       G aim to Lay down mines that would sink B ships, draw them out near German coast to ambush them

-       Scarborough, Whitbey, hartlepool 16 Dec 1914

-       After Yarborough, saw it was easy to raid british

-       Shelled/lay mines/raid towns

Battles

1.     Describe two features of the Battle of Heligoland.1914 [6]

Surprise attacks: 1914

-       The British saw patterns in German patrols, were able to decode German plans to raid the North sea coast of britian- catching germans off guard

-       British sunk 3 german cruisers and one destroyer

loss of German ships:

                                

-       3G light cruisers destroyed

-       1 destroyer

-       Around 700 German soldiers dead, over 300 prisoners

-       Compared to 1 LC, 3 destroyers, 35 killed

1.     Describe two features of the Battle of Dogger Bank. [6]

1915 Jan

1. British victory

-       Decoded German signals that raiding squad heading for North Sea coast Britain

-       Sailed to meet German ships near Dogger Bank, Taken by surprise, 954 Germans killed and blucher sunk, 15 brtish killed bu no ships, considered b victory

2. British confusion

-       When British firing began, hit the German ship, Blucher—miscommunication meant only focus on one ship, rest escaped

-       German surprise and turned back to germany

-       British confused signals = only focused on sinking the Blucher

-       Rest of german squad escaped

1.     Describe two features of the Battle of Jutland. [6]

Both sides claimed victory may 1916

-       Although British lost more men and ships

-       Germany claimed victory based on loses,

-       British gained control of North Sea (germans never left port again) so crucially British victory

British casualties

 Von schemer sent squadron on 100k men 260 ships, German ships operated better and less easily damaged comp.british

-       6,000, 14: 2500, 9

1.     Describe two features of submarine warfare. [6]

Unrestricted submarine warfare

-       U boats; Submarines used by Germans to target British supplies coming from the US

-       Attacked supply ships, and announced that any ships in enemy waters - regardless of nation or purpose- were to be attacked

-       By 1917 had 200 u boats

-      7 may 1915 Lustantania Attacked—sunk , killed  

 

Anti submarine methods

-       British used depth charges and convoys to target German submarines and protect their supplies/supply lines

-       British developed convoys (protect resource ships with royal navy ships) to protect supply—almost 17,000 ships sailed in convoys from 1917 June to 1918 nov

-       Q-boats= ships with guns and artillery disguised as merchant ships which countered German ships if they attacked

 

1.     Describe two features of anti-submarine methods used by the British. [6]

Q-boats

-       ships with guns and artillery disguised as merchant ships which surprised and attacked German ships if they attacked

Convoy system

-       to protect supply/merchant ships, they were escorted by royal navy ships and armed with depth charges

-       target German submarines—wait until surfaced and then attack so no time to dive

 

1.     Describe two features of the sinking of the Lusitania. [6]

US anger

-       Almost led to the US entry into war

-       Of around 2000, 1200 passengers killed (130 of them USA people)

-       Many called for the US to declare war

-       Germany suspends USW for period after

 

International controversy

-       1200 passengers died

-       However the deck was found to have been converted into a gun deck

-       Carried military supplies such as materials for making artillery shells, and shrapnel shells

-       German argued that they were warned about the unrestricted submarine warfare

Casualties, unrestricted submarine warfare

1.     Describe two features of the Gallipoli campaign. [6]

1. Poor planning

-       Only had outdated maps and information about Turkish troop positions,

-       Plan for troops to wade through water for 20m with heavy equipment leaving them vulnerable, and slow, many drowned

-       Did not send minesweepers through the Dardanelles, 1/3 ships were destroyed in one day

-       Didn’t use planes to scope out Turkish positions— Aerial reconnaissance

Turkish resistance

Bad conditions

-       Typhoid, dysentery=145,000 British, 64,000 Turkish

 

2. (Successful) evacuation

-       Needed to evacuate, no chance of wining, and deadlock

-        Began on 15 December, 36,000 shipped out by 19^th

-       End= 150,000 troops, horses, artillery loaded onto ships

-       Only 3 casualties

-       Left without Turkish realising by leaving at night and using drip guns (automated firing) to ensure  Turkish think they were still there and as to not be suspicious

 

1.     Describe two features of the Ludendorff Offensive. [6]

Creation of a salient

-       130km long, 65km wide salient created

-       Left German troops vulnerable to attack from 3 sides

-       Allowed British to force Germans back to Hindenburg line

 

Failure

-       Sent too many men into France 400,000 killed and those that remained were exhausted, low morale

-       Dint have enough to back up/replace forces in france

-       Sent too far and too fast, supply lines couldn’t keep up + left behind

-       No supply—food/ammo, had to loot French villages/enemy trenches

-       Long supply line vulnerable to attack/disruption

(Use of storm troopers

Outcome)

 

1.     Describe two features of US entry into the war. [6]

Improved the supply lines:

-       US men enlarged French ports so that more ships could deliver men and supplies

-       Add more

-       built over 1,600 km of railway lines

-       laid over 16,000 km of telegraph and telephone cables.

Boost in allied morale

-       the USA troops entered into the war with no previous involvement, weren’t worn out and exhausted like the rest

-       The large number of them — By the time of the armistice in November 1918, there were almost 2 million American soldiers in Europe, 500 planes, 300 tanks

-       Gave them more hope and motivation

1.     Describe two features of the Hundred Days’ Offensive. [6]

Battle of Amiens

-       Creeping barrage used to advance with more than 500 tanks - 92 m every 3 minutes.

-       KWC 48,000 German troops

-       25km gap through German lines

-       “Black day for German army” could not win the war.

-       German morale collapsed.

Battle of cambrai

-       Battle of cambrai: first large scale use of tanks, looked for area (unlike somme) that tanks could work well in, use new tactics

-       Release a swarm of approx. 400 tanks without warning (eg, no artillery bombardment beforehand)

-       Nov 20 began battle, took 7000 german prisoners

-       Casualties both sides around 45,000

-        

1.     Describe two features of German defeat in the First World War. [6]

1. Military defeat - forced to retreat during the Allied 100-day offensive, they abandoned guns, ammunition and supplies and morale was very low.
   - 2 million American troops on Western Front gave allies a boost.
   - Germany's allies have surrendered/made peace with the allies: Bulgaria in September 1918, Turkey in October 1918 and Austria-Hungary in November.

2. Domestic issues in germany gov, riots, flu, famine,) Political Turmoil.
   - The public was frustrated with war orientated life and so there were many riots and revolts.
   - 29th October 1918: sailors at Kiel rebelled after rumours of another battle (they believed this would be suicidal). - They refused to obey orders and set up a soldiers' and workers' council on 4 November in rebellion to the government.
   - In Berlin, there were strikes and riots on the streets
   - 9 November 1918, the Kaiser escaped to Holland and abdicated.