WW1 Practices

War on land

1. Marne Sept 1914 - Stopped Schlieffen, Two Fronts

2. Verdun 1916 - German failure, ¾ French Rotation, 3:1 vs 1:1

3. Somme 1916, Most casualties, Drew attention South

4. Brusilov 1916, Two fronts, Drew Attention West, Brest-Litovsk 1917 gave land that had to be occupied (resources and 1,000,000 men)

5. Allied Weakness includes A-H at Vittorio Veneto 1918. Loss of oil field from Ottomans as a result of Arab Revolt 1916-18

War on Sea

• Falkland Islands 1914

  • Tests UK, fails

  • Timid testing of waters

• Jutland 1916

  • Plan of drawing out dreadnoughts fails

  • Scheer retreats when he could have won

• U Boats 1914-16

  • Failed to block ports

  • Lusitania

• Redo of Unrestricted U Boat campaign 1917

  • US entry

Strategy

• Marne 1914

  • Schlieffen Plan failed, two front war

• Peace offensive 1918

  • Shock troops and tanks too fast for artillery

  • Army is finished - Ludendorff

  • Entente new to keep it slow, destroyed Germany

• Jutland 1916

  • Scheer Retreated with upper hand

• Convoy System

  • Won against U Boats

  • Germans were starved

Technology

• Attrition and defensive weapons determined war

• Tanks proven at Cambrai 1917, used in counter-offensive 1918

• Jutland 1916

  • Deciphering resulted in British naval supremacy

• Anti-U Boat

  • Depth charges 1915

  • Sonar, echo ranging 1918

  • U Boat nets

Mobilisation

• UK and French colonies: Labour, Soldiers and Resources, 8.5 million troops

• UK Mob was effective, German Mob was not

  • Ger: Agriculture fell 10%

  • 3:1

  • GER: 83 MIL, 2 CIV

  • Brit: 62 MIL, 16 CIV

• US entry 1917

  • $7.7 Billion loans

  • 450 transport ships

  • Supplies

  • 2 million troops by end

  • Rate of 300,000 a month