Year 9 Exam Revision Notes
Definitions
- Empire: When one country takes over and rules many other countries.
- Interpretation: A historian’s view of the past.
- Propaganda: Trying to indoctrinate or influence people to think a certain way.
- Nationalism: A belief that your country is the best.
- Anti-Semitism: A hatred of the Jews.
- Communism: A political system where in theory everyone is equal.
Dates
- 1922: Mussolini’s march on Rome.
- 1916: Battle of the Somme.
- 1919: Treaty of Versailles is signed.
- 1914: First World War starts.
- 1939: Second World War starts.
- 1917: Russian Revolution.
- 1940: Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
- 1945: Atomic bomb is dropped on Japan.
First World War: Life in the Trenches
- Unhygienic Conditions:
- Men were covered in lice, which bit them and laid eggs in warm places like armpits and groin.
- Lice spread diseases like trench fever, with symptoms including shooting pains in the shins and high fever.
- Rat Infestation:
- Trenches were infested with rats due to the presence of dead bodies.
- A single pair of rats could produce 880 offspring in a year, leading to swarms of rats.
- Rats grew extremely large and bold, taking food from sleeping men's pockets.
- They would feed on dead bodies, typically starting with the eyes and burrowing into the corpse.
- Trench Foot:
- Infection caused by standing for hours in waterlogged trenches without removing wet socks or boots.
- Feet would become numb, and the skin would turn red or blue.
- Untreated trench foot could become gangrenous and require amputation.
- Trench Fever:
- Thousands of soldiers contracted trench fever during World War I.
- Symptoms included headaches, skin rashes, inflamed eyes, and leg pains.
- Doctors believed it was caused by lice bites.
- Impetigo:
- Infectious skin disease causing blisters and boils.
- Spread by men scratching lice bites with dirty fingers.
- Dysentery:
- Many soldiers contracted dysentery from eating food in filthy conditions.
- Led to watery diarrhea, sometimes with blood and mucus, as well as sickness and stomach pains.
- Shell Shock:
- The killing, chaos, and misery of war led to psychological problems called shell shock.
- Symptoms included sweating, nervous tics, nightmares, shaking, and crying.
- The British Army dealt with 80,000 cases of shell shock by the end of World War I, including those of poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.
Weaponry Invented in the First World War
- Machine Guns:
- Required four to six men to operate.
- Could fire around 400-600 bullets per minute.
- Poison Gas:
- First used by Germany in 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres.
- Early gases included Chlorine and Phosgene, both of which suffocated the lungs.
- Mustard gas was introduced in 1917, causing severe effects such as skin blistering, bulging eyes, and stripping the lining of the lungs.
- The pain was so great that many victims had to be strapped to their beds.
- Tanks:
- Invented by the British and first used in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
- Early tanks were not very successful due to frequent breakdowns.
- Later became a successful weapon, and the design was copied by all the Great Powers.
Battle of the Somme
- Major battle fought between Britain and France against Germany during the First World War.
- Began in July 1916 and ended in November 1916.
- One of Britain’s worst military disasters:
- On the first day, 20,000 men were killed and 40,000 were wounded.
- British soldiers were told that the Germans had been killed by a week-long artillery barrage.
- Germans had spy planes and moved to deep dugouts (10 meters underground).
- British soldiers were shot dead in large numbers when they walked across no-man’s land.
- General Haig claimed the battle as a victory, but:
- Britain and France gained only 5 miles of land.
- Casualties: 420,000 British men, 200,000 French, and 500,000 Germans.
Women and Children in Nazi Germany
Women