History Assessment one study notes

Attempts to Break the Stalemate

- The Battle of Verdun

21 February to 18 December 1916
It is seen as the lengthiest battle in history
It was on the Western Front between the French and German
armies
Verdun was a military stronghold on the eastern border
There was a stalemate on the Western Front, causing heavy
casualties and no progress
Von Falkenhayn (the German General) wanted the break the
English and French lines along the Western Front
He was intent on making the enemy feel safe nowhere, he
adopted a policy of attrition and intended to wear the enemy
down
To bleed the French white
Verdun was strategically and logistically well placed for the
Germans as they could attack it from 3 sides.
The success at Verdun, in maintaining the forts in and around it
was predicated on strong French morale; they were willing to
sacrifice anything for it
On 26 February ,General Phillipe Petain was placed in charge of
French forces and pledged, they shall not pass
Had introduction of new weapons
In the 1st week of the battle, the Germans used 1 million shells
Also in this week 168 aircraft were used for reconnaissance
The Germans made huge use of flamethrowers
By the end of the 1st month 10 000 French POWs were taken
Marshal Petain realized that supplies were key to French morale
During the spring he opened supply lines, via 12 000 trucks along
their own route
Ultimately the forts of Douaumont and Vaux were retaken by the
French and the Germans pushed back from the Verdun salient
Had huge casualties on both sides
Germans failed to take the city of Verdun
Verdun became a symbol of French resistance
La via sacre (the sacred way) = the area surrounding Verdun
which the French passed through to defeat the Germans.
Marshall Petain indicated to the French soldiers that this was the
sacred way through which the Germans shouldnt and wont
pass.

Marshal Phillipe Petain

- Frances greatest WWI general

- Famous for his successful defence at the Battle of Verdun

Why do the British engage in the Battle of the Somme at the same time?

- It was to relieve the French army fighting at Verdun and weaken the German army
- It was one of the bloodiest battles

- The Battle of the Somme

July-November 1916
The British stuck to the idea that the only way to win the
Western Front was to launch massive attacks on the German
position
The British used artillery, infantry and cavalry (very outdated)
It is the battle with the most amount of casualties in history
In the first day of battle alone, there were 60 000 British
casualties with 20 000 dead
This battle was the brainchild of General Douglas Haig
His true original intention was to break through the German
lines, but within a few weeks it was obvious that this would be
impossible
In a dispatch dated in December 1916, Haig argued that the
Somme had been a great success because his first 3 aims
were achieved: he had relieved pressure from the French
fighting at Verdun, prevented Germany from transferring
troops to the east to fight the Russians and hed worn down
German forces in the west
He argued that attrition had always been his intention
Haig changed his diary entries to cover up his mistakes and
save him from embarrassment
The massive artillery bombardment on German troops as
preparation for the battle, was totally ineffective, as the
German dugout were so strong that they were able to
withstand this bombardment
After the bombardment the Germans merely returned to their
positions behind their machine guns and await the predictable
infantry advance
The British attack began at 7:30am on July 1 and The Somme
was a complete disaster
However, the carnage didnt end after the first day, as Haig
insisted in continuing with the offensive for 5 months
The Germans had casualties equally as high as the British
In September, tanks were used by the British in their advance,
but they had little success
The Somme achieved little only 8kms of territory was gained
A halt was called to the battle in November
Haig claimed the battle had been a victory as the Germans
had given up land, however; French historian Marc Ferro
 maintained that, The Somme was almost useless from a
military point of view and merely revealed the vainglory of the
generals.

Haigs Mistakes

- He was the commander-in-chief Battle of the Somme

- He took criticism for the loss of life in the battle
- He remained in his position due to his friendship with King George V

- The Battle of Passchendaele

July-November 1917
Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres
The battle lasted 6 months and took place 6 months after the
Somme
Context: The Russians had a revolution in March 1917 and
Karensky was now in power, and the Americans had declared
war on Germany on the Allied side
The conditions of this battle were terrible:
The artillery bombardment of the German position by the
Allies left massive craters
When the summer rains came, these craters filled with water,
which turned the land to mud in which men and horses
drowned, as they were weighed down by their weapons,
supplies and greatcoats
Haig insisted that the advance continue and ordered the
capture of the village of Passchendaele
This was achieved on 6 November
Haig hoped to relieve the French with this battle
He also wanted to capture the Belgian ports of Ostende and
Zeebrugge which were being used for German submarines
(these submarines were sinking British supplies
boats/merchant boats and this was starving the British home
front)
He also hoped for the further attrition/wearing down of the
German army
Casualty numbers are disputed by historians; however, it is
known they were huge
Many think Allied casualties are 400 000
The Allies had taken territory, so could technically claim a
victory; however, the Belgian ports hadnt been captured, and
their land gains provided no opportunity for future advance
The Canadians took a real beating in this battle

- Attrition
Attempts to wear the enemy down to a state of exhaustion
This philosophy was adopted by British General Haig
 - The British Naval Blockade
The superiority/strength of the British Navy was used to stifle
German trade
The British boats intended to stop German boats from leaving
and entering their own harbours
This suffocated the home front
They lacked food and in the last 2 years of the war the people
starved
The last 2 winters of the war were unbearable

- Weaponry
Gas was used to try and break the stalemate for example but
was only a formidable weapon until gas masks were
developed
The Allies use of tanks and Germanys lack of them helped to
break the stalemate
See notes

Germany was finally defeated due to the Naval Blockade, strains on the home
front, the intervention of the USA and the use of tanks.
Life in the Trenches

Life in the trenches was hard and dangerous due to many contributing factors:

Mud

- The mud was all-pervasive

- It affected their whole existence
- The frequent rains in NE France and Belgium, combined with the
clay of the trenches and the constant artillery bombardments
resulted in the atrocious mud
- People got stuck in it
- Soldiers drowned in it
- Their feet sank into in and it gripped their boots
- It coated men, horses, guns, rifles in a dense camouflage
- It stuck to their bodies and cracked their skin
- It affected their moral significantly: soaks their souls and sucks
their courage (Source 3.3)

Sickness and Disease

- Constant immersion of the mens feet resulted in trench foot

- This was a painful swelling of the feet that could cause toes to rot
off and often progressed to gangrene which often led to amputation.
 - This was because the trenches were frequently full of water, due to
heavy/constant rains and lack of drainage
- The water at the bottom of the trenches was a putrid concoction of
human and military waste
- The stench of the trench and smell of cordite (an explosive) and gas
often caused vomiting
- At the height of battle men were forced to urinate and excrete
where they stood
- Diarrhoea and dysentery were common
- Decomposing bodies floated on the surface of water until they could
be dealt with in a safe time
- The corpses attracted swarms of flies in the summertime
- These were ideal conditions for disease and sickness
- The troops suffered from measles, mumps and diphtheria (which
was normal at the time)
- Also suffered from frostbite, meningitis, tuberculosis and venereal
disease (rates far higher than usual)
- There was poor sanitation and limited medical facilities lead to high
rates of infection, which frequently causes gangrene

Lice

- All soldiers had them on them

- They embedded themselves (and their eggs) in the soldiers
uniforms, and tormented them all day and night
- They bred voraciously
- Were resistant to all forms of attempted control
- Their constant biting caused continual scratching
- Constant scratching caused the skin to break and sores to form
- This was dangerous due to the unhygienic conditions
- Boils, ulcers and impetigo could develop.

Rats

- Known as trench rats or corpse rats

- Were often the size of small dogs
- They feasted on the corpses
- They attacked sleeping soldiers just like a dead corpse
- Food could not be left out as it attracted them
- They came up with ways to kill them and it became a kind of
game/competition
- They named some of the rats
- They were everywhere and were complete vermin

Gas Gangrene

- The soils on N France contain a manure with bacillus (a bacterium)

in it
- This bacillus produced germ cells when with oxygen
 - When the bacillus came in contact with a wound (common due to
the mud in the trenches) it caused gas gangrene
- This refers to the gas in the tissue of the human body- it caused the
tissues to become blown out

The Cold

- Temperatures in the winter in the trenches commonly fell to -15C

- The cold caused unbelievable hardship and made life unbearable
- It was impossible to escape and no amount of clothing could keep it
out
- Frostbite affected many men and often lead to infection, gangrene
and later amputation
- The cold made sleep nearly impossible.

Shell Shock

- Shell shock = something which some soldiers developed during

the war. It caused them to have a glazed look and be totally
unaware of what was happening around them.
- The military authorities refused to recognise shell shock as a
legitimate condition
- They accused those who displayed symptoms of it of cowardice and
malingering (faking illness)
- Shell shock was caused by the stresses created by the nature of war
at the front
- Its symptoms varied depending on the man, some included:
Becoming violent and angry, and needing to be physically
restrained
Turning inwards and totally refusing to communicate
Gazing out blankly, as though they were in another world
Shaking, mumbling and drooling
- For some men, the trauma of the war left them once returning to
their regular lives
- For others, it stayed with them forever
- Even still by 1938, there were 32 000 WWI veterans being treated in
psychiatric hospitals.

Back at the Chateau

- The Western Front commanders rarely ventured anywhere near the

front
- They stayed ignorant about the true conditions of trench life, as
they did not experience them at all
 - They remained safely in their beautiful French chateaus, whilst their
men suffered at the front
- This behaviour increased the distance between a private, and a
commander
- It also inflated the resentment felt by the men at the front towards
those in charge

o On the other hand, (from the generals perspective) it was important

that they stayed back (away from the front) to ensure they
gleaned/obtained a holistic/balanced view of proceedings

The Leaders of WWI

Conflict of Opinion: Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig

- Historians are divided over the quality of Haigs leadership

FOR HAIG AGAINST HAIG

Buchan: patient, sober, balanced, of Winter, D. : he devised a poor
great fortitude (courage within training system
adversity)
Terraine: an inflexible strategy was Bean: he was unimaginative and a
needed to combat a poorly trained, poor judge of subordinates
volunteer army, faced with many
changes/innovation
Haig: he had to deal with poorly Liddell Hart: poor strategist,
trained troops, unreliable Australian inflexible and wasteful of mens lives,
commanders and his tactic of attrition had little knowledge of infantry war
was successful and did not try to extend this
knowledge
Lloyd George: narrowly egotistical
and complacent
Argument for Haig: John Terraine (a leading British military historian)
 - Although he made mistakes, he cannot be blamed for
incompetence:
- The troops were young, inexperienced and new
- He had an inflexible procedure to compensate for the lack of
training
- Haig believed that he didnt have an army, rather he had a
collection of divisions
- He had many other fine qualities of leadership
- WWI was a new kind of war Haig (as well as everyone else) were
not accustomed to the changes:
It was the 1st war of aviation
The 1st real under-sea war
The 1st war of the internal combustion engine
The 1st war of the mechanics
A new breed of men in uniform
The 1st war of wireless telegraphy
The 1st of the 2 great artillery wars (WWI and WWII)
The 1st chemical war
The 1st war of modern mass production, mass logistics and
mass administration

Argument against Haig: C.E.W. Bean (an Australian journalist and historian)

- The troops who bore the brunt of the fighting in the Somme were
the best of the British population, as their intentions were pure;
sacrifice for their country
- A General (Haig) who wears down some of their enemy, by using
double the amount of their own men, who were of such quality, has
a lot to answer for (wears down 180 000 of his enemy by
expending 400 000 men)
- He lacked two important qualities:
1. Quick imagination
2. Judgement of Subordinates
The Changing Attitudes Over the Course of the War

- The beginning of the war was underpinned by a patriotic and

nationalistic fervour, and the idea of serving your country being
honourable.
- Germany always had conscription, but Britain didnt need to
introduce conscription until after The Somme, where casualties were
excessively high and morale had severely dropped
- The longevity and the seemingly futility of the war, caused by the
nature of trench warfare and the stalemate on the Western Front
contributed to the loss of morale
- Although at the beginning of the war men were peer pressured by
their peers and the women to enter the war, by the end of the war
the home front was overcome by the Naval Blockade and no longer
participated in this encouragement
Why do attitudes change in Germany and Britain/ why does morale drop?
General:

1. The longevity of the war

2. The high casualty rate- enormous loss of life, as well as physical and
psychological damage (was known by the home fronts)
3. Massive carnage
4. The futility of the war
Britain:

1. Annoyed over conscription, which had been introduced after the

Somme at the end of 1916 (enlistment had dropped significantly
and troop numbers had to be maintained)
2. Had a freer press and were therefore better informed- they knew the
truth of trench conditions/life
3. Had lost confidence in their generals and leaders (the lack of
compassion shown by the generals to the men at the front-lines did
not help either)
Germany:

1. Their supplies lines were stretched and it was therefore hard to get
their supplies
2. The British Naval Blockade caused a huge shortage of consumer
goods in Germany
3. The last 2 winters of the war were very punishing, and 1000s of
Germans went hungry (the home front was suffocated and suffering)

- The overall effect of the futility of the war, resulted in

disillusionment and war-weariness = a notion that started to
emerge 2 years into the war because of the high loss of men and
decline in morale
- The anti-British/anti-German *(Bosch, Huns, Krauts, Gerry) feeling
and propaganda so prevalent in 1914-15 was lessening as the
Tommy and the Fritz realised that they were experiencing the same
terrible things

*English terms for disparagement of the Germans

The Reasons for the Stalemate on the Western Front

- Trench warfare (see notes)

- Same/similar weaponry and tactics (see notes)

- The Schlieffen Plan

A plan devised to protect Germany from Encirclement and a
war on 2 fronts (France and Russia)
It was made by Chief of Staff von Schlieffen between 1891-
1905, and amended by Von Moltke (this was the version used
 for WWI), he made crucial changes that proved unsuccessful
and disastrous for the German army
He weakened the right flank of the army, compromising the
tactic of encircle and then take Paris
He eliminated the Netherlands from the plan, resulting in a
bottleneck of German troops in Belgium
This bottleneck allowed time for Belgium and France to
mobilise
The plan failed because Germany underestimated:
a. The strength of the Russians (they mobilised quicker than
expected)
b. The possibility and power of Belgian resistance
c. The effectiveness of the BEF and their automatic
involvement due to the Treaty of London
d. The importance of the French railway system in bringing up
reserve
The German advance was finally halted in September 1914 at
the Battle of the Marne
They had failed to knock France out of the war and faced a
prolonged war on 2 fronts

- The Christmas Truce

December 1914
Humanity was clearly evident
A moment in time that happened various points along the
front line (of trenches)
It was indicative of the mens desire to put the war on hold
(although it was brief)
The fraternisation lasted a short time as commanding officers
quickly stopped it, as there was a war to be fought the next
day
There are reports of a soccer game between enemies
It highlighted the homesickness felt by the men who now
knew that the war would not be over by Christmas

- Casualties
The high causalities on both sides slowed the war down, as
they constantly had to replace and recruit men

- The Race to the Sea

This resulted in trench warfare which resulted in the stalemate
The goal was to outflank the other side and to control channel
ports
As the 2 sides pushed towards the coast, a line of trenches
developed which meant both sides were forced to dig in
 The Structure of Trenches

- As the trenches became a permanence, they were strengthened

- British trenches were never as strong as German ones (German
trenches eventually were built using concrete)
- As the war progressed the trenches became more
sophisticated/complex
- There were compartments for ammunition supplies
- Dugouts for men to sleep in
- Some German trenches had electricity and wallpaper
- G: Had rooms going off the main trench, officers trenches were
always better
- Both Allied and German trenches developed into a complex network
that spanned back kilometres from the front line
- The more complex the trench network, the harder it would be to
break through

Front-line trench = Where troops were positioned when attacking the

enemy/fighting back. These were supported with observation posts and
machine-gun nests

Reserve trenches = Where reinforcements would wait to be called to the

front line

Communications trenches = stretched back even further to first-aid posts

and supply depots

- The front line trenches were generally zig-zagged for 2 reasons:

1. It added stability
2. Made a double line of fire possible if the enemy attacked
- The area between Allied and German trenches was called no-mans
land, its width differed.
- Going over the top (of the trench) made an easy target for enemy
artillery- a frightening task for the soldiers.
The Weaponry of WWI
- War on the Western Front was dominated by rapid technological
developments
- Weaponry also ventured into chemical and biological areas
- Weapons were introduced in this war that transformed the face of
modern warfare

The Rifle

- The rifle had been a staple weapon for a long time in infantry
- It was deadly in the hands of trained troops
- The staple German gun = the Mauser 1898 pattern rifle. It was a
magazine rifle, loaded from five-round chargers
- The British gun = British Lee Enfield rifle. It had a magazine with 10
rounds and a trained soldier could fire 15 rounds per minute.

The Machine Gun

- The key weapon on the Western Front (it was an excellent defensive
weapon)
- German gun = Maxim
- British gun = Vickers
- Each could fire more than 450 rounds per minute
- It was heavy and therefore not easy to move
- Later in the war, lighter versions were introduced.

Artillery

- Prime purpose was to soften up enemy trenches and attack heavy

fortified positions
- Early in the war, most armies had light artillery. This had the
advantage of mobility but its impact was limited unless used in
groups
- The range and destructive power of heavy artillery guns were
enormous, but their effectiveness was limited due to their immense
weight which required rail transport to move them
- Artillery tactics increased as the war progressed

Aircraft

- Played an increasingly important role during the war

- It was very useful for reconnaissance of enemy positions
- As trench formations become more complex, this accurate
information became increasingly important
- By 1916 aerial dogfights had become common as the flimsily built
planes tried to maintain air supremacy

Gas

- The most fearful weapon during the war

- Gas canisters were fired into enemy positions, on impact they
exploded, releasing the gas
- The aim was to clear the trenches to take enemy position
- Caused real panic amongst the troops
- Wasnt a reliable weapon, as the wind could change direction and
blow back onto the attacking side
- It could have horrific effects on the men at the front
- Several types of gas were used:
Chlorine
 Chloropicrin
Mustard = could burn the skin and cause breathing problems
Phosgene = destroyed the lungs
Prussic Acid = attacked the nervous system
- Gas could burn, blind and suffocate
- Gradually, defences against gas were developed
- By 1918 effective gas masks had rendered gas a much less
formidable weapon of war.

Other Weapons

- Grenades (small bombs that could be thrown easily): were

favoured by attacking forces because of their portability
- Germans started using the flamethrower. It caused terror in
opposing troops but its effectiveness was limited by its short range
and duration capability
- Mortars (small bombs launched from metal tubes) were commonly
used. They had high trajectory and limited range, however due to
this their use was restricted to close rival trenches.

Tanks

- The key technological development of WWI

- It was one of the key important factors in turning the tide of war in
1918
- The first tank (the British Mark I) appeared in early 1916, they were
too slow making them easy targets
- Their engines werent powerful enough to move through the mud
and broke down easily
- The early tanks were ineffective and were awful to work in
- They were hot, claustrophobic and very noisy
- If fire broke out, they were almost impossible to escape from
- Tanks became important to the war