WWI: TOTAL WAR

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WWI TOTAL WAR

• The Schlieffen Plan Fails Trench warfare
  technology

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Schlieffen Plan Avoiding a Two Front War

• European war - Germany would face France in the
  west and Russia in the east needed to defeat
  France quickly before Russia mobilises troops
• Needed quick defeat of France by invading it
  through neutral Belgium and moving on to capture
  Paris
• The Germans did not believe that Britain would go
  to war over Belgium
• The Kaiser felt the British Expeditionary Force
  (BEF) to be weak
• With France defeated, Germany could then defeat
  the Russians in the east rather then fighting a
  war on two fronts

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What Actually Happened

• Belgium army managed to delay the German advance
• Members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF)
  arrived to help in France
• Germans were held up at Mons could not take
  French Chanel Ports

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• Britain declared war on Germany
• Helped Belgians hold Germans at Mons
• Moved to support French and prevent Germany from
  reaching Paris
• By 1914 more than half the BEF were dead

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• France launched attack on Alsace Lorraine but
  this failed
• Switched to defend Paris
• With the help of the remaining BEF the French
  troops pushed the Germans back 35 miles
• All Channel Ports were secured

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Stalemate

• Both sides now had to secure the land that they
  had
• Trenches were dug and machine-guns erected The
  Western Front
• The first exchanges of the war was over from
  now until 1918, neither side would advance more
  than 10 miles forward or backwards from the
  position they held

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Why the Schlieffen Plan Failed

• The plan relied on rapid movement the
  resistance of the Belgians and the BEF prevented
  this
• Russia mobilised its troops quicker then expected
  in 10 days Russians had invaded Germany on the
  Easter Front
• Germany was fighting a war on two fronts!!!

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http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launc
h_ani_western_front.shtml

• Animated Schleiffen Plan

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Trench Warfare
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New Technology

• Rifles Pistols
• Machine Guns
• - Kill entire lines of advancing soldiers

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New Technology

• Heavy Artillery
• Claimed more lives
• than any other weapon
• Grenades
• - Clear our trenches

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New Technology

• Tanks
• - Used to cross no mans land
• Chlorine Gas Burned the Lungs
• Mustard Gas Burned the Skin

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New Technology

• Planes
• Used by Germans at
• first to spy, but then for
• machine gun fire bombs
• U-boats
• German U-Boats threatened
• Britains Navy commercial
• passage

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Impact of New Technology TOTAL WAR

• Old military tactics new technology
• deaths by the millions!!!
• Whole generations were lost
• Clear that the power and resilience of each state
  would drag this war out much longer than just a
  summer
• States were willing to make any sacrifice in
  lives and other resources to obtain a complete
  victory