Admiral Von Spee led the German fleet into the South Pacific to sink a squadron of British ships. By December, seven British ships led by Admiral Sir Fredrick Sturdee, hunted down Von Spees fleet near the Falkland Island. Four out of the five German ships were sunk and Von Spee drowned. This was known as the Battle of the Falkland Islands.
In 1915 German U-boats began their own Blockade of Britain. They left the safety of their own ports to sink merchant ships. This was effective for a while. On the 7th May a German U-boat torpedoed the British transatlantic liner, Lusitania, taking 1195 lives. The USA had been neutral throughout the war, but the destruction of Lusitania took 128 US lives. Germany would not accept responsibility and did not pay reparations. This led to the USA entering the war with the Allies two years later.
1916 was the year when the only major battle took place in the North Sea, The Battle of Jutland. It is thought to have been an accident. Fleets from both the countries were trying to lead their rivals into a trap for a small victory. The British Grand Fleet led by Admiral Jellicoe had no idea that the German High Seas Fleet was close by and vice versa. Germany used the fact that Britain lost 14 ships and that Germany only lost 11 ships to claim victory. But Germany remained in homeports for the rest of the War.
Britain had now regained control of the seas. Germany had reduced submarine warfare after the sinking of the Lusitania, but in 1917 it was desperate to win the war and resumed its unrestricted warfare. British supplies began running low, but it was nothing compared to the situation in Germany. German ports had been blockaded since the beginning of the war, and after a potato harvest failed in 1916; they were having food shortages.
The U-boat threat on British Merchant ships was getting serious. One in four ships coming into British waters were sunk. Many methods were adopted to control U-boats. Q ships and Depth Charges were introduced. Q ships were merchant ships containing hidden weapons. Depth charges were explosives set to go off at certain depths under water. Mines were put around German Ports to stop the enemy leaving its homeports. Also Lloyd George introduced the convoy system, large numbers of merchant ships sailed together, surrounded by warships. This was very effective and ensured enough supplies reached Britain.
Mines were effective in other ways. They were placed all over the North Sea and outside their own ports and enemy ports. Only British ships would know their way around the mines they had set and it would be difficult for enemy ships to penetrate these areas.
Conclusion
The most important method used in the war at sea were the Blockades placed on Germany. These stopped any goods getting into the country and there were shortages of everything. German cities fell into starvation and lots of pressure was placed on the newly appointed Weimer Republic. They eventually had to surrender to the Allies to stop their people from starving.
Britain gained a lot of morale from the War at Sea. The Great British Navy was still controlling the Seas and it gave British people a little hope with every small victory.
Aeroplanes were an important factor in WW1 Even though at the start of the war they weren’t actually used for fighting they were useful in other ways. Surveillance planes that spied on the enemy troops would pick up any troop movement or faults in their own lines and generals would be able to prepare their next plan of attack. The planes could fly low since they were quiet, making it harder for them to be spotted. Soon they began to carry cameras and photographs were taken of enemy lines.
In 1915 the German Fokker E-2 flew into the skies. It was the first fighter plane designed to destroy surveillance planes. It had a machine gun, synchronised with the propellers, so they wouldn’t be shot off. The first aeroplane dogfights were introduced and with them the hero pilots.
These heroes raised morale in Britain and Germany. Their exploits made exciting reading. Manfred Von Richtoffen was the German role model. Nicknamed the Red Baron he shot down 80 enemy planes before his death in 1917. The French Rene Fonk, was the only pilot to shoot down 75 enemy planes and survive the war. Dogfights weren’t very important but were necessary in raising morale from soldiers and the home front. Trench soldiers would hear about the dogfights and would feel that the war was getting somewhere. They would feel confident and believe their side was winning the war.
Germany, once again, invented the first bombers, zeppelins. They bombed British coastal areas. Now even people inland were in danger of plane and zeppelin attacks. Unfortunately zeppelins were large, slow and easily shot down before they could do any damage.
Aeroplanes soon began to watch over ships. They could detect U-boats under water and would warn the ships of the approaching danger. They also carried supplies from merchant ships to Britain. This was a way of getting around blockades.
Many bombs early in the war had hit Britain and in 1918 they decided to fight back. The Handley Page and other bombers flew over Germany bombing air bases and ports in the Rheinland.
Planes were even used on the Western Front. The Sopwith Camels were used against tanks, and other planes shot at troops in trenches. As air warfare became more important Britain decided it needed a larger air force, thus the Royal Flying Corps merged with the navy planes to form the Royal Air Force in 1918. It consisted of over 20 000 planes.
Conclusion
By the end of the war aeroplanes had advanced from unsafe wooden structures to lethal destroyers and useful weapons in war. They became faster and their technology grew, new weapons were invented for and against planes. Air warfare was dangerous but provided people, on the home front and soldiers, with something to look up to. Pilots became the heroes of their time and morale for the war increased. This helped bring more volunteers to help fight the war, as every victory, no matter how small was exaggerated. This gained support for the war and eventually contributed to the allied victory over the Central Powers.
The home front was necessary for the allied victory. If the British population had thought fighting in World War 1 was pointless they wouldn’t have gone to war,
Propaganda was used to show the people of Britain how dangerous and cruel the Germans were. Many posters and leaflets were used, showing the brutality of German soldiers. This angered young men, making them feel they had to volunteer for war
Actual photographs of the Western front were kept from the public and artists would paint more “pleasant” versions of the scene. This way potential volunteer's wouldn’t be put off by the horrid conditions of trench warfare. When people became more aware of the horrors in France they became less willing to go to war. Volunteer numbers dropped dramatically:
-September 1914 436 000 volunteers.
-December 1915 55 000 volunteers.
They tried many poster campaigns making men feel it was their duty to serve their country in war. Numbers of volunteers peaked for a time but began to fall again. The government decided that the only way Britain would be able to stay in the war was by introducing conscription.
- January 1916- all men, single, fit and between the ages 18-41 have to serve in the army.
- March 1926- married men also have to serve in the army.
C.o.’s (conscientious objectors) would be put on trial if they refused to serve in the army. Only miners and men who worked in any other useful job was allowed to stay in Britain. When people began to realise they had been lied to they got angry with the government. The government then came up with a film, The Battle of the Somme. This worked as how they had expected it to. People were amazed at how brave the soldiers were and still believed it was for a worthy cause.
As many men had to leave to fight in the war some one was needed to work in all the industries. Women were offered these jobs, but men weren’t happy. They only agreed to work along side with women if they were offered less pay and thrown off the work force as soon as the war ended. The introduction of women into all major industries was vital as they helped keep them going and kept Britain moving.
Germanys unrestricted U-boat warfare was quite successful, as it managed to limit Britain’s food supplies. Before rationing was introduced the government encouraged people to grow their own food, and that they should go without meat for one day each week. This way supplies would be saved if food shortages became really bad. Bakers were told to use substitutes for flour, such as potatoes. In 1917 after more U-boat attacks prices were made higher, discouraging people from buying too much food. Then in 1918 rations were introduced on butter, meat, sugar and margarine. The government was controlling peoples lives more then ever before. Ration books were soon introduced. They were more popular than the higher prices, since everybody had the same amount of rations. If someone was found in possession of an illegal ration book they would be imprisoned for 3 years.
The munitions crisis occurred in 1915 when the government found out that soldiers had to ration the number of shells they used everyday. The government took control of this industry. The law, which allowed them to do this, was known as the Defence of The Realm Act (DORA) if the government felt it needed a certain building or industry they could take it over using DORA. They now had more control over people’s lives than before. Newspapers were censored so that they wouldn’t show any details of the war the government felt the public didn’t need to know. They even censored letters the soldiers sent home so that the horrors of the trench were not known to civilians.
Conclusion
Changes on the home front helped to keep Britain in the war. They ensured that the country kept going even though a lot of its population had gone to fight in the war. The introduction of DORA gave the government complete control of the country and allowed them to provide for the army as well as the people back home. Conscription also made sure that there were always plenty of soldiers to fight in the war and that Britain would not be defeated because its Professional Army had been wiped out. The home front was a crucial part of the war as it kept up morale at home so people felt their was a need for the war and that it wasn’t a waste of time. Without this morale Britain would have had to pull out of the war and the Central Powers would most likely have been the victorious powers.
The Western front was the front which most of the fighting took place. It was where the two alliances had reached stalement. They dug out trenches in the ground as defence and spent most of the war in them. A whole system of trenches was soon dug out and both sides fought from within these trenches. The only way to break the stalement would be to destroy all enemies in a trench and to cross no mans land to get into the enemy trenches.
On the Eastern Front, Russia was fighting against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
