World War 1 Questions

Matthew Herrndorf

Mr. Howe

IB1 History

2/5/2003

World War 1 Questions

1 a)

The phrase “Western Front” refers to the fighting zone that existed in France and Flanders. It was the area where most of the British fighting took place as well as the French, and it was by far the most important area for those two countries. After the initial battles in 1914, the Western Front became an area where both sides held an entrenched line that ran from Nieuport, on the Belgian coast through the Somme and Champagne and into the Swiss border. The entrenched line ran approximately 400 miles long, and in the beginning of the war, Britain held about 20 miles, which was later stretched into 120 miles as the war progressed. There were continuous battles that occurred on the western front, and the sentiment that existed was that the best way to defeat the enemy was to “turn the flank” of the enemy, thus was the reason the trench lines ran so long.

1b)

There are several reasons for which trench warfare developed early on the Western Front. As the war started with massive offensives led by the Germans against France, as they were implementing the Schlieffen Plan, which called for the quick destruction of France. However, during the battle of the Marne, the French 6th army forced back the Germans approximately 40 miles to the north of the river Aisne. From there, both the Germans and the French took up the belief that the most effective strategy would be to outflank the opponent in order to get behind them. Both armies moved north, as Germany slowly took some territories, namely Antwerp, and then a large-scale battle raged at Messines and Ypres, however after several weeks that had both sides experience tremendous casualties, the realization came that the Western Front would not be won in one large offensive, and instead the armies focused their attentions on building very strong defensive structures, namely a system of interconnected trenches, from which opponents could be seen and fired upon, but no attack could be launched. With this mindset, it became increasingly challenging to mount successful offensives, however, the opposing army was faced with the same problem. And thus started the beginning of trench warfare on the Western Front.

1c)

In the year 1918, Germany was experiencing success on several fronts and had men firmly positioned on enemy soil throughout Europe, however there were also great causes of concern. The war had turned into a battle of attrition for the most part, and though Germany was experiencing great success, the problem it faced was for how long would it be able to sustain that success. Germany’s allies, Bulgaria and Turkey were unable to make large contributions, and the idea of more American troops landing in Europe was not a promising concept for the Germans. The Germans needed a quick and decisive victory at the Western Front if they were going to experience victory at all.

The Germans launched a massive offensive with hopes of doing so before the Americans could really lend any more significant amounts troops. The German attack began on May 21st, and it was aimed at the British and already existing American forces that had been weakened by the earlier battle at Passchendaele. The attack started very successfully, with the German armies advancing 40 miles from St Quentin. They captured Peronne, Bapaume, and Noyon. They also launched an attack south of Ypres, and they managed to capture the Messines Ridge and Armentieres. They also launched a third attack even further south of Ypres, and experienced success in the early going, reaching as far as the River Marne. After Americans at Chateau-Thierry halted them temporarily and as did the French between Noyon and Soissons, the Germans attempted to launch one final push in order to break through the lines. The Germans managed to cross the river Marne, however were repelled by the French and the Americans shortly thereafter, whom then launched a counter-attack and sent the Germans back through the Marne and out of the Soissons. The Entente, realizing the weakened condition of the German army, then decided to launch a series of offensives against Germany on all fronts. The first of the attacks, launched by the British on August 8th, experienced a great deal of success, as they gained 8 miles and employed the use of 450 tanks. The second offensive, which was launched on the 20th, also experienced a great deal of success, as Peronne and Noyon were captured. It also caused the Germans to call a general retreat back to the Hindenburg Line. By September, the Entente line was moving forward for the first time in the war, and the Western Front, was firmly controlled by the Entente.

Though they experienced a great deal of success, it was the fact the Germans could not outlast the Entente in the battle of attrition that lead to their defeat on the Western Front. Because their allies were incapable of making a major impact in the war, Germany had little to no extra resources, and were forced to attempt one massive offensive to end the war as quickly as possible, especially with the prospect of having to face the huge number of American soldiers that were being sent over. In the end it was the focal point of the Western Front, ...

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2a)

In the context of World War 1, the phrase “Central Powers” meant Germany and Austria-Hungary, the two countries that acted as the main opponent to the entente, which consisted of mainly France, Britain, Russia, and later on, the U.S. Later on Turkey and Bulgaria joined on to the alliance that was the Central Powers.

2b)

The Germans had planned to win a very quick victory over the Entente in 1914 with the employment of their Schlieffen plan. The purpose of the plans was to compensate for having to fight a war on two separate fronts. As the plan called for the quick capture of Paris and thus achieving victory over France, it would eliminate the disadvantage of fighting on two fronts, and the Germans could focus their entire army on Russia. Their plan was to reach France through Belgium, and capture France in a mere 6 weeks. The campaign however started off slower then expected, as the Belgians put up a significant resistance at the forts of Liege that lasted from August 8th till the 17th. However, the Germans entered Brussels soon after, and experienced success into September, capturing various territories on the route to Paris. However, the plan had to be altered for several reasons. The Russians had managed to launch an attack faster then anticipated, and thus the Germans were forced to break up their force and send the 2nd and 3rd armies to the east on the 25th of August. Furthermore, the Germans made a slight change of course further west in order to aid the 2nd army, which had met resistance at Guise. It was that change of course that cost them in the end. The French saw an opportunity to attack the Germans from the side as they were passing Paris to the north. The French attacked at Marne, and from September 5th to the 12th, managed to force the Germans back 40 miles from the river Aisne. It was this event that made it impossible for the Germans to continue with the Schlieffen plan, and it was thus abandoned, preventing Germany from achieving a quick victory over the Entente powers.

2c)

The defeat of the Central Powers can be attributed to a variety of reasons, and though some played a larger role then others, Germany simply had too much to overcome to win the war. To begin with, the Germans began the war with a large disadvantage, as the Entente surrounded them, and they could rarely rely on their main ally, Austria-Hungary for support. While the Entente had 3 strong nations in France, Britain and Russia fighting for its side, Germany had to be self reliant, while at the same time, often step in and save Austria-Hungary during battles. Furthermore, near the end of the war, Austria-Hungary was rendered a practically non-beneficial ally, as they experienced serious problems with the defections of various nationalities, namely the Czechs and the Yugoslavians whom had declared their independence from the monarch. And although the Russians experienced serious internal turmoil that led to their surrender, the Entente made up for the loss when the U.S. joined them.

By the year 1918, the Germans were understandably depleted, and had few options to pursue. Their only option was to launch a massive offensive in order to end the war as soon as possible. Though the offensive was extremely successful, the defenses that had been built up for the four years of the war proved to be too strong too penetrate. The Germans were forced to retreat, and when the Entente counter attacked, the Germans put up very little resistance as huge numbers were captured in 1918.

Finally, the Germans had entered the war with huge hope resting on the shoulders of the Schlieffen Plan. It was expected that the plan would have tremendous success, and the Germans were confident they could defeat the Russians so long as it was a single front war. However, because the plan was thrown of course, and eventually derailed near Paris, the Germans were faced with the problem of having to fight a war on two fronts. Though they proved to be very capable and successful, the two fronts took its toll on the Germans as they were forced into a stalemate for four years. Had the Germans successfully orchestrated the Schlieffen plan, there is a good chance the Central Powers would have emerged successful in the war, however, when the plan was halted, Germany became engaged in a war where there were too many different factors working against them.

The reason for which the generally assumed durations of the wars were proved incorrect is primarily due to the fact people had no real reference point for which to compare lengths, and thus guessed wildly. The original assumption which was that the war would be over by Christmas developed as a result of each countries belief that their technology would destroy their opponents and at the same time, that one large offensive would be all it took to tilt the tide in the war. In the case of believing the war would continue for another 2 years past 1918 was primarily due to the fact that each side was very weary of launching any more offensives, and that throughout the war, there had been very few major gains, thus people thought they were being as realistic as possible in assuming the war would rage on for several more years.

That the war would be over by Christmas was an assumption shared by both sides, however, the two sides had different reasons for believing it. The Germans believed the war would be over by Christmas primarily as a result of the Schlieffen plan. Because it called for the very fast capture of France, in order to eliminate the possibility of having to fight a war on two fronts. However, the plan failed, and as a result, the Germans had to dig themselves in. As soon as the trench warfare started, offensives became increasingly more scarce, as casualties from the combined force of machine guns and barbed wire proved to be far too much to handle. The Germans were halted, and different strategies were invoked, for example the weak point strategy, however these new strategies took large amounts of careful planning to execute, and even then, very few of the offensives in the war had any success before the year 1918.

The war a completely unique event in the world, and as a result, it was believed that prior war strategies would prove to be just as effective. Both sides believed that because of their newfound technologies, war would involve single gigantic offensives to tilt the tide of war. The Germans and the British both believed their naval fleets were superior and that in the end; it would be determined on a single large-scale naval war. However when the war began, it was soon realized that a full scale battle would be too risky for either side, for the general of the side that lost would be blamed for his countries defeat. As it turned out, the strategy was to simply hold ones position in a close net fleet, therefore no large-scale attacks would take place. It was also assumed that on land, massive bombardments, followed by thousands of troops running, sometimes even walking across enemy soil would lead to victory, as the damage from the bombardments would be so devastating. However, as was the case frequently in war, a defensive weapon was created in which there was no equal to offensively. The machine guns killed caused such large amounts of casualties that the outlook of battles changed instantly. No longer did the generals have the mindset that the only way to become victorious was through attacks. Thus a long and drawn out war ensued that found in both sides building trenches and partaking in a stale mate.

The belief that the war would last two more years after 1918 was due primarily to the fact to the earlier pace of the war. There were few that still believed a large offensive would be the key to victory, and both sides simply continued what they had been doing for 4 years, which was building trenches, in a feeble attempt to outflank opponents. However, the belief was proved incorrect when Germany and her allies launched one final massive offensive as a means of capturing the western front, and irreversibly tilting the war in their favour. This was caused primarily by the worsening situation the Germans found themselves in, with little help from allies, and the Entente growing stronger with the U.S. joining the campaign. Germany was stopped and forced to retreat, upon which the Entente forces launched a large counter attack that eventually led them to victory in 1918, thus proving the belief the war would last several more years incorrect.

The world didn’t know what to expect when the first total war broke out, and predications were made without any real knowledge to back them up. The prediction that the war would be over by Christmas was quickly proved inaccurate as the Romantism of large-scale offensives were replaced by the staggering number of casualties that resulted in them. Both sides became defensive oriented, and the outlook of war changed entirely. The belief that the war would last two more years in 1918, was a prediction that was based entirely on the existing pace of the war, but when the Germans were forced to make on final push for victory, the pace of war, too, changed completely. In the end, war was simply too difficult to predict, with the ever changing events, and in the end, most of the predictions turned out inaccurate.

The fortunes of the Germans were ultimately different on the eastern and western fronts for several reasons. On the western front, the Germans experienced some success early on in the Schlieffen plan, but once it had failed, were forced to focus their attention on more defensive strategies, and thus made little gains for several years, searching for weak points into France. On the Western Front however, they had several advantages. First of all they had the advantage of having Austria-Hungary fighting with them against the Russians. They also had the advantage that the Russians were very poorly trained and led by and large by incompetent generals. Furthermore, they only had to fight one opponent on the Eastern front, as opposed to the British and the French, and eventually the Americans on the Western front.

Taking control of the Western Front had been crucial in Germany’s strategy starting the war, and when the Schlieffen plan failed, they had to change their tactics completely, which did not allow for them to carry out their plans. They were then faced with having to fight on two fronts, with one front, the Western Front, having both France and Britain, the strongest two of the Entente. On the Eastern front however, they were fighting with their ally Austria-Hungary against Russia, which had a very poorly trained and poor equipped army, albeit one that had incredible amounts of men. From the beginning it was clear they would have a much better chance fighting on the Eastern Front then the Western Front.

By 1917, the Germans had done so much damage to the Russian army, with at least 3 million deaths, that the Russians could no longer go on. Civil unrest became too much, and the October Revolution began in Russia, in which the government was overthrown. The Russians then proceeded to surrender to the Germans, giving up huge territory as well as huge numbers of people in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Germans fortunes were so successful on the Eastern Front because Russia could no longer continue with the war effort.

The Western Front proved to be too much for the Germans. In 1918, they were forced to attack in an attempt to win over the Western Front before another large reinforcement Americans arrived. However, after several significant gains, they were stopped by the French and the Americans at the Marne. It had been their last large push, as they were forced to retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Soon after the Entente launched an extremely successful counter attack that lead to control of the Western Front, as the Germans were so badly weakened. Germany had very little option but to launch their offensive, as they believed they would stand no chance with basically no allies, with the exception of Turkey and Bulgaria, though those two powers were ineffective. The Western Front was simply too much for the Germans to overcome.

The fortunes of the Germans on the Eastern and Western Fronts were different for a multitude of reasons; however the opponents that lay on each front played a large role. The Russians proved to be incapable of sustaining their war effort, and internal problems combined with Germany forced them to surrender by 1917. The Western Front was to well defended for Germany’s final push, and the Entente took control. Germany simply had too much to overcome in their attempt to win on the Western Front.