The Battle of Liege, 1914.

The Battle of Liege, 1914 This is a story is about the forts of Liège, but it is also about the men who manned them. A group of men from the tiny country of Belgium that stood up to one of the world's superpowers, one with a seemingly invincible army. The German government had asked Belgium to kindly step aside so its 2 million-man army could pass through on its way to destroying France, thus making Belgium a state within the German Reich. But Belgium refused to give in to the ultimatum made by Germany, and for 12 days, put up a fight that had the whole world watching. The battle of liege was something of a moral victory for Belgium. The Battle of Liege ran for twelve days from 5th to the 16th August 1914, and resulted in surprisingly heavy losses upon the German invasion force, which definitely outnumbered the Belgians. The Battle of Liege signified the first land battle of the war. It started when the German Army crossed the frontier into the neutral area of Belgium intending to attack France from the north. This marked the start of the German Schlieffen Plan. The initial aim of the Second Army, which comprised 320,000 men, was to seize the city of Liege, which blocked the narrow gap to the best entrance into Belgium and further more into France. However a ring of twelve heavily armed forts that were built in the 1880s, six on each side

  • Word count: 473
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare the 'song of the shirt' to 'the charge of the light brigade'

Compare the 'song of the shirt' to 'the charge of the light brigade' The poems I am going to compare were both witten to make social or political statements . The Song of the Shirt was written by Thomas Hood in order to illustrate the plight of the working woman in 1843, who worked in 'poverty, hunger and dirt' every day in order to survive. The Charge of the Light Brigade was written by Alfred Lord Tennyson to remember and highlight the bravery of the men who were sent to their tragic deaths due to a simple human error at the Battle of Balaklava. . The Song Of the Shirt is constructed using alternating ryhme in eight line stanzas. These stanzas also alternate in rythm from a line of iambic to a line of anapest.Together with the repetition of phrases like 'work-work-work' and 'stitch-stitch-stitch', a regular monotonous rythym that is similar to stitching is established. Similarly, in The Charge of the Light Brigade, the poet uses trochee and dactyl rythm, free verse, short lines and repetition in order to mimic the movements of a charging horse. Both Poems are about being trapped in situations to which there is no escape. The Song of the Shirt is about a woman having no freedom; having to spend every spare second stitching in order to buy a crust of bread so she can live. She knows her only option in life is to work until she dies of either exhaustion or starvation. In

  • Word count: 448
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In 1066, it was a year of crisis. There were two bloody battles, namely the Battle of Stanford Bridge

Joyce Chiu 7J In 1066, it was a year of crisis. There were two bloody battles, namely the Battle of Stanford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings. How did these battles happen? The King of England, Edward Confessor died on 5th January 1066. Harold Godwineson, Harald Hardraada and William (Duke of Normandy) all wanted to be the next King of England. Harald Hardraada fought with Harold Godwineson in the Battle of Stanford Bridge on 25th September 1066. After Harold won the Battle of Stanford Bridge, William (Duke of Normandy) landed in England. Harold was exhausted after the battle and he lost a lot of his good men. London was the capital of England. He did not want William to take this important city. He had no choice, but to march his soldiers to London. William's soldiers were stronger than the Saxons' soldiers. They were well trained, fully equipped with horses, bows and arrows. On the other hand, Harold's solders were part time soldiers who were farmers. Harold was badly prepared for the battle, and a lot of his soldiers were exhausted after the long march. William spent months preparing for the invasion in a secure position. He got the right time, right place and men who were healthy and strong. Harold rushed south and camped at the top of Senlac Hill, about 5 miles from Hastings. On 14th October 1066, the Normans began forming a battle line at the bottom of the hill. The

  • Word count: 351
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why was the British able to win the Battle of Britain?

By Beth Thompson Why was the British able to win the Battle of Britain? The world thought that Germany would win The Battle of Britain but they were wrong. This essay will explain to you how and why Britain won the battle. The reasons that I am about to tell you about are all factors that are continued throughout the whole battle. Britain had magnificent technology. From the start of the battle, the British used radar. This allowed them to spot the size, height and direction of German attacks so that their offensives could be intercepted and blunted. This allowed pilots and soldiers to rest without suspense and when planes were spotted time to prepare and get into the air for flight. To link this point the British had better intelligence than the Germans did. This allowed the British to gather information on the Germans, asses it and spread it to the officers and pilots (R.A.F). British developed scientific system of air defence. This involved Radar, telephone communication, a map of lights which organise when planes need to go out and when they need refuelling. People also watched with binoculars for extra safety. A factor that made the Germans fail was that the German bomber planes were too slow and under gunned whilst the British had enough to accompany them at all times. The reason I am about to tell you about are the reasons that happened throughout the

  • Word count: 349
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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