Why were the fighting and living conditions so bad for British soldiers on the Western Front in World War One?
A: Why were the fighting and living conditions so bad for British soldiers on the Western Front in World War One? The French and British had to push the Germans away from Paris, and there was a constant battle to gain ground. Neither side could advance so; they dug trenches to offer them protection whilst fighting. This was the Western Front. The German trenches were built better than the British's. The Germans trenches had a well developed firing step, duckboards, and the use of concrete construction. Meanwhile, the British trenches weren't constructed as thoroughly, they were built to maintain the position of readiness, and were more exposed to the elements, and this was why the Allies soldiers suffered from more illnesses than the Germans. The soldiers on the Front line needed ammunition, food, barbed wire, shells, timber, and sandbags, which were supplied to deposits behind the trenches by train. Getting the supplies to the trenches was difficult, but they eventually found that railway with Lorries with special wheels worked best. The first complaint was 'trench foot'. This was when the feet turn red or blue, go numb, severe chilblains and get gangrene. It's caused by exposing the feet to cold water for too long. Amputation of the toes or foot was sometimes necessary. The cause of this disease was stopped by daily foot inspections, dry socks, and rubbing whale oil
" ... The most important reason why Germany hated the treaty Of Versailles was the loss of territory..." discuss
07.10.2002 History Essay Helen Gammons " ... The most important reason why Germany hated the treaty Of Versailles was the loss of territory..." The loss of territory was a very important reason as to why the Germans were very upset and angry about the Treaty Of Versailles. This was because it weakened Germany incredibly .The loss of Posen and west Prussia (a.k.a the polish corridor) was terrible, this basically divided Germany in two halves, which left it much more vulnerable and weak. It was also very humiliating as German speaking people who had once been German, were now (just because they lived in a certain part of the Germany ) had become polish , I cant really imagine that these such German people would have been too thrilled with that. They were also made to give back the land they took from Russia, which means that they had gained nothing from the war but debts! The demilitarisation of the Rhineland also left Germany open to attacks from the French as they were aloud to place there troupes right up
"Ever since its creation in 1920, the League of Nationswas destined to fail." Discuss.
"Ever since its creation in 1920, the League of Nations was destined to fail." Discuss. The League of Nations came into being after the end of World War One in January 1920. The League of Nation's task was to ensure that war never broke out again. After the turmoil of the Versailles Treaty, many looked to the League to bring stability to the world. . It was an international body whose sole purpose was to maintain world peace and which would resolve global political, economic, social, humanitarian, and technical problems as and when they occurred. It was these hopes that were invested in the League, despite its flawed establishment at the Paris Peace Conference and the absence of the United States and many other important countries such as Russia and Germany from its membership, which made failure seem inevitable from the start. The League of Nations was doomed from the start because of many factors such as three of the world's most powerful nations, America, Russia and Germany, played no part in supporting the League. America didn't want to join because she had desire to have an isolationist policy throughout the world. Russia was not allowed to join because of the fact that she had a communist government and in 1918 the royal family had been murdered. Germany were not allowed to join the League of Nations because she had started World War One according to Versailles. The
Why Did the Assassination in Sarajevo Lead to the Outbreak of War in 1914?
Unit 2 - Assessment Why Did the Assassination in Sarajevo Lead to the Outbreak of War in 1914? According to Source A only, three of the consequences of the assassination in Sarajevo were that firstly it gave Austro-Hungary the opportunity it had been looking for to bully Serbia into submission. It also led to Russia joining in the war to protect Serbia from Austro-Hungarian attack. The last thing it did was it involved Germany, who immediately prepared to invade Belgium and France. On the day of 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne visited Sarajevo, in Bosnia to watch his troops on manoeuvres and to promote better relations with the Bosnians. This was a publicly announced event, which had been planned for weeks and published in several newspapers. He arrived by train in the morning wearing the royal colours of Austria, light blue military uniform with black trousers and a big black hat. This was one of the many mistakes he made that day as the Bosnian (Serbian) people wanted to leave Austria and join Serbia. It also happened to be 'National Slavs Day,' one of the days the Serbs and Bosnians would feel a large resent for the Austrians who ruled them. The Archduke was then driven along the main road in an open-topped car before thousands of cheering, and not cheering, Bosnians. However, the Black Hand Gang, a Serbian terrorist group who
Treaty of Versailles. There was representatives from USA, France and Britain. Each representative had different opinions and ideas to how was the defeated going to be treated.
Chapter 3 : the Versailles treaty The fighting in the world war one stopped on 11 November 1918. this meant different things to different people. To certain it was a relieve after all those years of tiring war. Yet to some, it was pure happiness or joy and pride to have won the war. Now that the fighting had stopped, the peacemakers had to work out a lasting peace. The representatives met at Versailles, near Paris. The location wasn't ideal as Paris was badly hit by the war for 4 years. Thus it filled the air with the feeling of revenge. They had to work out terms for which the defeated countries had to sign. This took the politicians well into 1919. they had to act very quickly for there was disease and famine through Europe. The Versailles peacemakers There was representatives from USA, France and Britain. Each representative had different opinions and ideas to how was the defeated going to be treated. Woodrow Wilson. He is the America president, was an idealist who truly wanted peace after the war. He had made 14 points to prevent another war. . no secret treaties 2. free seas to all countries at all times 3. removing of custom barriers 4. reduced armaments 5. the wishes of colonial members have to be taken into account when settling colonial claims 6. German forces leave Russia 7. Belgium should be independent 8. Alsace- Lorraine should be returned
"Tsarism collapsed at the beginning of 1917 because Nicholas was a weak Tsar who did not listen to his advisors". Use the sources, and your own knowledge to explain whether or not you agree with this view.
"Tsarism collapsed at the beginning of 1917 because Nicholas was a weak Tsar who did not listen to his advisors". Use the sources, and your own knowledge to explain whether or not you agree with this view. Although Nicholas II was a weak Tsar and did not listen to his advisors, this was not the sole reason of the downfall of Tsarism at the beginning of 1917, but it did play a huge part towards it, along with many other factors. Nicholas II was a weak Tsar, as he did not have any of the leadership qualities required to be a good Tsar. As an autocratic ruler, he thought he knew best, but Russia is far too big and there were too many problems for just one person to handle. He was naive and often changed his mind about things, as well as not listening to his advisors but listening to his wife instead, and when he was away from Petrograd he was relying on others for information about the situation there because he had made himself Commander-in-chief and was in charge of the war effort. Making himself in charge of the war effort was a weakness in itself as he didn't have the ability or experience to be a sufficient Commander-in-Chief and he would now be directly held responsible for all the failures in the war. Taking up this position also meant that he was away from Petrograd for a long time and now relied on other people for information about Petrograd. He received regular
World War 1 - Development of the Stalemate
Why did a Stalemate develop on the Western Front? A stalemate is when neither side can make any significant advances or progress. This can also be called a deadlock, a standoff or a dead heat. While in chess, a stalemate means a draw and the end of a game, in a battle or war, a stalemate can be temporary, and broken at a later stage. I will be looking at how the stalemate developed in World War 1. I will research events in the period between the start of the war and Christmas 1914, the events that lead up to the digging of trenches, and the start of an unprecedented war. When war broke out in 1914, war plans had already been drawn up. In Germany's case, this meant the Schlieffen plan. This involved invading France via Belgium, and heading straight to Paris, leading to a quick victory. On the 3rd of August 1914, Germany poured troops into Belgium. Britain sent Germany an ultimatum, which was ignored. Britain then declared war on Germany, and began mobilising troops. Belgium, to Germany's surprise, resisted the invasion. They held on for as long as possible, but were severely outnumbered. This unexpected resistance slowed down the German advance, sufficiently for the BEF and the French army to prepare themselves. When the BEF arrived, they marched into Belgium, to hold off the Germans. They marched to the town of Mons, where they fought the Germans. They held them back for
What were the causes of hostility which led up to the First World War?
What were the causes of hostility which led up to the First World War? Jessica Clayton - Lower VI The fundamental causes of the conflict between Europe and the rest of the world were rooted deeply in the European history of the previous century, particularly in the political and economic policies that prevailed on the Continent in the late 1800s. This was the time in which the world recognised the emergence of Germany as a great world power. The underlying causes of World War I were the spirit of intense nationalism that divided Europe throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, the political and economic rivalry among the nations and the hostility at military power. In 1914, Europe still dominated the rest of the world, with Germany taking the leading power both economically and militarily. Whilst Germany had taken over the production of pig iron and steel, Britain; France; Belgium; Italy and Austria-Hungary still lapsed well behind. Russia could never be a threat to Germany or even Britain, despite their industry expanding rapidly. But outside of Europe - it seemed the USA was producing more steel and pig iron than Germany and Britain combined. Japan was too modernising rapidly and was regarded as one of the most powerful countries in the world. It was soon clear that Europe was beginning to lose it's domination against the rest of the world. Soon this
Why Did war break out in 1939
Why did War break out in 1939? At 11 o'clock on the third of September 1939 there was a famous speech broadcasted by Neville Chamberlain, over the wireless. From the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street it was officially declared that England was at war against Germany. This war lasted 6 long and painstaking years and throughout it there were over 50 million civilian and military Allied deaths. This war is mainly thought to have been one person's fault, Adolf Hitler who became leader of the German nation and lead it to war. Still to this day historians discuss whether this was really the case, and in this essay I will talk about the other possible reasons for war to break out between England and Germany in 1939. After five extensive years of slow and tedious fighting between the Allied forces and the Central Powers in World War I, the British and French public felt absolute hatred towards Germany. In the Peace conference in Versailles, the Treaty was finally signed by Emperor Wilhelm 11 on the 28th of June 1919. The Leaders of the three main super powers at the time created this peace settlement that was designed to prevent the return of the German race and ultimately bring an end to the War. These laws included demilitarisation of the Rhineland, and various stretches of German border were given to Poland and Czechoslovakia. Also the Union which Germany had with Austria was
There was no general war (i.e. one involving all the great powers at the same time) in Europe between 1815 and 1914. Why?
There was no general war (i.e. one involving all the great powers at the same time) in Europe between 1815 and 1914. Why? For the hundred years from 1815 to 1914, Europe was, for the most part, peaceful. This is in marked contrast to the years immediately preceding, and after this period, when all the major states in Europe were embroiled in long, widespread conflict against each other. There are many possible reasons for this protracted period of peace, and indeed how the stability broke and World War One began. The Vienna Settlement, that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars is generally regarded as one of the most important factors in maintaining peace, but there were quite a few other factors, maybe less significant on there own, but when pieced together all helped to ensure a century of relative peace throughout Europe. These factors included the continuity of leadership throughout the century, the overseas and imperial aims of the European countries and the balance of power that was sustained throughout. The Congress of Vienna was an attempt to ensure that one country, in this case France, could never again wage war on Europe as she has done until her defeat in 1815. After having waged war on a massive scale against Britain, Spain, Russia, Austria, and the Prussians, France was defeated by the victorious powers. However, rather than seek to completely destroy
