Stalemate Flashcards
All 31 cards in this deck
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
Germany's plan to avoid a two-front war by attacking France through Belgium and defeating her within six weeks, then turning east against Russia.
Give one reason the Schlieffen Plan failed in 1914, linked to Russia.
Russia mobilised more quickly than expected, so German troops were sent east, weakening the advance on Paris.
True or false? The German army advanced through Belgium unopposed in 1914.
False. Strong Belgian resistance, and the BEF's engagement at Mons, slowed the German advance so France was not defeated in six weeks.
What happened at the Battle of the Marne (September 1914), and what followed it?
French and British troops halted the German advance on Paris; the Germans retreated and both sides dug trenches, ending the war of movement and beginning the stalemate.
What was the Battle of Verdun (1916)?
A German attack on the French fortress city of Verdun, February–December 1916, aiming to 'bleed France white'; both sides suffered huge losses and neither broke through.
What was the Battle of the Somme (July–November 1916)?
A joint British and French offensive; nearly 60,000 British casualties on the first day and only a few miles gained, with no decisive breakthrough.
What was the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres, 1917)?
A British offensive in Flanders where heavy rain turned the ground to mud; soldiers drowned in shell craters and only about five miles were gained.
What is a war of attrition?
Wearing the enemy down by inflicting losses on men and resources until they can no longer fight, used because neither side could win a decisive victory in trench warfare.
What was the 'creeping barrage'?
An artillery tactic in which the shellfire moved forward in stages just ahead of the advancing infantry, protecting them as they crossed no man's land.
True or false? Machine guns and barbed wire made it easier to attack a trench than to defend one.
False. New weapons made trenches easier to defend than to breach, which is why the stalemate continued.
Why did heavy artillery bombardments often fail to help attackers break through?
The shellfire did not destroy the trenches and left the barbed wire more tangled, slowing the attackers down.
What was the Gallipoli campaign (1915) and why was it launched?
Allied landings on the Gallipoli peninsula, sent to capture it and knock Turkey — one of Germany's allies — out of the war.
Give one reason the Gallipoli campaign failed.
Turkish forces held the high ground above the landing beaches, so Allied troops were pinned down and the campaign was abandoned and evacuated.
True or false? Britain won a decisive victory at the Battle of Jutland (1916).
False. The result was inconclusive and Britain lost more ships, but the German fleet never again risked a major battle, so Germany relied on U-boats instead of its surface fleet.
What was Germany's policy of 'unrestricted submarine warfare'?
Using U-boats to sink all ships sailing to Britain without warning; it sank the passenger liner Lusitania, causing strong American protests.
What was the convoy system used by Britain in the war at sea?
Merchant supply ships sailed in groups protected by warships, cutting losses to U-boats after Britain's food supply became critically low by April 1917.
What happened at the Battle of Tannenberg (1914) on the Eastern Front?
A heavy German victory over the invading Russian army in East Prussia.
True or false? The 'race to the sea' in 1914 ended with a continuous line of trenches stretching across Northern France and Belgium.
True. Each side tried to outflank the other northwards; neither succeeded, and the trench line, from the Channel coast to Switzerland, stayed largely fixed until 1918.
What was the British Expeditionary Force (BEF)?
Britain's small army of professional, regular soldiers, sent to France at the start of the war in August 1914 to fight alongside the French and Belgians.
Why did the Schlieffen Plan assume Germany had about six weeks to defeat France?
German planners expected Russia, with its huge size and poor railways, to take about six weeks to mobilise its army.
Who was Sir Douglas Haig?
The commander of the British army on the Western Front from December 1915 to the end of the war; he led the offensives at the Somme and Passchendaele.
Who was Erich von Falkenhayn?
The head of the German army who planned the attack on Verdun in 1916 as a battle of attrition to wear down the French army.
Give one reason the Battle of the Somme was launched in July 1916.
To relieve the pressure on the French army, which was close to breaking at Verdun, by drawing German troops away.
What happened at Messines in June 1917?
British troops exploded huge mines dug under the German lines on Messines Ridge, capturing the ridge before the main Passchendaele offensive.
When and where was poison gas first used on a large scale on the Western Front?
April 1915, when Germany released chlorine gas against Allied troops at the Second Battle of Ypres.
Give one way aircraft were used on the Western Front.
For reconnaissance: spotting enemy trenches and guns so artillery could target them.
Where and when were tanks first used in battle?
At the Somme in September 1916. Early tanks were slow and often broke down.
What happened in the naval attack on the Dardanelles (March 1915)?
British and French warships tried to force their way through the strait to Constantinople, but mines sank or crippled several battleships and the naval attack was called off.
Which British politician championed the Dardanelles plan of 1915?
Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty.
Who were the ANZACs?
Troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, who fought at Gallipoli alongside British and French forces.
What was the aim of the British naval blockade of Germany?
To stop food, raw materials and other supplies reaching Germany by sea, weakening its war effort and its people.