War On The Western Front

Front 1

Reasons for the stalemate on the western front

Back 1

failure of the schlieffen plan; nature of trench warfare; weapons of WW1

Front 2

Failure of Schlieffen Plan .o1

Back 2

Moltke weakened the hammer swing and strengthened the border troops (to trap the French) now difficult to reach the west of Paris

Front 3

Failure of Schlieffen Plan .o2

Back 3

troops were pushed through Belgium only (flat area) not Netherlands and Luxemborg (did not wish to upset trade w/ Dutch)

Front 4

Failure of Schlieffen Plan .o3

Back 4

Delays occurred at Aachen and Liege (railway lines meet) giving French and British troops to moblise

Front 5

Failure of Schlieffen Plan .o4

Back 5

a massive, rapid attack did not occur

Front 6

Failure of Plan and its Impact .o1

Back 6

Delays allowed Allied troops to mobilise; allowed British time to move into Belgium, Moltke lost his nerve: transferred more troops to border and to the east

Front 7

Failure of Plan and its Impact .o2

Back 7

Belgian resistance was strong: slowed German advance, lives lost, troops walking in hot conditions

Front 8

Failure of Plan and its Impact .o3

Back 8

German forces swung to the east of Paris; French resisted: moved troops from border thus Paris not capture.
War on two fronts occurred

Front 9

No breakthrough achieved .o1

Back 9

Each side 'dug in' at the R.Marne; Germans forced back to R.Aisne; The race to the sea: each side tried to outflank the others this failed

Front 10

No breakthrough achieve .o2

Back 10

A line of trenches » a war of attrition; nothing gained by either side heavy loss of lives; the expected xmas victory did not eventuate

Front 11

Plan 17
General Joffre

Back 11

centered on recovery of Alsace-Lorraine, superseded events in the field; rationale based on a series of false assumptions

Front 12

Failure of Plan 17

Back 12

plan relied upon rapid movement from Russia, approached warfare from an old-fashioned standpoint; left the Franco-Belgian border unprotected

Front 13

Conditions of trenches

Back 13

Shock to the world, soldiers were subjected to filth and degradation, thousands of men died from conditions in which they had to live and fight, men were stretched to physical and mental limits

Front 14

Stucture of trenches

Back 14

zig zag trenches; took on an air of permancy, British trenches trenches never as solid as Germans as Britsh maintained a belief in offense

Front 15

Disease

Back 15

trenches were frequently full of water, lack of drainage and rain. Trench foot was painful » immersion in water and led to gangrene. Unbelieveable putrid concoction of human and military detritus. Lice » boils, inpetigo and ulcers.

Front 16

Psychological Angle

Back 16

ordinary men had to cope with incessant din of an artillery barrage, sight of human flesh torn apart and the stench ofthe sickening cocktail of a trench's contents.

Front 17

Psychological Angle

Back 17

Shell shock was caused by the stresses of war, it mainfested itself in a variety of ways. Officers ignored shell shock and put it down to cowardice.

Front 18

Nature of Trench warfare made a breakthrough impossible to achieve b/c

Back 18

dug in, using weapons was a problem as they were often problematic, no surprise possible, MASSIVE FIREPOWER NEEDED, LIMITLESS SUPPLIES OF RESOURCES AND MASSIVE NUMBERS OF MEN.

Front 19

Advancements in weaponary

Back 19

Ultimately the advancements in technology broke the stalemate of the war. Rapid technological developments were necessary to try and break the stalemate

Front 20

Battle at Verdun

Back 20

Germany: Falkenhayn. Wear the French down to the point of exhausation. Impossibe, war of attrition stuck t/out, tragic cocktail of fog, smole, confusion, carnage and destruction. Plenty of lives lost to little gain

Front 21

Battle at the Somme

Back 21

General Haig, relieve pressure of Verdun. Germans survived barrage in deep underground. British advancement was difficult and slow. It was a slaughter, blood bath. British Generals were not flexible

Front 22

Battle at the Somme

Back 22

It was repitive, it was ignorant, it did not take into consideration the external factores, 19th Century tactics, focused TOO much on offence, ineffecitve and unrealistic

Front 23

Battle at Passchendaele

Back 23

quagmire of sticky mud. Aims: relieve French. Loss of morale » mutinies. Gains provided no opportunities. This was a military crime

Front 24

Changing attitudes

Back 24

Excitement and enthusiasm of 1914 had disappeared as the reality of the trenches had greatly changed. Futility of the war, the senseless and massive slaughter major turning points.