The Great War

A way of making Governmental decisions

Attempting to solve political threats through threats, brinkmanship (almost going to war) and war

Triple Alliance

Triple Entente

European nations were trying to build Empires by conquering other nations (Africa and Asia)

England and France were becoming very rich because of their colonies and were threatened by Germany because they wanted colonies as well

Austria expanded its Empire by conquering much of the Balkans

A belief that people of similar should be united

Extreme pride and willingness to sacrifice for your country

Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilize (prepare and organize troops for active service)

France would be easily defeated in 6 weeks due to surprise

Belgium would not resist any German attack

Britain would remain neutral based on a 70 year treaty with Belgium

Germans were held up by the Belgian army, backed up by the British Expeditionary Force which arrived extremely quickly

Russia mobilized in only 10 days and Germany was forced to withdraw troops from the Schlieffen Plan to defend the Eastern border

Germany didn't take the chance to take Paris, but they attacked the east of the Capital

Germans were met by the French at the Battle of Marne which halted their advance

Germans found themselves fighting France, Britain, and their Empires in the Western front

instead of a short, surprising attack as planned, Germany's attack on France became a long, costly, and horrible beginning to trench warfare

Trenches are long, thin holes in the ground that would protect soldiers from gun fire, first built by Germans

Trenches were originally lined with barbed wire and machine guns nests and were supported by heavy cannons, later sandbags also lined the trenches and tunnels were dug and underground dugouts were built

Trenches were easily defended and almost impenetrable

The British and French soon built trenches out of necessity

Life in the trenches was overall miserable and dangerous for all sisters

soldiers endured bone-chilling cold, unbearable heat, or constant rain and mud depending on the time of year

Uniforms were often soaking wet, filthy with mud and infested with lice

There was a constant fear for soldiers because of the relentless and frequent attacks they faced

A serious condition which rotted the flesh of the feet caused when soldiers fought in cold, wet conditions in trenches without the extra socks or boots to help keep their feet dry

If not treated properly or quick enough, it could result in amputation

The open land between enemy trenches

Entering No Man's Land was almost certain death

Most men who were killed here were left unburied and the smell of death spread for miles in each direction

Soldiers were expected to dig and rebuild trenches each night, and "SAPs" (listening posts) into No Man's Land and violently defend their trench in case of attack

The order "Over the Top" forced men to get out of their trenches, travel in the open across No Man's Land and attempt to capture an enemies trench

Gas Attacks

Machine Guns

Tanks

Mines/Hand grenades and other bombs

Extremely important to both sides during the war

Both Britain and Germany relied on ships to supply food, raw materials, medical equipment, soldiers and weapons

The Norwegian ship Imo was leaving the Halifax Harbour carrying much-needed war supplies

The Mont-Blanc a French vessel was approaching from the opposite direction

A small craft forced Imo to change course, putting it in the path of the Mont-Blanc and both ships blasted their horns in warning

December 6 1917 at 8:45am they collided

At 9:04am the Mont-Blanc exploded

Windows were broken from 75 km away, and the shock wave felt more than 300 km away

Shards of iron, wood and steel flew in all directions including the shaft of the ship's anchor, weighing more than a half-tonne

People standing close to shore were propelled through the air, sucked up in a strange whirlwind and dropped around 10m away

Some were vapourized by the force of the explosion, others lost their eyes when windows shattered

Six square km of Halifax was wiped out. The explosion killed 2,000 people and wounded another 9,000

Nearly all structures within an 800m (half-mile) radius, including the community of Richmond were obliterated

A pressure wave snapped trees, bent iron rails, demolished buildings, grounded vessels (including Imo which was washed ashore by a tsunami) and scattered fragments of Mont-Blanc for km

The explosion was the most devastating disaster on Canadian soil and was the largest man-made explosion the world had seen at the time

It became an important for both sides to try and sink as many of the enemy supply ships as possible

Used by Germans to cut off Britain's supplies as they attacked supply ships heading towards Britain

They could attack without warning and disappear without detection

A British passenger also carrying war supplies to Britain that was torpedoed in 1915

Half of the passengers died as a result including 128 Americans

A major turning point in the war as it drastically changed the public opinion of the war for Americans

America joined the war changing history

The initial use for airplanes was to use them to fly over enemy lines to take pictures and gather information

Later progressed into using them to drop bombs and fire at the enemy

About 22,800 Canadians served as pilots, gunners, mechanics and aircrew

By the end of the war, 40% of pilots for the Allies were Canadian

If a fighter pilot shot down five or more enemy aircraft, they were known as ACEs

Billy Bishop is known as Canada's top ACE

A war of attrition (many casualties)

No ground gained for either side

This was the first major battle fought by Canadians

The battle was a huge disaster and pointless

1.5 million men were killed including 24,000 Canadians

It known as the bloodiest battle in human history

Canadians were tasked with capturing Vimy Ridge

The battle was led by Sir Arthur Currie

Canadians took the ridge in only a few hours

Thanks to victory, the Canadian army were now known as "Shock Troops" and an elite task force

Right from the start of this battle, there was terrible weather (Quagmire)

Using a series of small attacks, the
Canadians were victorious

Germany was slowly losing the
war on the battlefield

German people were starving
at home and industry was falling
apart because of the blockade

Russia had a Revolution
and pulled out of the war

USA had entered the war and
1,000,000 fresh troops were
coming to Europe

Germany decided to gamble
one last time by taking all of its men and made a all-or-nothing attack on the allied trenches to try to end the war before the Americans could arrive

The attack pushed back the Allies but did not end the war

Germany tried two more times
but failed to strike a fatal blow

Lead by 100 tanks, Australians and
Canadians

Germans were exhausted
and almost out of supplies after Operation Michael

For 100 Days, the Allies attacked all along the front and the Battle of Amiens was a complete victory. The German lines were broken and never recovered

During the 100 Days, Canadian troops lead most of the
major assaults and more farther and faster than any other
army in the war.

give up some European territory and overseas colonies

Limit size of military to no more than 100,000 men and stop manufacturing large armaments

Pay for the cost of the war and compensate the severely damaged countries (132 billion gold marks/$393.6 billion USD)

Finished paying it off on October 3 2010

Accept responsibility for causing all the loss and damage of the war

Canada's top ACE

Has 72 confirmed kills

He is the top ACE of the war in both the Canadian and the British Empire

Issued maps of battle grounds to every soldier

Built models of Vimy Ridge for troops to practice th attack

He used the tactic called 'Creeping Barrage' to take the ridge

a creeping barrage involved artillery fire moving forward in stages just ahead of the advancing infantry. To work, the strategy required precise timing by both the heavy artillery and the infantry. Failure to do this would result in the artillery killing their own soldiers

An African-American infantry unit who spent more time in combat than any other American unit

The Canadian army authorized the creation of an all-black unit with white commanders

The battalion was placed in non-combat roles only

They built roads and trenches, cleared land mines and carried wounded men