World War I
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1. Major Causes
- Rise of Germany
- Germany became a major
power in Europe
- many small countries
gradually united into one
- Clash of Empires
- Britain, France, Spain
and Portugal had colonies around the world
- Germany wanted
colonies too
- built up their navy
(see below)
- Militarism -
Naval and Arms Race
- Britain had largest
navy in world
- “Battleship”
H.M.S. Dreadnought
- Germany began building
battleships too
- Each country tried to
build more and better battleships
- an arms race
- Nationalism
- all countries more
interested in building their national pride
- Mass Education and
Media
- Government could use
radio and newspapers to promote their cause (propaganda)
- Alliance System
- Countries formed
protection alliances
- “I promise to help you if someone attacks
you”.
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Triple Alliance
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§ Germany
§ Austria-Hungary
§ Italy
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Triple Entente
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§ France
§ Russia
§ Britain
§ as a member of the British
Empire,Canada was with Britain
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2. “Minor” Cause,
but the “spark”
- Assassination
(political killing) of Crown Prince of Austria
- Archduke Franz
Ferdinand visiting Boznia-Herzegovina, a state in the Austrian
Empire in June 1914
- A Serbian terrorist
group “The Black Hand” killed him
- Austria made demands on
Serbia which Serbia refused
- Russia had a separate
alliance with Serbia
3. The Early Days of War
- hostilities began when
Austria invaded Serbia 28 July, 1914
- Russia mobilized army
along German and Austrian borders. Germany declared war on Russia
- Germany declared war on
France on 3 August
- Germany invaded Belgium
- Britain had promised to
come to aid of Belgium
- Britain declared war on
Germany on 4 August
- Canada and rest of
British Empire at war.
- Everyone in Canada
thought war would be over by Christmas 1914
The
Schlieffen Plan
- plan developed by
German general
- move rapidly against
France and not worry about Russians
- move troops through
neutral Belgium, attack France from north, then attack Paris from west
- expected to take six
weeks
- assumed Britain would
not defend Belgium
- didn’t work
because:
- generals turned south
toward Paris too soon
- Britain came to
defense of Belgium
- French troops able to
move north to stop German advance
- Germans couldn’t
continue to advance, so dug in
Canadian
Response
- young men joined armed
forces
- generally British born
or had British parents
- initially as
volunteers, later as conscripts (required to join)
- included Highland
Regiments
- bagpipes
- kilts
- “ladies from
hell” to the Germans
- looking for adventure
- loyal to the Crown
- included about 4,000
aboriginal Canadians
- valued as scouts and
snipers
- war questioned in
Quebec
- did not want involved
in British or European war
- expeditionary force
formed even before Britain asked
- British wanted
Canadians under British officers
- Minister of Militia,
Sam Hughes refused
- Canadians fought as
Canadian Corps
4. Through the Next Four Years
- Eastern Front
- Germany battles
Russians
- Western Front
- Stalemate between
Austrians and Germans against British, French and Canadians
- some movement back
and forth, but little ground really gained
- extensive trench
systems
- Italy joins with
British and French
- young women volunteered
as nurses and ambulance drivers at the battlefront
- Farming communities
- provided sixty percent
of men fighting
- provided food for
soldiers and Britain
- tripled cheese
exports
- doubled land growing
wheat
- greatly increased
pork and beef production for export
- Industry
- produced armaments
- shells
- fuses and explosives
- ships
- airplanes
- uniforms
- medical supplies
- guns and rifles
- Ross rifle
- good target or
sniper rifle
- jammed in
battlefield
- eventually replaced
by British Lee Enfield rifle
- Canadian Men and Women
at home
- women worked
- in factories
- in service jobs
- on farms
- all did without luxuries
- planted war gardens to
provide own food
- knitted socks for
soldiers
- bought Victory Bonds
- a way of lending
money to the government
- began to pay
- Corporate tax
(businesses)
- Income Tax (“temporary”)
- 8,000,000 soldiers
died, including 66,000 from Canada
5. Technology of War
- trench warfare
- harsh living conditions
(letter from the trenches project)
- water and duckboards
- mud
- going
“over the top”
- shelling
- barrage
- shell shock (Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- bad food in short
supply
- trench foot
- trench fever
- rats
- lice
- death
- extensive use of
artillery
- Mills bombs (grenades)
- mines
- barbed wire
- stretched out in front
of trenches for defense
- laid out under cover
of darkness
- airplanes
- transformed war
- for observation
- means of seeing
beyond front lines
- fighting
- other aircraft
- ground troops
- several air aces (30
or more ‘kills”)
- German
- Canadian (11)
- Raymond Colishaw
(60)
- Billy Bishop (72)
- tanks
- first developed by
allies
- first used at Battle
of the Somme, 1916
- machine gun
- especially devastating
- 600 bullets per minute
- submarines
- attacked cargo ships
- attacked passenger
liners
- supply convoys
- across Atlantic Ocean
- from Halifax, St. John’s,
Quebec
- Halifax
explosion, Dec. 6, 1917
- collision of two ships
- Mont Blanc loaded with
explosives
- Imo carrying relief
supplies
- 9:06 a.m. largest
explosion ever (until atomic bomb)
- 2,000 killed
- 9,000 injured
- 10,000 homeless
6. Some Important Battles for Canadians
Second
Battle of Ypres
- April 22, 1915
- in Belgium
- Germans used chlorine
gas against French and Canadian troops
- combines with moisture
in eyes and lungs to form hydrochloric acid
- neither French or
Canadian troops had gas masks
- Canadians used urine
soaked cotton cloths over their faces
- hoped it neutralize
chlorine
- Canadians lost ground
and then held the line for two days until relieved by British troops
- loss of 6,000 soldiers
Battle
of the Somme
- July 1916-November 1916
- in France
- British and French
advance along 20 km front
- one of bloodiest of
battles
- 60,000 men and
officers died the first day, to gain 950 metres
- British lost total of
418,000
- Canadians lost total
of 24,029
- French lost total of
195,000
- Germans lost total of
623,000
- first use of tanks by
British and Canadians
- maximum ground gained
was 10 km
Taking
of Beaumont Hamel
- 1 July, 1916
- Newfoundland Regiment
all but wiped out
- 9% of regiment
survived (79 out of 840)
Battle of Vimy Ridge
- April 9, 1917- April 12,
1917
- in France
- part of Battle of Arras
- all four Divisions of
Canadian Corps together for first time
- both French and British
had tried to take the ridge previously
- Germans extensively
entrenched, in tunnels and dugouts
- from top of ridge
controlled plains for many kilometres
- Canadians dug extensive
tunnel system (over five kilometres total) in chalk bedrock
- included caves for
housing hundreds of soldiers
- stored supplies and
ammunition nearby
- The Attack
- barrage lasted over 2
weeks
- 1100 guns firing 2500
tons/day
- German artillery
badly damaged by Canadian artillery
- position known by
sound ranging and air photographs
- heavy artillery fire on
German trenches
- creeping barrage of
artillery and machine gun fire with soldiers advancing behind
- Canadians well trained
- each man knew the
entire plan and had a map
- Canadians had trained
on model of ridge
- most of ridge was held
by Canadians in five hours
- last holdout, the
Pimple, was captured 48 hours later
- success gained
Canadians respect
- from British army
- at home
- some say Canada became
a nation at Vimy Ridge
- Canada
suffered 3598 fatalities and over 7100 wounded at Vimy
Passchendaele
(Third Battle of Ypres)
- 31 July, 1917 - 14
November, 1917
- in Belgium
- 31 July to Oct 25
British and Australian troops fought, but gained little ground
- In October Canadian
Corps took over Australian positions
- whole battlefield a
sea of shell craters
- Allied trenches in
very muddy and boggy conditions
- shelling spread out
streams
- Germans on slightly
higher ground
- drier
- artillery fire at
Canadians easier
- entrenched in
concrete pillboxes
- walls one and a half
m. thick
- Canadians built wooden
walkways, wooden supports for the guns, drainage ditches
- faster than German
artillery could destroy them
- 1,500 casualties
during preparation period
- German aircraft bombed
and shot at Canadians
- The attacks
- 26 Oct. 1917, 30 Oct.
1917, 6 Nov. 1917
- men crawled through
mud to throw grenades into gun slits in pillboxes
- heavy German fire
- heavy Canadian
artillery barrages
- Canadians had advanced
just past village of Passchendaele, but were surrounded by Germans on
three sides
- held the position
until British reinforcements arrived Nov. 14
- cost was 15,654 dead,
1000 of which were never found in the mud
7. Issues at Home
Conscription
Crisis
- Prime Minister Robert
Borden had said no conscription (forced enlistment)
- fewer volunteers
- knowledge of the war
- casualties returned
- news of the war
- mood in Quebec
- very against assisting
in war
- unhappy volunteers all
had to speak English
- Minister of Militia
(Sam Hughes) was Protestant and hated Roman Catholics
- pacifism
- settlers in west
against fighting
- had moved to Canada
to get away from wars
- many had come from
Triple Alliance countries
- against religion
- Mennonites
- Doukhobours
- Quakers
- women against fighting
- Canadian Women’s
Peace Party
- War Measures Act
- Ukrainians, Germans and
Italians, and other enemy aliens detained
- Berlin, Ontario
changed to Kitchener, Ontario
- named after British
General
- Wartime Elections Act
- Robert Borden needed
votes for conscription in 1917 Election
- gave vote to women in
1917 election if
- army nurses
- if they had close
relatives who were soldiers
- took vote away in 1917
from
- citizens who had come
from “enemy” countries
- Unionist Party and
Robert Borden won election
Profiteering
- Minister of Defence Sam
Hughes, issued large contracts to friends
- companies performed
poorly
- high prices for sloppy
cheap goods
- army boots that fell
apart
- Hughes dubbed Sir Sham
Shoes
- canned meat for troops
made of diseased animals
- bribery to get
government contracts
8. The End of the War
Russian Revolution
- 1917
- overthrow of Tzar by
Bolsheviks
- troops left Eastern
Front
- peace treaty with
Germany 1918
- American entry
- declared war April
1917
- part of counter attack
July 1918
- German unrest
- no food
- protests against
continued war
- parts of Navy mutinied
The Hundred Days
- Spring 1918
- Germans advanced
- massed attacks at weak
points
- attempt to gain
ground before Americans arrived
- got within 75 km of
Paris
- ran out of troops and
supplies, so stopped advance
Amiens
- in summer 1918
Canadians sent to counter attack
- surprise attack August
8th
- weak German response
- French, Australians,
Canadians, all attack with tank and airplane support
- broke through German
front lines
- advanced 8 miles (12
km) in one day
- 24 kilometres gained
over next 10 days
- 12,000 missing
injured or dead
Hindenburg
Line
- German retreated to
this fortified line
- Canadians under Arthur
Currie
- Attacked from Arras
- underground complex
- Battalions billeted
there
- August 1918, attack
against heavy fortifications and great resistance
- eventually successful;
at high cost
Canal du Nord
- September 1918
- great obstacle to cross
- heavily defended
- attack through dry
part of canal, down one side and up the other
- 4,000 men had to be
hidden in woods until attack
- once across canal,
spread out to continue attack
Cambrai
- September 27, 28, 1918
- Germans being pushed
back
- high casualties, great
resistance
- Germans abandoned
Cambrai in early October, Germans burned the city
- Canadians and British
continue to push
- roads blocked with
refugees
- to slow advance,
towns were destroyed
Mons
- last great battle of
the War
- armistice planned for
November 11
- Currie ordered attack
on Mons, November 10th
- symbolic - where
Germans had defeated British in 1914
- Armistice (cease fire)
- agreement to cease
hostilities
- 11/11/11/1918
- Remembrance Day
commemorates
- Last Post, Minute of
Silence, and Reveille
- Poppy, symbol
- National War Memorial
- Vimy Ridge
- Ottawa
- unknown soldier
- from Vimy
9.
Treaty of Versailles
- after Armistice
- Germany withdraw
troops to within German borders
- Germany surrender
fleet to Britain
- Germany to disarm the
army
- Paris
Peace Conference at Versailles, 1919
- attempt by Britain and
France to prevent another war; attempt to punish Germany
- Germans considered
conditions unfair
- Germany lost all
colonies
- take all armies out
of Rhineland bordering France
- Alsace-Lorraine
transferred back from Germany to France
- part of eastern
Germany given to Poland
- coal region under
French control
- Germany army
restricted in size and weapons
- Germany had to accept
responsibility for the war; War Guilt Clause
- Germany had to pay
money to Britain, France and Belgium