WW1: BATTLES

AND BATTLE

STRATEGIES

MAJOR BATTLES OF WW1

BATTLE OF TANNENBERG This battle was Russia’s worst defeat in

WW1. Russia were to invade East Prussia and they

started well – forcing the Germans to retreat. The German commander was sacked for this.

New German generals were introduced and they ordered the army to show more aggression.

Eventually, the Germans were able to surround the Russian army.

Russians were set back by poor communication – they couldn’t find out what the rest of the army was doing.

The Germans however, greatly benefitted from intercepting key Russian messages.

HINDENBURG AT TANNENBERG

BATTLE OF TANNENBERG The Germans intercepted 2 key Russian

communications:- The first message told the Germans that the

Russians would not be receiving any support.- The second message gave details about the

passages the Russians would take to advance on the Germans.

By the 29th August 1914, the Russians were completely surrounded and trapped in Prussia.

On the 28th, the Russian leader realised his situation and ordered his troops to break through the German lines. This ultimately failed and led to many casualties. Many Russian soldiers also threw down their weapons and surrendered.

RESULT OF TANNENBERG Of the 150,000 men in the Russian army

at Tannenberg – only 10,000 escaped.- Over 30,000 casualties.- Over 95,000 taken prisoner. Samsonov – the leader of the Russians,

committed suicide. The British Government kept the loss a

secret from the public. The commander in chief of the Russian

army even stated:

“It’s an honour to make such a sacrifice for our allies”

RUSSIAN PRISONERS

From the Battle of Tannenberg

THE BATTLE OF MARNE

As mentioned, the start of WW1 was a battle on the move. Germany invaded Belgium on August 3rd 1914 and their movement across Western Europe was swift.

The Belgian army was swept aside and the French army retreated towards the River Marne. It was here that both German and French armies fought out the first major battle on the Western Front. 

The French army, under the command of Joseph Joffre, reached an area near the River Marne. They had been on the retreat and many feared that they were not in a fit enough state to fight the seemingly invincible and constantly advancing German army.

THE BATTLE OF MARNE Joffre decided that the best form of

defence was to attack. He ordered an attack on the German First Army. On September 6th, 150,000 French soldiers of the Sixth Army attacked the right flank of the German army.

This caused a split in the German army and stopped their advance on Paris. It also helped to confuse the messages being received by each side of the split.

Because of the confusing messages, the Germans were ordered to retreat where they then dug trenches to provide themselves with cover.

RESULT OF MARNE

Costly, in terms of casualties – 250,000 French soldiers and approximately the same number of Germans.

However, Paris was saved and the German’s Schlieffen Plan was defeated.

This was also to be the start of trench warfare and the end of movement!

THE BATTLE OF GALLIPOLI This was one of the greatest allied

military mistakes of WW1. We will analyse this war as a class – YOU

MAY NOT USE THIS BATTLE FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT!!

THE BATTLES OF YPRES

Ypres was a renowned medieval town that had once thrived as a centre for textiles. In World War One, Ypres became synonymous with destruction, trench warfare, poisonous gas and military stalemate. While today it looks like a medieval town, most of Ypres actually had to be rebuilt after WW1.

BATTLES OF YPRES On October 13th 1914, German troops

entered Ypres. The next day, British forces entered the

town. The British forces were trained, experienced military personnel, the Germans had college boys with 6 weeks training.

The Germans retreated! The allies held the town for the rest of

the war, but the Germans could not let a large Allied force sit between their armies.

BATTLES OF YPRES

On November 22nd 1914, the Germans led a huge artillery barrage against the town. The Cloth Hall which had stood since 1260 was set alight and mostly destroyed – along with the rest of the town.

Civilian casualties were high, but it could have been worse had it not been for the local church taking care of the homeless and wounded.

BATTLES OF YPRES Between April and May 1915 there was

a second German barrage against the town. It was then decided to evacuate the town of the remaining citizens. The town was left to the military.

Between April and June 1915, The Germans started to use poisonous gas against the allied troops around Ypres.

This time also saw the first recorded use of a flame thrower.

BATTLES OF YPRES By 1916, fighting around the town had

quietened and some civilians started to return.

In 1917, the fighting had re-intensified and by the spring of 1918, the German troops had strengthened their positions and had gained ground.

The Allied forces were able to hold the Germans back and they finally withdrew in September.

HILL 60 Any height was an advantage during

trench warfare and Hill 60 was targeted by both sides.

Control of Hill 60 changed many time during the war and many men died fighting there.

The Germans first captured it on December 10th 1914. The British responded by digging four tunnels into the hill underneath the German positions. The tunnels were known as M1, M2, M3 and M3A and had smaller tunnels dug off them. The end of each tunnel was packed with high explosives.

HILL 60 By April 1915, the British were in a

position to detonate six large mines. This occurred on April 17th. In the aftermath of these explosions the surviving German defenders were so disorientated that the attacking British infantry only suffered seven casualties in this assault.

On April 18th the Germans launched a major counter-attack. This forced the British off Hill 60. However, the next day, the British regained it.

HILL 60 In the summer of 1917, men from the

Australian Tunnelling Company dug underneath German positions on the hill. Mines were exploded with devastating effect. Allied infantrymen then stormed the hill and captured it and it was held until 1918.

The Allies lost control of Hill 60 in spring 1918, but the Germans were unable to sustain their hold and the Allies eventually took final control in September 1918.

BATTLE OF VERDUN Begun on 21st February 1916, this was the

longest battle of WW1. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st

1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. It was to make General Philippe Pétain a hero in France.

The plan for Verdun came about because the Germans wanted to “bleed France” and they wanted to attack somewhere historically important to the French.

The Germans thought that the French wouldn’t want to see Verdun fall and they would defend it to the last man. They believed the French would lose so many men that it would change the course of the war.

BATTLE OF VERDUN 140,000 German troops started the attack,

accompanied by 1,200 artillery guns which fired 2,500,000 shells at the town.

The Germans also had air support with 168 planes in the area – the largest number in history at that time.

To begin with, the French only had 30,000 troops to defend the town with and they were confronted with the artillery gun fire.

“Men were squashed. Cut in two or divided from top to bottom. Blown into

showers; bellies turned inside out; skulls forced into the chest as if by a blow from

a club.”

BATTLE OF VERDUN During the early stages of this battle, the

Germans relied on flame throwers to push the French back and by February 25th, the Germans had captured 10,000 French troops.

The French put General Philippe Pétain in charge of the defence of Verdun. 

Pétain used a small road to bring in 25,000 tonnes of supplies and 90,000 troops. It is said that 60% of French troops passed through this road.

However, the new support did not help the French – they were suffering many casualties.

"You eat beside the dead; you drink beside the dead, you relieve yourself beside the dead and you sleep beside the dead.“

"People will read that the front line was Hell. How can people begin to know what that one word - Hell - means."

- Quotes from 2 French soldiers"When they came out of the battle, what a

pitiful sight they were. Their expressions seemed frozen by a wisdom of terror; they sagged beneath the weight of horrifying memories.“ - Pétain

BATTLE OF VERDUN By the end of April, the Germans had

lost 120,000 men and the French 133,000 men. 

Pétain was replaced by General Nivelle - a soldier who believed that the most successful strategy was to be on the offensive at all times.

By the summer, France had achieved some form of air supremacy over the Germans but this counted for nothing as the battle on the ground was one of loss as the casualties mounted on both sides.

BATTLE OF VERDUN On June 1st, Germany launched a massive

attack at Verdun. By June 23rd, they got within 2.5 miles from Verdun itself - but this attack was not effective - the German army had given all that it had and it could give no more.

On June 24th the bombing of another close town could be heard at Verdun and both sides started focusing on that town instead.

By the end of October 1916, the French had re-captured key areas around Verdun, but the surrounding land where the battle had been fought since February was a wasteland. The battle at Verdun continued until December.

THE RESULT The loss of life and those wounded was

huge at Verdun. Books frequently give differing figures such was the magnitude of loss. It is probable that an accurate figure will never be known.

It is said that the French lost over 360,000 men and the Germans nearly 340,000.

To draw German attention away from Verdun, the British launched an attack at the Somme in July.

THE SOMME The Battle of the Somme began on July 1st

1916 and ended in November. This battle is considered to be the symbol

of the horrors of warfare in WW1. This one battle caused mass casualties

and proved the uselessness of trench warfare.

The casualty figures from this battle were appalling:- The British Army had 420,000

casualties, including nearly 60,000 on the first day.

- The French lost nearly 200,000 men.- The Germans lost nearly 500,000.

Insert video footage of Somme

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME This battle was fought to draw the German army

away from Verdun and to thus relieve the pressure from the French.

The battle at the Somme started with a weeklong artillery bombardment of the German lines. 1,738,000 shells were fired at the Germans.

The purpose of this was to destroy the German trenches and take down the barbed wire.

However, the Germans had dug deep dugouts to protect themselves – all they had to do was wait for the bombardments to stop. Also, much of the artillery was faulty and failed to explode – even today, French farmers come across unexploded bombs.

BATTLE OF THE SOMME When the bombardments stopped – this

was when the infantry would attack, so all the Germans did, was wait in their dugouts for artillery to stop, then they would man their machine guns and await the allied soldiers.

By the end of the battle in November 1916, The British had lost about 420,000 men, the French 200,000 and the Germans 500,000.

Approximately 88,000 men were lost for every mile of land gained.

News reports in Britain did not present an accurate account of this battle.

DAILY CHRONICLE ACCOUNT FROM JULY 3RD At about 7.30 this morning a vigorous

attack was launched by the British Army. The front extends over some 20 miles north of the Somme. The assault was preceded by a terrific bombardment, lasting about an hour and a half. It is too early to as yet give anything but the barest particulars, as the fighting is developing in intensity, but the British troops have already occupied the German front line. Many prisoners have already fallen into our hands, and as far as can be ascertained our casualties have not been heavy.

ACCOUNT FROM A SOLDIER The next morning (July 2nd) we gunners

surveyed the dreadful scene in front of us......it became clear that the Germans always had a commanding view of No Man's Land. (The British) attack had been brutally repulsed. Hundreds of dead were strung out like wreckage washed up to a high water-mark. Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground, like fish caught in the net. They hung there in grotesque postures. Some looked as if they were praying; they had died on their knees and the wire had prevented their fall. Machine gun fire had done its terrible work. 

- George Coppard, machine gunner at the Battle of the Somme.

THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE Sometimes called the Third Battle of

Ypres, to those who fought it was called the Battle of Mud.

The aim of this battle was to break through the German lines to the Belgian coast and to destroy German submarines.

The plan was not supported by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, but the allies had no other plans so he gave his consent.

THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE On July 18th 1917, a heavy artillery barrage

was launched at the German lines. This lasted for ten days. Three thousand artillery guns fired over four million shells.

The infantry attack started on July 31st. The Germans, as happened at the Somme,

were fully prepared and the Allied attack made little gains.

In the early days of August, the area was saturated with the heaviest rain the region had seen in thirty years. The area in Flanders became effectively a swamp. Tanks, sent forward to help the infantry, simply got stuck. Infantry soldiers found movement very difficult

THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE Between October 9th and October 12th,

two battles were fought - Poelcappelle and the First Battle of Passchendaele.

By now, the German soldiers who had been fighting on the Eastern Front had been moved to the Western Front - and they had been specifically moved to Passchendaele Ridge to bolster the German forces there.

The Germans used mustard gas to assist them and the attempted Allied breakthrough to Passchendaele Ridge failed to happen.

THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE In late October three further Allied attacks

were made on Passchendaele Ridge. On November 6th, 1917, Passchendaele

village was taken and Haig (Allied commander) used this success as the reason for calling off the attack.

Huge loss of life on both sides for not much ground gained.

Haig argued that any German loss of men was of greater importance than British loss as the Allies could sustain more losses as America had joined the war by the end of Passchendaele.

TYNE COT (PASSCHENDAELE)The largest Commonwealth War Cemetery

THE PALESTINE FRONT 1915 saw the First World War spread to Egypt

and Palestine.  Sited in the region was the all-important Suez Canal, controlled by the British.

Its importance lay in its status as the quickest naval route between Europe and the countries around the Indian and western Pacific oceans: in short, between Britain and her colonies.

 The Turkish Minister of Marine, Djemal Pasha, led an expedition on 14 January 1915 across the Sinai Peninsula from Beersheba - the Suez Expeditionary Force of 25,000 men - aimed at surprising the British and seizing control of the canal. 

THE PALESTINE FRONT For the Turks, an assault upon the canal

proved impossible by road or rail.  Access to the canal was only possible via a 300km march across the desert from Beersheba.

While Djemal intended to concentrate his attack at Ismailia he hoped to confuse the defence effort by launching diversionary attacks all along the canal.

The Turkish expedition heavily relied upon surprise for any possibility of success, the British were nevertheless warned of impending attack by reconnaissance aircraft on 1 February.

THE PALESTINE FRONT On 2 February, when advance elements of

the Ottoman Fourth Army reached the canal and began the assault they were met and beaten back by an Indian force, subsequently reinforced by Australian infantry.

Djemal persisted with his assault until 3 February but after losing some 2,000 casualties (to the British 150) authorised a full retreat back to Beersheba.  The expedition a failure - and the only Turkish attempt of the war to capture the canal - Djemal's reputation suffered grave damage.

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