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8/8/2019 Battles of World War 1 Ashita

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Battles of World War One

1914-1918


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The Battle of the Marne French General pulled back troops to protect Paris after the

lost at Alsace-Lorraine

France counter attacks at the Marne river on September

5th. After 4 days, France pushes back Germany 50 miles from

Paris

Results:

Paris is saved,F

rench Morale is high Abandonment of the Schlieffen Plan


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The 1st Battle of Marne - The First World War - Sept 1914

Germans continued their push towards Paris. This was part of the

Schlieffen Plan British and French troops retreated to positions south of the Seine

and Marne rivers. French 6th Army launched a counter attack.

French managed to save Paris. (Reinforcements were sent in taxi's

from Paris.)


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With the German offensive coming, French forces retreated

60 km south of the Marne, to a line along the river Seine,

where they would counterattack the Germans, in an attempt

to stop the attack on Paris.

On September 6, 1914, the German 1st army was attacked by

the French 6th army, which successfully forced a wedge in the

German line, forcing the Germans to divide into two forces.

With the German offensive slowed, and weakened, the gapbetween the German forces soon filled with French and

British troops, in an attempt to weaken the already divided

German army.

German forces battled against the allied forces for three days,and were close to beating the French, before, out of

desperation, the French conscripted taxis, and reserves were

raced to the battle, via taxis.


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Finally, on Sept. 9th

, 1914, the Germans began the retreat.The British and French forces were now able to advance to

the Marne, and although they faced little more opposition,

the advance was slow, only gaining about 12 miles at first.

This slow advance allowed the German forces to reunite,

and make a stand against the allied attack. Unfortunately, for

the Germans, this failed, and by Sept.10th 1914, the fighting

of the first battle at the Marne was over, and the French

managed to regain lost territory. Each side had its highcasualties. The allies suffering 262 733 casualties, and the

Germans, an estimated 250 000 casualties.


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Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was the longest and one of the bloodiestengagements of World War I. Two million men were engaged. It

began on February 21, 1916, when the Germans, commanded by

Crown Prince William, launched a massive offensive against

Verdun, an awkward salient in the French line.

The outlying forts of Douaumont and Hardaumont soon fell, but

the French rallied under General Ptain (with the cry They shall

not pass) and resistance stiffened.


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A British offensive on the Somme relieved the pressure on Verdun

in July, 1916, and by December the French had recovered most of

the ground lost. The intention of the Germans had been a battle of attrition in

which they hoped to bleed the French army white. In the end,

they sustained almost as many casualties as the French; an

estimated 328,000 to the French 348,000. The real figures are

unknown.


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Germans assaulted French forces with massive artillery barrageand then advanced on French trenches using flamethrowers forthe first time.

apparent successes of fixed fortification system (with theexception of Fort Douaumont) led to adoption of the Maginot Lineas preferred method of defense along the Franco-German borderduring the inter-war years.

France's army was plagued not with desertions, but rather with ageneral refusal to march face-first into the teeth ofGermany'simpregnable positions.

France's troops remained in their trenches, willing to fight only ina defensive capacity.

Douaumont Ossuary (remains of 130,000 unknown soldiers) andNational cemetery (15,000 graves of identified French soldiers).

Germany captured a centre of France's fortifications -FortDouaumont but could not capture Verdun itself.


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BATTLE OF THE SOMME

The Allies had planned to launch a joint French and British

assault in the region of the Somme. The target date was the

middle of 1916. However, in February the Allied plan was upset

when the Germans began an assault on the fortress-ringed city of

Verdun.

The belief was that Verdun was essential to the French that France

would fight to the death. On February 21, the German artillery

barrage began and, for the next several months both sides

unleashed soldiers and shells at each By Christmas, when thebattle finally ended, 800,000 men had lost their lives.

During this horrendous fighting, the French sent frantic appeals

to Sir Douglas Haig, the new British commander, to hasten the

Somme offensive and to take the pressure off Verdun.


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1916- Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles,

with more than one million casualties. The British and French

forces attempted to break through the German lines along a

25 mile (40 km) front north and south of the River Somme in

northern France. One purpose of the battle was to draw

German forces away from the battle of Verdun; however, by

its end the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at

Verdun


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The battle is best remembered for its first day, 1

July 1916, on which the British suffered 57,470

casualties of which 19,240 were killed or died ofwounds. It remains the bloodiest day in the history

of the British Army.


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BATTLE OF THE SOMME

MOVIE

For the first time the homefront in Britain was exposed tothe horrors of modern warwith the release of thepropaganda film, The Battle ofthe Somme which used actual

footage from the first days ofthe battle.

The film spanned five reelsand lasted 63 minutes . It wasfirst screened on 10 August,1916, while the battle was still

raging. On 21 August the film began

showing simultaneously in 34London cinemas.


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SOMME MOVIE CONT film was screened for British soldiers at rest in France where

it provided new recruits with some idea of what they were

about to face. Soldier's main complaint was failure of film tocapture sounds of battle. However, as a silent film, the titlescould be remarkably forthright, describing images of injuryand death.

film was shown to British public as a morale booster and

was favourably received. British public's response to filmwas enormous with an estimated 20 million tickets beingsold in two months. On this basis, The Battle of the Sommeremains one of the most successful British films ever.


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GALLIPOLI The Battle ofGallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of

Gallipoli in 1915. A combined Allied operation was mountedin order to eventually capture the Ottoman capital of

Constantinople. The attempt failed, and an estimated 131,000

soldiers were killed and 262,000 wounded.

In Britain it is called the Dardanelles Campaign and in

Australia and New Zealand it is known simply as Gallipoli


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GALLIPOLI MOVIE

The film Gallipoli(1981) is an

account of several young menfrom rural Western Australia

who enlist in the Australian

armed forces. They are sent to

Turkey, where they take part in

the Battle of Gallipoli. It stars Mel Gibson.

The climax of the movie occurs

on the Anzac battlefield at

Gallipoli and depicts the ill-fatedattack at the Nek on the

morning of the August 7, 1915


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GALLIPOLI

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