part 1 -...

World War 1 1914–1919A Source-based Study

Part 1.3Strategies and tactics to break the

stalemate including key battles

Part 1: War on the Western Front 1

Contents

Orthodox strategies and tactics 3

Use of sea power 3

War on two fronts 6

Part 1.3 Exercise 1 11

Search for a decisive breakthrough 13

Verdun 13

The Somme 15

Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) 17


Submarines and planes 25

Submarine warfare 25

War in the air 31


Use of chemistry and tanks 37

Poison gas 37

The tank 39



Orthodox strategies and tactics

A stalemate, or deadlock, had developed on the Western Front by the end of1914. This surprised both sides because there had been a generalexpectation that the war would be a war of movement and that it wouldtherefore be over quickly.

Both the Allies and the Central Powers believed that the result of the warwould be determined on the Western Front. During the rest of the war theopposing sides used various strategies and tactics in an attempt to break thestalemate there. Some of these strategies and tactics were used on theWestern Front itself while others were used elsewhere in Europe and theworld.

In this section and the next three, we will examine the strategies and tacticsadapted by both sides in an attempt to break the stalemate on the WesternFront. The historian John Terraine has summarised these strategies andtactics as follows:

Orthodox attempts Unorthodox attempts

Use of sea power Submarine warfare

War on two fronts Use of chemistry

Search for a decisive breakthrough –artillery and infantry

War in the air

Use of the tank

We will look at these in turn, starting with the orthodox attempts.

Use of sea powerIn order to successfully wage war, both sides needed a regular and reliablesupply of goods, especially food and raw materials for making weapons andammunition. They could obtain some of these items from within their owncountries but many could only be obtained from overseas: from theircolonies and from neutral countries such as the United States. The Allies inparticular also had to be able to transport soldiers from their colonies to thebattlefields in Europe and the Middle East. Both sides therefore sought togain and maintain control of the seas. When the First World War started,Great Britain had the largest Navy and Germany the second largest. Themost important type of ship in those navies was Dreadnought.

4 World War 1 1914–1919 A Source-based study

In addition to ensuring that they could get the supplies they needed fromoverseas, why else do you think both sides wanted to control the seas?

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Did you answer?

Both sides wanted to prevent their opponents from getting the supplies that they needed.

During World War I there were a number of clashes between Allied, mainlyBritish, ships and German vessels. However most were minor and did notinvolve the main battle fleets. The clashes included:

• In late August 1914, there were skirmishes near the German naval baseof Heligoland. Several German cruisers were damaged or destroyed.

• In the last months of 1914, the German Pacific Fleet undertook anumber of raids on Allied shipping in the South Pacific Ocean and theIndian Ocean. In one of these raids the Australian HMAS Sydney sankthe German Emden off the Cocos Islands on 16 November.

• On 1 November a large force of German ships inflicted a significantdefeat on the British near the Coronel Islands in the South Pacific. Justover five weeks later, on 8 December, the British gained revenge byvirtually destroying the German fleet near the Falkland Islands whichare on the eastern side of the bottom of South America.

• On 24 January 1915 the main fleets, the British Grand Fleet and theGerman High Seas Fleet, met briefly off the Dogger Bank which is nearthe east coast of England. One German ship was destroyed.

• The only major naval battle between the two main fleets in World War Itook place at Jutland off the coast of Denmark on 31 May 1916. Theresult was inconclusive: the British losses were greater but for the restof the war the German High Seas Fleet seldom ventured out to sea.

Despite the above clashes, neither side was able to achieve a naval victorywhich decisively affected the course of the war. The British were in astronger position but they were not able to gain full control of the world’soceans.

However there was one very important aspect of the war at sea which was inthe long run a vital cause of the Allied victory in 1918. This was: from 12August 1914, the British used their naval strength to blockade the GermanNorth Sea coast. Cargo ships were prevented from delivering goods toGerman ports by British naval vessels stationed off the coast and by minesplaced in the water in the entrances to the ports. The Germans referred tothis as ‘England’s war of starvation’.


Tick which of the following you think would have been effects on Germanyof the British blockade. There may be more than one correct answer.

❒ It would have been difficult for Germany to get the products itneeded to make weapons, ammunition and uniforms for thesoldiers.

❒ There would have been shortages of food for both soldiers andcivilians.

❒ The morale of both soldiers and civilians would have declined.

❒ It was harder for German ships to leave their ports in order to tryto prevent goods reaching the Allied countries from their empiresor from neutral countries.

Did you answer?

These were all effects on Germany of the British blockade.

As the war wore on, the situation for German civilians became increasinglydesperate. There were shortages not only of food but also of goods such ascoal. An amazing range of substitute food products was used, for examplebread made not of wheat flour but of potato flour, and coffee made of acornsand beech nuts. Even these however proved to be insufficient. During thewinter of 1916-17, most Germans had to survive on a diet of turnips and ittherefore became known as the ‘turnip winter’.

Ethel Cooper, an Australian woman who lived in Germany throughoutWorld War I, wrote a letter every week to her sister Emmie in Adelaide.They had to be smuggled out of Germany. The following are extracts fromsome of the letters she wrote during 1917.

22 April There is almost nothing to eat–[factory workers] werepromised 5 lb [about 2.2 kgs] of potatoes this lastweek–then it was cut down to 4 lb–a few got that, somegot 3 lb, and many got none at all.

7 August You see, nothing can be bought in shops now, except atthe most exorbitant prices.

19 August It is no exaggeration to say that the whole day goes in thesearch for what is necessary to live on just for that day.You have literally to go three times for every article offood.

26 August A new order about coals has appeared, nobody may havemore than 1/4 ton [about 250 kgs] at a time–well, thereare none to be had anyway, so the order does not do much


harm. But gas is being cut off, and as most people,through lack of coal, are cooking with gas, that is serious… There are no candles to be had, no petroleum and nospirits [such as methylated spirits], so how one is to cook,let alone have a lighted room, I don’t know.

25 November … a bath … is now a luxury which only the rich canallow themselves, and then only once a fortnight!

Source: Decie Denholm (ed), 1982, Behind the Lines One Woman’s War1914-18, Collins, pp 194, 213, 215, 217, 232

1 Underline or highlight the products mentioned in these extracts thatwere in short supply.

2 Write five words to describe how the German people would have felt asa result of the shortages mentioned in these extracts.

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Did you answer?

1 potatoes, coal, gas, candles, petroleum, spirits [such as methylated spirits]2 You may have thought of words such as hungry, cold, dirty, tired, worried, angry.

War on two frontsOne thing that countries always try to do when they are involved in a war isto avoid having to fight on two or more fronts (in other words, in two ormore places at the same time). That was one of the aims of the originalGerman Schlieffen Plan.

Why do you think countries try to avoid having to fight a war on two ormore fronts?

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Did you answer?

They don’t want to have to divide their army into two or more parts. If they do, they aremore likely to be defeated by their enemy.

One way in which both sides tried to end the stalemate on the Western Frontwas to force their opponents to fight on two fronts.


German actions

As you have already seen, by the end of 1914 Germany was fighting a waron two fronts in Europe: both in the west (mainly against the French and theBritish) and in the east (against Russia). They realised that they could notgo on fighting in this way for very long.

In 1915 Germany decided to transfer the main focus of its militaryoperations from the west of Europe to the east. This seems strange becausethere was general agreement that the result of the war would be determinedby what happened on the Western Front.

Why therefore do you think the Germans made this decision? Theremay be more than one correct answer

❒ If they were able to defeat Russia, they would no longer have tofight a war on two fronts.

❒ They didn’t like Russia.

❒ They thought that too many of their soldiers were being killed orwounded on the Western Front and they thought the casualty ratemight be lower in the east of Europe.

❒ They wanted to gain extra territory in the east of Europe.

❒ They wanted to put extra pressure on Russia so that the Frenchand the British would have to send some of their troops from theWestern Front to the east of Europe to help their allies, theRussians. This would mean the French and the British fightingon two fronts.

Did you answer?

If they were able to defeat Russia, they would no longer have to fight a war on two fronts.

They wanted to put extra pressure on Russia so that the French and the British would have tosend some of their troops from the Western front to the east to help their allies, the Russians.This would mean the French and the British fighting on two fronts.

The Germans failed to achieve their aims on the Eastern Front, even withthe additional troops they had transferred from the Western Front


Allied actions

The Allies knew that Germany was in a vulnerable position because it wasalready fighting a war on two fronts. They decided in 1915 to try to makethe situation even more difficult for the Germans by attacking theDardanelles which forms part of the waterway that links the MediterraneanSea and the Black Sea.

Look at the map below and answer the questions which follow.

1 Which three countries were allies of Germany in World War I?(If you can’t remember, look back at the beginning of Part 1.

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2 Which of these countries controlled the Dardanelles at that time?

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3 If the Allies defeated this country, which country could they attacknext? And after that? And after that?

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4 If Germany wanted to assist its allies or was feeling threatened by thepossibility of being attacked from the south-east of Europe, what wouldit be likely to do with some of its troops on the Western Front?

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5 Circle the correct word in each of the following sentences.

a This would mean that Germany would be fighting a war on two /three / four fronts.

b Therefore it would be easier / harder for the Allies to defeat theGermans on the Western Front and thus win the war.

Did you answer?

1 Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey

2 Turkey

3 Bulgaria then Austria-Hungary then Germany itself

4 move them to the south-east part of Europe

5 a This would mean that Germany would be fighting a war on three fronts.

b Therefore it would be easier for the Allies to defeat the Germans on the Western Front and thus win the war.

Another benefit for the Allies of gaining control of the Dardanelles was thatthey would be able to send supplies to the Russians.

Between March 1915 and January 1916, the Allies attempted to seize theDardanelles, firstly by means of a naval attack and then by a land invasionof the Gallipoli peninsula which is next to the Dardanelles. As you wouldknow from your study of History in Years 7–10, the Allies failed in thisattempt and the Turks remained in control of the Dardanelles.

Now would be an appropriate time to do Exercise 1.


Part 1.3 Exercise 1

Name: _________________________________

Orthodox strategies and tactics1 The clashes between the Allied and German navies listed below are in

the wrong order. Use the information in the last section to work out thecorrect order. Write ‘1’ next to the event that happened first, ‘2’ next tothe event that happened second, and so on.

________________ battle near the Coronel Islands

________________ British virtually destroyed German fleet nearthe Falkland Islands

________________ brief clash between British and Germanfleets off the Dogger Bank

________________ Battle of Jutland

________________ HMAS Sydney sank the Emden

________________ skirmishes near Heligoland

2 Find the ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (1)’ Source Sheet and look atthe photo in Source 2. Make sure you read the caption carefully.

Using the information that you have read in this Section on the Britishblockade of Germany, what do you think the people in the photo aredoing?

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3 In your own words, explain the connection between the situation on theWestern Front and the Allied decision to attack the Dardanelles.

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Search for a decisive breakthrough

By 1916 both sides had reached the conclusion that if they were going towin the war, it would be on the battlefields of the Western Front.They therefore began to search for a decisive breakthrough, a victory in amajor battle that would involve them forcing their way through the enemylines and bringing the war to an end. There were a number of such battles.We will look at five of the main ones. They mainly involved the use oflarge numbers of infantry (foot soldiers) and artillery (mounted guns).

VerdunThe Battle of Verdun was a German offensive which lasted from21 February to 16 December 1916. Verdun was a French-controlledfortified city on the Meuse River.

Find the Source sheet ‘From movement to stagnation’ and look atSource 3 (the map).

Locate Verdun and then complete the sentences below using the words inthe following table.

centre essential nationalists

control generations Paris

For ______________ Verdun had been regarded by most French people,

especially by ________________, as the key to the control of the

__________ of France, including the capital, ________. They therefore

believed that it was absolutely ____________ for France to retain

__________ of it.

Did you answer?

For generations Verdun had been regarded by most French people, especially by nationalists as thekey to the control of the centre of France, including the capital, Paris. They therefore believed thatit was absolutely essential for France to retain control of it.


By 1916 however the French military leaders including Joffre had reachedthe conclusion that Verdun was of limited strategic importance. On theother hand the political leaders and in particular the Prime Minister, AristideBriand, insisted that Verdun be strenuously defended. They feared that if itfell, the response of the French public would be so negative that thegovernment would also collapse.

The German Chief of the General Staff Erich von Folkenhayn, whom KaiserWilhelm II had appointed to replace von Moltke on 14 September 1914,understood how important the French considered Verdun to be

a What do you think von Falkenhayn hoped the French would do inorder to meet the German threat at Verdun?

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b What would this mean for the Allied position in other parts of theWestern Front?

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c Would this make it easier or harder for the Germans to achieve adecisive breakthrough in another section of the Front?

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Did you answer?

a He hoped the French would move large numbers of their troops from elsewhere on theWestern Front to Verdun.

b It would weaken the Allied position.

c easier

Von Falkenhayn believed that he was in a no-lose situation: even if theGermans were not able to defeat the French at Verdun itself, they would bein a stronger position to win the war elsewhere on the Western Front. Healso aimed to ‘bleed France white’, to inflict very heavy losses on theFrench forces.

The battle began with the Germans firing two million artillery shells andthen sending nearly a quarter of a million infantry to attack the Frenchdefences. In the words of the historian A Barrie, they were “like a vastexpendable battering ram” (Barrie, 1962: 177).


Which of the following do you think is the best definition of what Barriemeant when he said that the German soldiers were ‘expendable’?

❒ Lots of them were killed.

❒ The military leaders were not concerned about how many ofthem were killed.

❒ They were not considered to be important.

❒ They were used up.

Did you answer?

The military leaders were not concerned about how many of them were killed.

The German offensive achieved some initial successes but they nevermanaged to capture Verdun. The French used 3000 trucks a day along asingle road, the ‘Sacred Way’, to transport supplies to the besieged city.Then, beginning on 23 October, the French launched counter-attacks whichregained most of the land that the Germans had previously seized.Ultimately, as happened in most Western Front battles at least until 1918,Verdun made virtually no difference to the positions of the two armies. Itdid however cause an enormous casualty toll (more than 400 000 Frenchand almost 350 000 German) and a loss of morale on both sides. A J PTaylor has described Verdun as a ‘mincing machine’ and a ‘cauldron ofdestruction’ (Taylor, 1969: 92–3). The French forces were so exhaustedthat after Verdun the British had to bear the main burden of the fighting forthe Allies on the Western Front.

The SommeThe Battle of the Somme was primarily a British offensive, although theFrench were also involved, and it lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916.It was designed partly to ‘save’ Verdun, to ease the pressure on the Frenchthere, but the military generals and the political leaders also wanted toachieve a significant victory that would strengthen their positions especiallywith the public.

Sir Douglas Haig, who had only been appointed as British Commander inChief in December 1915, was particularly keen to prove that he was theright person for the job. He referred to the offensive as the ‘Great Push’. Itwas fought along a battlefront of about thirty kilometres between the townsof Albert and Péronne just above the Somme River.


Look again at Source 3 (the map) on the ‘From movement to stagnation’Source sheet.

Locate where the Battle of the Somme took place.

The battle was preceded by a five-day artillery bombardment. Then, on 1July, the infantry advanced. The British had been instructed that ‘the wholeadvance must be carried out as a drill’, in other words as the soldiers wouldmarch in a formal parade, slowly and rigidly. Moreover each soldier carrieda total of about thirty kilograms which made it almost impossible to movefreely. Not surprisingly, British casualties were extremely high on that day:60 000 including 20 000 dead. During the following months the Alliesadvanced only about eight kilometres and the decisive breakthrough thatthey had been hoping for was not achieved.

Find the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (1)’ and readSource 1 by George Coppard, a British machine gunner.

Now answer the following questions.

a To whom do you think Coppard is referring when he talks about the‘Tommies’? _________________________

b To whom do you think he is referring when he talks about ‘Jerry’?

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c What are the two things that he says caused all the British casualtieson 1 July? _____________________________________________

d Whom does he blame for these casualties? ___________________

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e Underline or highlight the two sentences which indicate the majorerrors that he believes they made.

Did you answer?

a the British soldiers

b the German soldiers

c barbed wire and machine guns

d the British military planners

e Any Tommy could have told them that shell-fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often ina worse tangle than before.

Any element of initiative or surprise had already been ruined by the long bombardment ofthe enemy trenches

Despite the failure of the Allies to achieve the breakthrough they werehoping for, the Battle of the Somme had significant consequences.


The most obvious was another enormous casualty toll – 450 000 German,420 000 British and 200 000 French. In addition it (along with the Battle ofVerdun) led to several important changes amongst the military and politicalleadership in all three countries. David Lloyd George replaced HerbertAsquith as British Prime Minister. Paul von Hindenburg and his deputyErich Ludendorff replaced von Falkenhayn as Chief of the German GeneralStaff, and Robert Nivelle replaced Joffre as French Commander in Chief.Moreover the Germans decided in February 1917 to withdraw a shortdistance to the heavily fortified Hindenburg (or Siegfried) Line of trencheswhere they believed they would suffer fewer casualties.

German military historians have argued that the two major battles of 1916which we have just looked at were the turning point of the war on theWestern Front. They have suggested that the high rate of casualties in thetwo battles so weakened the German army that it never again possessed thestrength required to win the war.

If you have access to the Internet, the NSW HSC ONLINE site has someuseful information on the Battle of the Somme, including ideas aboutassessing the reliability of the front cover of a British magazine which waspublished during the war and which was headed ‘Sir Douglas Haig’s BigPush’. The page on ‘Sources and the Battle of the Somme’ can be accessedon the Open Learning Support site (OLS) at http://www.oten.edu.au/ols.

Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battleof Ypres)The Third Battle of Ypres (also known as the Battle of Passchendaele)lasted from 31 July to 10 November 1917. It was an attempt by the British(including, as was the case at the Somme, soldiers from the Empire inparticular Australians and Canadians) to achieve a breakthrough in theFlanders region of Belgium.

Look again at Source 3 (the map) on the ‘From movement to stagnation’Source sheet.

Locate Ypres.

According to the historian A J P Taylor:

Haig remained convinced that he could break the German lines and winthe war by frontal assault. He refused to be discouraged by the failure inthe previous year on the Somme. That campaign, he now believed, hadbeen fought in the wrong place, on the insistence of Joffre. Besides, theBritish army had then been raw and inflexible.

Source: A J P Taylor, 1969, The First World War An Illustrated History,Hamish Hamilton, p 143.


What evidence is there in this source that there was tension between theBritish and French military leaders?

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Did you answer?

The British military leader, Haig, blamed the French leader, Joffre,for insisting that the Battle of the Somme be fought in the wrong place.

The Battle of Passchendaele was preceded on 7 June by the blowing up ofthe ridge at nearby Messines by 450 000 kilograms of explosive placed innineteen mines dug deep underground. The explosion was so loud thatLloyd George heard it in London. It also served to warn the Germans thatan attack was likely to follow although it was nearly two months before itactually began.

The battle culminated in fighting to capture the village of Passchendaelewhich is about thirteen kilometres to the east of Ypres. The Canadians finallyseized the village, which by this time no longer existed, just one day beforethe British ended the offensive. The ground and weather conditions wereappalling. The month of August saw twice as much rainfall as normal and thebattlefield was turned into a sea of stinking mud. Men, guns and tanks allsank into the mud. The conditions were so bad that when Haig’s Chief ofStaff visited the battlefield for the first time on 8 November he burst intotears, and cried, ‘Good God, did we really send men to fight in that?’

Find the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (2)’ and look atSource 2 (the photos).

On the lines below, list the things you can see in the photo ofPasschendaele before the Third Battle of Ypres that you cannot see in thephoto of the village after the battle.

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Did you answer?

fields, buildings, proper roads

As generally happened on the Western Front, the Battle of Passchendaelemade little difference to the positions of the two armies – the furthest theBritish advanced was less than a kilometre. Also as normally happened, itinvolved very high casualty rates, at least 245 000 British and a similarnumber of Germans. The Chief of Staff of the Fourth German Armyconcluded that, ‘The Flanders battle consumed the German strength to such


a degree that the harm done could no longer be repaired’ (in Terraine, 1964:154).

A British soldier, Private Jack Sweeney, wrote in a letter home about theBattle of Passchendaele that, ‘The Somme was bad enough but this is athousand times worse’ (in Brown, 1986: 12). The historian John Terrainehas concluded that the worst aspect of the battle was ‘the vast depression ofthe human spirit in this hideous arena’ (Terraine, 1964: 154). Furthermorethe historian Liddell Hart has written that ‘Passchendaele’ has become a‘synonym for military failure’ (Liddell Hart, 1973: 327).

One important aspect of the battle was the negative impact it had onrelations between the British political and military leaders. Initially LloydGeorge and his government supported Haig’s plans for the battle but only ifthe French took a significant part. When it became clear that this was notgoing to happen, he tried to persuade Haig not to go ahead with the battlebut without success. As the battle wore on, the government wasincreasingly appalled by the mounting casualties. Lloyd George encouragedHaig to stop the battle but again without success.

Lloyd George later wrote that the Battle of Passchendaele was ‘the battlewhich, with the Somme and Verdun, will always rank as the most gigantic,tenacious, grim, futile and bloody fight ever waged in the history of war’.He blamed this on the ‘stubborn and narrow egotism, unsurpassed amongstthe records of disaster wrought by human complacency,’ of Haig and theother military leaders (in Terraine, 1984: 148). Not surprisingly this tensionbetween the political and military leaders reinforced the view held for sometime by many members of the army headquarters staff that the politicianswere ‘our worst enemies’

On the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (2)’, find and readSource 1. Then answer the following questions.

a Each of the statements in the table below is about an effect mentionedby A J P Taylor in this source with regard to one of the battles you haveread about so far in this Section. You have to decide which battle eachstatement refers to. If you think it is the Battle of Verdun, write’V’ inthe left-hand column; the Battle of the Somme, write ‘S’; and the ThirdBattle of Ypres, write ‘Y’.

After this battle the generals began to use some different tactics.

Both military and political leaders were to blame for this disastrous battle.

British volunteer soldiers lost their enthusiasm for the war.

Many French soldiers were close to mutiny.

More defenders were killed than attackers.

The spirit of the German army declined.


b Do you think A J P Taylor is positive or negative about what happenedin these battles? __________________

c In the paragraph about each battle, underline or highlight the sentencewhich most clearly indicates that this is his attitude.

d In order to decide how reliable this source is to an historian who isstudying about these three battles, which of the following questionswould you need to consider? There may be more than one correctanswer.

❒ Who wrote the source? Does he/she have any reason to bebiased about the battles?

❒ When was it written?

❒ What was the motive, or purpose, of the author of the source?

❒ What was the intended audience of the source?

❒ What have other historians written about the battles?

Did you answer?

a Y After this battle the generals began to use some different tactics.

Y Both military and political leaders were to blame for this disastrous

battle.

S British volunteer soldiers lost their enthusiasm for the war.

V Many French soldiers were close to mutiny.

V More defenders were killed than attackers.

S The spirit of the German army declined.b negative

c Verdun was the most senseless episode in a war not distinguished for sense anywhere.

The Somme set the picture by which future generations saw the First World War: bravehelpless soldiers; blundering obstinate generals; nothing achieved.

Third Ypres was the blindest slaughter of a blind war.

d It would be important to consider all of these questions.



Part 1.3 Exercise 2

Name: _________________________________

Search for a decisive breakthrough

1 Find the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (1)’look at Source 3 (the photo).

On the lines below, list five of the main features of the scene in thephoto.

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2 Reread the information on pages 13, 14 and 15 and list in point form theeffects of each of the following battles. As much as possible, put theinformation in your own words, and make sure it is clear which countryor countries each effect applies to.

Verdun ___________________________________________________

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Somme ___________________________________________________

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Passchendaele______________________________________________

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3 The historian B H Liddell Hart has concluded that, during World War I:

...the defensive power of modern weapons ... weighted the scales againstthe mobility and decisiveness of warfare.

Source: B H Liddell Hart, 1973, History of the First World War,Pan Books, p. 95.

Using what you have learnt in this Section, do you agree with hisconclusion? Give reasons for your answer.

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Submarines and planes

You have read about what the historian John Terraine has called ‘orthodoxattempts’ to break the stalemate on the Western Front during World War I.In this section and the next one we will examine what he calls ‘unorthodoxattempts’: submarine warfare; use of chemistry; war in the air; use of thetank.

Submarine warfareUsing the information that you read about the ‘Use of sea power’,complete the following sentences.

Beginning in August 1914, the __________ navy ________________ the

German coast. This meant that there were ______________ of goods for

both German ____________ and civilians. The German government

realised that this would make it more __________ for them to win the war.

Did you answer?

Beginning in August 1914, the British navy blockaded the German coast. Thismeant that there were shortages of goods for both German soldiers and civilians.The German government realised that this would make it more difficult for them towin the war.

The German government therefore decided that they would try to do thesame sort of thing to the Allies that the British were doing to them, that isprevent the Allies from getting the supplies that they needed from overseas.However the Germans couldn’t do this by using a blockade like the Britishwere doing because their navy was not as powerful as the British navy. Thetactic they adopted instead was submarine (U-boat) warfare. This involvedusing their fleet of submarines to sink merchant (as distinct from naval)ships carrying goods to Great Britain.


German submarine warfare was undertaken in two main phases. The firstwas from February to September 1915. It was announced by the GermanAdmiralty on 4 February in the following declaration:

All the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland, including the wholeof the English Channel, are hereby declared to be a war zone. FromFebruary 18 onwards every enemy merchant vessel found within this warzone will be destroyed without it always being possible to avoid danger tothe crews and passengers.

Neutral ships will also be exposed to danger in the war zone, as, in viewof the misuse of neutral flags ordered on January 31 by the BritishGovernment, and owing to unforeseen incidents to which naval warfare isliable, it is impossible to avoid attacks being made on neutral ships inmistake for those of the enemy.

Source: At < http://www.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/naval/dc150204.htm >p.1. (accessed 19 February 2001).

In the second paragraph of the above source the Germans gave tworeasons why ‘it is impossible to avoid attacks being made on neutral shipsin mistake for those of the enemy’. These two reasons are written belowbut, like many official documents, they are in fairly complicatedlanguage. On the lines underneath each one, rewrite the reasons usingyour own words as much as possible. Make sure they are easy tounderstand.

1 ‘in view of the misuse of neutral flags ordered on January 31 by theBritish Government’

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2 ‘owing to unforeseen incidents to which naval warfare is liable’

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Did you answer?

There are obviously various ways in which these reasons could be expressed and explained. Thefollowing are possibilities.

1 On January 31 the British Government ordered British ships to pretend they were fromneutral countries by flying the flags of those countries.

2 When naval vessels are involved in a war it is likely that innocent victims will be harmed.


During the early months of their submarine warfare campaign, the Germansachieved some impressive results. In March, April and May 1917 they sank115 ships carrying more than 250 000 tonnes despite only having an averageof six submarines at sea each day. However by this time neutral countries inparticular the United States had begun to complain that their ships werebeing sunk and their citizens killed. This reached a climax on 7 May whenthe Lusitania, a passenger ship sailing from New York to Liverpool inEngland, was sunk by a German submarine. Over 1000 lives were lostincluding 128 Americans.

The United States protested but the Germans replied that the Lusitania was alegitimate military target, claiming that it had on board Canadian troops and‘no less than 5400 cases of ammunition’. Gottlieb von Jagow, the GermanMinister for Foreign Affairs, stated on 28 May:

The German Government believes that it acts in just self-defense when itseeks to protect the lives of its soldiers by destroying ammunition destinedfor the enemy…

Source: In David Stewart et al, 1995, The Great War: Sources and Evidence(2nd edition), Thomas Nelson, p.83.

The United States denied that there was ammunition on board the Lusitaniabut since that time evidence has come to light which suggests that it is likelythat the German claim was in fact correct.

Nonetheless, at this time, Germany was not willing to run the risk that theUnited States would enter the war so they began to limit submarine warfareand in September they in effect ended it although there were some isolatedincidents in the following year or so.

However by the middle of 1916 the German navy was putting renewedpressure on the German government to recommence submarine warfare inan even more extensive form. At a conference held on 31 August andattended by military and political leaders, two German admirals made thefollowing comments:

…the continuation of the war on the part of our opponents is completelydependent upon England’s attitude; it is therefore necessary for us toprevent England, by the use of all means in our power, from continuing tocarry on the war, and the destruction of England’s ocean commerce willaccomplish this purpose … the blockade of Germany is becoming moreand more oppressive … if we renounce the use of the U-boat weapon wemay have reason to believe that this means finis Germaniae [the end ofGermany]. (Admiral von Holtzendorff)

…I am convinced that we are not on the road to a peace acceptable to us ifwe continue along the lines pursued thus far. The conviction has nowforced itself upon the Navy that nothing will lead to peace but the launchof an unrestricted U-boat war. (Admiral von Cappelle)

Source: At< http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1916/uboot.html > p. 1(accessed 19 February 2001)


Tick which of the following are reasons given by the two Germanadmirals in favour of unrestricted submarine warfare. There may be morethan one correct answer.

❒ to ensure the continuation of the war on the part of our opponents

❒ to prevent England from continuing to carry on the war

❒ to destroy England’s ocean commerce

❒ to end the British blockade of Germany

❒ to renounce the use of the U-boat weapon

❒ to cause finis Germaniae

❒ to bring about peace

Did you answer?

to prevent England from continuing to carry on the warto destroy England’s ocean commerceto end the British blockade of Germanyto bring about peace

At this time most political leaders were hesitant to start submarine warfareagain, especially on a larger scale, mainly because they believed that itwould inevitably draw the United States into the war on the Allied side, anevent which they thought would be disastrous for Germany’s prospects ofwinning the war.

As time went by, however, the politicians increasingly accepted the idea thatGermany’s best, or perhaps only, chance of achieving victory was byunrestricted submarine warfare. Most were still certain that it would bringthe United States into the war but the admirals convinced them that theycould defeat Britain before the Americans made a substantial contribution tothe Allied war effort. Admiral von Cappelle said that the navy guaranteedto sink 600 000 tonnes per month and destroy half of Britain’s merchanttonnage in six months.

Thus, on 1 February 1917, Germany implemented their second phase ofsubmarine warfare, an unrestricted campaign which was to cover a largerarea and be more ruthless than that of 1915. All vessels from all countrieswere considered by Germany to be valid targets. Kaiser Wilhelm II issuedthe following statement to his U-boat commanders.

We will frighten the British flag off the face of the waters and starve theBritish people until they, who have refused peace, will kneel and plead for it.

Source: < http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWunrestricted.htm >(accessed 19 February 2001)


1 In this source, which country is Kaiser Wilhelm II trying to put theblame on for the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare?

––––––––––––––––––––––

2 Underline or highlight the words in the source which indicate why heclaims they are to blame.

Did you answer?

1 Great Britain

2 they, who have refused peace

During the first six months of this new campaign, German submarines sankan average of 642 600 tonnes of shipping per month, with the peak being870 359 tonnes in April. The position of the British and therefore the Allieswas becoming precarious. However by the middle of 1917 they haddeveloped various methods to overcome submarine warfare.These involved the use of:

• shells that exploded underwater and depth charges that damagedsubmarines

• more effective smokescreens behind which the merchant ships couldhide

• decoy ships which in fact carried no goods

• protective nets attached to ships

• sonar apparatus which could detect submerged submarines

• lines of mines including one 400 kilometres long laid by the Americannavy between Scotland (which is the northern part of Great Britain) andNorway

• most important of all, a convoy system in which merchant shipstravelled in groups escorted by armed naval vessels, includingAmerican ones, and with air support.

These tactics led to a dramatic decline in the amount of shipping sunk byGerman submarines. Between August 1917 and October 1918, when theGermans finally ended their campaign, an average of 301 920 tonnes weredestroyed per month.

Circle the correct answer in the following sentence. Hint: you may need tolook again at the information you have just read.

This meant that between August 1917 and October 1918 the amount ofshipping destroyed by German submarines was more than half / exactlyhalf / less than half the amount destroyed between February and July 1917.


Did you answer?

This meant that between August 1917 and October 1918 the amount of shippingdestroyed by German submarines was less than half the amount destroyed betweenFebruary and July 1917.

The British also increased the production of merchant ships so that theywere in fact constructing more than they needed to replace those destroyed.They also introduced rationing to limit the amount of food and other goodsconsumed by the British public.

In one famous incident on 23 April 1918, the British sank three ships in anattempt to block the entrance to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge which wasused by German submarines. However they failed to completely block thechannel and submarines continued to be able to use the port.

On 6 April 1917, what the Germans knew they were risking with theintroduction of unrestricted submarine warfare came to pass – the UnitedStates entered the war.

So far in this Section you have looked at three sources which can be foundon the Internet. Two of them come from web sites which contain, orprovide links to, an enormous range of sources, particularly primarysources. These are:

• The World War I Document Archive athttp://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/

• Great War Links athttp://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/photos/links.htm

If you have access to the Internet, go to one of these sites. Find anysource that interests you and read or look at it. On the lines below, write:

a the name of the source

b its URL (webpage address)

c a brief description of it.

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From what you have read so far in this Section, did the German submarinewarfare help to break the stalemate on the Western Front? Yes / No


Did you answer?

No

War in the airAt first both the Allies and the Germans focused on airships rather thanaircraft. These airships which the Germans called Zeppelins and are alsosometimes referred to as blimps were used in various different ways:

• Both sides used them for reconnaissance, in other words to observe andstudy the enemy’s position, strength and movement to assist them indeciding upon tactics.

• German Zeppelins made several bombing raids on England.

• Later in the war, British airships were used to protect their merchantship convoys by reporting the presence of German submarines to theaccompanying naval vessels.

Airships were initially preferred to aircraft because they were sturdier andmore reliable, could carry heavier loads and could travel for longer beforeneeding to refuel. At that time planes only had a range of three hours.

However airships had two major disadvantages: they were big and slowmoving. Why do you think this was a problem in warfare?

_____________________________________________________________

Did you answer?

They could easily be shot down.

As the war continued, there were numerous improvements in the design,construction and capability of aircraft. They increasingly replaced airshipsas the main participants in the war in the air. By 1918 the Allies had 8000planes compared with approximately 400 in 1914. At the end of the war theGermans had only 2500.

Aircraft were also used in a number of different ways:

• for reconnaissance

• to assist the artillery to determine the correct direction and distance tofire

• to bomb enemy trenches and troops

• to report to the commanding officers on the progress of ground battles –this was important because communications were often difficult andunreliable during fighting

• as fighter planes in aerial combat with enemy aircraft.


The soldiers in the trenches often enjoyed watching the ‘dogfights’ betweenthese fighter planes. The most successful and famous of the pilots wereknown as ‘aces’ and probably the best known was the German BaronManfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron’. He shot down eighty Alliedplanes before being shot down himself by a Canadian pilot on 21 April1918. He managed to land his aircraft safely but died shortly afterwards.

Have you ever seen the ‘Peanuts’ cartoon? If you have, you mightremember that Snoopy often dreams about his aerial clashes with the RedBaron.

Find the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (3)’. Look atSource 2. Describe what is happening in the photo. Note that the bottomplane is German – you can tell that from the ‘iron cross’ symbol whichyou can partly see at the bottom of the photo.

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Did you answer?

The Allied plane has shot down the German plane which has lost a wing and is plummetingtowards the ground.

As time went by, the use of aircraft became an important part of both sides’battle plans. This is clearly shown in the following account by anAustralian, Major J T McCudden of the role played by aircraft in the Battleof Hamel which lasted from 28 June to 4 July 1918. Hamel is on the RiverSomme. This battle provides a good example of how aircraft increasinglysupported the Allied infantry and artillery. This was an important factor inthe Allies breaking the stalemate and achieving victory on the WesternFront in 1918.

Just before the launching of the infantry attack at dawn, in order to distractthe enemy’s attention from the sound of the tanks approaching over thelast few hundred yards [metres] to the line, aeroplanes flew low overHamel, making as much noise as possible and dropping bombs into thevillage. The result was that, till the moment of the opening artillerybombardment, the enemy knew nothing of the fate about to fall upon him.The whole operation moved by the clock in the smoothest fashion, andwas completed at remarkably light cost in casualties to the attackingtroops.

Source: In David Stewart et al, 1995, The Great War: Sources and Evidence(2nd edition), Thomas Nelson, p. 90.


1 According to Major McCudden, what was the important role playedby aircraft in the events he describes?

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2 Which of the following do you think is the best summary of howsuccessful the war in the air was in breaking the stalemate on theWestern Front?

❒ The war in the air was the most significant factor in theAllies breaking the stalemate on the Western Front.

❒ The war in the air contributed to the Allies breaking thestalemate on the Western Front but it was not as important afactor as the infantry and artillery.

❒ The war in the air was not an important factor in the Alliesbreaking the stalemate on the Western Front.

Did you answer?

1 They distracted the enemy’s attention from the sound of the tanks approaching.

2 The war in the air contributed to the Allies breaking the stalemate on the Western Front but itwas not as important a factor as the infantry and artillery.



Part 1.3 Exercise 3

Name: _________________________________

Submarines and planes1 Use the information in this Section to complete the following sentences.

At the beginning of the war, the British navy implemented a

____________ of the ___________ coast. In retaliation the Germans

adopted a policy of using _______________ to attack mainly Allied

_____________ ships. They did this in _____ phases. The first was in

______ and included the sinking of the ______________. The second

began in ______ and was ___________________ submarine warfare.

This was one of the factors which caused the ____________________

to ________ the war. The Allies used various methods to overcome

submarine warfare such as ________ apparatus and a __________

system.

Initially both sides concentrated on using _____________ rather than

planes. However aircraft were increasingly used for tasks including

_______________________ and _____________ the enemy. There

were also many ‘______________’ between fighter planes flown by

famous ‘______’. More and more, aircraft provided support for the

Allied ______________ and ______________.


2 Below are two extracts from the source by Admiral von Holtzendorffand Admiral von Cappelle that you read in this Section. On the linesunderneath each one, rewrite the extract using your own words as muchas possible. Make sure they are easy to understand..

a ‘…the continuation of the war on the part of our opponents iscompletely dependent upon England’s attitude;’

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b ‘…I am convinced that we are not on the road to a peace acceptableto us if we continue along the lines pursued thus far.’

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3 Do you think that the Germans made a mistake when they decided tointroduce unrestricted submarine warfare early in 1917? Give reasonsfor your answer.

When you are thinking about what your answer is going to be, you willneed to take two things into account:

(a) the situation that Germany was in when they made the decision tointroduce unrestricted submarine warfare;

(b) what we know with hindsight, in other words what we know todayabout what happened after the introduction of unrestrictedsubmarine warfare.

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Use of chemistry and tanks

During World War I, both sides used chemistry in the form of poison gas tohelp them try to achieve a decisive breakthrough on the Western Front.Their aim was to cause so much disturbance in the enemy trenches that theiropponents would be unable to effectively resist an attack. It was hoped thatif this happened on a large enough scale it would enable them to gain asignificant victory and break the stalemate. Tanks were another weaponbeing developed (particularly by the British) to turn the war in their favour.

Poison gasThe first time that gas was used was in August 1914 when the French firedtear gas at the Germans. However it had little effect. The Germans werethe first to use the much more deadly poison gas on 22 April 1915 in theSecond Battle of Ypres. Initially the gas used was chlorine, then phosgenewhich is a type of chlorine. Both of these suffocated their victims. In 1917mustard gas, which rotted the person’s body, was used for the first time. Allthree types of gas caused excruciating pain.

Find the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (3)’. Read Source1. It is a description by a British officer of the effects of gas on Frenchtroops.

What type of gas do you think was used in the German attack which isdescribed in this source? Note that there are two clues in the source.One relates to a piece of information in the second paragraph above andthe other is something that you may be aware of from your generalknowledge. What are these two clues?

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_____________________________________________________________

Did you answer?

The gas was either chlorine or phosgene.

The clues are that the victims were suffocated, whereas mustard gas rotted the person’s body, andthe gas was green, whereas mustard is a yellowish colour.


The source you have just looked at is about poison gas on the very first daythat it was used. To begin with, it had the effect that the Germans desired.The Allied troops abandoned the trenches they were in and this presentedthe Germans with a golden opportunity to break through the Allied lines andoutflank their enemy. This may well have enabled them to win a victorythat would bring the war to an end. However things didn’t work out thatway. The Germans seem to have been surprised by what had happened andfailed to quickly follow up their initial success. One of the reasons for thiswas that they had insufficient reserves.

It wasn’t long before the effectiveness of poison gas was greatly reduced.Within a week of its first use, the British had developed a simple gas maskto protect their troops. As time went by the quality of these masks improvedrapidly. And if the worst came to the worst, soldiers covered their mouthsand noses with socks or handkerchiefs soaked in their own urine. All of thismeant that after 1916 only eight per cent of gas casualties died and overninety per cent of soldiers who had been gassed were able to return to duty.

Nonetheless, for any soldiers who were affected by poison gas, it was amost unpleasant experience.

Look again at the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (3)’ andexamine the photo in Source 3. It shows victims of a gas attack.

On the line below, write four words to describe how you think thesoldiers shown in the photo would have been feeling.

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Did you answer?

You may have used words such as frightened, worried, distressed, confused,uncertain, vulnerable, angry.

There were also some practical difficulties associated with the use of poisongas.


For each of the statements below, indicate whether or not you agree that itwas a difficulty associated with the use of poison gas.

If one side fired gas at the other and they thenattacked the enemy trenches, they had to wear gasmasks. However it was not easy for soldiers tomove freely while wearing masks. They were moresuited for use when defending a trench rather thanattacking it. Agree/Disagree

The gas often stayed in the trenches for some time.This meant that if one side fired gas at the other itwas difficult for them to then attack the enemytrenches because they would have to make their waythrough the gas. Agree/Disagree

If the wind was blowing in the opposite direction tothe one in which it was fired, the gas would beblown back towards the soldiers who had fired it. Agree/Disagree

Did you answer?

Agree; Agree; Agree

From what you have read so far in this Section, did the use of poison gashelp to break the stalemate on the Western Front? Yes/No

Did you answer?

No

We have already seen how difficult it was for soldiers to attack enemytrenches.

The tankTanks were seen as the answer. Soldiers with machine guns could easilydefend a trench especially if it was protected by thick barbed wire and if theground in front of it was muddy and therefore hard for enemy troops toadvance across.

The British in particular searched for ways to overcome these advantagesenjoyed by defenders. One weapon that they developed to do this was thetank. It is uncertain where the name came from. It may be that, in order to


keep them secret from the Germans, the British pretended that they werewater tanks. At first the British army showed little interest in this newweapon but Winston Churchill, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty inthe Government, ensured that the idea was not completely abandoned.Eventually Haig agreed to the construction of an experimental ‘landship’.

Tick which of the following ways you think tanks could assist infantrysoldiers to attack enemy trenches. There may be more than one correctanswer.

❒ Tanks could crush barbed wire in front of trenches no matter howthick it was.

❒ Tanks could move across muddy ground.

❒ Tanks could travel over the top of trenches.

❒ Machine guns could do little damage to tanks.

❒ Soldiers in trenches were often frightened by the appearance oftanks and abandoned their trenches.

Did you answer?

All of these were ways in which tanks could assist infantry soldiers.

Overall, tanks had the potential to provide the mobility that had beenlacking on the Western Front ever since the lines of trenches wereconstructed in the early months of the war.

Tanks were first used in September 1916 in the Battle of the Somme.However they were not a success. There weren’t enough of them,most either broke down or their gasoline tanks were punctured and theyburst into flames, and their crews had not been fully trained. They had beenused too early.

Tanks were then used on several occasions in 1917 with greater success,especially at the Battle of Cambrai on 20 November. The British machinegunner, George Coppard, described the part played by the 381 tanks thatwere used in this battle as follows:

The tanks, looking like giant toads, became visible against the skyline asthey approached the top of the slope. Some of the leading tanks carriedhuge bundles of tightly-bound brushwood, which they dropped when awide trench was encountered, thus providing a firm base to cross over…


We went forward into enemy country in a manner never possible withoutthe aid of tanks … The tanks appeared to have busted through anyresistance. The enemy wire had been dragged about like old curtains …[The] Jerry machine gunners must have had the shock of their livespouring their fire into a tank, only to realise that the bullets were bouncingoff as the monster lurched towards them…

From the general situation it seemed to me that the German infantry hadeither fled at the apparition of the tanks or had pulled out deliberately,leaving their machine guns to do what they could.

Source: George Coppard, 1986, With a Machine Gun to Cambrai, Papermac,pp. 123–4.

Underline or highlight the sentence in the source you have just readwhich best indicates the main point that George Coppard is making abouthow the tanks assisted the British soldiers.

Did you answer?

We went forward into enemy country in a manner never possible withoutthe aid of tanks.

Find the Source sheet ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (3)’ again.Look at the photo in Source 4.

Underline or highlight the sentence in the above source by GeorgeCoppard that is also shown in Source 4.

Did you answer?

The enemy wire had been dragged about like old curtains.

After their successful use of tanks at the beginning of the Battle of Cambrai,the Allies must have been hopeful that they were on the verge of achieving asignificant victory but they were to be disappointed. Ironically the tanksmoved too fast and the infantry could not keep up. There were also notenough reserves available and the cavalry was cut to pieces by the Germanmachine guns. Within days the Germans regained all the territory they hadlost at the beginning of the battle.

Finally, on 8 August 1918, the ‘black day’ for the German army, the Alliessucceeded in using 456 tanks at Amiens to help achieve the decisivebreakthrough they had been searching for on the Western Front for almostfour years. It is interesting to note that at the end of the war the Germanshad a grand total of only fifty tanks.


Does this suggest that the Germans thought that the tank was a useful andeffective weapon. Yes / No

Did you answer?

No

On 2 October 1918, Major von dem Bussche of the German General Staffmade an address to the leaders of the political parties in the Reichstag(parliament). In it he recognised the significance of the Allied use of tanks.Let’s read what he had to say.

… Supreme Army Command is forced to make the extremely gravedecision to state that as far as can be foreseen there exists no furtherprospect of forcing peace on the enemy.

Two factors above all are decisive for this development: Tanks.

The enemy is using these in unexpectedly large numbers. When theyappeared unexpectedly, especially after our positions were blanketed bysmoke screens, they often broke the morale of our people … to thesuccess of the tanks is due the large number of prisoners, which hasreduced our strength so markedly and led to the exhaustion of ourreserves.

We are not able to oppose the enemy with an equal number of Germantanks. To produce them was beyond the capacity of an already fullyextended industry without cutting back on other important things.

Source: In G A Cranfield et al, 1966, Select Documents A Modern HistorySourcebook, McGraw-Hill, p 98

From what you have read in this Section, did the use of tanks help tobreak the stalemate on the Western Front? Yes / No

Did you answer?

Yes

At the beginning of this Part, you read a list of the various attempts whichthe Germans and the Allies made to try to break the stalemate on theWestern Front. We will now summarise what we have learnt in this Partabout whether or not these attempts were successful.


For each of the attempts in the table below, write ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ or ‘Partly’ toindicate how successful it was in helping to break the stalemate on theWestern Front.

Use of sea power including the British blockade of the Germancoast

Trying to force the other side to fight a war on two or more fronts

Search for a decisive breakthrough by means of major battles andoffensives

Submarine warfare

War in the air

Use of chemistry – poison gas

Use of the tank

Did you answer?

Partly (the Britishblockade)

Use of sea power including the British blockade of theGerman coast

No Trying to force the other side to fight a war on two ormore fronts

Partly (Spring offensiveand Allied counter-offensivein 1918)

Search for a decisive breakthrough by means of majorbattles and offensives

No Submarine warfare

Yes War in the air

No Use of chemistry – poison gas

Yes Use of the tank



Part 1.3 Exercise 4

Name: _________________________________

Use of chemistry and tanks1 Find the ‘Attempts to break the stalemate (3)’ Source sheet.

Read Source 1 again and answer the questions below. You do not haveto use full sentences.

a At what time of the day did the Germans fire the poison gas that isdescribed in this source?

_________

b At whom was the gas fired?

___________________

c Name four (4) physical effects that the gas had on the soldiers.

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d Did all the soldiers die immediately?

_______


2 Read again the source by Major von dem Bussche on page 44. In thefirst paragraph he states that Germany will not be able to defeat theAllies. He then goes on to explain why that is.

a On the lines below, rewrite the sentence in the source that bestindicates why he says that Germany will not be able to defeat theAllies.

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________

b Imagine that you are writing an answer to the question: ‘Explainwhy tanks were important in the final outcome of World War I.’

One of your paragraphs has the following introductory sentence:‘Tanks assisted the Allies to win the war more than they helped theGermans.’

From the source by Major von dem Bussche, select three sentencesor phrases that you would use in the paragraph to provide evidencein favour of the point that you have made in the introductorysentence. Write them on the lines below. Keep the quotes fairlyshort.

______________________________________________________

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3 Now write the paragraph that you read about in Question 2 b above.Make sure you include the introductory sentence. Remember also torefer to Major von dem Bussche and what he said about tanks,including short quotes.

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