Transcript ww1 day 4 - canada at war the western front

The “NEW” Styles of Fighting…
• As has been mentioned, the war envisioned
versus what was actually the case in Europe
when the Canadians engaged the Triple
Alliance, was a rude, and often horrific
awakening…
• New techniques and technologies made the
battles of the 1800s a distant part of military
history.
Battle of Attrition
• Also known as “grinding down”
– Result of trench warfare
• Neither side could gain the upper hand because
so opposing forces would try and wear each
other down until their opponent “lost their will to
fight”
– Traditional “frontal attacks” were a thing of the past
– The machine gun was the main culprit for this
• This also why the first three years of the war saw
little movement in regards to who had the upper
hand…
Total War
• Total War = All of a nation’s resources, are organized for one
purpose, and one purpose only… WIN THE WAR!
– Previously, a nation’s interest on the battle field had little
impact back at home
• Relationship forever changed, a solid war effort at home was
established as a vital tool in a nation’s attempt at conquest
• Not to be seen as another battle front, the home effort was
responsible for:
– production of needed materials, enlisting troops, finance,
and an overall organization of the war movement  less
worries for those leading and fighting the war overseas…
Strategies used to maintain Total War
philosophy
• Countries introduced conscription
– Compulsory military enlistment
• Despite the “rift” created in Canada…
– Main reason: Casualty list was growing far too fast
• Industrialization was re-tooled
– Domestic products were put on the back burner, all
production was aimed at war needs
• Financing plans were established to pay for the war
– War Bonds (buy from Government, like a loan)
– Income Tax introduced
• The teacher, lawyer, & businessman became as important due to
their contribution at home as was the soldier abroad – created a
further sense of pride…
War movement Propaganda
• Propaganda - form of communication aimed towards influencing the
attitude of the community toward some cause or position by presenting
only one side of an argument.
Further changes as a result of ‘Total
War’
• Roles of the home front changed
– Women took on different roles, especially as jobs became
vacated with men enlisting and/or being conscripted
– Children even were used to collect scrap metal to aid in
the process of production
• Total war emphasises the fact that the TOTAL
population was, and needed to be involved…
Changes in Technology
• Tanks:
– Used for the first time (Battle of
the Somme)
– Solve the trench warfare
stalemate
– At first, tanks = clumsy; by 1918
they were major reason for
Allied Victory
• Poison Gas:
– Used first by Germans
– Chlorine Gas pumped into no
man’s land
• Blindness, stripped lining of
lungs, “drown to death”
• Bodies would swell and bloat…
• Before Gas Mask: Pee on cloth and
cover mouth & nose…
Changes in Technology II
Machine Gun:
Accounted for most of the deaths during war
• Changes @ Sea:
– Submarines; small and
inefficient, torpedoes could
still sink the largest ships
– Germans used to eliminate
supply routs to Britain
• Attempt to
starve Britain
into submission
– Foreshadow to
USA involvement…
• Changes in the Air:
– Single pilot airplanes
– Engage in “dogfights”
– More or less use in
experimental role
– 1 hour flight length before
refuel (if you made it that
long)
Canadians in the Air…
• Canadians had to join the British
Air Force
– 1914: 40% were Canadian
• German Ace: Red Baron
– Germany’s most successful
Fighter Ace with 80 kills.
• He was shot down by
Canadian Capitan Roy
Brown.
• Canadian Ace: Billy Bishop
– Credited with 72 kills
– Received Victoria Cross, British
Military honour for courage and
bravery.
The Land Battles: Western Front
• Battle of Ypres, April 1915
– First case of Canadian
trench fighting w/ French
– First use of Poison Gas by
Germans
• 6,000 Canadians died
before reinforcements
arrived
– “In Flanders Fields” was
written by Canadian Lt. Col.
John McCrae following this
battle
The Land Battles: Western Front
• Battle of Verdun,
February 1916
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–
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–
Germany vs. France
Lasted 6 months
French lost 500,000 men
Battle of Attrition
The French did not
recover
“psychologically” from
this battle…
The Land Battles: Western Front
• Battle of the Somme, July
1916
– Allied attack on Germans
while they were busy with
French
– Means to end trench
warfare
– Failed:
• 20,000 Canadians killed;
NFLD Regiment had 90%
casualties (killed or hurt).
– 57, 000 British killed,
biggest loss ever…
– After 5 Months, moved a
few miles…
Battle of the Somme: Key Points
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•
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Led by British GENERAL DOUGLAS HAIG:
– pro-cavalry warfare  old strategies that cost thousands of lives “unavoidable death”
REASONS IT FAILED:
– 1- Allies shells to weak to penetrate German concrete bunkers buried deep underground
– 2- Underground explosions did not dislodge wire protecting German trenches  allies
were trapped in no-mans land
– 3- The allies were carrying 25-60 kilograms
– 4- A mine was detonated 10 minutes early  Germans were warned & the element of
surprise was gone
– 5- Also, they attacked in broad daylight (too many delays)…
– 6- Continued with the battle despite the casualties
– 7- 23 Canadians were shot ‘at dawn’ as they refused to return to the front
as they were suffering from shell shock
IN THE END:
–
–
600,000 Allied casualties
236,000 German  refer to it as “das Blutbad” –the blood bath
• At this point of the War, both sides casualties had reached 1.25 million
The Land Battles: Western Front
• Battle of Vimy Ridge, April
1917
– Canadian troops attacked
Germans (150, 000 French
& British had died already)
– Extensive amount of
planning went into this
battle
• Underground tunnels etc
– CAN losses 3,000 killed,
7,000 injured
– Allies regained Vimy,
turning point in the war
Vimy Ridge: Significance for Canada
• The capture of Vimy Ridge was the first time Canadians
worked together as one, independent of British; this became
the first symbol of Canadian Nationhood
• Canadians recognized as some of the best troops…
– “… whenever the Germans found the Canadian corps coming into the line
they prepared for the worst…”
•
British PM Lloyd George
• Arthur Currie was promoted to replace British
Gen Byng
– This marked the end of British leading Canadians
Vimy Monument
• “Super-cenotaph”
– Nothing of its kind in war
torn France
• Completed in 1937
during the depression.
– PM Mackenzie King
The Land Battles: Western Front
• Battle of Passchendaele,
October 1917
– Canadian troops vs. German
– Gen Currie was hesitant
because he thought that troops
could not fight through the
mud  he was overruled!
• Canadians were successful and
took the town, holding it until
reinforcements arrived
• 1 out of 5 survived, 16,000
died
– Only gained 7 kilometres of
mud, of which the Germans
soon won back