How did the First World War End? (AQA GCSE History: Wider World Depth Study (Paper 1: Section B)): Flashcards

Russia and Germany agreed a ceasefire in December 1917.

The Treaty helped Germany against the British blockade because Germany gained farmland, resources and money, which softened the blockade's effects.

Isolationism is a policy of staying out of other countries' affairs and wars; followed by the USA before 1917.

While staying neutral, the USA supported the Allies through loans, weapons, food and raw materials.

False.

The US stayed neutral until April 1917.

When the RMS Lusitania was sunk in 1915, 128 Americans died.

In 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking eight American ships.

The Zimmermann Telegram was a secret German message offering Mexico money and weapons to attack the USA, intercepted by Britain in 1917.

The Zimmermann Telegram offered Mexico the US states of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.

The USA declared war on Germany in April 1917.

US entry brought the Allies fresh troops, resources (oil, coal, food, weapons) and a morale boost.

US entry did not help the Allies immediately because it took months for American soldiers to reach the front lines.

US entry pushed Germany to attack quickly in 1918 because Germany wanted to win before the full strength of the American army arrived.

The USA loaned about $2 billion to Britain during the war.

The Spring Offensive is also known as the Ludendorff Offensive.

The Spring Offensive was planned by German General Erich Ludendorff.

The Spring Offensive began on 21 March 1918.

Germany launched the offensive when it did to win before American troops arrived in large numbers, as Germany was short of men and resources.

Stormtrooper tactics were small groups of fast-moving, lightly equipped elite troops attacking weak points in the enemy line.

The offensive opened with a five-hour 'hurricane bombardment' firing a million shells.

True.

Germany advanced about 64 kilometres.

At its furthest, the German advance was stopped just east of Amiens.

Germany could not hold the land it captured because stormtroopers advanced too fast and were cut off from supplies; Germany was low on men and morale.

About 220,000 German soldiers were killed in the Spring Offensive, whom Germany could not replace.

A salient (or 'bulge') is a bulge in the front line that could be attacked from several sides and surrounded.

The Allied counter-attack that followed the Spring Offensive was the Hundred Days (100-Day Allied Advance).

The Hundred Days was the Allied counter-attack (8 August – 11 November 1918) that pushed Germany back and ended the war.

The Allied forces in the Hundred Days were led as Commander-in-Chief by General Ferdinand Foch.

During the Hundred Days the Allies had the fresh advantage of newly arrived American troops, with fresh soldiers, resources and weaponry.

The Hundred Days began, with an attack on Amiens, on 8 August 1918.

The German army called the first day of the Allied advance a 'Black Day'.

The Allied attack on Amiens was supported by 400 tanks.

The Hindenburg Line was Germany's last and strongest defensive position, built of concrete in 1917.

True.

It was broken by October 1918.

The Allies combined forces in their new tactics with coordinated attacks using tanks, artillery, aircraft and infantry together.

To slow the Allies, retreating German soldiers poisoned wells, destroyed bridges and roads, and cut down trees.

After the Hundred Days, German High Command urged the Kaiser to seek an armistice and surrender.

The war ended with the Armistice on 11 November 1918.

The British naval blockade helped cause Germany's surrender because it cut off food and supplies, causing starvation, shortages and unrest.

Food rationing was introduced in Germany in 1915.

The British naval blockade killed approximately 425,000 Germans.

The Kiel Mutiny of October 1918 was when German sailors at Kiel refused orders to attack British ships and rebelled.

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 November 1918.

After abdicating, the Kaiser fled to Holland (the Netherlands).

After the Kaiser abdicated, Germany's temporary leader became Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD.

The Allied side in the armistice negotiations was led by General Ferdinand Foch.

The armistice negotiations were held in a train carriage in northern France.

False.

They were harsh; the naval blockade continued and Germany had to surrender ships.

The Armistice took effect at 11 am on 11 November 1918.

One term of the armistice was that all fighting was to stop within six hours (also: evacuate occupied land, hand over ships, pay reparations).

From 1915, Field Marshal Haig commanded the British armies.

Haig was responsible for the two costly battles of the Battle of the Somme and Passchendaele.

For the high casualties, Haig gained the nickname 'The Butcher of the Somme'.

False.

Views are divided; some credit him as fundamental to the 1918 victory.

One point in favour of Haig's leadership is that he backed new technology like the tank, and his overall strategy succeeded in 1918.

The Commander-in-Chief (of the Allied forces) was the overall commander of all the Allied armies; Ferdinand Foch held this role from spring 1918.

Foch helped stop the German advance on Paris at the 1914 Battle of the Marne.

Foch coordinated British, French and American soldiers to stop the German Spring Offensive.

The war-winning Allied offensive Foch led in 1918 was the Hundred Days (Hundred-Day Allied Advance).

Both Haig and Foch were criticised because their large-scale attacks (e.g. the Somme) caused huge casualties for small gains.

One argument in Haig and Foch's defence is that WW1 was a new kind of warfare and commanders had little experience — and they ultimately won.