Rabail Ali -1st period

WII Project: Nature of 20

th
Century Wars
WWI overview:
WWI was considered the War to End All Wars. There were powers fighting in this war: the
Allied and the Central Powers. Serbia was the first to make up the Allies. It was quickly joined
by the British Empire, Belgium, France, and Japan. Germany joined with Austria-Hungary in a
matter of days to form the Central Powers. Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined about two
months later. Some of the battles that were fought during this war are below in three categories:
land, sea and air.

LAND:

The Battle of the Somme
Date: July 1 to November 18, 1916.
Location: Somme, France
Aggressor: British, french, and canadians
Goal: to attack the Germans to the north of Verdun, to move some of their men
away from the Verdun battlefield to relieve the French.
Weapons: artillery guns( used by British and French), machine guns( used by
Germans)
Strategy &
Tactics:
cavalry attacks:the British put a regiment of cavalry on standby when the
attack started to exploit the hole that was created by a devastating infantry
attack
artillery bombardment: the artillery guns would destroy the German
trenches and barbed wire placed in front of the trenches.
Defenders: German
Strategy &
Tactics:
Trenches: german soldiers stayed in trenches
sacrifice territory to draw the allies into a counterattack

Victors & why?
The Battle of the Somme was technically a victory for the allies; but the severe casualties suffered by both
sides made it really a draw. The Allies gained 12 kilometers of land; however the immense losses on both
sides caused it to be considered a draw.




The Battle of Liege
Date: August 5 to August 16, 1914
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Location North of Belgium
Aggressor: German
Goal: Seize the city of Liege because it was the gateway to Belgium.
Weapons: Germans introduced Austrian-built 17-inch howitzers.Big Bertha
gun (a 420mm siege howitzer)
400 retractable guns.

Strategy &
Tactics:
capture forts in order to advance.
Attack at night
Defenders: French
Strategy &
Tactics:
defend Liege by armed forts built on high ground.
defend from each side of the Meuse River.

Victors & why?
German won because the forts were finally taken by the Germans.


















The First Battle of the Marne
Date: September 6 to September 12, 1914
Location: Europe
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Aggressor: German
Goal: Defeat French before turning attention the Russian forces in the
east.
Weapons:
Strategy &
tactics
invade Belgium
Advance deep into north-eastern France.
Everything that was planned moved accordingly as the Schlieffen
Plan
Defenders: French and British
Strategy &
Tactics:
On September 6, 150,000 French soldiers attacked the right flank of
the German army.
Their main strategy was to increase the gap between the Germans.



Victors & why?
Allied victory against the German Army because the counterattack of Allied forces during the
First Battle of the Marne ensured that a quick German victory was impossible, and set the stage
for four years of trench warfare on the Western Front.











AIR:

The Air Battle of St. Mihiel
Date: July 1918
Location: Saint-Mihiel salient, France
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Aggressor: American, and French

Goal: Pershing hoped that the U.S would break through the German lines
and capture city of Metz.
Weapons: machine guns, Artillery
Strategy &
tactics
Extensive radio warning network was set up to monitor on enemy.
Pershing against German positions.
Defenders: German
Strategy &
Tactics:
installed many trenches.
wire obstacles
machine gun nests

Victors & why?
The U.S. won. Main reason for the victory was because of St. Mihiel General Pershing's detailed
operations order.
















The Battle of Vimy Ridge
Date: April 9 to April 12,1917
Location: Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France
Aggressor: Canadians, and British
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Goal: Stop the Germans from adavancing over the lines.
Weapons: Artillery guns
Strategy &
tactics
Built miles of tunnels.
Troops were ready for attack without coming under shellfire.
Defenders: German
Strategy &
Tactics:
Made deep defensive positions
Made artillery-proof trenches.

Victors & why?

Canadians won because of the number of casualties, Germans casualties were doubled the number of
casualties Canada had.




















The Battle of Arras
Date: April 9 to May 16, 1917
Location: Arras, France
Aggressor: British, Canadian, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and Australians
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Goal: After the bloodbath Verdum General Robert Nivelle's led the war
thinking it would end in 48 hours.
Weapons: Artillery, aircrafts, machine guns
Strategy &
tactics
were lines of trenches stretching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss
border.
British carried out many aerial patrols.
Aircrafts looked out for artillery spottings and German trench
systems.
Defenders: Germans
Strategy &
Tactics:
reinforced line across Vimy-Arras sector.
Were ready for attacks.
Prepared to launch counterattacks.
bring in reserves to strengthen their defense.

Victors & why?
It was considered British victory due to the capture of Vimy Ridge and other territories. Also
because of the number of casualties.








SEA:

The Battle of Dogger Bank
Date: December 16, 1914
Location: British North Sea coastal towns
Aggressor: German
Goal: Encouraged by success surprise attack on the British coastal towns
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
at Hartlepool and Scarborough.
Weapons: battlecruisers, torpedo boats, and flagships
Strategy &
tactics
break into two different scouting groups
Lead German ship, Seydlitz, was burned; 192 of its crew members
died only
Oldest and biggest, the Blucher, was sunk,
Defenders: British
Strategy &
Tactics:
ships would be able to outrun the British boats
Beatty's cruisers were faster than anticipated, however and caught
up to the Germans.
British flagship, HMS Lion, fired the Germans from 20,000 yards.

Victors & why?
British because Beatty withdrew back to Britain after he was unable to catch Hipper.
954 killed, 80 wounded, and 189 captured. (Germany). 15 sailors killed and 32 wounded. (
British).












The Battle of Jutland
Date: May 31,1916
Location: North Sea, near Denmark
Aggressor: German
Goal: to launch a surprise attack to defeat the British.
Weapons: U-boats, cruisers
Rabail Ali -1st period
WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Strategy &
tactics
Used air reconnaissance crafts to keep an eye on the British
movement.
Created intelligence unit located within the British Admiralty.
German navy chose not to confront the British Royal Navy about
the battle.
Use its lethal U-boat submarine at sea.
Defenders: British
Strategy &
Tactics:
With such a sudden attack, Beatty was forced to fight a delaying
action.

Victors & why?
Germany. Due Scheer's escape, Germany claimed it as a victory for their High Seas Fleet.
















The Raid on Zeebrugge
Date: April 23, 1918
Location: Zeebrugge, Belgium
Aggressor: British
Goal: Block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
Wanted to sink older British ships in the canal entrance, to prevent
German from leaving.
Weapons: U-boats, machine guns
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WII Project: Nature of 20
th
Century Wars
Strategy &
tactics
Planned in secrecy.
Made 75 ships from approval by the British Admiralty.
British cruiser Vindictive used to land 200 troops at the Bruges
Canal.
Troops were sent to destroy its shore batteries.
Defenders: German
Strategy &
Tactics:
The Germans did not do much operations from the port for more
than a few days.

Victors & why?
British casualties were 583 men and German losses were 24 men so British saw it as a heroic
victory.



A lot of technological developments came into existence because of WWI. They are listed
below:
The airplane
Grenade Launchers
Flame towers
Machine gun
Trench warfare
U boats (submarines)
Tanks
Poison gas