Hello, lovely history students!
The painting below is what you will be responding to for your Do Now. The painting is called "Gassed" and it is by British artist John Singer Sargent. Write a three (3) sentence response to the painting. For example, what does this painting make you think about The Great War?
I want to tell you how impressed I was with the class debates over the last two days. Well down, group!
Over the next couple of weeks we will be discussing the aftermath of The Great War, including the Peace Treaties and the League of Nations. Through our classwork and discussions, we will begin to determine whether or not the Peace Treaties were fair and if the outcomes of the Treaties would have a positive or negative impact on the future.
Today we will take notes on information about The Great War so we can have a context and understand what all the countries had experienced during the war. Here are some pictures, paintings, posters, and maps to help us understand what was happening.
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| A German poster from the First World War showing a heroic image of a frontline soldier. The poster was advertising a scheme to raise money for the German war effort. |
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| A map of the main front of The Great War. |
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| The Germans generally held better ground and had established their trenches in the early stages of war. Many of their dug-outs and machine-gun posts were reinforced with concrete which provided a stronger defense against artillery bombardment. |
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| A cross-section of a front-line trench. These were supported by much stronger reserve trenches and linked by communication trenches. German trenches were generally stronger and better constructed than Allied trenches. |
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| Trenches in the Somme (at left) in July 1916 and in Gueudecourt (at right) in December 1916. |
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| Cavalry (troops on horses) were suddenly out of the modern army. Once trenches were dug cavalry became too vulnerable to artillery and machine guns. In one particular cavalry charge only three out of 400 hundred horses survived. Even so, horses and mules remained vital for transporting supplies and equipment in the swamp-like conditions of the Western Front. |
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| "We see the attackers coming. Our machine guns rattle, rifles crack. We recognize the helmets of the attackers. They are French. They have already suffered heavily when they reach our barbed wire. We retreat. We leave bombs behind us in the trench. We hurl explosives at the feet of the enemy before we run. At last we reach one of our support trenches that is in somewhat better condition. It is manned and ready for the counter attack...Our guns open in full blast and stop the enemy attack...We counter attack. It does not come quite to hand to hand fighting; they are driven back. We arrive once again at our original shattered trench and pass on beyond it...Now we are so close on the heels of our retreating enemies that we reach their line almost at the same time as they do...But we cannot stay here long. We must retire under cover of our artillery to our own position..We get back pretty well. There is no further attack by the enemy." Adapted from All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel by Erich Maria Remarque. He was a German who fought on the Western Front, and was twice badly wounded. |
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| Tanks were invented by the British and first used at the Battle of Somme. They advanced ahead of the infantry, crushing barbed-wire defenses and spraying the enemy with machine-gun fire. They caused alarm among the Germans and raised the morale of the British troops. However, these first machine only moved at walking pace. They were not very maneuverable and very unreliable, and they blasted through enemy lines so quickly that the infantry could not keep up. By 1918 the Germans have figured out how to adapt field guns to fire at tanks and the tanks were hard to miss. |
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| A map of the major battles on the Western Front, 1915-1917. |
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| Airships used by the British aided in hunting for U-boats and escorting ships. German technology produced the Zeppelin; these airships were key weapons in the early war at sea. They were able to fly higher and faster than many early planes. |
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| A map of the naval battles in the North Sea and the North Sea Blockade. |
Discussion Questions:
Why were casualties so high on the Western Front?
Why had Russia left the war by January 1918?
How did the USA come to join the war? What difference did this make to the war effort?
Look at the British Empire Union cartoon below. Explain in your own words what the displayed cartoon is trying to say about 'the German'. Click here to submit your explanation.
Your homework for Tuesday/Wednesday has to deal with the following quote:
"If I am elected, Germany is going to pay...I have personally no doubt we will get everything that you can squeeze out of a lemon, and a bit more. I propose that every bit of [German-owned] property, movable and immovable, in Allied and neutral countries, whether State property or private property, should be surrendered by the Germans."
Sir Eric Geddes, a government minister, speaking to a rally
in the general election campaign, December 1918.
This quote comes from a speech in the 1918 British general election campaign. At the end of the speech Geddes holds a question time. What questions do you think might be asked, or what criticism or comments might be made?
Thank you for a great class! Remember to get all your questions answered before you leave the room. If you need extra help, come see me during Learning Lab, before or after school!
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