Keywords/concepts

War on the Western Front – knowledge organiser

Schlieffen Plan The German plan to avoid war The Schlieffen Plan The Western Front
on two fronts
The German plan for war devised in 1906 to avoid a After the Germans failed to capture Paris and were held
Stalemate Where neither side is making back after the Battle of the Marne in 1914, both sides ‘dug
advances in ground
war on two fronts.
in’ a long line of trenches; the Western Front.
Aims:
Race to the sea The race on both sides to get around • Surprise attack on France who will be easily
the enemy, controlling the ports on
the coast defeated within 6 weeks.
Trench warfare As a result of stalemate, neither • Attack France through Belgium, who won’t
side advances and so digs into resist the German advance.
permanent trenches • Defeat France and march East before Russia
The BEF The British Expeditionary
will have had chance to mobilise.
Force; Britain’s small but
well-trained army • Britain will remain neutral after promising
Conscription Every able-bodied young man to defend Belgium.
has to fight; introduced to What went wrong:
Britain in 1916
• Belgian forces resisted German invasion.
Attrition warfare Attempting to beat the
• Russian troops mobilised in just 10 days
enemy by bombarding them
into submission • France held the Germans back from taking
Going over the top Leaving the trenches to go Paris
into no man’s land towards • Britain declared war on Germany for
enemy trenches refusing to withdraw from Belgium

Timeline of key events July-Nov. 1916

Nov.-Dec. 1917
The Battle of the Somme
May 1915 The Battle of Cambrai
12-15 Sept. 1914 France desperately need Br to
Second Battle of Ypres First time a successful
Both sides ‘dig in’ relieve pressure. Successful use
German army successfully attack was launched using
and trench of German machine guns meant
use gas in an attack a division of tanks.
warfare is born huge losses for Britain

4-9 Sept. 1914 Nov. 1914 Nov. 1914 Feb-Dec 1916 June - Nov. 1917
German advance Both sides try to outflank The British Navy successfully The Battle of Verdun The Battle of Passchendaele
halted at the each and race to the sea. block key ports in Germany. This German attempts at ‘Mud and blood’ is the most
Battle of the The Western front naval blockade restricts the attrition warfare against common phrase associated
Marne becomes long lines of amount of goods able to be French mean huge with Passchendaele as 300,000
trenches imported to Germany. casualties for both sides. BEF soldiers are casualties
 War on the Western Front – knowledge organiser
Recruitment Life in the trenches Boredom – life in trenches was Letters – writing Shell shock – the constant fear of
repetitive and boring with little home was one of bombardment and snipers bullets brought
Britain hugely underestimated how many soldiers Hygiene – soldiers often went stimulation. There were long the few releases on crippling paranoia as soldiers struggle
would be required for the new modern weeks without washing periods of waiting around. to cope mentally with their surroundings.
from the boredom
warfare. By the end of 1914, the BEF
suffered heavy casualties. Food – the repetitive nature of the bland
food added to the sense of boredom. Stale
biscuits, tinned beef and tea were
Lord Kitchener was charged with raising a new army common food rations for soldiers. They
and asked for British volunteers. By January 1915 over 1 received chocolate and cigarettes from
million men had volunteered. home.

Conscription Trench foot – exposure to wet and muddy

conditions meant that soldiers feet
From January 1916, Britain conscripted men into the became cracked and raw. The British
armed forces (meaning they had to fight). Over 1.5 realised early on how important feet were
million men were conscripted between 1916-1918. and enforced strict care of socks and feet
amongst British soldiers.

Key battles Weapons The new and unknown world of trench warfare led
to a development in new weapons

Battle of the Marne Battle of Verdun Battle of the Somme Battle of Passchendaele Artillery Machine Gun
(1914) (1916) (1916) (1917) Pros: Huge guns capable of Pros: Capable of causing huge
destroying barbed wire, clearing destruction, killing many
Aim: For the Germans to Aim: German plan for Aim: Relieve the pressure Aim: Allies tried to take
the way for an offensive soldiers from within a trench
break through and take attrition warfare against Fr. from the French at Verdun. important land near Ypres
Paris Casualties: 143,000 Fr Casualties: 146,000 Allied Casualties: 450,000 Allied Cons: At the beginning of the Cons: heavy and clumsy to set
Casualties: 500,000 162,000 Ger 164,000 Ger 410,000 Ger war, it was difficult to up in mobile attacks; had to be
Effects: Germany Effects: Though a victory Effects: The mud and angle/coordinate artillery securely set up
Effects: The Germans
targeted Verdun as it held for the allies, this battle casualties were enormous
failed to break through to
sentimental value. The produced huge losses for but this battle was a Tanks
Paris and were held up by Gas
Aim was to draw out Fr Britain. The initial decisive blow to Pros: Highly toxic with the Pros: Large and powerful, capable
the French forces and
troops and destroy them bombardment failed and Germany’s fighting ability to disable large armies of leading full charges very
BEF. This led to the race effectively whilst protecting
with bombardment. The on the first day alone power. Britain effectively
to the sea and the soldiers
result was heavy Fr losses 57,000 British soldiers developed the ‘bite and Cons: Difficult to control the
development of direction of the drift. Effectively Cons: Initially large and clunky,
but also huge German died. The Somme was hold technique’.
stalemate and digging of difficult to control and very
successful in relieving combatted by creating gas
losses. Fr came very close temperamental. Early models
trenches. masks
to losing the war. pressure from France. broke down frequently