The failure of the German Schlieffen plan to attack and overrun the French defence led to the deadlock which served as a potential barrier towards both the Allies as well as the Central Powers. Attempts from both sides were made to break this insurmountable obstacle. However after four years of bloody battling the Allies were finally able to break through the German resistance. During these four years, campaigns and defensive measures, as well as counter-offensive movements were taken by both sides. They were either to resist against enemy attacks or was initiated in an attempt to break the ‘deadlock’. Most evident procedures which demonstrate such an endeavour would be the Battle of Gallipoli, the Battle of the Somme and rapid technological advancement in armaments of both The Allies and the Central Powers to further pressurize and simply defeat the enemy.
The Battle of Gallipoli took place between April and December 1915 at Gallipoli. The Allies’ intention was to open up a new front in an attempt to break the deadlock. In November 1914, Winston Churchill suggested a naval assault on the Dardanelles in the hope of being able to secure a swift victory hoping in addition to bring Bulgaria to the Allied side. Churchill’s proposal of the Gallipoli plan was a complete failure, as most of the battleships which advanced through the narrow straits of the Dardanelles were damaged by sea mines. In April 1915, British troops finally managed to disembark at Gallipoli under the support of voluntary forces from Australian and New Zealand. The early battles fought at Gallipoli were the Battles of Krithia and Gully Ravine. WERE ARE YOUR SOURCES? One of the first offensive movements taken by the New Zealand and Australian divisions happened during the evening of the 2nd of May. They were ordered to attack Baby 700 by their commanders General Godley and John Monash, but were forced to retreat the following night having suffered over 1,000 casualties. The third battle of Krithia took place on the 4th of June. All previous plans for assault on Gallipoli had been disbanded and both sides returned to trench warfare. Casualties from this battle were estimated at around 25% of their full military strength. The British suffered a loss of 4,500 men. [1] During August 1915, futile battles between the Turks and Allies for territorial supremacy continued with both sides suffering heavy casualties. At the Battle of Chunuk Bair for example, out of “760 men of the New Zealander’s Wellington Battalion who managed to reach the summit, 711 were shot and wounded.” From just these few battle at Gallipoli we are able to notice the Allies leaders’ willingness to sacrifice men just for the chance of being able to advance inland and claim territory. The Allies’ casualties at Gallipoli were 141,113 whilst the Ottoman Empire reported 195,000 dead or wounded. In conclusion the Allies attempt to open a new front in the Dardanelles illustrated many of the incompetence’s of senior leadership. In not checking for mines they delayed the battle fleet moving into position and so being able to fully support the landing. Further failure in planning and lack of concern for human life led to horrendous casualties in order to advance the battle front a few hundred yards.
The Battle of the Somme was the Allies’ second attempt to break the deadlock. It was a joint operation between the French and British. The plan was created by the French Commander in Chief Joseph Joffre with approval from Sir Douglas Haig. Douglas Haig had replaced Sir John French as the British Expeditionary Force commander. Haig desired an offensive in Flanders to push the Germans out of Belgium. In February 1916 French commander Joffre and Haig decided to combine British and French forces in an attack on the Somme River in Picardy. However after the Germans attacked Verdun on 21st February 1916, the French troops committed themselves to defending Verdun rather than attacking the Somme. Haig took control of this operation along with the help of several other generals, including Sir Henry Rawlinson, Edmund Allenby and Fayolle. Douglas Haig formulated a new strategy which was an eight day artillery bombardment in order to annihilate the frontward defences. At this time, Haig commanded 27 divisions which included 750,000 men. This army was to attack the German front line which contained 14 divisions. It was believed that the eight days of artillery bombardment would be sufficient to destroy the barbed wire and defending German troops so allowing the Allies army to move forward untroubled. Proof? The Germans however had built strong deep trenches and were able to sit out the bombardment with little effect on their defensive positions. This plus their high ground gave them considerable advantages over the Allies. At 7:30 am on the 1st of July, 1916, the French and British troops attacked. On the first day the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) suffered enormous losses. In total there were 58,000 casualties with a third of them being fatal. Haig wasn’t discouraged and ordered Rawlinson to continue his attack on the Germans. Rawlinson’s Fourth Army attacked a total of forty six times with casualties reaching 25,000. While the French 6th army advanced 10 km on a 20 km wide front, securing Flaucourt Plateau capturing 85 cannons, 100 machine guns and other sorts of weaponry and 20,000 prisoners. Haig’s strategy was to continuously pressurize the German forces while the French Generals Joffre and Foch believed in conserving their military strength in preparation for a final blow. The capturing of the town of Pozieres on the 23rd of July was a small success, though they were unable to capture the neighbouring German encampment. General Alfred Micheler and the Tenth Army joined the battle at Flers Courcelette. He and the 12th Division using tanks for the first time managed to advance a distance of 3.2km. Four and a half months after the 31st Division attacked Serre they were ordered to do it again. Towards the south of Serre, the 51st Division took control of Beaumont Hamel and the 63rd Division took Beaucourt. On the 18th of November, there was a final attack on the Munich and Frankfurt trenches and final drive onwards to Grandcourt. 90 men from the Allies 16th Battalion were stopped in the Frankfurt trench. Half of them were killed and a further 30 of them wounded. They eventually surrendered ending the Battle of the Ancre and of the Somme. There was no true victor in the Battle of the Somme as both sides suffered heavy casualties. From the 1st of July, the British had advanced approximately two miles while losing around 420,000 men. The French lost 200,000 men and the Germans lost 500,000 men.[2] [3] As British historian Gary Sheffield said: “The battle of the Somme was not a victory in itself, but without it the Entente would not have emerged victorious in 1918.” [4] As British historian Gary Sheffield states the Battle of the Somme was the key event for victory of the Entente in 1918. Although there was no true victor, it was a major attempt by the Allies to break through German lines.
Technological advancement led to the creation and manufacturing of superior weaponry and vehicles, which it was believed would result in breaking the stalemate. New technology such as aeroplanes, poison gas, tanks, flame-throwers, U-boats and many other innovations were introduced during the war, some with significant impact. Poisonous gas was first introduced on the afternoon of 22 April 1915 at the second battle of Ypres. The poisonous gas used here was chlorine gas and this was the first time it was used effectively in war. Over the following three years both sides used poisonous gas as a weapon to terrify and kill large numbers of the enemy. Gases such as chlorine, diphosgene, and phosgene all made breathing difficult. Dichlorethlysulphide another gas which burned the skin and caused short-term blindness and when inhaled the person will die from pneumonia and also benzyl bromide. [5].The Germans used about 68,000 tones while the British and French used 51,000 from April 1915 until the end of war. In total, around 1,200,000 men from both sides were affected by the poisonous gas and 91,198 died.Source? The flame-thrower or flammenwerfer in German was first used during a surprise attack on British forces at the Hooge in Flanders at 03:15 am on 30 July 1915. There were two types of flammerwerfer, one of which was lighter, the Kleinflammenwerfer and another which was of a larger model, the Grossflammenwerfer. On the 31st and 32nd of July THERE IS NO JULY 32!!! during the German flammenwerfer assaults, the British lost 31 officers and 751 men of other ranks. The British later created four two ton flame-throwers in preparation for the Somme offensive. The French manufactured their own lightweight Schilit flame-throwers. Towards the end of war, they were extensively used on tanks.
The British invention, the tank, was a major mechanical innovation. They first saw action on the 15th of September 1916 in an offensive at Flers. The attack appeared to be successful, stunning the German oppositions. But how were they intended to break the deadlock? You tend to give one way and explain its use rather than explain how it was meant to break the deadlock which the question specifically asks for. Tanks however often broke down and were incapable of crossing large open trenches or ditches. To this end the British developed a means whereby the tanks carried a small bridge they could unroll from on top of the tank. On 20th November 1917, at the Battle of Cambrai the British tanks showed their true capability. Once the battle started they raced over German lines and occupied twelve miles of German front capturing 10,000 Germans, 123 guns and 281 machine guns; flattening barbed-wire, crossing trenches and operated as a shield for the advancing British infantry. Tanks later served as a vital vehicle in the advancement of the Allies throughout 1918.[6] Many other innovative vehicles and weapons were used in the war including the Zeppelin. Further the German U-Boats served as a constant fear during the Allies naval convoys and other military shipping. The purpose for creating these weapons was to have an advantage against your enemy on the battleground. For both sides, the new technology was used to secure victories in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Both the Allied forces and the Central powers suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Gallipoli as well as the Battle of the Somme. This demonstrates a misconstrued attempt to break the deadlock. Further attempts to break the First World War military deadlock came in the rapid introduction of new means of fighting through armaments.
At times more narrative than a clear argument as to how the attempts tried to specifically break the deadlock. I need more use of citation.
| Mark awarded > | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Criterion A: Knowledge | Each paragraph contains relevant evidence. | Each paragraph contains evidence, but not all evidence is relevant | There are several pieces of evidence, but not in each paragraph. | There are 1-2 pieces of evidence in the essay. | There is no evidence in the essay |
| Criterion B: Concepts | Understand the key terms and apply them correctly ESPECIALLY LAST TWO SENTENCES | Understand some key-terms | Tries to use the proper key terms (Industrialism, urbanisation, etc.) | Uses wrong key terms | There are no keywords, and poor understand of the topic. |
| Criterion C: Skills | Analysis in all paragraphs, Explanations all strong. | Analysis in all paragraphs, but Explanations are weak or missing. ESP. BEGINNING | Some attempts have been made at analysis. | The essay is a narrative. It is telling a story. | The essay is neither a narrative nor an analysis. |
| Criterion D: Organisation and presentation | The essay makes perfect use of P –E – E in all paragraphs | The essay is divided into paragraphs, with attempts of P – E – E | The essay is attempted divided into paragraphs. | The essay is not divided into paragraphs | The essay has incorrect or missing title The essay is too short. (min. 2 pgs.) |
[1] http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gallipoli#Footnotes
[2] http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme
[3] http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWsomme.htm
[4] http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme
[5] DK Eyewitness World War I page 44-45
[6] http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/tanks.htm
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