Online+Learning+-+WWI


 * World War I & the Russian Revolution **
 * [[image:ferdunandcar.jpg]] ||
 * **And So Begins WWI**

**The Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, moments before they were gunned down by a Bosnian nationalist in Serajevo, on June 28, 1914. Under torture, the assassin confessed that he had been trained by the Serbian secret police, prompting Austria to declare war on Serbia. Russia quickly moved to defend Serbia, and WWI began.** ||

** I. Questions to ponder. . . ** **1) Who were the members of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente? Why did each member decide to join each alliance?**

**2) Give two examples of how nationalism played a part in creating WWI. (Check out the British WWI recruiting poster on the "Images of WWI" web page as well.**

**3) Why did the war bog down on the Western Front?**

**4) How do you account for the huge numbers of Casualties in WWI? (what was so different about this war?)**

**5) What role did the Ottoman Empire play in WWI?**

**6) Why in the end did the members of the Triple Entente win WWI?**

**7) Who were the major players/nations at the Paris Peace conference? Why was the treaty of Versailles a bad peace treaty.**

**8) What were the causes of the March Revolution in 1917 that overthrew the government of Czar Nicholas II?**

**9) Lenin managed to attract many Russians to his ideas. What were his ideas, and who were the Russians that found his ideas attractive (and why???)were the Russian**

**10) How did the Russian revolution of November 1917 differ from the Russian Revolution of March 1917?**

**11) Was Stalin true to Lenin’s vision of a Marxist state?**

**II. Fast facts on WWI & the Russian Revolution:**

III. Reading s about WWI & the Russian Revolution: || **British war poet Wilfred Owen 1893-1917 Owen, a British officer, saw heavy fighting on the western front.** **He died in combat, shortly before the war ended. Read his poem below, and contrast his perception of the soldier's experience and the war with those being depicted in the two British recruiting posters issued at the beginning of the war.** **Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria mori (it is sweet and beautiful to die for one's country)** ** Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of disappointed shells that dropped behind .** ||  G**AS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime.-- Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.**  **In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.**  **If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.** ||
 * || [[image:Owen2.gif]]

** IV. Websites on WWI & the Russian Revolution: ** **Outstanding website on WWI everything you need to know!! This web site follows developments up to & during WWI with links to more info on everything. Great place to start learning more about WWI ** ** V. Some good videos & music dealing withWWI & the Russian Revolution: **|| ** Check out this video for some rare video footage taken on the western front during WWI, shows French, British & German troops ** || ** Music was used during WWI to whip up nationalistic support for the war and to keep the fighting spirit of the men in the trenches and those back home high. As America got involved in the war in 1917, tunesmiths helped out the war effort. Click on the link below to listen to a popular WWI American song, written in 1917 by George M. Cohan. **
 * The web sites on the Battle of the Somme & Verdun are especially good for gaining an understanding of why WWI was so bloody & casualties so high **
 * Battle of the Somme Battle of the Somme>>one of the most horrific & deadliest battles of all time. Summer, 1916 on the Western Front. **   **Battle of Verdun Battle of Verdun>>the most horrific & deadliest battle on the western front. Summer 1916 **   **Vintage photos from WWI Vintage photos from WWI mostly from front lines; shows toll in human lives, towns & material **   ** Learn more about the British Experience in WWI Interactive maps, article and good stuff  **   ** Check out the Smithsonian's great interactive exhibit of World War I.  **
 * || Combat footage from WWI--grim ||
 * ** Music was used during WWI to whip up nationalistic support for the war and to keep the fighting spirit of the men in the trenches and those back home high. As America got involved in the war in 1917, tunesmiths helped out the war effort. Click on the link below to listen to a popular WWI American song, written in 1917 by George M. Cohan. ** ||
 * Over There ||

**Images of World War I**  **1 How did ships like the HMS Dreadnought work to push Europe closer to war? How is this battleship an expression of nationalism???** ** 2 The pre-war system of alliances. Why did each of these countries join the particular alliance that it entered into? **
 * [[image:Hist%20102%20HMS%20Dreadnought%201906.jpg width="444" height="334"]] ||
 * **HMS Dreadnought 1906 This British battleship revolutionized naval warfare. It was the first battleship fitted with steam driven turbine engines, which gave it a top speed of 21 knots per hour, and a crusing range of 7,600 miles. In addition to speed and range, this ship packed a tremendous punch. She was outfitted with 5 batteries of two 12" guns. Each of these guns was capable of throwing an 850 lb shell more than 10 miles with deadly accuracy. Battleships of this class quickly rendered obsolete all previous battleships. The naval arms race was on, as all the major industrialized nations of Europe quickly began to replace their outdated mainline battleships with these bruisers.** **Why?? Because the country with the biggest naval controlled the seas, and this control was crucial during the age of 19th & early 20th century European imperialism. Nationalism too demanded that each country be able to boast a navy whose backbone was made up of these warships.** ||
 * [[image:europe%20alliances.png width="504" height="394"]] ||
 * The major alliances in Europe on the eve of World War I ||

**3 British recruiting posters for WWI, issued between 1015-1916. How are themes of nationalism and patriotism used in these two posters to convince young British men to join the army?**


 * [[image:WWI_enlist_today.jpg width="210" height="255"]] || [[image:WWI_poster_brave_lads.jpg width="198" height="255"]] ||
 * **Posters such as this one were widely used to recruit men into the military during WWI** || **Themes of patriotism, valour, and courage were widely played upon to prod wavering men to join the army** ||


 * [[image:western%20front.png width="551" height="429"]] ||
 * The Western Front 1914-1918 ||


 * [[image:trench1.jpg width="292" height="225"]][[image:trench2.jpg width="292" height="189"]] ||  ||
 * **Life in the trenches along the western front in WWI. By early 1915, the firepower that both sides brought to bear on their opponents had caused soldiers to "dig in", in order to escape the murderous fire of machine guns, mortars and artillery. This entrenchment however, took away any possibility of maneuvering or achieving a decisive breakthrough.** ||  ||


 * [[image:eastern%20front.jpg width="578" height="451"]] ||
 * The Eastern Front 1914-1918 ||

__Popular music during the time of The Great War__ **The Horrific cost in lives of WWI**
 * [[image:Hist%20102%20Vickers%20Machine%20gun%20crew%20with%20gas%20mask.jpg width="504" height="273"]] ||
 * ** British Machine gun grew WWI c. 1916 Shown here is the Vicker's Machine gun, the direct descendant of the Maxim machine gun. It could fire between 450-600 rounds per minute, or 10,000 rounds per hour. It never jammed, it never quit. ** ||
 * Over There ||
 * "Over There" was written in 1917 by George M. Cohan about the "Yanks" (Americans) going "over there" (across the Atlantic) to help fight the "Huns" (Germans) during World War I. ||
 * [[image:CH%20images%20of%20the%20battle%20of%20the%20Somme.jpg width="195" height="240"]] || [[image:CH%20images%20of%20the%20battle%20of%20the%20Somme2.jpg width="230" height="194"]] ||
 * ** British Soldiers in trench at the Battle of the Somme, summer 1916 **
 * In six months of fighting at this battle the British would lose more than 420,000 casualties (killed & wounded) **
 * For more images, click here** The Bloody Battle of the Somme || ** Going over the top into no man's land at the battle of the Somme Summer, 1916 The first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British suffered 60,000 casualites. This was more dead and wounded in one day than the entire 3 day total of Union & Confederate casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg. And this was just the first day of the battle. ** ||

It is very difficult for Americans to grasp the horrific carnage that occurred during WWI. On both the Eastern and Western fronts, the slaughter was tremendous. Check out the statistics in the table below dealing with the casualties from WWI, and compare these with the American experience in war.

WWII (Normandy Beach) June 6, 1944 || 3,184 || 1,465 || 1,928 || 6,603 || First Day, July 1, 1916 British Casualties || 38,470 || 19,000 || 2,152 || 57,470 ||
 * Battle || Wounded || Dead || Captured/ Missing || Total ||
 * ** For Comparison ** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3 1863 American Civil War || 27,224 || 7,863 || 11,199 || 46,286 ||
 * Total U.S. military casualties WWII || 671,846 || 416,000 || 130,000 || 1,217,846 ||
 * D-Day invasion
 * U.S. military casualties Vietnam 1963-1973 || 153,303 || 58,120 || 2,550 || 213,973 ||
 * ** WWI ** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Battle of Somme
 * Battle of Somme July-Nov 1916 All Belligerents || 778,421 || 310,486 ||  || 1,088,907 ||
 * Battle of Verdun Feb-Dec 1916 France & Germany || 451,923 || 262,308 ||  || 714,231 ||
 * Total British Casualties WWI || 1,663,435 || 886,939 ||  || 2,550,374 ||
 * Total French Casualties || 4,266,000 || 1,397,800 ||  || 5,663,800 ||
 * Total German Casualties || 4,247,143 || 2,050,897 ||  || 6,298,040 ||
 * Total Russian Casualties || 4,950,000 || 2,254,369 ||  || 7,204,369 ||
 * Total U.S. Casualties || 205,690 || 116,516 ||  || 322,398 ||