Chapter 29.2

Tank

The tank was an armored combat vehicle that moved on chain tracks---and thus could cross many types of terrain. It was introduced by the British in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme.

Poison Gas

Soldiers wore masks to protect themselves from the poison gas. Gas was introduced by the Germans but used by both sides. Some gases caused blindness or severe blisters, others death by choking.

First Battle of Marne

Although it was only the first major clash on the Western Front, the First Battle of Marne was perhaps the single most important event of the war. The defeat of the Germans left the Schlieffen Plan in ruins.

Western Front

As the summer of 1919 turned to fall, the war turned into a long and bloody stalemate, or deadlock, along the battlefields of France. The deadlocked region in northern France became known as the Western Front.

Trench Warfare

By early 1915, opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire. This set stage for what became known as 'trench warfare'. In this type of warfare, soldiers fought each other from trenches. Life in the the trenches was pure misery. The trenches swarmed in rats, fresh food was nonexistent, and sleep was nearly impossible.

Eastern Front

Even as the war on the Western Front claimed thousands of lives, both sides were sending millions more men to fight on the Eastern Front. This area was a stretch of battlefield along the German and Russian border. Here, Russians and Serbs battled Germans and Austro-Hungarians. The war in the east was a more mobile war than that in the west.

Schlieffen Plan

Facing a war on two fronts, Germany had developed a battle strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan, named after the designer 'General Alfred Graf von Schlieffen'. The plan called for attacking and defeating France in the west and then rushing east to fight Russia. The Germans felt they could carry out such a plan because Russia lagged behind the rest of Europe in its railroad system and thus would take longer to supply its front lines. Nonetheless, speed was vital to the Schlieffen Plan. German leaders knew they needed a quick victory over France.

Submarine

In 1914, the Germans introduced the submarine as an effective warship. The submarine's primary weapon against ships was the torpedo, an underwater missile. By 1916, Russia's war effort was near collapse. Unlike the nations of western Europe, Russia had yet to become industrialized. As a result, the Russian army was continually short on food, guns, ammunition, clothes, boots, and blankets. Moreover, the Allied supply shipments to Russia were sharply limited by German control of the Baltic Sea, combined with Germany's relentless submarine campaign in the North Sea and beyond. In the south, the Ottomans still controlled the straits leading from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

Allied Powers

The Allied Powers were an allied force consisting of Great Britain, France, Russia, and Japan. Later, Italy joined. Italy was originally with the Central Powers, but left once they accused the Central Powers of unjustly starting the war.

Central Powers

The Central Powers were an allied force consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

Machine Gun

The machine gun, which fires ammunition automatically, was much improved by the time of World War 1. The gun could wipe out waves of attackers and thus made it difficult for forces to advance.