Course of WWI with Effects of World War I on the Role and Status of Women

Second Battle of Ypres

(April 22-May 25, 1915) In this battle, the Germans were driven back from the outskirts of this Belgian market town which they had conquered in September 1914. (They had been pushed out of the town itself between October 12 and November 11, 1914) The advance was not particularly significant. What was significant was that the Germans used poison gas for the first time (chlorine gas). Ironically, although the gas cleared the French and British trenches, the residue also prevented the Germans from making significant progress. In the end, the 1st Canadian Division reformed the line.

Verdun

(February-December 1916) This was a German offensive against a French fortress that had significant psychological value to the French people. The German commander, von Falkenhayn, hoped to capture the fortress, but he admitted that even if the Germans failed to capture it, the French would throw so many men into battle to defend it that the Germans would "bleed them white". This is a famous example of the "strategy" of attrition. In the end, the Germans and French each suffered about 400,000 casualties, and since the Germans had fewer men to lose, it was an unsuccessful battle for them.

Somme

(July-November 1916) This was an offensive launched by the British on the Western Front in an attempt to take the pressure off Verdun. It took place along a 50 km front. It is significant because tanks were used for the first time. In the end, the furthest advance the British managed was 4km. There were 418,000 British casualties, 650,000 German casualties and 194,000 French casualties.

Battle of Cambrai

(November 20-December 3, 1917) British and Australian forces using tanks achieved an 8km advance. This demonstrated the potential of the tank as an offensive weapon. However, many of the tanks broke down and the Germans were able to regain much of the territory.

Battle of Loos

(Sept, 25-Oct 14, 1915) In this battle, the British tried to use chlorine gas, but the wind changed, blowing the gas back on their own troops, some of whom had taken off their gas masks because they had fogged up, thus exposing them. This is a classic example of the ineffectiveness of poison gas in World War I.

Battle of the Marne

(September 9, 1914) French and British troops managed to halt the advance of the Germans at this key battle. (The Germans were exhausted and low on supplies and some of the French soldiers had been transported rapidly from Paris by taxis). It marks the failure of the Schlieffen Plan and the beginning of the "race to the sea" as each side tried to outflank the other. This was followed by years of stalemate on the Western Front.

Criticisms directed at women in war jobs during World War I

- Changes to dress such as leaving off corsets, shortening skirts or wearing overalls were seen as unfeminine. - Some were criticised for spending their wages on frivolous things like pretty clothes. - Their general independence was seen as "masculine". - Employing women freed up male factory workers, making them liable to be sent to the front lines. - Women could be paid lower wages, which threatened men's wages and their future employment. - Employment of inexperienced women was an excuse to mechanize more of the production process, threatening men's future employment. - Women moving in to men's jobs were inexperienced, and therefore less productive at first. - Many women had heavy responsibilities as housekeepers and mothers in addition to long hours of work for low wages, which affected their health and productivity.

Evidence that World War I contributed to women's suffrage

- The demands of war caused everyone in combatant countries to acknowledge the vital role of women. Propaganda reinforced this message, subtly encouraging support for votes for women. - Women in most countries involved in the war received the vote shortly after the war. - In Canada, the vote was given to women who were wives or mothers of serving soldiers in 1917 in order to bolster support for a conscription law. It was a natural progression to expand the franchise to all women after the war. - There is a direct link between the war and the Russian Revolution and the German Revolution, which brought about women's suffrage.

Evidence suggesting women's suffrage was not entirely due to the war.

-Much of the credit must go the the pre-war suffrage movements. -Women could vote before the war in Norway, Finland, New Zealand and part of Australia. Several other places allowed women to vote in local elections, but not at the national level. -The Netherlands was neutral in WWI, but they also granted women's suffrage in 1919, suggesting the war was not he only factor. -In several countries the war brought parties to power that had long endorsed women's suffrage. Therefore suffrage for women was part of a platform, not a single issue: i.e. Ebert in Germany and Lloyd George in the UK. -In France, women didn't get the vote until 1944, although French women had given more than most.

Problems for women in communist Russia

-There remained a "glass ceiling" as in most countries. -Jobs traditionally considered "men's work" were still paid more than traditionally female jobs, resulting in a persistent wage gap for women, although women and men did at least get the same pay for identical work. -Women were still expected to do the cooking, housework and child care. This was particularly tough in the USSR because industry was prioritized over housing and consumer goods, and there were chronic shortages of food and other necessities. Even in 1953, 2/3 of Russian households had no running water and only 3% had hot water.

Reasons why few women were given opportunities to "upskill" and became craftswomen

1) Their jobs were seen as temporary, so there was no point. 2) It would require diverting skilled male workers and employer's resources to training, which wasn't practical in wartime. 3) Many women had little free time because of domestic responsibilities.

Examples of countries granting women's suffrage during or immediately after the war.

1917 Canada, Russia 1918 Austria, Germany, Poland, UK (The UK only gave the vote to women over 30 - younger women got the vote in 1928) 1919 Luxembourg, The Netherlands 1920 Albania, Czechoslovakia, USA

Number of U-boats sunk in 1918

69

Gallipoli

A 1915 British campaign aimed at driving Turkey out of the war and reopening Russia's supply lines through the Dardanelles, as well as opening a new front against Austria-Hungary. Most of the soldiers involved were from Australia and New Zealand. The campaign suffered from severe lack of coordination between army and navy as well as between different commanders and ran into fierce and determined Turkish resistance. In the end, nothing was gained and 250,00 men were dead, wounded or captured.

Edith Cavell

A British Red Cross nurse who was accused of helping British prisoners escape. She was executed by the Germans in 1915, which outraged British and French. She was held up in propaganda as an example of a woman taking a public role and making a patriotic contribution to the war effort in solidarity with men. This helped to shape attitudes about women's participation in public life.

Lusitania

A British passenger ship running between New York and the UK. It was also carrying rifle ammunition for the British army in its cargo hold (although the British and Americans did not admit this). Although the German embassy had placed advertisements in American newspapers warning passengers not to travel on the ship, 1,959 passengers embarked. On this date, a German submarine sank it and 1,195 people died, including 128 Americans. The outrage this caused prompted the German government to stop sinking passenger ships for a while, but in February 1917 they announced that they would resume the practice. Also, they pledged that even American ships headed for British and French ports would be sunk. This decision, coupled with ongoing anger over this incident, led to the American declaration of war on Germany.

Chlorine Gas

A chemical weapon used in World War I. It causes burning of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, and, at high concentrations can cause the lungs to fill with water, leading to slow death by drowning. It was first used by the Germans at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. It was somewhat effective, especially at first, but could be countered by a wet cloth held over the eyes and nose (or a urine-soaked cloth). Also, the gas residue slowed the advance of the attackers. By July 1915, most troops were issued with gas masks and the race was on to discover worse gases and better masks. By September, 1915, the British were also using this as a weapon.

Hindenburg Line

A heavily fortified line of defenses in northeastern France to which the Germans retreated in February 1917. This made it almost impossible for the allies to make any advances.

Caporetto

A major battle between Italy and Austria-Hungary in October 1917. The Italians were forced to retreat 110 km and had to be helped by Britain and France.

Treaty of London

A secret treaty between Italy, Britain and France in 1915 by which Italy joined the war in return for Austria- Hungary's Italian-speaking provinces and territory on the Eastern shore of the Adriatic. After the war, the USA prevented Italy from receiving everything she was promised, causing resentment. The entry of Italy forced A-H to deploy half its forces against the Italians.

Zimmerman Telegram

A telegram sent by the Foreign Secretary of Germany to the German Ambassador to Mexico in January 1917. It suggested a military alliance against the USA. It was intercepted and decoded by the British and then published in American newspapers, causing outrage and helping to provoke the American entry into World War I.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

A treaty ending the war between Russia and Germany. It was signed at Lenin's insistence in March 1918. Trotsky had not wanted to sign it, considering the terms too harsh. Russia lost (one sixth of its population, 27% of its farmland, 26% of its railways and 74% of its iron ore and coal mines. They got the Ukraine and Belorussia back after Germany lost the war in 1919.

Total War

A war with the following characteristics: - Governments use all weapons and tactics at their disposal to achieve victory, no matter how destructive or morally questionable. - The aim is total victory - no compromise peace is possible. - All the resources of the country are mobilized for the war effort. Governments take control of the economy, rationing goods and labour and telling factories what to produce (the factories might remain in private hands, but production is dictated by law, not supply and demand. - The whole population is mobilized for the war effort. Women are usually encouraged or even conscripted to take non-traditional roles, men are conscripted into the army. There is conscription of labour. Attacks on civilians are also sanctioned on the grounds that they play a role in the enemy's war effort.

Propaganda

All of the combatants censored the media and used extensive political advertising campaigns to convince their people that their motives for entering the war were pure, to convince their people that they were winning the war, and to convince their people that the other side was evil. For example, Britain created a "Ministry of Information" solely to focus on this political advertising. One of the stories they put out was that German soldiers were throwing Belgian babies in the air and catching them on their bayonets. This helped to keep the armies fighting and also made it impossible to negotiate a compromise peace. Another side effect was that, when rumours of Nazi atrocities spread during World War II, people tended to assume they were false.

Armistice

An agreement to stop fighting in World War I. It took effect at 11:00 on November 11, 1918. Among other things, Germany agreed to withdraw from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace-Lorraine and all its conquests on the Eastern Front. German troops had to withdraw from all territory west of a line 50 km east of the Rhine River. They had to renounce the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest and hand over their fleet and other weapons. In addition, the British blockade continued until the treaty was signed in June of 1919.

Depth charges

Anti-submarine bombs designed to explode at a set depth. The first effective models were developed in 1916. They helped reduce the threat to shipping posed by submarines.

Examples of allied offensives in 1917 in which no progress was made

Arras (April 9-14, 1817), Aisne (April 16-20, 1917), Passchendaele -AKA Third Ypres- (July-November 1917)

Zeppelins

At the beginning of the war, these were the most reliable aircraft. The British used their version to escort ships and spot for U boats. The Germans used theirs to drop bombs on British cities, killing several hundred people. Eventually, air defenses improved to the point that it was not safe to use these highly flammable craft. The fact that these weapons were deployed against civilian targets was an important turning point in World War I and one of the indicators that it was a "total war".

Fertility

Birth rates in every industrialized country fell steadily between the wars. This is probably not due to the war. Vaccinations and improved medicine meant that more children were surviving to adulthood, and children were becoming more expensive to raise as child labour laws and mandatory education became the norm. This development caused most couples to take steps to limit their families to three or four children. This freed women from constant pregnancy and child care, but also caused a backlash. Many countries blamed working women for what they saw as a dangerous drop in fertility. The reactions in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain were very strong, but even Nazi Germany didn't succeed in convincing couples to return to pre-WWI family sizes.

Creeping Barrage

By the end of the war, it had become possible to target artillery more precisely. The British worked out this technique of detonating the artillery shells just in front of the advancing troops, so the smoke obscured them from the Germans, and then advancing the line of shells as the infantry advanced so that they hit the enemy trenches just before the artillery arrived. This tactic was first tried at the Somme, where it didn't work, but it was refined and was successful in later battles like the Canadian assault on Vimy Ridge in April, 1917.

Artillery Ambush

By the end of the war, it had become possible to target artillery more precisely. The British worked out this technique of remaining silent until the actual attack and then blanketing the enemy guns with precisely aimed shells. It was much more effective than the poorly targeted mass barrages earlier in the war.

Hardships for women caused by the war

For many married women, the war brought hardship. They had to deal with rationing, which made it more complicated to shop and cook, they had to worry about husbands, brothers and sons at the front, and they might have to work long hours to make up for the lost income of husbands in the army. Women in Germany, occupied Belgium, and all over Eastern Europe battled starvation by the end of the war.

Women who gained opportunities from the war

For single women from wealthy families who might not have allowed their daughters to work, the war brought new opportunities. Married and single women who were already working before the war also benefitted from more and higher-paying opportunities.

Reasons the outbreak of World War I initially decreased employment among women.

In 1914 it was expected that the war would be short, so it was not expected women would be needed in non-traditional roles in the workplace. Meanwhile industries not considered necessary for the war effort were put on hold. Many of these, like dressmaking, candy making, upholstering, jewelry and shoemaking employed a lot of women, many of whom were laid off.

Extent of women's employment during World War I

In 1914, women made up 22% of German factory workers. By 1916, they made up 33%. In Britain in 1914 23.4% of women were employed outside the home, excluding domestic servants, 3.3 million in industry. In 1918 between 37.7% and 46.7% were employed outside the home, 4.9 million in industry. By 1918 40% of female workers were married.Although women's participation in the workforce increased notably, men older or younger than military age were still the majority of workers in non-traditional fields. For instance, in the USA by the end of the war, women made up 20% of all manufacturing workers.

Women in The Russian Armed Forces

In Russia, some female volunteers served in combat, most famously Maria Bochkareva. She managed to get Nicholas II to intervene personally to allow her to enlist in 1914. After the abdication of the Tsar, Kerensky gave her permission to form a "Woman's Death Battalion", the idea being that the bravery of the women would encourage the men to fight harder. It ended up with 300 women. A few similar units were formed in 1917. Russia also had several female pilots who flew reconnaissance missions and served as artillery spotters.

April 1917

In this month, Britain lost 834,000 tons of shipping to German u-boats. They were down to only six weeks' supply of grain.

November 1917 Revolution in Russia (AKA October Revolution)

In this revolution, Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian Provisional government and established a Communist government committed to ending the war. The Russians stopped fighting by December and negotiated a treaty the following March.

March 1917 Revolution (AKA February Revolution)

In this uprising, the Russian Tsar was forced to abdicate, he was replaced by a Provisional Government which worked to organize elections and tried to keep up Russia's war effort. The Germans agreed to help Lenin return to Russia in the hope that he could disrupt Russia's war effort.

Reasons why women were generally paid less than men for the same work

It was feared that men's status as breadwinners would be undermined if women could obtain high-paid work. Also, it allowed manufacturers to make larger profits. In theory, it also made war materials cheaper for the government to purchase. Many unions failed to support equal pay for women doing the same work as men.

Brusilov Offensive

June-August, 1916. A Russian offensive of 1916 aimed at taking pressure off Verdun.. They were initially very successful against the Austrians, achieving an advance of 160km, then the Germans came to the Austrians' aid and the advance came to a halt. It cost Russia a million lives and contributed to the Russian Revolution the following year. It also broke the Austro-Hungarian army, which suffered 340,000 casualties and 400,000 men taken prisoner.

Women's Employment before World War I

Many jobs, including work outside the home, had long been performed by women. i.e.:Textile factories, agriculture, cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, prostitution, child care, education of girls and women, K-12 Education, midwifery, clerical work, retail work, nursing, actresses/singers/dancers. Many women had been employed in coal mines in Britain until the government banned the practice in 1842. Medical schools and universities in most countries had begun admitting women in the 1860s-1880s. (Women had always been able to attend Italian universities.)

Women's voluntary and charitable work during World War I

Many women's rights activists jumped at the chance to work for their countries to prove themselves as full citizens. The women's movement was subsumed in the wider war effort. Many women worked as volunteers for recruitment drives, for the Red Cross, and raising money for various causes.

Progress in improved status for women before World War I.

Married women had obtained property rights in the 19th century in places like the UK and USA.Men were no longer legally allowed to beat their wives in places like the USA and the UK. Divorce was available in most Protestant countries, although it was easier for men to obtain divorces than for women. For instance, men could divorce their wives for adultery, but women could usually only divorce their husbands if they could prove cruelty, incest or rape. Also, if a woman was deemed to be at fault in the divorce, she would not receive alimony. Women could vote in Norway, Finland, New Zealand and part of Australia. Several other places allowed women to vote in local elections, but not at the national level.

Women's Auxiliary Services

Most combatant countries had women's auxiliary services in the armed forces that recruited single women to serve in non-combat roles other than nursing, ie ambulance drivers, mechanics, clerical staff.

Long-term effects of World War I on women's employment

Most of the women who had taken on non-traditional jobs in World War I returned to traditional employment or left the workforce after the war. Many munitions factories closed down, and most other women in traditionally male jobs were laid off to make way for returning soldiers. Given what the men had been through, there was little pushback. Everyone acknowledged that they had the right to have jobs on their return. Women continued to work outside the home in traditionally female jobs, and women's employment increased when the economy picked up in the 1920s. The memory of women in "male" roles presumably helped the gradual empowerment of women. Women's overall employment in most countries increased steadily in the inter-war years. Even in Nazi Germany, when women were barred from most good jobs and pay for "female" jobs was cut to half of the average man's wage, women's employment increased.

Examples of women jailed for pacifist activities during World War I.

Rosa Luxembourg (Germany),Clara Zetkin (Germany) Louise Saumoneau (France) Helene Brion (France), Hana Benesova (Austria-Hungary), Alice Masarykova (Austria-Hungary)

Russia's Situation in 1915

Russia withdrew 450 km with losses of 1 million dead and another million taken prisoner. They were also suffering from shortages because of the blockade of the Dardanelles. There were not enough rifles to go around. One general reported that 1/3 of his men had no rifles.

British Blockade of German Ports

The British used mines and patrols of war ships to blockade German ports, preventing any supplies from reaching Germany by sea. This included stopping neutral ships from trading with Germany. This contributed to malnutrition in Germany in the last year of the war, causing about 800,000 excess deaths and helping to force Germany to sign first the armistice and then the Treaty of Versailles. (The blockade was maintained until the treaty was signed.

Allied Strengths/ Successes

The Entente Powers had more men, more resources and more industrial capacity than the Germans and their allies. In addition, they monopolized trade with the USA by preventing the US from trading with the Germans or Austro-Hungarians. When the US joined the war on their side, the advantage was increased. Furthermore, the allies maintained control of the seas, which allowed them to receive supplies and troops from their colonies and from the USA and to deprive Germany and Austria-Hungary of the same. The US entry into the war brought 2 million fresh troops just as the German army was breaking and the entente armies were on the brink of exhaustion. Also, the US loaned $7.7 billion to the Entente. Finally, the Entente used modern technology such as tanks, radio, convoys, creeping artillery barrage and coordination between tanks, artillery and aircraft. Most importantly, Canada fought on the Ententes Powers' side.

Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes

The German army defeated the Russians decisively at these two battles in August and September 1914. Up until this point, the Russians had been very successful against the Austrians. The Germans were forced to come to the aid of their ally, diverting troops from the Western Front. The Russians suffered many casualties and huge amounts of equipment and ammunition.

submarines

The Germans tried to use these to cut off supplies to Britain and France by sinking merchant ships. The development of the torpedo made it possible to sink ships without surfacing. The problem was that many of the ships supplying Britain and France were from neutral countries, notably the USA. After the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, Germany stopped attacking passenger ships, but they decided they had to resume in February 1917. Also, they decided to sink US ships bound for French and British ports. This brought the USA into the war. In the spring of 1917, Britain was down to six weeks' supply of grain, but by employing convoys, developing sonar and echo ranging, submarine nets and depth charges the allies were able to counter this threat.

Ways World War I increased gender harmony

The definitive split between home and battlefield made gender roles very clear. Men were respected for protecting their mothers, sweethearts and wives. Women were revered for their familial supportive roles as wives and mothers.

Examples of women taking government roles

The leaders of the General German Women's Association were brought into the government to coordinate women's work. In France, school teachers often took on mayoral functions in small towns. In Germany women moved into roles in the municipal government. Several countries had policewomen. In Germany and Britain, women were brought into the government to supervise women's work and improve working conditions for women - in France, this work was done by men :-).

Women's clothing

The need to save material as well as the need for more practical clothing led to shorter women's dresses after the war. Before the war, it had been considered scandalous for grown women to show their ankles, also, many women wore tight corsets. During the war corsets were abandoned, some women worked in trousers, and hemlines rose to mid-calf.

Western Front

The part of World War I that involved Germany fighting Britain (and Empire) France and Belgium in France and Belgium. The war in this area quickly turned into a long stalemate with neither side able to make significant advances. Two lines of trenches were dug stretching from the Swiss border to the sea. Attempts to break the stalemate using artillery, tanks and poison gas were of limited success and both sides ended up resorting to tactics of attrition.

Effects of the rise of Communism on the role and status of women

There is a clear link between World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In turn, this revolution brought a party to power which believed, at least in theory, in the full equality of men and women. At the same time, communist movements all over the world were empowered by this example and recruited women as well as men into their ranks. In the USSR, all levels of education and, in theory, all jobs were opened to women. In practice, though, some jobs were very much male dominated and others female dominated. Women were actively encouraged to work outside the home and propaganda extolled strong capable women working in non-traditional roles. They were granted equal pay for identical work, maternity leave, and equal rights in marriage and divorce. Health care provided free abortions from 1920-34. (Stalin made abortion illegal and divorce more difficult in the mid-1930s).

Dreadnoughts

These didn't actually see much action in the first World War. The British destroyed a German squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. They sank one German ship at the battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 and in 1916 the Germans attempted to break the blockade using battleships at the Battle of Jutland. It was the largest naval battle of the war. In the end, the Germans sank more British ships than the British sank German ones, but because the British had so many more ships than the Germans the Germans were not in a position to challenge the British naval supremacy again.

Reasons why women entered war industries during World War I

These included: - Many wives had to go to work because their families couldn't live on meager government allowances. - Patriotism - A sense of solidarity with frontline soldiers - better pay than traditional women's jobs (although not equal to the pay of make workers) - propaganda encouraging and praising their efforts.

Savings Bonds

These were agreements by which citizens could buy a contract with the government for a set price, and would receive their money back with a set percentage of interest after the war. All countries used these to raise money for the war, but, whereas Britain also used tax revenue to raise 20% of the money, the Germans used these contracts and loans to raise almost all of the money. They assumed they would win and would pay back their citizens by imposing punitive treaties on the defeated countries. Only 6% of their war effort was financed by tax revenues. This caused major economic problems after the war.

Tanks

These were first invented by the British. They were used for the first time at the Somme in 1916 and more successfully at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, in which they achieved an 8km advance. However, although they offered soldiers protection from machine gun fire, they did not protect against artillery. Furthermore they frequently broke down and filled with noxious fumes. Finally, much of the battlefield was so churned up that the tanks got bogged down in the mud. As a result, they were not particularly important to the outcome of the war, but their potential as a weapon may have helped convince Germany to sign an armistice in 1918.

Bomber 'Planes

These were larger aircraft capable of carrying bombs. Because they could fly higher than slow-moving zeppelins, the Germans began using these instead of zeppelins to bomb British cities in the latter part of the war, inflicting about 3000 casualties. The British developed their own versions of these weapons and began bombing German cities in 1918. The fact that these weapons were deployed against civilian targets was an indicator that it was a "total war".

submarine nets

These were stretched across the English channel to block submarines, forcing the Germans to go north around Scotland to reach the Atlantic. This reduced the time they could spend harassing the shipping lanes.

aircraft

These were used for reconnaissance on land and sea, spotting u-boats, reporting enemy troop movements, etc. They were also used to help aim and range artillery and to carry messages. Eventually, air-to-ground radio was invented, making this communication much easier. They also fought each other in "dog fights" (once engineers solved the problem of machine guns shooting off their own propellers). In the final year of the war, they were also used extensively against ground troops and control of the air became essential to ground battles. By the end of the war there were 8000 of these in operation.

Reasons why many suffragists supported the war effort during World War I

These women saw the war as a way to prove their loyalty and commitment to their nations, which would prove their right to be considered full citizens.

Nurses

These women were held up as ideals of nurturing, sacrificial womanhood, but they also challenged gender norms by living and traveling independently and forming friendships with men. Their experience also caused many to become more politically minded than before.

Ways suffragists supported World War I

They used their organizing skills and their networks to mobilize women for the war effort. Christobel and Emmeline Pankhurst changed the name of their paper from 'The Suffragette' to 'Britannia'. For four years they traveled around speaking at recruitment rallies and war bond rallies. They even encouraged their followers to beat up pacifists. Many French feminists closed down their newspapers or converted them to organs of wartime propaganda.

Maria Vallini

This 17-year-old girl was executed by the Austro-Hungarians in 1915 for passing information about the Austro-Hungarian army to her cousin, who was an Italian soldier. She was held up in propaganda as an example of a woman taking a public role and making a patriotic contribution to the war effort in solidarity with men. This helped to shape attitudes about women's participation in public life.

Failure of the Schlieffen Plan

This ambitious German plan to knock France out of the war by attacking through Belgium and then move German troops east to attack Russia failed because 1) Belgium resisted, delaying the German advance (the Germans had expected that Belgium would either cave immediately or put up only token resistance. 2) Britain entered the war and rushed troops to France's defense, using the time bought by Belgian resistance 3) Russia mobilized faster than expected, so the decision was made to pull some troops out of the western front to send them East, weakening the western front. 4) Because of supply problems, the Germans turned south too early, approaching Paris form the East instead of the West 5) French reserve troops used taxis to get to the Marne river, where the French and British halted the German advance on September 9th 6) The advantage machine guns gave defenders meant the bulk of the German army had not advanced into Germany, but remained near Paris where they could be redeployed.

Japan

This country joined World War I on Canada's side on August 23 1914 and had conquered all of Germany's colonies in China and the Pacific by the end of that year. At the end of the war, they were given these territories permanently, causing outrage in China.

sonar

This device emits pulses of sound underwater and listens for echoes in order to locate objects under water. It was used by Canada's allies to detect u-boats from 1918. Its code name was ASDIC.

War Propaganda

This enhanced women's status and helped to expand their roles by praising women who undertook war work.

DORA

This is an acronym for the Defense of the Realm Act, which was passed in Britain in 1914, giving the government additional powers for the duration of the war. Similar legislation was passed in all combatant countries. The legislation gave the government executive powers to suppress published criticism, to suppress information about the war, to imprison without trial and to commandeer economic resources for the war effort.

Armenian Massacre

This minority group living in the Turkish empire were seen as saboteurs who were loyal to the Russians rather than the Turks. As a result, they were deported en masse in 1915-16, forced to march into the Syrian desert where many died. (Turkey says 300,000; Armenians say 1.5 million and the International Association of Genocide Scholars say "more than a million". It is illegal to discuss this in Turkey. When planning the extermination of the Jews during World War II, Hitler famously pointed out that no-one remembered this genocide, so the Nazis could expect to get away with killing the Jews.

artillery

This term refers to big cannons that could fire shells (bombs) from well behind the lines into the enemy trenches. They were important firstly, because they inflicted 70% of the casualties in World War I and secondly because the generals assumed this weapon was their best chance of breaking the stalemate, as a result, both sides tired to produce as many artillery shells as possible. This made the "home front" more important and would eventually justify attacks on civilians. In reality, this weapon was not accurate enough to destroy enemy defenses and it wasn't mobile enough to be brought forward to protect soldiers if they did succeed in advancing. What it did do was contribute to attrition and churn up the battlefield with massive craters that posed additional obstacles to attacking troops.

Status of women

This term refers to the amount of power women had in society.

Role of women

This term refers to the different functions women played in society.

Nivelle Offensive

This unsuccessful and costly French offensive in April of 1917 provoked a mutiny in the French army. Although the ringleaders were shot, this tipping point (coming on the heels of the March Revolution in Russia) persuaded the French commanders to stop throwing their troops into attacks. From that point forward, they used their soldiers defensively. This highlights the importance of the arrival of fresh US troops later that year.

hydrophone

This was a an underwater microphone that was used to detect U-boat engine noises from 1916.

Ludendorff Offensive

This was a final attempt by the German army to break through on the Western Front before American soldiers began arriving in large numbers. It began in March 1918. It was initially successful, making gains of up to 65km, but ground to a halt by July. In August the allies took back all the territory the Germans had gained, reaching the Hindenburg Line. After this offensive, the German army had run out of reserves. They had no soldiers to replace those who were wounded or killed. Furthermore the soldiers were surrendering or retreating in droves. The generals realized they had no chance of winning the war and they suggested that the Kaiser hand over power to a civilian government so it could negotiate peace.

September Memorandum of 9 September

This was a memorandum issued by Bethmann-Hollweg shortly after the beginning of the war, outlining Germany's war aims. According to this document, Germany planned to take over French and Belgian colonies in Africa, to annex parts of Belgium, Franc and Luxembourg, to dominate Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Belgium, France and Poland through a customs union, to force Russia to grant autonomy to minorities like the Poles, and to expand its navy to dominate key international routes, weakening Britain. Historians like Fischer argue that this proves Germany started the war in order to expand. Others counter that these aims were only articulated after the war had started, representing more of a "wish list" than a serious plan.

Germany's Weaknesses/Failures

This was a reason for the victory of Canada in World War I. To begin with, Germany and her allies and fewer people and less industrial capacity than the Entente Powers and their allies. The Schlieffen Plan not only failed, but may have served to provoke the two-front war it was designed to avoid. The attack on Verdun killed a lot of French troops, but the Germans lost more than they could afford to lose. Unrestricted submarine warfare didn't succeed in cutting off Britain's supplies and brought the USA into the war. They constantly had to divert troops to help the Austrians and Bulgarians. The Ludendorff Offensive broke the fighting spirit of the German army and caused them to run out of reserves. The Spanish Flu also contributed. Finally, poor economic planning (too much focus on the military at the expense of civilian needs and the need for agricultural production) combined with the British blockade led to severe shortages and malnutrition.

phosgene gas

This was a type of poison gas that was 18 times more lethal than chlorine gas. It was developed by French Chemists and then copied by the British and Germans. This gas killed about 85,000 of the 100,000 of those who died from gas attacks in World War I. Only in early 1916 was a gas mask that was mostly effective against this gas developed. One problem was that it took 24 hours for some of the symptoms to show - troops could collapse a full day after the attack, but from the attacker's point of view it was more helpful if the opponents drop dead immediately.

Conquest of Serbia

This was finally achieved by a joint Austrian-Bulgarian-German force in October of 1915.

Convoy System

This was instituted by the British and Americans in May 1917. It involved merchant ships traveling in large groups, protected by the navy. It was successful. In the last quarter of 1917, only 235 ships were lost, down from 413 in the second quarter ot that year.

mustard gas

This was probably the most feared chemical weapon used in World War I, although it was much less likely to be fatal than other chemical weapons. It was developed by the Germans in 1917. The allies eventually found a way to copy it just before the end of the war in 1918. It caused excruciatingly painful blisters on the skin. This meant that gas masks could only protect against it by preventing soldiers from breathing it in; the rest of their skin would still blister. On the other hand, it contaminated large areas of the battlefield, making it impossible for either side to occupy them and its effects came on too slowly to be effective tactically. Soldiers could still fight immediately after the gas was deployed, only becoming incapacitated once the key part of the battle was over.

Battle of Jutland

This was the only major battleship battle of World War I. It took place in the North Sea in June 1916 and involved 250 ships. The Germans were hoping to break the British blockade. They had an elaborate plot prepared involving luring the British fleet into a fleet of submarines before engaging them with battleships. In the end, the British intercepted German radio transmissions and engaged the German fleet before the submarines were ready. In the ensuing combat, the Germans sank 14 British ships and the British sank 11 German ships. In this respect it was a success for the Germans, but in fact they had failed in their goal of breaking the British blockade because the British had many more ships than the Germans. The German surface fleet retreated to port and didn't challenge the British again. This failure helped to convince the Germans to focus on submarine warfare.

machine gun

This weapon, which required two men and a small tripod to operate, could fire 600 rounds per minute, giving a huge advantage to the defenders in World War I. This resulted I the Western Front spreading out all the way from the Swiss border to the North Sea, about 320 km. It made it impossible for either side to achieve a breakthrough. One result of this was innovations like the Tank and poison gas. Another was the importance given to the production of artillery, which in turn made the "home front" more important, and, by extension, justified attacks on civilians. In the end, it resulted in both sides resorting to the "strategy" of attrition.

Maria Bochkareva

This woman managed to get Nicholas II to intervene personally to allow her to enlist in the Russian army in 1914. She was decorated for rescuing 50 wounded soldiers from a battlefield and was promoted to corporal. After the abdication of the Tsar, Kerensky gave her permission to form a "Woman's Death Battalion", the idea being that the bravery of the women would encourage the men to fight harder. It ended up with 300 women.

Women in the workforce

To make up for the labour shortages caused by men being conscripted into the army, women were encouraged (but not required) to take on jobs traditionally reserved for men, and upper class women who had not worked outside the home were encouraged to do so. By 1917, one on four war workers was female. This helped to convince most governments that women were capable of full citizenship and women in most countries gained the vote after the war. Also, the austerity of the war and the need for mobility led to shorter hemlines and less constricting dress for women, a trend that continued after the war. On the other hand these women were usually paid less than their male co-workers and in almost all cases the jobs were temporary. The women were summarily dismissed when the war ended and work was again segregated by gender.

Blockade of the Dardanelles

When Turkey entered the war on Germany's side, in October 1914 they blocked this major Russian supply route, weakening the Russian war effort.

Examples of low status and limitations on women's roles before World War I.

Women were paid much less than men for comparable, or even identical work. Women were barred from many jobs and professions and supervisory roles were usually reserved for men. Many school districts would not employ married female teachers. British nurses had to leave the profession when they married until the 1950s. It was easier for men to obtain divorces than for women. For instance, men could divorce their wives for adultery, but women could usually only divorce their husbands if they could prove cruelty, incest or rape. Also, if a woman was deemed to be at fault in the divorce, she would not receive alimony. Only four countries allowed women to vote: New Zealand, Finland, Norway and part of Australia, and women were barred from holding public office in most of these places.

Examples of jobs women did during World War I

Women worked in munitions factories and metallurgical plants. They did transportation jobs like tram conductors subway workers and railway workers. For instance, in 1918 more than half of the streetcar workers in Vienna were women, up from 2.5% in 1914. In industries like textiles, which had long employed women, women began doing jobs that had been done by men, like piecing. Many women transferred from domestic service and textiles factories to heavy industry.