Most of the tanks used in the First World War had different strenghs and weaknesses so if the Germans had thought of a stratergy to stop tanks from penetrating their lines it would not work in all cases. An assult tank called the MK1 was produced and took the Germans by surprise and due to its success bough fear to the Germans eyes. However, these tanks had weaknesses. They were very slow, did not have strong armour and would consistantly break down due to mechanical faults. They were susceptible to German artillery.
German defeat in the Great War was largely down to the incompetence and mistakes of the German Military Elite. The failure of the Schlieffen plan in 1914 can be accredited to these German leaders and also more importantly blamed for the failure in the First World War. Schlieffen, Chief of the German General Staff (1891-1906) devised what is known as the ‘Schlieffen plan’ in 1905 in response to the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale and the further negations this alliance began to have with the huge empire that was Russia. These new relations began to worry Germany and create fears of a combined attack on the country. Schlieffen’s plan aimed to counter a joint attack and then later in the Great War the Schlieffen Plan was used as a strategy to ensure a swift victory and avoid fighting two-fronted war.
From “War of Movement” to “Stalemate” The Schlieffen Plan: * Germans believed they could win the war quickly. 1905, General Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen planned a way of preventing Germany from fighting a war on two fronts. He believed that it was a priority to defeat France quickly, forcing them to surrender before Russia had a chance to mobilise her armed forces * Helmuth von Moltke revised/modified the plan, less prepared to take risks than Schlieffen – lacked faith in elements of the original plan. * Execution of Schlieffen Plan led to Britain declaring war on Germany and honouring alliance/agreement guaranteeing protection of Belgian neutrality and territory against invasion, 4th August 1914. * Moltke changed ratio of number of troops in right wing to left wing from 7:1 to 3:1 as he thought the left wing were too small and might be over-run and forced back by French forces; weakened the main strike force by diverting more German troops reinforcing Eastern Front from right wing to support Austria-Hungary * Right wing (main attack force) of the German army would mobilise in massive strength (north) and invade France through neutral Belgium * Smaller left wing (decoy/diversion) would hold French army on Rhine border against unexpected attack through Alsace-Lorraine * French Plan 17 went to German hands.
So the Prussian Army, lead by General Gebhard von Blucher and the Anglo-Allied Army, lead by the Duke of Wellington decided to mobilize and conduct a coordinated invasion against the French in 1815. Napoleon was definitely going to have to think of something to get him out of this one because the Prussian Army was a metaphorical machine and the Duke of Wellington’s army was just as experienced. All the western European countries mobilized together and the Seventh Coalition was attempting to defeat Napoleon. Napoleon had to use strategy to win this battle. He knew that the number of soldiers he had were greatly outnumbered by all the country’s armies that wanted to end his rule, so he had to act fast.
In 1914 a mismanaged Balkan crisis caused the powers to stumble into a general European war, which would have been avoided in 1908 and 1912. HFDYA? There are a number of factors to consider and understand why the events of 1914 in the Balkans caused the powers to fall into a war, when it was earlier avoided in 1912. However the situation consisted of long-term factors aswel as short term factors. The long-term factors that would have built tension and rivalries throughout Europe are the alliance systems and the arms race, whereas the short term factors would be the mismanaged crisis, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which was ultimately the trigger of total war.
Although there are several reasons that contribute towards the failure of the Provisional Government, such as the shared power with the soviets, the decision to continue fighting in the First World War was the most important because it led to the loss of support of the people and perhaps more importantly the army, who they desperately needed to keep hold of, as the army protected them. The First World War was the biggest problem the Provisional Government faced, having already lost territory in places such as Poland, and the morale of the armed forces was rapidly decreasing. By continuing in the First World War, the Provisional Government lost the support of the people. Russia owed a large amount of money to several countries who had loaned money to fund the war. The foreign banks were willing to continue to loan to Russia as long as they continued fighting, therefore it can be argued that the Provisional Government was inclined to continue the fighting in the First World War.
As you can see there were also many other reasons for the war besides the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After Serbia declined the ultimatum, the Austro-Hungarian Empire waged war on Serbia on 28th July 1914. Since Russia was allied to Serbia, they announced mobilization of troops in defense for Serbia on August 1st 1914. Germany was allied to the Austro-Hungarians and took the Russian mobilization as a threat and declared war on Russia on August 1st 1914. Since Russia and France were allies and France didn’t like Germany due to the lost war against them in 1870, they declared war on Germany on August 3rd 1914.
Was Churchill justified in using the strategic bom • Russia had been pushing for a seconf front in Europe which would involve an amphibious landing. Churchill had had several disasters with amphibious landings (Gallipoli/ Narvick) and knowing it was an area of weakness leant towards the bombing campaign • Churchill understood that an amphbious landing could potentially result in the loss of thousands of British lives (lack of resources and weak army) and using the bombing campaign instead would "deal" with Germany quickly without the loss of as many British lives. • In the context of the time, Btisain has been bombed by Germany and many had suffered. Many people in the general public probably fely Germany deserved to be bombed after the destruction of towns like Conventry and areas of London. • Was a way of loweing morale and hindering German progression in the war, targeting their resources and factories.
Another example of bad leadership is Haig refused to believe that the British shelling was not working. This is bad because he should have listened to the warnings in order to make the battle successful. Another reason the Battle was a disaster because not all the British technology was efficient enough. One third of the shells that were meant to ruin the German trench line were duds and did not explode. This meant that the German trenches stayed in good condition so some of the soldiers could survive.
This stated that if a possibility of a two front war with France and Russia was ever to arise they would mobilise their troops quickly and beat the French within six weeks and then march back in time to meet the Russian army. They predicted it would take a while for Russia to mobilise due to its great size and limited travel