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S4 REVISION BOOKLET
UNIT IIA: International
Conflict & Cooperation –
1890s -1920s
Naval Rivalry
The Naval Arms Race between Britain and Germany was a major factor in increasing tension before
the outbreak of the First World War.
German Naval Expansion:
Kaiser Wilhelm had long been an admirer of the Royal Navy (the British Navy) and wanted
Germany’s Navy to be strong enough to compete with Britain.
In 1895, the Kiel Canal in Germany was widened which would allow larger German boats to
reach the North Sea from the Baltic Sea.
In 1900 the German Naval Law ordered the building of several large and powerful boats.
The building of new German Naval bases also increased tension in Britian.
Britain became convinced that Germany was increasing her Navy to threaten and or launch
an attack on Britain and her Empire.
Germany was convinced that Britain did not want Germany to become a Great Power.
Britain’s policy of the Two-Power Standard which stated that the size of the British Navy
must be bigger than the size of the Second and Third largest Navies in the world combined
increased tension as it meant if German was to expand her Navy so too would Britain.
Britain needed a large Navy to protect her Empire and as an Island to defend herself from
invasion.
Britain saw the build-up of Germany’s Navy as a threat both to herself and too her Empire –
it was well known that Germany wanted to expand her own Empire.
The Dreadnought:
Britain developed the Dreadnought as a means of retaining her Naval supremacy.
The Dreadnought was far superior to any other ship around at the time, effectively making
other Naval ships obsolete (useless).
The Dreadnought was so effective because of FART – Faster than any other ship, Armoured
plates and Rotating Turrets meant it could fire in any direction.
Germany began to compete with Britain to build the most dreadnoughts. Whoever ‘won’
this race would in theory have Naval supremacy.
By 1914 Britain had built 29 Dreadnoughts and Germany 17.
The Naval Arms Race served to greatly increase tension between Britain and Germany.
The Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun lasted from 21st February 1916 – 18th December 1916. The Battle was fought
between French and German troops near the French town of Verdun. By the end of the Battle
377,000 French soldiers were dead, missing or wounded. Germany fared only mildly better with
337,000 casualties.
General von Falkenhayn was the German Chief of Staff (the head of the German Army)
He believed the War was to be won on the Western Front.
He believed that launching an offensive on Verdun would lead to a rush of French troops to
defend the symbolically important fort.
He did not plan a quick victory, rather he sought to ‘bleed the forces of France to death’.
On 21 February 1916, the Germans launched a massive artillery attack on Verdun. In total,
they used 1220 field guns to attack a front of 13km. Aircraft were used to support ground
tactics.
On the first day, the French defences were shelled for nine hours. Some 80,000 shells fell on
one small area of the front. At first the French were unprepared for the attack and the
Germans made good progress, capturing Fort Douaumont.
Crucially, the French were able to keep a single road into Verdun open so that supplies and
men could be transported to the front. By the summer, vehicles were travelling along this
road at a rate of one every 14 seconds. Verdun was the first battle in which the motor
vehicle was to play a vital role.
Due to the supplies coming from the ‘Sacred Road’ the French were able to launch a
counter-attack and retake Fort Douaumont in October 1916.
On the 19th December 11,000 German soldiers surrendered, 9 months of constant shelling
had all but destroyed their trenches and they had been left defending a line of shell holes,
flooded by freezing cold water. German commanders were forced to stop their offensive.
The battle was over.
The Germans had caused over 377,000 casualties on the French side. However, Germany
suffered 337,000 casualties herself. Furthermore, France had regained control of Verdun.
The Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme took place from July 1st 1916 – November 18th 1916. The Battle was
planned as a joint attack by British and French troops, aiming to achieve a breakthrough in the
stalemate of trench warfare and forcing the Germans into retreat. However, the plan failed.
General Haig’s Plan:
General Haig was in charge of the British Army during the Battle of the Somme.
On the 24th June, a week long artillery bombardment of German trenches began.
Over 1,700,000 shells were fired on German trenches.
The bombardment was so fierce, it could be heard in England.
Haig was confident that the bombardment would completely destroy the German trenches.
‘Not even a rat would be left’.
The ‘pals battalions’ would then cross no-man’s land and take hold of German positions,
The cavalry would follow, sweeping through and breaking the enemy lines.
What Happened:
The plan was a complete disaster. Many of the shells had missed their target.
The British had underestimated the strength of German trenches, many of which were
reinforced with concrete.
German soldiers were able to take cover in their concrete shelters and see out the
bombardment.
British spy planes were hampered by fog and so couldn’t give accurate information on the
damage caused to German trenches.
British troops became ‘sitting ducks’ for German machine gunners as they walked across noman’s land.
The 1st July 1916 remains the worst day in British Military history. Over 20,000 Brits were
killed and a further 40,000 injured or missing.
The Battle of the Somme – Success?
A key objective for the Somme offensive had been to relive pressure on the French at
Verdun.
Before the Battle of the Somme had started, the French had been close to breaking point,
however, they were able to regroup and reorganise thanks to the Somme.
Although the Allies (Britain and France) suffered 620,000 casualties between them, the
Germans had nearly as many – 600,000.
These losses arguably hit Germany harder as the Allies had more men in reserve to call on.
The Allies did make some small gains, pushing the German front line back by 7 miles.
However, this came at a great cost: for every mile gained roughly 88,000 Allied soldiers were
killed or injured.
The Battle of the Somme –Failure?
The British completely failed to achieve their initial objective of securing a breakthrough.
What was planned as one ‘great push’ became a long, drawn out war of attrition: what was
planned to last a few weeks lasted for 5 months.
The Battle was eventually abandoned due to horrific weather conditions in November 1916,
by which point no side had made any significant gains and over 1,200,000 soldiers had been
killed or injured.
Over 420,000 British troops were killed or injured and many Pals Battalions were nearly
completely wiped out. Despite all these casualties the war was no closer to an end than
before the Battle had started.
The German Home Front:
During the First World War the German Home Front was badly affected by the British Navy’s
blockade of German ports which prevented food and supplies getting to Germany. This was
extremely important because before the war Germany imported almost half of all the raw materials
(like coal, iron ore and fertilizer) it used in industry.
By 1917, food and essential industrial raw materials, such as fertilisers were in short supply.
Poor harvests made things worse – the harvest of 1916 failed and the winter of 1916-17 became
known as the ‘Turnip Winter’. Potatoes were in such short supply that people were forced to eat
turnips instead. People were lucky to get one egg a fortnight.
One German remembers their daily meals during the war;
“In the morning we had turnip soup, at midday we ate turnip cutlets, in the evening we had
turnip cakes.”
The daily calorie intake was about 1100 calories - about half what an adult needs.
Rationing had been introduced in Germany in 1915, but this was not enough.
By 1917, housewives found that supplies often ran out before they reached the head of the
queue.
The most basic foods in Germany were rationed. By 1917, people were rationed to a
quarter of a loaf a day.
Germans faced shortages of electric light, gas, lamp oil, candles, soap, washing powder,
clothes, shoes and medicines.
The Germans began to produce substitutes for both food and other goods such as clothing,
but these were often unpleasant tasting or expensive to manufacture and buy!
Some Ersatz Products were – clothing made from processed paper, synthetic rubber and
artificial fertilizers
Ersatz food often had sand added to it to pad it out.
Impact of Food Shortages:
During WW1 over 750,000 people died of starvation in Germany.
A further 150,000 were badly weakened from under nourishment and subsequently died in
the flu epidemic of 1918.
The desperate situation on the German Home Front was a key factor in Germany losing the
war.
Many have argued that Germany lost the First World War on the Home Front, not the
Western Front
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by all nations involved in the First World War. The signing of the
Treaty on 28th June 1919 signalled the official end of the First World War. France, Britain and the
USA dominated the talks to agree on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was not allowed
to take part in the discussions.
Main Terms of the Treaty of Versailles (BRAT):
Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war (Known as the war guilt clause).
Germany had to pay £6,600 million (called Reparations) for the damage done during the
war.
Germany was forbidden to have submarines or an air force. She could have a navy of only six
battleships, and an Army of just 100,000 men. In addition, Germany was not allowed to
place any troops in the Rhineland, the strip of land, 50 miles wide, next to France. The
victorious countries did not have to disarm.
Germany lost 13% of Territory (land) in Europe (see map, below) and 10% of her population.
Germany’s colonies were given to Britain and France.
Other terms of the Treaty of Versailles:
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was split up.
Germany was forbidden to join forces or unite with Austria.
The League of Nations was established following the Treaty of Versailles. The League was
designed to help keep the peace and prevent future wars. Germany was not allowed to join
the League of Nations.
German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles:
The German public hated the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They believed that
Germany had not been defeated on the battlefield, but by the Weimar Politicians who had
signed the Treaty.
Germans particularly hated the War Guilt clause.
Germans viewed the Treaty has having been based on revenge and was alarmed at the
prospect of having to pay reparations.
The loss of land and colonies also badly affected Germany.
Many Germans argued that Germany not deserve to be punished so severely since the
Kaiser and his generals were now gone.
The new German Government was angry because it felt it had little chance of success after
the terms were imposed.
German unpopularity of the Treaty of Versailles became a key reason for German hatred and
distrust of the Weimar Republic.
The Nazi Party used the Treaty of Versailles to its benefit in its propaganda, promising to
destroy the harsh terms of the Treaty should they gain control in Germany.
The League of Nations
The League of Nation’s was set up following the Treaty of Versailles. The League of Nations aimed to
keep the peace and prevent future wars between countries. The idea of the League of Nation’s had
come from American President Woodrow Wilson.
Aims of the League of Nations:
Its aims were to stop wars, encourage disarmament, and make the world a better place by
improving people's working conditions, and by tackling disease.
Members of the League agreed to preserve the independence and current boundaries of all
other member nations.
Members of the League agreed that if any dispute or disagreement occurred between two
of them that they would refer the matter to the League of Nations for discussion.
In the event of one country acting aggressively towards another, the League would impose
sanctions on the aggressor. This would mean countries would stop trading with the
aggressor in the hope that this economic action would stop them from acting aggressively.
Failures of the League of Nations:
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Germany was initially not allowed to join. As such the League became viewed as a ‘club’ for
the winners of WWI.
Germany was allowed to join in 1926, however their membership did not last long as Hitler
withdrew from the League of Nations once he gained control of Germany.
The Soviet Union (Russia) were not allowed to join because of their communist government.
The USA was unwilling to join, despite the fact that the League had been Woodrow Wilson’s
idea.
The League did not possess an army, so could not take any militant action against an
aggressive country.
The League often failed to effectively impose sanctions on aggressors.
The Covenant of the League of Nations (the voting and decision making system) was flawed
and so it took too long to take decisive actions
The League needed to get unanimous agreement from member Nations before it could act
and so it took too long to take decisive actions.
Many members were not fully committed to the League.
There was often disagreement between member nations about how the League should act.
The League failed to get countries to disarm.
The League failed to Poland to leave Vilna.
The League failed to get its own members to follow the instructions of the League over the
Ruhr occupation by Belgium and France.
Successes of the League of Nations:
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There was no major war until 1939.
The Leagues commissions dealing with drugs, slavery, refugees and persecuted minorities
were relatively successful and helped to improve social conditions.
The League gave help to poor countries to improve healthcare.
Some minor disputes were resolved such as the dispute between Finland and Sweden over
ownership of the Aaland Islands.