History Note by Cindy, Maria, Nova (YEAR 9OPAL)
Lesson 1.1 World War One: Mrs. Beechey and her family
Millions of men had volunteered or were forced to join the war
Expected the war to be over – Christmas 1914
Mrs Beechey: one of the local dignitaries at Guildhall. Sacrifices her 8 sons in the
war.
The Accrington Pals Battalion (involving 1000 men fighting) and its surroundings
joined up in 1914 September. As they went over to German’s place, German’s
machine-gun fired, killing, wounding, and reported missing 584 men out of 720.
Lesson 1.2 What stories lie behind war memorials?
In WWI, nearly every town or village has at least one war memory
commemorating those who fought for the country.
Air Mechanic Harold Moore worked in Royal Naval Air Service, working with
airship C11. He died at the age of 19, buried at the Dorchester Cemetery. It did
have a question about what the airships were doing in 1917.
Lesson 1.3 Short-term causes of the war assassination in Sarajevo
In 1908, Bosnia has taken over by Austria Hungary but some minorities didn’t
want to be part of Austria- Hungary and want to be part of Serbia. (Used violence,
Gavrillo Princip was one of them, terrorists called “Black Hand Gang”)
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was on a trip with his wife and got assassinated for the
second time, killed by Gavrillo Princip when he told the driver to change the route
to the way to City Hall.
The first time was missed when the Black Hand Gang threw the bomb but the
bomb bounced back and killed many officers.
The Balkans had been part of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years. They aimed to
win back their independence.
June 28- Serbia lost its independence to the Ottomans
Lesson 1.4 The calm before the storm
In the summer of 1914, everything between Great Powers (Britain, Germany,
French, and Austria-Hungary) was peaceful
They put things aside and the European heads of state were related by blood or
marriage. The Balkans in Ottoman has a conflict among the country so the Turkish
had to stay out of WWI in 1912 and 1913.
But in 1914, war came out of nowhere after 6 weeks of peace and carefree.
Lesson 1.5 What were the long-term causes of the war
2Sides – Germany, Austria Hungary
- Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Italy, Japan
After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand on 28 June, Austria-Hungary had an
alliance with Germany (They were regarded as dangerous countries)
o Russia helped Serbia and prepared for the war.
o Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July.
o Germany declared war on Russia and France on 1 and 3 August.
o Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August.
Schlieffen Plan: Made by Germany, Invade Belgium Defeat France Fight
Russia
Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria- Hungary at first but stayed out of
war until 1915. And joined back the war on Britain's and France’s side (promised
to give land from Austria- Hungary when the war was over)
Japan – alliance with Britain (hoped to capture Germany’s colonies in the Pacific)
Lesson 1.6 Joining up!
Many of the young men wanted to join the war and expected it to end by
Christmas.
Private George Morgan (British) – age 16, wanted to protect their country (Britain)
and showed Germans what they could do. Scolded by mother.
Alan Seeger (American) – Joined the special army called “French Foreign Legion”.
He was so optimistic. He didn’t need to join but he looked out over France when
Paris was in danger. He was killed at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.
Heinrich Plesker (German) – Son of a small farmer and when the war broke out, he
did so many jobs and got married, and had a child. He then called out again as a
reservist when the war continued. He was old and got killed in May 1916.
Lesson 1.7 Cowardice or bravery?
At first, many men volunteered but needed more men in 1915 which was the
reason the government made a rule of every man between 18 and 41 had to join
no matter what in 1916.
Men refused to join up Conscience objectors (didn’t join the war because of
Religious reasons
Strong political views
Had to face “Military tribunal” in which they had to do other military
work rather than fighting such as ambulance driving.
Men refused to do any military work Absolutists (regarded as cowards/shirkers)
Commuted to prison and 10 years of hard labor.
Life in prisons: miserable and so many horrible punishments. Over 70 died out of
6261 absolutists and 30 went mad(crazy).
Life of the conscience objectors was still miserable after the war since they got
shamed and jeered by the surroundings just because they didn’t join the war.
