History Unit 1 Exam Notes

Sarajevo The spark that ignited the First World War occurred in Sarajevo, a town in Austria- Hungary, on the morning of June 28, 1914. Citizens of the town were welcoming the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the Archduchess Sophia. He was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. They were parading the streets, when someone threw a bomb at the car. It exploded, but no one was harmed. The motorcade was bound for the governors palace, but never got there. 19-year old Gavrilo Princip fired two point- blank shots after running up to the car, killing the Archduke and the Archduchess. Him and a group of 5 others were arrested. They were members of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group. The events that followed would plunge Europe into World War 1. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand: Who: Franz Ferdinand - Archuke of Austria, Sophie Ferdinand Duchess (killers) Black Hand, Gavrilo Princip What: Two attacks. Failed first attempt, Gavrilo finds Archduke again, fires twice, kills both. Where: Sarajevo (Serbia) When: October 1914. Why: To break the Austro-Hungarian provinces off from the A-H empire so they combine into Greater Serbia. Causes of World War 1: 1) Nationalism - Being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's country Nationalism is a feeling of deep loyalty to ones people and homeland. People in Europe were prepared to take any action to support their nation. Nationalistic feelings were especially intense in Serbia in the 1900s. Serbia bordered the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia. After Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia in 1908, many Serbians still lived in Bosnia and resented living under Austro- Hungarian rule. The Black Hand was a terrorist group from Serbia whose aim was to unite Bosnia back with Serbia. Austrians also expressed nationalism by refusing to remove Bosnia from their empire. Feelings in this region were very tense.

2) Alliances In 1914, Europe was divided into two alliances.

Triple Entente or Allies France, Britain, Russia Triple Alliance or Central Powers Germany, Italy, Austria- Hungary Italy joined the Allies once the war began. The alliances increased fear and suspicion amongst nations. With the alliances, a war between two alliances would result in many more being involved.

3) Imperialism- When a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule Competition for colonies led to frequent clashes among the major powers of Europe. By the time Germany began to build an empire, valuable places had been colonized by France and Britain. Imperialism was a source of tension in Europe at the time of the war.

4) Militarism -Army and military forces are given a high profile by the government Militarism is the belief in the power of strong armies and navies to decide issues. It was thought that the only way to guarantee peace was by preparing for war. This kind of thinking led to an arms race in Europe, to see who could have the strongest armies and navies. European nations were becoming suspicious and threatened by other countries military power.

The Final Steps to War With these tense conditions in Europe, the assassination set off a chain reaction of events. Within a few weeks the Allies and the Central Powers were at war. Austria-Hungary saw a chance to crush Serbian nationalism, and with Germanys support, they issued Serbia an ultimatum, which is a demand by one government that the other government must accept or face war. In the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary demanded: o Stop nationalist hatred against A-H o Punish the assassins and those involved o Allow A-H into Serbia to destroy the Black Hand Serbia agreed expect for the third condition. A-H proceeded to declare war on Serbia on July 26, 1914. As an ally of Serbia, Russia began to mobilize its troops. As an ally of Russia, so too did France. Germany demanded that they stop the mobilization of their troops, and when they refused, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914, and on France the next day. Germany planned to attack France through the neutral country of Belgium. Since Britain had signed a treaty to protect the neutrality of Britain, it declared war on Germany when Belgium was invaded.

By midnight of August 4, 1914, every country in the alliances but Italy were at war.

Canada Goes to War There was no debate in Canada whether or not Canada should enter into WW1. Since Canada was not a fully independent nation, they had to go to war with Britain. Former PM Laurier, and French Canadian nationalist Henri Bourassa supported the war effort. Canadians were united against a common enemy. Canada still had the ability to choose how much it would get involved, but PM Robert Borden and the Conservatives decided to support the war wholeheartedly. A Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF)was founded before Britain requested one, and on August 6, 1914, Canada offered Britain 25000 men ready for battle. Despite having only 3000 soldiers, Canada had 60000 militia (part time soldiers for emergencies). The militia would make up most of Canadas forces. Sam Hughes was the Minister of Militia. He organized a massive recruiting campaign. He believed volunteers would fight better than professionals because of their pride and spirit. Thousands of men flooded in and joined the war. Conditions in Canada also encouraged men to enlist. There were economic issues in 1913, and a privates pay of $1 a day encouraged volunteers. Within a week 10000 Canadians had volunteered, some as soldiers, and some as engineers, medics, construction workers, and some as Calvary units. Women volunteered as nurses, etc. Sir Sam Hughes set up a training camp at Valcartier, Quebec, where over 30 000 men would train. However, Canadian soldiers were poorly equipped. The Ross rifle was a gun manufactured in Canada, and was useless in trench warfare as it often jammed. Canadian soldiers had to take Enfield rifles from dead British soldiers. After an official investigation, new guns were issued to Canadian soldiers in 1916 and Hughes was fired. Overseas, Canadian troops were given more training on the plains of Salisbury. Hughes is noted for demanding that the Canadian troops remain together. Chapter 4: Canadians in Battle Trench Warfare World War 1 was mainly fought by trench warfare. Soldiers dug deep trenches for cover to defend against machine gun fire and exploding shells. In October 1914, after the Allies stalled the German advance in France, both sides dug trenches before winter. Trenches soon stretched hundereds of kilometers across Europe. Between enemy trenches was an area called no mans land. Venturing into no-mans land was dangerous as there was barbed wire and buried land mines. Most attacks occurred at night or during the day. This was still dangerous as they had to avoid the enemy machine guns.

During the day soldiers slept or dozed. Conditions in the trenches were terrible. The men were always wet, cold and muddy. Sickness and disease spread rapidly in the trenches trench foot, shell shock After a month or so in the trenches, soldiers were allowed to go the rear to sleep in a dry place and eat a decent meal before going back to the front lines.

Gas Attack at Ypres The first major battle in the war for Canada Troops sent to hold 3.5 km of the front line in the face of German attack. Poison gas was used by Germany, but the Canadians were the only ones able to hold their position and mount a counterattack. 6000 men died. The chlorine gas used by Germany burned the eyes and throat, and destroyed the lungs. Soldiers who breathed the gas would die. A Canadian medical officer was able to recognize the gas and came up with a solution: peeing in a handkerchief and having the soldiers hold it over their faces. Poison gas such as mustard gas was used in later battles Battle of the Somme The first day of the battle, July 1, 1916, was the most disastrous day for the British army. The casualties totalled 57 470, the highest ever in warfare for one day. Canadians fought as part of the British forces under the command of General Haig. The Battle of the Somme went on for 141 days. Canadians fought heroically and were called in to spearhead attacks. When the battle ended some 5 months later, 1.25 mil had died, 20,000 Canadian. Britain advanced no more than 11 km. General Haig was blamed for this massacre for letting the battle go on

Vimy Ridge On April 9, 1917, Canada won the battle of Vimy Ridge in France, its most celebrated battle of the war. German forces had control of the ridge, and height of Vimy proved to be a useful vantage point. British and French troops had already failed in gaining the ridge. All four Canadian divisions were called in, and General Arthur Currie spent months planning the assault. 100000 Canadian troops were able to force their way up the hill through a barrage of artillery. They took more ground, guns, and German prisoners than in the first 2.5 years of the war. It is said that Canada became a nation after the victory at Vimy, and it won a seat as a separate nation at peace talks after the war.

Passchendaele General Currie as called in again in October, 1917 to capture Passchendaele in Belgium.

This area had once been beneath the North Sea, and when shelling in the battle destroyed drainage ditches, the land was flooded and became insanely muddy. Soldiers had to battle their way through the thick mud; some drowned, and other became stuck leaving themselves defenseless to enemy troops. Canadians won the battle, but 16000 died and it was a bitter victory, gaining 7km of mud that was eventually won back by Germany.

The War in the Air Germany at first appeared to have an upper hand in the air war. They had more planes, better planes (Fokker timed machine gun), and Zeppelins which were used on observation missions and bombing raids. War pilots received better, pay, food, and slept in war beds, but percentage of the deaths of war pilots was greater than any other military branch. The average life of a pilot was 3 weeks the suicide service and flying coffins The great air aces were Manfred von Richthofen (Red Baron), Alfred Ball, and Billy Bishop (Canadian). The Red Baron shot down 80 planes. It was a Canadian air ace that shot down the Red Baron on April 21, 1918. When flying over the Somme Valley, The Red Baron spotted an Allied plane being flow by Wilfred May, whose gun had jammed. As he moved in to shoot, Canadian Roy Brown moved in and shot down the Red Baron. The War at Sea Britains navy was much stronger than that of Germanys, however, Germany had a deadly weapon the U-boat. German submarines attacked British ships to cut off supplies. Britain tried to blockade the German coast so food and war supplies could not get into Germany. Germany warmed it would sink all ships in enemy waters. In 1915, it sunk the British luxury liner Lusitania. Many people died, more than half American. The US had stayed out of the war but now America was strongly considering joining the war. In 1917 Germany introduced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking any allied or neutral ships that approached Britain to cut off supplies. This was very effected until the convoy system was introduced supply ships escorted by destroyers. The U-boats did tremendous damage, but brought United States into the war in 1917. This turned the tide in favour of the Allies.

The Last Hundred Days By 1918, Germany realized a crisis had come. Unrestricted submarine warfare had failed in forcing the Allies to surrender. Austria-Hungary and Turkey, their allies, were on brink of collapse. They decided to make one last offensive on the Western front before the US had all their troops arrive.

German soldiers poured into France, but the Allied effort that broke the Germans and stopped them 80km short of Paris was called the Hundred Days. With the assistance of the US and tanks, the Allies gained 130 km, and Canadians were at the forefront of the advance. By November, the Allies had reached the frontiers of Germany. On November 11, 1918, at 11:00am, Germany surrendered. 5 minutes before 11, George Price, a Canadian, was killed by a German sniper. He was the last soldier to be killed.