WEEK 5 Day 1

CLASS 1- Tuesday February 4, 2014

Lecture Notes:  Depth Research and “Team Activity: A new kind of warfare

·         The German Howitzer, however, was indirect, as the explosion was what killed the enemy, not the actual round fired.

·         The 18-pounder could not a highly parabolic trajectory, thus causing it to lose effectiveness in trench warfare. The German Howitzer, however, could “lob” its rounds directly into the British and French trenches.

·         In the Battle of the Somme alone in 1916, 420000 British troops, 195000 French troops, and 400000 German troops were killed and wounded. Wave after wave men were sent by both sides to attack the opponent’s trenches, only to be cut down by machine-gun fire while being trapped in the wires of “No- Man’s Land”.

·         By 1917, the war was still at a stalemate. Neither side could win. The Russian Revolution was well under way, with the Communists capturing and jailing the Royal Family (Tsar Nicolas, Alexandra and the kids) before murdering them. The new regime backed out of the war, attempting to make a treaty with Germany. The USA came into the war in April 1917, and Germany was finally pushed back.

·         Kaiser Wilhelm fled Germany into exile, and the government (the beginnings of the Weimar republic) that replaced him asked for armistice. The war was over in November 1918.

·         They have this “trench system” which is a long narrow ditch and used to protect the soldiers from explosions.  It has a lot of disadvantages such as there are a lot of rodents, small, few food, damp and wet which led to disease known as the trench foot.