University:
University of Cambridge
Course:
0470 IGCSE | History
Academic year:

2023
Views:

12

Pages:

1
Author:

anon

IGCSE History: World War I – End of 1914 Situation by the End of 1914: ● By Christmas the Schlieffen Plan and the Race to the Sea had both failed: ● The war of movement had ended. ● The Allied forces matched those of Germans quite evenly in terms of number and so both sides were unable to achieve any decisive victory. ● A deadlock was reached. ● Both sides had lost over 500 000 soldiers each. ● The politicians talked of peace but since neither side would accept anything short of complete surrender these talks came to nothing. ● The Germans and the Allies entrenched themselves in preparation to fight during the approaching winter. ● These trenches stretched from the channel ports all the way to Switzerland. ● On Christmas day there was an unofficial truce where men even climbed onto no man’s land to exchange cigarettes and play football: ● The truce began when British soldiers fired 3 shots into the air and shouted Merry Christmas to the Germans and the Germans returned with 2 shots and a Thank You. ● This truce lasted for 2 days until the soldiers officially signaled the war had restarted. ● The trench system was originally only supposed to last the winter; it lasted by more than 3 years and it grew slowly more and more complex.