Major Battles of WWI

Transcription

1 Major Battles of WWI WP: IF the U.S. were to go to war would you voluntarily sign up to go? Why or why not? Put up overhead of battles - have students take notes and discuss. Click here to see overhead notes NOTE: On battle of Ypres - pass out article Gas Attack Read and discuss as a class. Then continue with lecture notes. Article can be obtained at After battle notes, put up overhead of poems. Read and discuss as a class. Click here to see poems ASSIGNMENT: Have each student right a poem describing some element of WWI. Poems must be at least 10 lines long and do not have to rhyme. Return to Table of Contents Page

2 Dulce et Decorum Est Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime.- Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. Wilfred Owen

3 Bombardment Four days the earth was rent and torn By bursting steel, The houses fell about us; Three nights we dared not sleep, Sweating, and listening for the imminent crash Which meant our death. The fourth night every man, Nerve-tortured, racked to exhaustion, Slept, muttering and twitching, While the shells crashed overhead. The fifth day there came a hush; We left our holes And looked above the wreckage of the earth To where the white clouds moved in silent lines Across the untroubled blue. - Richard Aldington

4 Blighters The house is crammed: tier beyond tier they grin And cackle at the Show, while prancing ranks Of harlots shrill the chorus, drunk with din; 'We're sure the Kaiser loves our dear old Tanks!' I'd like to see a tank come down the stalls, Lurching to rag-time tunes, or 'Home, sweet Home'. And there'd be no more jokes in Music-halls To mock the riddled corpses round Bapaume. - Siegfried Sassoon

5 Battles of WWI Overhead Notes Battles of the Marne German army advancing through Belgium and northern France. Caused panic in the French Army who rushed from Paris to halt attack. Germans were stopped Germans pushing again. The four years in between had cost hundreds of thousands of lives and the armies were still exactly where they were when they started. Battles of Ypres attempt by the British to stop the advances of Germans First use of poison gas Over-ambitious aims, bad weather, and bad judgements led to horrific losses. Total casualties for this one battle reached over 250,000. Battle of Somme Big Push attack across river Somme by British. Huge Failure. Soldiers did not follow orders, artillery bombardment did not dislodge German wire or destroy machine-gun posts. One of the biggest slaughters in military history. Battle of Cambrai British launched the first full-scale offensive with the tank. 476 tanks charged towards German lines. Success surprised both sides and British were not prepared for the victory. Casualties Great Britain 1,000,000 France 1,300,000 Russia 1,700,000 Germany and allies 3,500,000 America 50,000 At least 5,500 people died per day during the War