HIST 1082 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Claude Choules, Militarism, Sulfur Mustard
Document Summary
World war i: the war to end all wars. Total war: first global war where no one escape the direct or indirect impact (soldier, industry, farmers, male/female, etc, human disaster, caused the end of four major empires. Empires weakened: russia, germany, austria, ottoman empire obliterated, initially thought it would be a quick war. 2 key battles of 1915 1916: feb december 1915: verdun important to french. Verdun = french town in northeast in province taken by the. Proof the french can defeat the germans and gain back territories: summer 1916: battle of the somme. Over 1 million die in the period of 10 months trenches. Trench warfare way of the first world war. More elaborate trenches meant they spent more time there. Both sides had access to expensive and heavy artillery cancelled each other out. Dug in zig-zag pattern to avoid mass shootings. Class hierarchy existed in europe for many years. Huge change in mindset when they returned home.
