World Famous of World War I

Her Vast empire since she feared the rest of Europe catching up to her magnitude and would gain her territory in places like (India, Africa, Australia and Canada)this was the reason why she had a massive navy and had to protect all sea routes especially the English Chanel. She had been the first nation to have an industrial revolution and, hence, was very rich. Germany was her biggest threat.

She'd lost a war in 1917 against Germany and lost crucial land (Alsace-Lorraine) which contained valuable industrial materials like coal. She also had a huge empire in places like Africa and Asia and she feared losing another war against Germany; partial reason for her alliance with Britain and Russia.

She'd only been a nation since 1871 as she defeated a great power, France and won territory from her. By this she proved she'd the most powerful army in Europe and soon aspired to catch up with Britain's power and wealth; so she built many factories and developed her navy. Kaiser Wilhelm also had the ambition of creating a worldwide empire and feared that the country was being surrounded by an enemy alliance. (France's)

As Russia had a vast empire; she still wanted to develop it, especially through SE Europe which would allow her to obtain essential supplies through the Mediterranean Sea. As controversy regarding the Tsar's ultimate power developed and people began to consider a revolution, the Tsar decided that, as his people were very similar to the Serbs, if he opposed the Austro-Hungarian Empire; he'd stay in power for centuries (Of course, he didn't)

Austria-Hungary wanted to stop nationalism from collapsing her empire. She was also concerned about external powers taking her territory, especially Russia as it was also increasingly controversial.

He was brought up in Gloucester, he joined the 2nd/5th Gloucesters when WWI began (he joined the 9th Feb. 1915). He had mental issues and described his experience in the army as one of the happiest times of his life (then he was diagnosed with neurasthemia; but he really experienced depression. He was a poet and a musician; one of his most famous poems is "To his Love" directed to one of his friends; Will Harvey as he thought he was dead when he really wasn't.

In France and Belgium (mostly France) because WWI was a trench War (the fighting took place in trenches, which were obviously stagnant. By the end of 1914, millions of troops dug their vastly long trenches to shelter themselves to one of Europe's coldest winters which stretched from the Alps to the North Sea (50m-2km [No man's land] apart, ~400km long). The fightinng began in August 1914, during the execution of the Schieffen plan. (German attack through Eastern Belgium).

"In the line" : soldiers that were found in the frontline, actively fighting; "in reserve": those in the reserve trench, behind the frontline trench whose jobs was to 1. Replace soldiers in frontline when needed 2. Supplied the soldiers there with ammo, food or clothing 3. Cleaned weapons and cured injured/ buried the dead; and those "in reserve" : these soldiers that were in the support trench whose jobs were to substitute the soldiers in the reserve trench when needed and these soldiers had previously rested and were well nourished. The trenches connected with communication tranches (underground small passages) In the front of each set of trenches there was barbed wire to prevent soldiers from reaching the other side and behind there was heavy artillery, weapons such as mortors. In the middle of both sides there was No man's land; a place lots of soldiers tried to cross to reach the other end and kill the enemies that way... This was the scariest location during this war.

It contained corpses, dead animals, rats, it was usually a shallow and muddy place in which soldiers would get trapped; hence, you could hear screams of agony and see dying people. There'd also be a rotten smell due to the corpses and their decomposing flesh. Overall it was a horrible setting.

1. Sandbags: To provide stability when shooting and to prevent rain from entering the trench as it would result in diseases such as trench foot. 2. Duckboards: Provide a dry surface for the soldier to stand on; however it wasn't present in all trenches, especially those that were bombed. 3. Wooden periscope: Prevented the soldier from getting shot in the head because he needed to look ahead for the enemy and provided overall observation of the battlefield. 4. Dug-out: For shelter and to bury the dead; some trenches didn't have it. 5. Fire Step 6. Wooden/Iron support.

Paschendaele: 1917 Hitler fought in this one.1st battle of Ypres: 1915 First battle to use chlorine gas; Hitler is gassed and blinded.Vimy: 1915Somme: 1916 First battle to use tanks (very slow models and only carried 3 people: Little Willy) Hitler injured and awarded his 2nd clas Iron Cross for bravery.Champagne: 1915Verdun: 1916 Consisted on capturing French forts, by July 1916 ~700000 men failed and were killed. The Allies were really close to defeat.

First, Field Marshal Douglas Haig planned the attack in the river Somme to release pressure from Verdun, after a week-long artillery bombardment in the German trenches; the marchal orders the British troops to advance into No Man's Land and kill the little survivors. However, as he kept giving the orders to go "over the top" the British began to die in massive amounts as most of the Germans had survived in the dug-outs. There were 57000 British casualties on the first day and when the batlle ceased on November 1916, 1 and a quarter million men were killed. 2nd and 5th Gloucesters weren't active in this war as they remained in Laventie until the 27th October 1916. At the end, the conditions of the Somme were disastrous, millions of corpses, irregular trenches or shell holes by then, lots of mud, etc.

Varennes, 30th December.

[ONLY DETAILS] 1. Rifle: Long range ~1.5 km away and fired 15-16 bullets per minute. 2. Hoversack: Contained more resources such as clothing or extra eating tins. 3. Iron helmet: British=Plain, German=Spikes only at the start, 1915 4. Bayonet: To stab soldiers in range, melee weapon 5.Puttees: Prevented liquid from entering the soldiers feet (trench foot) 6. Shovel: Used to bury corpses or as a melee weapon 7. Grenade (Fragmentation) : Stick= German, Pineapple= British 8.Ammunition Pouches: Made of leather to prevent water from damaginng bullets. 9. Gas Mask : Little efficiency but for protection during gas attacks.