World War I Essay

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History: World War 1
Knowing (1 point) – List the contents of a soldiers backpack.Socks - Paper & Pen (For letters) - Emergency money
Knife - Coil of rope
Spare Blanket - Matches
Spare Uniform - Canned Food
Bar of soap - Bottle
Spare Helmet - Compass
Understanding (2 points) – Summarise important world events leading up to WWI.Alliances and Politics In the years leading up to the war, the nations of Europe were constantly jockeying for power and making alliances. Germany made an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1881. These countries all agreed to protect each other in the event they were attacked by France. However, Italy then went and made a secret alliance with France saying they would not aide Germany. In response to Germany's alliances, France and Russia established an alliance in 1892. In 1904, Britain and France signed an agreement. The Triple Entente was formed between France, Britain, and Russia in 1907. Germany felt that this powerful alliance surrounding them posed a real threat to their existence and power in the region.
Imperialism Some European countries, such as France and Britain, had created large worldwide empires and had become very rich. Other European countries, such as Russia and Germany, wanted to create their own vast empires. This caused competition and conflict between many of the countries throughout the world.
Europe Ready for War In 1914, the situation in Europe was tense. Secret alliances and the desire to grow empires had built up distrust and dislike between many of the European powers. All it would take was one international event and Europe would be at war. Murder of Archduke Ferdinand On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was murdered in Sarajevo. The Austria government believed that the murder was organised by the Serbian government. They also saw this as an opportunity to regain control of Serbia.
Austria-Hungary Declares War Austria-Hungary issued a number of harsh demands on Serbia, threatening to invade if Serbia did not comply. They gave them 48 hours to respond. When Serbia's response fell short of the demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28. More Declarations of War Austria-Hungary had hoped they could quickly take over Serbia and that Serbia's ally, Russia, would not risk a major war in order to help Serbia. However, they figured wrong. Russia immediately began to mobilize its troops and prepare for war. In response, Germany, Austria-Hungary's close ally, declared war on Russia on August 1st. A few days later, Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Britain then declared war on Germany and World War I had begun.
Applying (3 points) – What were the health problems experienced by WWI soldiers?
Besides shock and fear of being killed, the soldiers faced many health problems. The most common were trench foot and dysentery.
Trench Foot: Painful condition of the feet caused by long immersion in cold water or mud marked by blackening and death of surface tissue.
Soldiers had no or inadequate changes of socks, no waterproof footgear and were standing on cold wet mud in the trenches. This caused the feet to rot and in extreme cases the foot had to be amputated.
Dysentery: Infection of the intestines resulting in severe diarrhoea with the presence of blood.
This was a common problem as the food was never good. It was often canned and very old.
Shell Shock: psychological disturbance caused by prolonged exposure to active warfare.
Soldiers faced tremendous psychological damage to most who served.
Trench mouth: A bacterial infection of the gums.
Lice: Lice would lay their eggs in the clothing and hatch and were nearly impossible to control.
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