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Warfare and British Society, c1250–present

Case studies: the Somme and the Iraq War

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Trench warfare and why the Western Front stood still, attrition and conditions in the trenches, the Somme bombardment of 1916 and its failure, the first day, the first tanks, Haig's role and historians' judgements, then the Iraq War of 2003, coalition surveillance technology and the insurgency that followed.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why did the front line on the Western Front barely move for years?

Key term

What were conditions like for soldiers in the trenches?

Key term

What happened on the first day of the Somme?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is trench warfare?

    Model answer

    Fighting from long lines of dug positions protected by barbed wire and machine guns, with the opposing armies facing each other for months on end.

  2. 2

    Why did the front line on the Western Front barely move for years?

    Model answer

    Machine guns, artillery and wire made defence far stronger than attack, and defenders could bring up reserves by rail faster than attackers could advance on foot.

  3. 3

    What is a war of attrition?

    Model answer

    A war won by wearing the enemy down, killing more of his men and using up more of his supplies than he can replace, rather than by capturing ground.

  4. 4

    What were conditions like for soldiers in the trenches?

    Model answer

    Mud and standing water caused trench foot, rats and lice were everywhere, and shelling continued even on quiet days.

  5. 5

    How did the British attack on the Somme in 1916 begin?

    Model answer

    With an artillery bombardment lasting a week, meant to cut the wire and destroy the German trenches before the infantry walked across.

  6. 6

    What happened on the first day of the Somme?

    Model answer

    The British army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, the heaviest losses in a single day in its history, for almost no ground gained.

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£6.6 , fixed in 1921.
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AThe huge loss of life left England short of workers.
BForeign craftsmen and labourers were wanted.
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Strategy means the plan for a whole campaign.
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