THE WESTERN FRONT: WORLD WAR ONE

THE

WESTERN FRONT

W O R L D W A R O N E

Introduction

World war one also known as the great war, was a global event that battlefield took place in trenches that weaved through France and Germany and many countries in central Europe. WW1 was caused by a large web of long-term reasons that resided in the acronym M.A.I.N.

M.A.I.N stands for militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, which were the four major reasons for the beginning the Great war.

MILITARISM - In the late nineteenth century there was a race for military and technology expansion, this was mainly based in central Europe. The expansion in artillery shaped countries cultural, political, and public opinions causing the thought of war to be glorified and even wanted. With advancements in military arms, came paranoia which coincided with the need for alliances

ALLIANCES – Many alliances where being formed before the WW1 in years between 1870 and 1914. Many of the alliances were formed to use as a form of protection as it meant that if one country was attacked then all groups of the alliance would join. Alliances created world division as countries in central Europe divided into two groups, the Triple Entente (involved counties: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and Triple Alliance (involved countries: France, Russia, and Great Britain).

IMPERIALISM - Imperialism was the of expanding the power of a nation through acquisition, this allowed for profit though goods and labour. The build-up of militaries and alliances were also enacted to protect other countries

NATIONALISM - The effects from nationalism were caused by overconfidence of people and their countries. It was the idea of taking pride into your nation, and demonising rival nations, creating powerful tensions and ideas of conflict. These ideas caused the assassination of the Archduke.

Poster created to show the formed alliances in WW1

Franz Ferdinand

M.A.I.N had a huge impact leading to the first world war; however, the fighting didn’t then start until the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand which was known as the short-term trigger event that ignited the world war. Franz and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, in order to "free counties from Austrian-hungry rein"

This assassination was significant because Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the only air to the AustriaHungarian empire, due to this, in anger Germany declared war on Serbia Due to the Alliance that Serbia had with Russia, Germany than also declared war on Russia which then intern lead the long web of alliances to be put into play

Gavrilo Princip - Serbian nationalist who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.

Archduke Frans Ferdinand

Australia's Involement

Australia is one of many countries who fought alongside with Britain and France as a part of the British army. Australia’s involvement in the great war began when Britain went to war on the 4th of August in support of France. Both the Prime Minister and the opposing leader, who were in the middle of an election, pledge full support for Britain. (Australian War memorial, 2023). The prime minister, and the opposing leader both fully supported and promised Great Britain for 20 000 troops straight up with more soldiers to come

There were many reasons for why Australians enlisted into the army these reasons include people’s loyalty to Britain, as well as many soldiers who had already severed in other Britain campaigns. Men also enlisted to pursue adventure and seek a chance to see the world.

Another reason for soldiers’ enlistment was due to government propaganda – propaganda is information with a biased nature used to promote a political idea or point of view During the time of WW1, the main form of communication used to promote men to enlist into war were propaganda posters. This form of text and images were used to influence the behaviour of people so that they believe that enlisting is the best thing to do this swayed many Australians to enlist.

There were also many men and women who wanted to enlist but were unable to as they did not reach the requirements. The original requirements for Australian men to enlist in war were that men had to be 19-38 in age with the height on 5ft 6in and above, with the chest measurement of 34 inches. Hover due for the need for more soldiers the requirements were slightly change multiple times By 1917 the final requirements were the age of 18-47 with minimum height of 5ft (Australian War Memorial).

Propaganda posters create during WW1 to convince Australians to enlist.

Gallipoli

The number of Australian soldiers who enlisted into the war was over 416 000. These enlistments spaded between the start and the end of the war The first campaign of Anzac soldiers saw 16 000 soldiers entered Gallipoli. However due to poor communication this campaign failed, and 2000 soldiers died or had been wounded by the noon of the 25th of April the same day they landed. For a total of eight months the Anzacs did not advance further but where finally able to evacuate with minor casualties (National Museum of Australia).

After Gallipoli, Australian soldiers spent four months in Egypt to train troops, before entering back into combat on the western front which was the main war ground for the Great war.

BTN video about Gallipoli || https://youtu be/lpIp9DXJmS8

Kangaroo's that had been transported to Eygpt

Timeline of Events an Battles based in the Western Front

AUSTRALIAN SODIERS ON THE WESTERN FRONT

The Western Front

The western front was the fighting zone located in western Europe that severed as the main battle ground that inhabited the major fights against the main alliances. It was stretch of trenches that spanned for 700km that ran through Belgium and France.

The Western Front started on 4th of august, however Australian troops didn't join the front until March 1916. After the Anzac soldiers escaped from Gallipoli, soldiers went to Egypt to refresh troops. After (import time they spent in Egypt) most of Australian soldiers then headed to France to join the war in the western front Over 295,000 Australian soldiers served on the western front, there was 46,000 casualties with more than 130,000 wounded.

Places that these people fought in locations that included: the battle Fromelles in July 1916, the battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918 and the battle of Somme between July and November 1916

Map to showcase areas that Australian soldiers fought on the western front.

Trench Warfare

There were many negative factors that soldiers faced along the western front, many of these resided in trench Warfare. Trenches were narrow ditches that had been dug in a zig zag pattern that were u d f f t ti Th d t d e the effects protect soldier

The fir e was the att ds the enemy throug een the opposi g g land to attack the opposing side as it was hard to attack within the trenches, however traveling through no man’s land was extremely difficult and led to many deaths on both sides. Many soldiers experienced the pain and suffering that occurred when they travelled along the no man land area.

Another experience that occurred in the trenches was the struggle to rid the trenches from rats and lice. Due to the unsanitary conditions, it attracted many rats and lice and became impossible for soldiers to remove them With rats and lice came the constant spread of diseases and constant irritation. Doctors in 1918 also concluded that lice where a cause of trench fever, causing many troops to suffer from headaches, fevers, and other painful symptoms.

Trenches on the Western Front

No Man's Land

Dog trained to hunt rats in trenches

Impacts

Soldiers on the western front also experienced both short term and long term affects that affected them physically and mentally. Some of these effects included serious injuries, trench foot and shell shock.

juries - Injuries came in many forms, ccording to the Australian war memorial any soldiers suffered serious wounds the ost common injuries were caused by rtillery, machine-guns as well as many oldiers being hit by shell fragments.

Trench Foot - Trench foot was the result of long exposure of the feet to cold wet and unsanitary conditions. The long exposure to unhygienic conditions led to infections and gangrene. Gangrene is the death of body tissue which led for many soldiers needing to amputate their infected foot

Shell Shock - Shell shock was a term used to identify the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that many Australian soldiers had to face. This long-term affect was caused due to the stressful situations that soldiers where put through, it led some soldiers to have mental break downs Symptoms included fatigue, struggle to sleep, and the induce of panic and terror which led many soldiers to become helpless and nonresponsive. This was a long-term affect that a high percentage of soldiers on the western front had to face.

Australian soldiers suffered from painful wounds and psychological trauma, these affected some in short term and many others in the longterm. These effects show the impacts that had been generated in the Western Front.

AUSTRALIAN SODIERS ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Captain Jeffries

One of the soldiers that experienced the war on the western front was Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries Jefferies was a captain that spent his war service in the Australian imperial force, he was well known for his leadership, bravery, and sacrifice in the battle of Passchendaele.

Jefferies was born in Newcastle New South Wales on the 26th of October 1894. At a young age Jefferies apprenticed with his father as a coal surveyor until he enlisted into the army as a soldier in the citizens military force at the age of 18 in the year 1912.

Clarence Smith Jefferies had fast promotions, after one year in the army he was promoted to a sergeant then in 1914 became a lieutenant army officer. His promotions didn't stop there as he was then promoted to captain after he recovered from machine gun wounds in June 1917 in the battle of Messines.

Image of Australian soldiers working together in the battle of Messines.

AUSTRALIAN SODIERS ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Captain Clarence Smith Jefferies embarkation was on the 2nd of May 1816, and he fought in many places along the western front, with his most notable battle being the battle of Passchendaele. This was an important event because Jefferies led many commissioned parties, the most notable being the two parties he led on the 12th of October. These operations where important as they led Australian troops closer to winning in the battle of Passchendaele.

Due to Jefferies bravery during the attack, he was able to capture multiple machine guns and thirty-five prisoners with the first party. Then later that day with the second party, he was able to lead his company through dangerous conditions and machine-gun fire to successfully capture two more machine guns and thirty more prisoners. Sadly, Captain Clarence Smith Jefferies died during the second operation, however his inspiring actions continued to influence his soldiers.

After Jefferies death he was awarded the Victorian Cross, also on the 12th of October, this was awarded because of his bravery, intuition, and success of his actions. In 1920 Jefferies father Joshua Jefferies went to Belgium to search for his sons grave, only to discover in 1921 that his son's body had moved out of the battle ground and buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery where he still lays rest today

The Battle on Passchendaele

Bibliography

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Australian War Memorial (2021a). First World War 1914–18 | the Australian War Memorial. [online] www.awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/first-world-war#:~:text=Summary [Accessed 6 Jun. 2023].

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Browne, A. (2021). The 4 M-A-I-N Causes of World War One. [online] History Hit. Available at: https://www.historyhit.com/the-4-m-a-i-n-causes-of-world-warone/#:~:text=The%20M-A-IN%20acronym%20%E2%80%93%20militarism%2C%20alliances%2C%20imperial ism%20and [Accessed 8 Jun. 2023].

DVA (Department of Veterans' Affairs) (2022). Medical treatment of Australian soldiers in World War I,. [online] DVA Anzac Portal. Available at: https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/militaryorganisation/medical-treatment

Esri Australia (2022). Australia’s Involvement in WWI. [online] ArcGIS StoryMaps. Available at: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/487b208cd36643a5b73d6991c7d5d1ca.

Hopley, J.B. (1983). Jeffries, Clarence Smith (1894–1917). [online] Australian Dictionary of Biography. Available at: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jeffriesclarence-smith-6832.

McDermott, A. (2018). Did Franz Ferdinand’s Assassination Cause World War I? [online] HISTORY. Available at: https://www.history.com/news/did-franzferdinands-assassination-cause-world-war-i.

Bibliography

National Museum of Australia; Lawson Crescent (2022). Gallipoli Landing. [online] www.nma.gov.au. Available at: https://www.nma.gov.au/definingmoments/resources/gallipolilanding#:~:text=On%2025%20April%201915%2C%2016%2C000%20Australian% 20and%20New.

Tibbitts, C. (2007). The Battles for Bullecourt | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/thebattles-for-bullecourt.

Tibbitts, C. (2021). Casualties of war | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Awm.gov.au. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/article2.webadmin (2012).

Jeffries VC Park, Abermain. [online] www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au. Available at: https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/memorials/jeffriesvc-parkabermain#:~:text=At%20the%20age%20of%20fourteen%20he%20joined%20the .

Wikipedia (2022). Clarence Jeffries. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Jeffries.