The British government wanted to encourage men to enlist for war. They said the war would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good time and over by Christmas. They used advertising posters to encourage this idea Or Propaganda Task: Define propaganda: A picture of soldiers going ‘Over the Top’

The reality of ‘going over the top’ was very different!

Trenches Details Barbed wire: to make running at the trench difficult. Sandbagged parapet: to stop the trench collapsing. Parados: to stop ‘shrapnel’ getting into the trench. Fire step: to shoot from. Duck Boards: stopped the bottom of the trench getting very muddy and slippery. Task Draw and label a diagram of a trench

Trenches The British and French Armies in Northern France first dug Trenches. The aim of trenches was to act as a barrier against the rapid advance of the German army from which a counter attack could be made. At first they were quickly and easily constructed using few materials other than sandbags and a shovel. But then Trenches created a stalemate. No one was advancing Advantages: easy to make, easy to defend, cheap to build, don’t need lots of men to defend them. Disadvantages: wet, cold, hard to get in an out of without being seen by the enemy. Trenches were very dirty and unhygienic as there was no water or flushing toilets. Task 1.Write a brief 4 sentence summary paragraph explaining why trenches were built. 2.Create a T-Chart with things that soldiers might have liked and disliked about the trenches. Include at least 3 items on each side.

Soldiers were expected to carry all of their equipment with them at all times. They were supposed to keep it clean and in good condition.

How the uniform and equipment changed after just three weeks in the trenches…

Posters always showed men ready and willing to fight. They never showed the boredom of the trenches or actual fighting taking place. Task: Why do you think the government showed no fighting?

No smiling and relaxed faces… No clean uniforms… Their equipment is scattered everywhere… Boredom and sleep are obvious…

Task ► ► You have looked at the posters that the government used to persuade men to go to war. ► ► You have looked at photographs showing what war was really like. 1. In your books write a paragraph of information about what YOU think war was really like. You could describe some of the photographs/posters and explain how they might make people feel about fighting!

The soldiers had very little decent food, and what food they had was often attacked by rats. These rats were the size of small rabbits and badgers because they had fed on the decomposing bodies of dead soldiers.Rats

Rats Source C: George Coppard, With A Machine Gun to Cambrai (1969) ► ► Rats bred by the tens of thousands and lived on the fat of the land. One pair of rats can produce 880 offspring in a year and so the trenches were soon swarming with them. When we were sleeping in funk holes the things ran over us, played about, copulated and fouled our scraps of food, their young squeaking incessantly. There was no proper system of waste disposal in trench life. Empty tins of all kinds were flung away over the top on both sides of the trench. Millions of tins were thus available for all the rats in France and Belgium in hundreds of miles of trenches. During brief moments of quiet at night, one could hear a continuous rattle of tins moving against each other. The rats were turning them over. What happened to the rats under heavy shell-fire was a mystery, but their powers of survival kept place with each new weapon, including poison gas. ► ► If you left your food the rats would soon grab it. Those rats were fearless. Sometimes we would shoot the filthy swine. But you would be put on a charge for wasting ammo, if the sergeant caught you. Task: 1. Why were there so many trench rats during the WWI? 2. How big could the trench rat grow? 3. Which part of the body would the rats eat first? 4. Look at source C. How could you tell if there were rats nearby at night? 5. How did the soldiers try to get rid of the trench rats?

Trench Foot  The trenches were wet and cold and at this time some of them did not have duckboards and dug-outs. The battalion lived in mud and water. Altogether about 200 men were evacuated for trench feet and rheumatism. Gum boots were provided for the troops in the most exposed positions. Trench feet was still a new ailment and the provision of dry socks was vitally important. Part of the trench was reserved for men to go two at a time, at least once a day, and rub each other's feet with grease Task: 1. What caused trench Foot? 2. How do you think you would know if you had trench foot, what might be the symptoms that you would see? 3. What steps did the army take to make sure soldiers did not catch trench foot?

Alliances: Triple Entente: Britain France Russia Triple Alliance: Germany Austro-Hungary Italy Task 1.In 1914 name the two sides that were against each other and list their respective countries. 2. Using your past notes which country switched sides by 1915, how did this affect the names of the alliance system? 3. Where do you think the Western Front was located? Where was the Eastern Front located?