Was Europe a happy continent on the eve of the First World War?

  Paul Nash

War Fever St Petersburg 1st August The news spread through the city like wild fire. Vast crowds assembled on the Nevsky Prospect. Women threw jewels into a collection made for Reservists’ families.

War Fever Paris 1st August The news spread like wildfire through the whole of Paris and within a short time large crowds of men were marching arm in arm through the main streets singing the Marseillaise ……. Paris now rings with the famous shout ‘a Berlin’.

War Fever Berlin 2nd August Patriotic demonstrations in the Lustgarten outside the Imperial Palace continued all yesterday afternoon. At half past six the German Emperor and Empress appeared on the balcony of the Knights’ Hall and received a great ovation

War Fever London 4th August Parliament Street and Whitehall were thronged with people highly excited and rather boisterous. A brilliant sun shone in a cloudless sky. Young men in straw hats were in the majority. Girls in light calico dresses were numerous. All were already touched with war fever. They regarded their country as a crusader.

Munich August 1914

Recruitment Posters                                           

Recruitment Posters

People – how does the poster use people? Recruitment Posters Content – what is in the poster? Message – strong or weak? Words – how many words are in the poster? Techniques Effectiveness

War, one Canadian soldier recalled, was the greatest adventure of my life Men kept fighting because they wanted to Men may have fought simply because fighting was fun I adore war. It is like a big picnic …I’ve never been so well or so happy Ferguson

What was it like to be a soldier in the First World war?   There were few dangers Methods of attack were dangerous Methods of defence were safer than attacking Soldiers enjoyed life in the trenches   Ferguson was right I think that life in the trenches was …  

How to fight a major battle?

How to fight a major battle? The German trench system is very well built. There is a front line with further lines of trenches behind it. This will be hard to attack. You decide to fire heavy shells at the German front line. In order to kill as many Germans as possible you decide to keep firing shells for at least 5 days and nights Trenches have been dug out into no man’s land. This means that your soldiers will be nearer the German front line once the battle begins. Villages occupied by the Germans behind their front line have been made stronger so that they will be hard to attack.

If you were a British general planning an attack say what: The Battle of the Somme 1916 If you were a British general planning an attack say what:  The problems of attacking the Germans are going to be (put P in the box)  How you think you will solve these problems (put S in the box)  

The Theory

The Reality

Was General Haig a butcher?

Was General Haig a butcher? Haig believed that the Germans must be worn down as much as possible and that heavy casualties must be accepted if there was going to be a British victory Over 250,000 British soldiers died in the Battle of the Somme that lasted from July to November 1916. Haig was the commander in chief of the British army at this time.

Was General Haig a butcher?   Good Bad     1915 1916 1918

Who was Harry Farr?

Who was Harry Farr? Military Justice   One of the greatest crimes in warfare is for a soldier to either refuse to fight or to desert. You are the commanding officer. One of your men has deserted. What do you do?

The case of Harry Farr I joined the British army in 1910. I was very proud to become a soldier because it was something that I had wanted to do for a long time. To be honest with you I was only 16 in 1910. They should have never allowed me to join the army but I pretended to be 19 and they wanted to believe me – so I became a soldier. I enjoyed serving the country and was very proud of what I was doing.

The grave of Joseph Condon

Was it worth it?