By: Haylie, Grace, Daya, and Isaiah Battles of Ypres By: Haylie, Grace, Daya, and Isaiah

Background Ypres- town in northwestern Belgium Fought on the western front British, French and Belgian soldiers (Allied Forces) Vs Germans Three major battles Ypres Salient: area around Ypres where battles took place

Who was Involved General Erich Von Falkenhayn (First Battle) German Commander Attempted to counter by attacking left flank Shifted the battle of Ypres towards the north.

Who was Involved Horace Smith-Dorrien (Second Battle) British Commander Sent Canadians to secure the opening in British line caused by German gas bombs.

1st battle

1st battle (October-November, 1914) Germans already controlled city of Antwerp Germans aimed to break allied lines October 19th ,Germans looking for fight; Allies resisted → looking to attack November 22nd, Winter weather put Battle to a halt Ultimately, Both sides had heavy losses http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-battle-of-ypres

2nd Battle

2nd battle (April-May, 1915) German forces attacked the salient In response, French employed the use of poison gas; first time in history The Allied troops fled Canadians stayed and fought → death

Strategy: Use of Poison Gases French threw tear-gas grenades Germans retaliated; used chlorine and later mustard gas corrosive effect on the lungs Germans fired more than 150 tons of chlorine gas to Western Front at Ypres devastated allied line Two German soldiers and their mule wearing gas masks in 1916

Result Germans failed to capitalize on the advantage the gas attack gave Result: Germans recovered salient, but still unable to capture Ypres 69,000 of Allied Forces died Neither side “won” Use of poison gas set tone for rest of WW1

3rd Battle

3rd battle (July-November, 1917) Allies captured Messines Ridge by tunneling and exploding mines under German lines Destroyed the drainage system Lost supplies Commanders refused to stop attacking Germany, even though breakthrough was impossible Resulted in many casualties Germany lost battle to Britain and Canada

Before After

Impacts of the Battles of Ypres 1st Battle: Stabilized Western Front and emergence of trench warfare 2nd Battle: First time poison gas was used as a weapon 3rd Battle: One of the highest numbers of casualties, Britain + Canada won

Works Cited “Battles of Ypres.” History in Literature, Facts On File, 2004, History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Article/Details/45539?q=battle of ypres. Ieper, Stad. Battles of the Ypres Salient. Digital image. The Ypres Salient Battlefields, Belgium. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2017. (john@spartacus-educational.com), John Simkin. "Spartacus Educational." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. Legg, Joanna. Prelude to the Second Battle of Ypres. Digital image. Great War. Greatwar.co.uk, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2017. Mills, Holly. The Battle of Passchendaele. Digital image. Weebly, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2017. Watts, Tim. "Battle of Passchendaele." World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2017, worldhistory.abc-clio.com. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Watts, Tim. "Battle of Ypres." World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2017, worldhistory.abc-clio.com. Accessed 8 Feb. 2017