1. Complete the following key words…
Trnch ft
Blly bf
Fr stp
Prscp
Snd bgs
N Mns Lnd

2. Complete the following key words…
Trench foot
Bully beef
Fire step
Periscope
Sand bags
No Mans Land

3. Causes What does Blackadder suggest has caused the war?
How accurate is Blackadder’s view?
How useful is the script as a source of evidence about the causes of WW1?

4. Blackadder - The Causes of WWI  
Baldrick:  The thing is: The way I see it, these days there's a war on, right? and, ages ago, there wasn't a war on, right?    So, there must have been a moment when there not being a war on went away, right? and there being a war on came along.   So, what I want to know is: How did we get from the one case of affairs to the other case of affairs?
Edmund Blackadder:   Do you mean "Why did the war start?"  
Baldrick:   Yeah.  
George:   The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.  
Edmund Blackadder:  George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyika.    I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front.  
George:   Oh, no, sir, absolutely not. [aside, to Baldick]   Mad as a bicycle!  
Baldrick:  I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry.  
Edmund Blackadder:  I think you mean it started when the Archduke of Austro-Hungary got shot.  
Baldrick:  Nah, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir.  
Edmund Blackadder:  Well, possibly.   But the real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort not to have a war.  
George:   By Golly, this is interesting; I always loved history...  
Edmund Blackadder:  You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe, two superblocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side, and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other.   The idea was to have two vast opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent.   That way there could never be a war.  
Baldrick:  But this is a sort of a war, isn't it, sir?  
Edmund Blackadder:  Yes, that's right.   You see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan.  
George:   What was that, sir?  
Edmund Blackadder:  It was bollocks.  
Baldrick:  So the poor old ostrich died for nothing.

5. Recruitment How does the poster present war?
Why does the poster present war in a particular way?
Is the poem useful for a student studying World War I?

6. Recruitment poster created by the government in 1915.

7. Gas!(7) Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lim Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children wanting some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori
Owen was a soldier who suffered shell shock as a result of his experiences in the war. He was sent to a mental hospital to help recover his mind. He was eventually declared recovered and returned to the front line experience

8. Weapons
What can you learn from the poem about the effects of a gas attack?
Does the poem support the view of a gas attack shown in ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’?

9. Shellshock video:

10. Otto Dix 1916 “Wounded”
A German painter, he was a veteran of WWI

11. Shellshock How does Otto Dix show the effects of war?
How useful is the painting as evidence of the effects of war on soldiers?