2020-02-15 21:11:59 -05:00
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// TODO: rename title to be more general
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// TODO: fix rest of sheet since this is a data dump
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// TODO: Add information before and after
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// TODO: Include OPCVL
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# World War I
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## MAIN long-term causes of WWI
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- `Militarism`: Military competition between countries causes arms races
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- `Alliances`: Countries become larger forces by joining forces with others to from larger "teams"
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- `Imperialism`: Eating countries causes even larger forces and conflicts
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- `Nationalism`: Patriotism and pride (sore losers)
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## Timeline
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- European society becomes increasingly **militaristic** and **nationalistic**
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- People **welcomed** war
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- Austria-Hungary implicates Serbia in assassination of Franz Ferdinand
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- German government promises to support Austria-Hungary
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- Similar to `blank cheque`: Promise to do anything
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- Austria-Hungary sends Serbia an ultimatum
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- Stop all hatred against Austria-Hungary (sure)
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- Punish those involved in assassination (sure)
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- Let Austro-Hungarian police yeet terrorist organisation responsible for assassination (heck no)
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- Serbia refuses to allow the last request, causing Austria-Hungary to declare war
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- Russia tries to come to Serbia's aid because they are friends
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- Germany declares war on Russia and France
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- Germany tries and fails to enact Schlieffen Plan
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- As they invade Belgium, Britain declares war on Germany over "a scrap of paper" (75-year-old treaty with Belgium to defend it)
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## Schlieffen Plan
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- German plan to avoid a **two-front** war with Russia and France
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1. Run through Belgium really quickly
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2. Kill France
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3. Rush back to Germany
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4. Kill Russia
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5. ???
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6. Profit
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- Failed due to following German assumptions:
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- Russia would take longer than six weeks to mobilise forces
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- France would die in six weeks
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- Belgium would not resist
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2020-02-20 21:26:23 -05:00
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- Great Britain would not come to Belgium's aid and join the war
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## Canadian Expeditionary Force
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- Not all recruits welcomed
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- In 1914, the following were required: Good eyesight, arched feet, healthy teeth
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- Most visible minorities were rejected because recruiters were racist
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- First Nations were valued later in the war for sniper and recon abilities
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- Samuel Hughes
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- Minister of Militia and Defense
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- Appointed by PM Robert Borden to recruit and train Canadian Expeditionary Force
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- Army grew from 3 000 to 30 000 within two months
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- Established Valcartier Camp
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- Helped industrialise Ontario
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- Bought expensive **shovel-shields** (shovels with holes)
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- Issued flawed and useless garbage **Ross Rifles**
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- Lots of corruption accusations with substandard munitions production
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- Religious bigotry (intolerance) of French Canadians
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- Resigned in 1916
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- Valcartier Camp
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- Largest military camp on Canadian soil
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- Established in Quebec City by Hughes
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- British perspective
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- Canadians were wild, mutinous, and unruly
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- Crashed officers' private bars
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- Ignored British class structure rules
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- 1 249 cases of STIs out of force of 30 000
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- Less volunteers as war continues because idealist war fantasies are fading
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- Government relaxes restrictions (i.e., lowered medical standards/requirements)
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- First Nations
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- Wanted to fight for British Crown
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- Wanted to gain rights
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- 1/3 of all First Nations enlisted
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- Typically **sniper** or **recon** as they had **traditional hunting** skills
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- Cultural differences between Canadians and First Nations were challenges (e.g., challenging the leader)
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## Trench warfare
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- British + French vs Germans
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- `Western Front`: 700 km of trenches from Belgium to Switzerland
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- War of attrition
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- It sucked
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- Government spams propaganda
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- Modern society thinks that this was not very intelligent
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- Hygiene is all gone
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- Mud, lice, and rats everywhere
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- `Duck boards`: Wooden boards used to cross wet, marshy land
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- Used to prevent soldiers' feet from rotting
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1. Everyone go just go please don't die but charge them
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2. If you fail and we run out of people to throw run away
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3. Everyone who charges dies
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## Technologies
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- Machine guns
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- Better used defensively than offensively due to bulk
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- Artillery
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- Field guns/cannons
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- `Big Bertha`: Powerful German artillery cannon
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- Airplanes
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- First used for recon
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- Pilots smuggled guns onboard
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- Germans developed integrated gun that synched with propeller to shoot through it
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- `Dogfight`: Aerial combat
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- Tanks
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- Invented in 1916 to combat machine gun
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- Too slow and would get stuck
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- U-Boat
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- Submarines used to disrupt supply lines
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- Used to "starve another country into submission"
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### Chemical warfare
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- Chlorine gas
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- Reacts with lining of respiratory system
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- Causes lungs to fill with bodily fluids
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- Drown
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- Mustard gas
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- Causes internal + external bleeding
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- Odourless
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- Active for weeks
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- Causes painful blistering
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