The Beginning of WWI 1

The Beginning of WWI
A Before you read
What do you know about World War I? Read the sentences below and tick true or false.
True
False
1. World War I started in 1918.
2. The war began when Germany declared war on Great Britain.
3. Germany had to start fighting in the West and in the East at the
same time because Russia had an alliance with France.
4. German and British soldiers celebrated the first Christmas of the
war together.
5. Enemy soldiers played football together during the war.
6. The war finished at the tenth hour of the tenth day at the tenth
month of 1918.
B The Great War
World War I – Setting the stage.
World War I – or the Great War as it was called at that time – was one of the bloodiest wars in
history. When war was declared on July 28, 1914, much of Europe had already taken sides. Over
the next four years, more and more countries from around the world joined in and later people
hoped it would be the “war to end all wars.” Nowadays people believe it set the stage for World
War II. How and why did the Great War begin?
Europe of the early twentieth century was a place of great mistrust and loose alliances. The great
military and financial powers of Europe had divided much of the rest of the world between them
in the form of colonies. This led to political instability as individual states or empires vied to increase their share. The countries then formed alliances to protect their own interests. The
Austro-Hungarian Empire had an agreement with Germany and Italy, whereas the United Kingdom had an alliance with France and Russia. Serbia also had an alliance with Russia.
The spark
The political tension and mistrust in Europe turned it into a barrel of gunpowder waiting to
explode. The spark that ignited this dangerous mixture was the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austrian Empire, by a Serb nationalist on June 28,
1914. Before Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28, it secured the support of its allies. In the
month between the assassination and the declaration of war, Serbia got the support of Russia.
This consequently also brought the United Kingdom and France into the war, so that by the time
Germany walked through Belgium to attack France in late summer of that year, much of Europe
was already involved.
The trenches
Germany had planned to attack France quickly (through neutral Belgium) before France had
time to mobilize its troops. However, due to the years of political tensions in Europe, France was
prepared, and Germany lost its first battle on French territory, the First Battle of the Marne. Germany retreated slightly to create a stronger defensive position and prepared to defend its newly
won land from the trenches. The French and British had no success pushing the Germans back
and so they also built trenches and prepared to fight from there.
© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2014 | www.klett.de Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
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Autorin: Pauline Ashworth, Stuttgart
Bildquelle: Imago
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The Beginning of WWI
Much of the war over the next four years was fought
from these trenches, making life for the soldiers
terrible. The trenches filled with water which
became dirty and smelly and attracted rats. The
soldiers had very little time to rest and could only
sleep for an hour during the afternoon and
occasional hours at night when they were not
fighting. The men stayed in the trenches for 24
hours or even longer before relief came from others.
One doctor who helped the injured men from the
trenches, Captain Noel Chavasse, wrote letters
home: “Our men have had a terrible experience of
72 hours in trenches, drenched through and in some
places knee-deep in mud and water.” He went on to
des-cribe how terrible they looked when they came
out of the trenches and how little like young men.
“Their backs are bent, and they stagger and totter
along with the weight of their packs.” He described
the soldiers as looking like wild animals with their
eyes staring out from their muddied, white faces.
The Christmas truce
By Christmas 1914 the German and British trenches were quite close together along some parts
of the front: close enough so that the men could talk to each other. Soldiers on both sides had
been sent Christmas presents by their respective governments and they wanted time to open
them and have a break from fighting. Somehow a Christmas truce was agreed upon. This was
not official, however, and the British High Command had forbidden any fraternisation. They
also forbade the soldiers from putting down their guns, but the British troops went ahead with
the truce anyway.
What exactly happened before and after that Christmas and how it came about cannot be
determined exactly. There are no longer any survivors from that time, nor was it an official truce.
It apparently began by German soldiers putting up Christmas trees and candles (these had been
sent to them by their government) outside their trenches. The soldiers then sang Christmas
carols and later the British sang their Christmas carols, too. It is reported that they all sang
“Silent Night” together. Later they called Christmas greetings to each other and eventually
crossed “no man’s land” and celebrated together. They even exchanged presents. Apparently
100,000 troops – mostly German and British – put down their arms at some point during that
Christmas period.
One eyewitness account was from Bruce Bairnsfather who wrote, “I wouldn’t have missed that
unique and weird Christmas Day for anything. [...] I spotted a German officer, some sort of
lieutenant I should think, and being a bit of a collector, I intimated to him that I had taken a
fancy to some of his buttons. [...] I brought out my wire clippers and, with a few deft snips,
removed a couple of his buttons and put them in my pocket. I then gave him two of mine in
exchange.”
Another eyewitness, Henry Williamson, who later became a writer for Nature magazine and
was 19 at the time, wrote to his mother, “Dear Mother, I am writing from the trenches. It is 11
o’clock in the morning. […] The ground is sloppy in the actual trench, but frozen elsewhere. In
my mouth is a pipe presented by the Princess Mary. In the pipe is tobacco. Of course, you say.
But wait. In the pipe is German tobacco. Haha, you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured
trench. Oh dear, no! From a German soldier. Yes a live German soldier from his own trench.
Yesterday the British & Germans met & shook hands in the Ground between the trenches, &
exchanged souvenirs, & shook hands. Yes, all day Xmas day, & as I write. Marvellous, isn’t it?”
© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2014 | www.klett.de Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten.
Autorin: Pauline Ashworth, Stuttgart
Bildquelle: Imago
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The Beginning of WWI
To cap it all off, some of the soldiers played football on Christmas Day. Mostly people played
with their own nationality, but it is believed that there were also games between Germany and
Britain. Whatever the result of those matches, it is sure that both sides were winners! One soldier
said that he would never have taken up arms again if he hadn’t been forced to.
In Flanders fields
After four hard and bloody years, World War I ended at the eleventh hour on November 11, 1918.
This day is commemorated as Remembrance Day or Poppy Day in Great Britain and in most
countries of the Commonwealth. On that day people wear poppies in their button holes and
remember the dead of not just this war but other wars since then. Poppies are worn because
poppies were blooming in the fields of Flanders (a part of Belgium and northern France) where
some of the worst fighting took place. The red of the poppies reminds people of the blood that
was spilled and that is still spilled in every war fought around the world.
C Now it’s your turn
1. Check your answers in Part A.
2. Vocabulary
Find other words which mean:
a) soldiers
b) weapons
c) remembered
d) wanted
e) agreement
f) hole in the ground which people fight from
g) song sung around Christmastime
3. Discussion
a) In class evaluate the evidence for the truce and the football matches.
b) Discuss your feelings about the Christmas truce and describe how soldiers might have felt
during the break in fighting.
c) Explain how the enemy soldiers might have communicated with one another.
4. Creative work
Either
In small groups prepare a role play of the Christmas truce. Act it out for your classmates.
Or
Write a letter home from the trenches. Describe the Christmas truce and what happened after it.
Describe your feelings.
© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2014 | www.klett.de Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten.
Autorin: Pauline Ashworth, Stuttgart
Bildquelle: Imago
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Teacher’s page: The Beginning of WWI
As World War I is studied in History lessons, the students should know most of the facts about
the background of the war. Therefore this newsletter deals with an aspect of the war that is not
as well known: the Christmas truce. There is some discussion about how much of the documented information about the Christmas truce is factual; particularly whether the football match
between German and English soldiers really took place.
The tradition of poppies being used as the symbol for Armistice Day goes back to the poem “In
Flanders Fields” written by the Canadian soldier John McCrae in 1915. The poem can easily be
found on the Internet. The words are moving and the poem can be understood by your
advanced students, should you want to spend more time on this subject.
Sources:
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/soldier/letter05.shtml
 “Bullets & Billets by Bruce Bairnsfather”, (Project Gutenberg)
 http://www.henrywilliamson.co.uk/hw-and-the-first-world-war/57-uncategorised/158henry-williamson-and-the-christmas-truce
Before you read
As the students probably know a lot about the war already, they should be able to work out the
unknown vocabulary here.
Now it’s your turn
1. Answers: 1. false; 2. false; 3. true; 4. true; 5. true; 6. false
2.
a) soldiers – troops, men
b) weapons - arms
c) remembered - commemorated
d) wanted - coveted
e) agreement - alliance
f ) hole in the ground which people fight from - trench
g) song - carol
3. The discussion should act as a foundation for the creative work in task 4. Encourage the students to think particularly about how German and English solders could have communicated at
that time.
© Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2014 | www.klett.de Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen
Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten.
Autorin: Pauline Ashworth, Stuttgart
Bildquelle: Imago
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