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World War One - INTERNET LAB

Go to the Spartacus Encyclopedia of British History at http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm and answer the following questions.

  1. (Allied Military Leaders) Who was John Pershing and what did he do during the war?

    2.  

  2. (Allied Armed Forces) How many United States Army troops eventually arrived in Europe? How many African-Americans served and with which army did they fight?

    3.  

  3. (Life in the Trenches- German Atrocities)

A. What type of Atrocities does the poster accuse the Germans of ?

 

 

B. Why do you think countries publicize stories like this during a time of war?

 

 

4. . (Trench War) Soldiers in the trenches experienced many discomforts. Read the sections on each of the discomforts listed below (including the letters at the end of each section). In the space provided, describe the problems that each of these caused the soldiers.

Trench Rats-

 

Body Lice-

 

Trench Foot-

 

Dysentery-

  1. (First World War Statistics) Which year saw the greatest losses of Allied and Neutral ships lost to submarines?

    2.  

  2. (First World War Statistics) What was the total financial cost for the Allies to fight the war?

    3. What was the cost for the Central Powers?

     

  3. (Homefront) The influenza (flu) pandemic of 1919 was unexpected consequence of the war which took many more lives than the war itself. How many people did it kill in each of the following places:

Germany:

Great Britain:

USA:

India:

The World:

8. (War Artists) (7 points) War often has unintended effects. WWI unintentionally developed many young artists and poets who fought in the trenches and drew upon their experiences for their art. Look at the paintings of John Nash, Eric Kennington, Mark Gertler, John Singer Sargent, and Georges Leroux. Choose the painting that best captures what you think the war was like. In the space below, write the name of the artist, the title of the painting, and describe why you chose this painting over the others.

  

 

Read the two poems below. The first, "In Flanders Field" was written near the beginning of the war in 1915. The second, "Suicide in the Trenches", was written two years later in 1917. Answer the questions you find after the poems.

 (1) John McCrae, In Flanders Fields (1915)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

  1. Is this poem (In Flanders Fields) positive or negative in tone? Why?
  2. Is the author enthusiastic about the war effort? Why or why not?

 (2) Siegfried Sassoon, Suicide in the Trenches (1917)

I knew a simple soldier boy

Who grinned at life in empty joy,

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

And whistled early with the lark.

 

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

With crumps and lice and lack of rum,

He put a bullet through his brain.

No one spoke of him again.

 

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you'll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.

 

(11) Is this poem (Suicide in the Trenches) positive or negative in tone? Why?

(12) Is the author enthusiastic about the war effort? Why or why not?

(13) How and why did the date each poem was written effect the tone of the poem?