CBSE Class 9 Answered

War on the Western Front

• Battle of Marne was an important battle which was fought on the Western front. It was fought between France and Britain on one side and Germany on the other side.
• The victories secured by France and Britain against Germany in the Battle of Marne proved to be a decisive point in the War

Trench Warfare

• Machine guns and heavy artillery made the life above ground very dangerous. The opposing armies dug trenches to defend themselves from the enemy’s attacks and to launch attacks.
• It was not easy to live in trenches. Rats, lice, gas, cold, rain, snow etc were some of the problems which were faced by the soldiers in trenches.

War on the Eastern Front

• Initially, Austria-Hungary and Germany were able to invade some territories of the Russian empire. They were also successful against Romania, Serbia and Italy.
• Outside Europe, the Allied Powers led campaigns against Ottoman Empire. While Japan occupied German possessions in East Asia, Britain and France captured many German colonies in Africa.

Policy of Blockade

• One of the tactics employed in the war was the blocking of enemies line in order to cut off the supplies of food, war material and raw materials.
• In 1916, Germany sunk many British war ships but she was defeated in the Battle of Verdun. The English plThaced and blocked the German coast in order to cut supplies to her. Germany was also defeated in the Battle of Dogger Bank.

War against Turkey

• Turkey had joined the war on the side of the Central Powers. Germany was thus controlling the Baltic Sea and black Sea. This made Russia isolated as she was not able to get any help from the Entente Powers.
• Thus, Turkey was attacked by the British Indian army and the former surrendered on October 30, 1918.

Entry of USA in the War

• In 1915, the German U Boats sunk a British passenger ship called ‘Lusitania’. Among 1153 passengers who were killed. 128 were Americans. This aroused anti German feelings in the USA.
• The Allied Powers had raised huge sums of money in the USA to pay for the war goods and materials. Thus, the USA feared that if Allied Powers lost the war, she would not be able to recover the money. Moreover, Germany would also become a possible rival of the USA.
•   Thus, USA declared war on Germany on 6 April, 1917.

Russia’s Withdrawal from the War

• One of the major events of the war was the withdrawal of Russia from the First World War. She retreated from the war due to the Russian Revolution.
• Russians had suffered heavy damages during the war and over 600,000 Russian soldiers were killed.
• Lenin after taking over the leadership of Russia proposed to end the war.
• Russia signed a peace treaty called the treaty of Brest- Litovsk with Germany.

 End of the War

• By 1918, Germany and her allies began to be routed by the combined forces of Britain, France and USA.
• This gave rise to political discontentment in Austria and Hungary. While Bulgaria withdrew from the war, Turkey surrendered to the Allies in 1918.
• While the emperor of Austria-Hungary surrendered on 3 November, 1918. A revolution broke out in Germany and she became a republic. The German emperor, Kaiser William II fled to Holland. The New German government signed an armistice on 11 November 1918 and the war came to an end.
• About 53 to 70 million people fought in the war and about nine million people were either wounded or killed during the war. Besides, civilian population was also killed due to air raids, epidemics and famines during the war.
• The economy of the countries participating in the war was shattered. The Great Economic Depression of 1929-30 is mainly attributed to the war.