Warfare in the First World War

Written by Ariane Knüsel

Contents	eyewitness accounts of new types of aerial, naval and trench warfare (planes, zeppelins, trenches, gas, tanks, submarine attacks) and shell shock as a consequence of this new type of warfare
Suitable for	Gymnasium
Prerequisites	causes of the First World War and events leading up to trench warfare
Time	1-3 lessons, depending on how many sources are read

What's it about?

The class can be divided into groups. Each group gets a specific account (e.g. gas/tanks/trench warfare or Red Baron/Zeppelin raid on London) and has to present it to the rest of the class (How does their type of warfare work? How does it change warfare? How does it affect the soldiers?). The texts can be read as standalone sources but they can also be used as an example of this type of warfare after an overview or after watching excerpts from a documentary film, for example parts of an episode from “The First World War in Colour”, narrated by Kenneth Branagh (2003), which has individual episodes on aerial, naval and trench warfare.

Downloads

Warfare in the First World War
	Aerial Warfare - The Red Baron	Word [148 KB] · PDF [80 KB]
	Gas	Word [164 KB] · PDF [89 KB]
	Shell Shock	Word [169 KB] · PDF [77 KB]
	Submarine Attack	Word [165 KB] · PDF [86 KB]
	Tanks	Word [168 KB] · PDF [67 KB]
	Trench Warfare	Word [155 KB] · PDF [103 KB]
	Zeppelin	Word [138 KB] · PDF [85 KB]