World War I

“Le feu tue” (‘Firepower kills’) Henri-Philippe Petain – 1916 Verdun. World War 1 is often called “the first modern war”. During World War 1 many new kinds of weapons and technology were invented and improved. Some of these weapons included tanks, chemical gases, grenades, and machine guns.

Chemical Warfare was used for the first time on a large scale in World War I. many advancements were made during the war; in the air, on the ground, and in the sea. World War 1 started by a conflict and was fought between countries that were equipped with modern weapons. Some of these weapons rose and were very powerful like machine guns and others declined like bayonets. Both weapons and technology made a drastic impact on World War

1.Land battles were mostly fought on both the Western and Eastern fronts. Soldiers were surrounded by new technology and weapons that helped throughout the battlefield but also caused danger/death. Soldiers experienced a great deal of hardship while fighting on the fronts. The western front consisted of small parts in Europe, most of the fighting took over in France and Belgium.

The eastern front was made up of battlefields in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia.”But on the last day an astonishing number of English field guns opened up on us with high-explosive, drumming ceaselessly on our position, so that we suffered heavily and came back only eighty strong” (1.4). Land war started by the use of Machine guns. Machine guns were the first and most famous weapon used in war, they are claimed to be the most dangerous weapon because the killed numerous lives during the war.

Machine guns were invented by the Americans, however the idea was stolen by the Germans. Machine guns at the time could fire up to 500 rounds per minute, but they were very heavy and they were very heavy. They had to be used by well trained men who knew how to setup a gun and operate it quickly. Tanks were armored steel plated, belt tired, and heavily armed combat vehicles. First use of tanks on a battlefield was the use of british mark 1 tank at the battle of flers courcelette in 1915. The french soon followed the idea and created renault FT, which established the look of tank we see today.

The germans never got to producing their own tanks in WW1. The only german design of war was the A7V. Flamethrowers were first invented by a German inventor named Richard Fiedlar. The flamethrower was designed to be carried on soldiers backs. It had two tanks, one that carried flammable liquid and the other that carried propellant gas. The squeeze of the trigger would send shooting flammable liquid up to 18 meters away, it was a weapon used to shoot big flames of fire against its enemies.

It was used to burn soldiers and wooden obstacles such as bunkers. The germans used these flamethrowers to attack more than 650 soldiers, mainly the British and French. Small bombs thrown by hand or shot by a rifle attachment were called grenades/bombs. Germans are the ones who created and mostly used these grenades during war.

The British made their own model of a grenade but it needed more work. By the year of 1917 all troops were required to carry extra grenades to capture and hold them against their enemies. Poisonous gas was introduced by the Germans in 1915. It is toxic smoke that can be very deadly if inhaled by humans. When the gas is inhaled it burns and liquidizes your lungs which causes death. If wind currents occurred while soldiers threw the gas at their enemies then it could easily be brought back to them and kill them.

The only way to avoid the poisonous gas was to urinated on a cloth and hold up to ur mouth and nose. However over time gas mask kits were provided to the soldiers. Airplanes were very recent they were invented by the wright brothers 11 years ago. Airplanes were simple machines, more like to birds than anything else. The first missions were carried out as observation.

Most airplanes at the time were slow/flimsy contraptions with barely enough power to lift a single pilot and perhaps one passenger. Airplanes technology developed throughout war they became very important/useful.In the beginning of the war most soldiers used the planes to spy on their enemies strategies. These planes usually carried a pilot and a photographer who would photograph the soldiers positions.

The use of planes became very popular during war, it became a crucial part in achieving victories. One of the first contributions in the war was at the first battle of marne were reconnaissance planes spotted a gap in the german lines. The allies attacked the gap and were able to split the german army and drive them back. Fighter planes came into the war when they wanted to stop the reconnaissance planes. With more planes in the skies, enemy pilots began to fight each other in the air.

At first, they tried throwing grenades at each other or shooting with rifles and pistols. It was useless and it didn’t work very well. Pilots soon found out that the best way to shoot down an enemy is to mount a machine gun to the plane. However because the machine gun was mounted to the front of the plane the propeller would get in the way of the bullets. Soon a new invention called the “interredur” was invented by anton fokker, it allowed the machine gun to be synchronized with propeller, all planes started using this invention. As the war progressed, both sides began to use airplanes to drop bombs on enemy locations.

The first planes used for bombings were made by the russians and could only carry small bombs and they were very powerless to attack from the ground. By the end of the war, faster long range bombers were built that could carry much larger weight bombs.Germany used zeppelins to drop bombs on targets from far away. These were slow moving but could carry a large load of explosives. Zeppelins were filled with hydrogen, so a small spark could blow up the entire aircraft.

As the war continued it became useless because of the fast fighter planes that were used.The battles at sea were known as naval battles. These battles mainly took place in the northern sea and the atlantic.

How useful and reliable are these sources in explaining how womens lives were affected by World War 1? This essay is going to be about World Ward 1, which started in 1914 and ended in 1918, and how it affected the livs of women. The war made an impact on lives of many women, some in a positive way and some in a negative. Before WW1 women had very little policital power and were considered inferior to men. Men didn’t see the need for women to have a voice, and that their opinion was not needed. However, when the war began men were sent to war, leaving job spaces to be filled.

This was when the women were called upon to fill these spaces. This was an oppurtunity for women to prove their rights for politicial power. Source A1 supports this because it states ‘by the end of the war in November 1918, women proved that they were just as important to th war effort as men’. This shows that women were successful in doing so and had been given more political power. This source was taken from a website focused at GCSE students which means alot of research must have been put into the text, making it reliable. Before the war women were only allowed to do certain jobs.

Housemaiding and seamstressing were most common, sometimes farming was also allowed. People say men and women lived in two different worlds. But the war was a turning point for many women. Most stopped work in the domestic service and began work in the industry. Women practically took on the livs of men. Some worked in munition factories, some did farming and some also began army work. Many women’s lives turned around dramatically, they became rch and lived a high lifestyle. Source A7 is a poem called ‘Munition Wages’ which was written in 1917. It says ‘Earning high wages? yus, five quid a week.

A woman, too, mind you, I calls it dim sweet’ which shows that women were getting more money than they were before and were becoming happier. ‘With money to spend, years back I wore tatters, now silk stockings, my friend! ‘ this shows that womens lives were affected hugely from before the war to during the war. This source could be reliable as it is a primary source, however the reliability of this source is questionable as it is only one person’s opinion, and it does not give much information about the author. With most women gaining more money each week, they began to become more independant.

They no longer had to rely on their husbands to keep them going. Many women would say the war was a good thing. Some would even say it was worthwhile, because they experienced a high lifestyle and got some of the political power they deserved. However there were many women who didn’t have such a positive experience. Some were forced to work long hours with short pay. Long shifts like this were a daily routine for most women. They weren’t allowed a break and would sometimes become so ill from working non-stop they would drop to the floor in pain, even then they had to pull through and continue work.

Source A8 supports this as it because it states ‘They were frequently expected to work on till 8pm and were paid only bare time rates for this overtime’. This shows that women were paid normal rates which were extremely low, for sometimes nearly double the hours they should have been doing. With all this work, women must have been exhausted. This source may be reliable as it was taken out of a history book, however the reliability of this source could be questionable as it was written by a campaigner for women’s rights, which means it could be biased.

And it was alrso written in 1932, which was after the war, so the stories could have been exaggerated or altered over time. During the war, posters and leaflets were given out showing the women ‘doing their part’ for the war. However many jobs that were advertised for women were rarely given out. Source A9 supports this as it says ‘female dentists, barbers, and architects- all of which were featured on war saving postcards were extremely rare. Most male dominated proffessions remained closed to women’. This shows that the propaganda that was being used was false advertisement, and was being used to encourage women into work.

The press would exaggerate things greatly to make them look better than they actually were. This source may be reliable as it was used for a series for bbc, which is a well respected channel which alot of research is put into. However, it may not be reliable as we don’t have any information about what the series was about. At the end of the war women were expected to give up their jobs in place for the men who had come back from the army. ‘Within months of the end of the war, hundreds of thousands of women were out of work’ Source A10 shows that women were left jobless. Many were forced back into domestic work again.

Some women stayed on the dole but were soon forced back into work when the government reduced unemployment benefit rates. This source may be reliable as it was written in a history book for GCSE students, so research would have been put into it. However it may not be reliable as it may have been exaggerated greatly, as the writer was not in the war. After examining all the sources thoroughly, it is fair to say womens lives did change dramatically. Lifestyle changes, changes in confidence and independance, political power and the view of women altogether were the biggest changes.

In 1915 Europe was in the midst of World War I and was at a stalemate caused by trench warfare. There was a need for new and revolutionary weapons to end the dilemma. The British found a solution to this problem by inventing tanks. The invention of the tank had numerous pros and cons, but it ultimately changed warfare. Tanks were built for the purpose of traversing through trenches. Trenches were becoming a literal wall and prevented either side from advancing.

Tanks were the solution to the predicament that was the Western Front. The first prototype was called Mark I and was tested for the British Army in the September of 1916. Tanks were progressive and enabled many new tactics. They used caterpillar tracks which had a less likelihood of becoming stuck due to sinking. Tanks offered protection against firearms and intimidated German infantry men that were shocked deeply by the fact that they cannot destroy a tank with machine gun alone.

Tanks were also great for accompanying infantry to protect them. There were also cons that went along with the use of tanks. Tanks were very slow, moving at a rate of four miles per hour; casual human walking speed. They were mechanically unreliable, and broke down frequently. Most of the time tanks were hot, numbingly loud and generally uncomfortable for the crews. After the British introduced the tank into the war other countries had their own variations.

France launched their first tank, the Schneider CA1, shortly after Britain had introduced the. Mark I. These tanks were the same as British tanks in most aspects, except for that they moved faster by 1 mph. Close to the end of World War I, Germany had their own tank. The A7V, nicknamed “The Moving Fortress” by the British because of the shape of the hull, was entered into war in 1918 and were in action for eight months. One hundred vehicles were ordered during the spring of 1918, but only 21 were delivered.

The long-term causes 1. Colonial rivalry-competition for even bigger empires 2. Balkan nationalisim-the desire of the Slav peoples of this area to join those in the empire of Austria-Hungary 3. The arms race-competition for bigger armed forces and more armaments 4. The Anglo-German Naval Race 5. Kaiser Wilhelm II and German militarism 6. Alliance system-The Tripple Alliance and the Triple Entente The immediate cause of the war 1. The assassination of Franz-Ferdinand 2. Russia’s backing Serbia made war more likely 3. German backing for Austria was crucially important Colonial rivalry-competition for even bigger empires

Competition between the Great Powers in Europe to gain colonies plays an important role in causing the WWI. By the beginning of the twentieth century, many great powers in Europe has built up their empires by holding colonies or ares. This is known as imperialism and as means when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. Many countries such as the British Empire were at the peak of their industrial revolution and their developments of industries were huge. When industrialism occurs, countries need foreign markets to sell their increase in goods.

Great Britain had the the largest number of colonies in the world so that King George V was also the Emperor of India and ruler of many other lands overseas. The great Empire took up nearly a quarter of the world’s land surface with 390 million of population of the colonies in 1914. And also France has the second largest empire in the world with colonies in Africa, the Far East and Indo-China. Those large number of colonies improved Britain’s and France’s dominance over the Europe and made them powerful and influential. The Germans were left with some small and commercially marginal colonies.

There was a great deal of jealousy in Germany in regard to the British and French empires. The King of Germany , Kaiser Wilhem envied the mighty Britain Empire . He decided that Germany too must have colonies overseas, which would helped him expand the German Empire and provide Germany with a market for her growing industries. It would also be a status sybol showing Germany’s greatness and gaining it respect. ( Furthermore, Britain in particular, used its navy and merchant navy to dominate overseas trade, which also provided a source of irritation to the Germans. The Germans embarked on a program of massive naval spending in order to create a navy capable of challenging Britain’s domination of the sea. This caused considerable concern in Britain and tensions between the Germans and the Britain. Once the trigger was fired, the assassination of the Archduke, Imperialism directly led to a naval arms race between the two countries. Causing the disparity of the power of different countries ,competition and tension between countries to grow , the Colonial rivalry made countries willing and eager to join World War I, which was seen as an opportunity to gain colonies and reshape the world.

Therefore, German declared war on Russia and mobilized her army when Russia refused to send troops to help Serbia and other countries joined in the War later. On 5 August, all the great powers of Europe were at war with each other, WWI broke out. Balkan nationalism-the desire of the Slav peoples of this area to join those in the empire of Austria-Hungary Balkan nationalism is also one of the important factors of the outbreak of WWI. The Balkans is the area of south-west Europe and it was the powder-keg or trouble spot of Europe. This area had once been part of Turkish Empire.

It was inhabited by Slav peoples such as the Serbs, Bulgarians and Romanians, who were able to rule themselves. Many nationalities were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but Serbia wanted to unite all Serbs within a greater Serbia. The Slav peoples of Balkans desired those in the empire of Austria-Hungary to join with them. Russia regarded herself as the protector of these Slavs since they shared a common nationality. Austia-Hungary feard losing not only the Serbs but also other Balkan nationals so that Austria-Hungary wanted to take over the states of this area to preserve of this empire.

It brought increasing rivalry between Russia and Austria-Hungary. When Austria started war with Serbia, Russia ordered the Russian army to prepare for war in order to help the Slavs of Serbia on 29 July, which started a countdown to the biggest war, WWI. German sent ultimatum to Tsar Nicholas to order him to stop mobilizing but Russia refused to accept and so Germany declared war on Russia , mobilizing her army. As France was an ally of Russia the French government ordered the mobilization of the French army on 1 August. Many other great powers joined the war later so that WWI broke out on 5 August.

Causing the tension and opposition between Russia and Austria-Hungary to rise and making the mobilization of Russia which started the countdown of the war,the Balkan nationalism made the war likely to happen. Therefore, the Balkan nationalism was one of the factors of the outbreak of WWI, The arms race-(competition for bigger armed forces and more armaments) The arms race also contributes into causing the WWI to break out. By the beginning of twentieth century , great powers in Europe have started to rival with each other through building up the size of their armed forces.

Each major power in Europe except Britain had trained a huge army of conscripts, which means young men forced by law to become soldiers for a year or so. These armies could be mobilized at a moment’s notice. In the period 1900-1904 the main European powers more than doubled their spending on their armies. From 1872 to 1912, Germany increased more than 300% of her armaments spending when Russia increased more than 250% with Italy, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary and France around 100%. Guns , shells, bullets and other weapons had been stockpiled in case of war.

Ever more destructive weapons were being developed and improved, such as the machine-gun and huge field guns. The increases in spending of armaments caused the military rival between countries to rise. The arm races increased tension between the Great Powers. They felt threatened when others increased its army and gained stronger weapons so that they competed with each other through making their military power stronger with a rolling ‘snowball’ effect. It made the war more likely since country increased its army and weapons it became more confident of success in a future war and more willing to test out their armed forces.

When Austria started war with Serbia after the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand, Russia backed Serbia as a starting point of countdown of WWI . More great powers joined the large-scaled war soon later since they were confident and well prepared to compete their military powers. WWI broke out on 5th August 1914. Increasing the tension and competition between countries and accelerating the coming of the war , the arms race gathered all great powers together and made the war faster and more possible to happen. Therefore, the arms race was one of the most important factors of the outbreak of WWI. The Anglo-German Naval Race

The Anglo-German naval race was also one of the factors of the outbreak of WWI. Before WWI,Great Britain had the most powerful naval in the world, which was her Royal Navy. The navy which outgunned and outnumbered all other navies not only protected the Empire and trade, but also prevented foreign invasion. At the same time, Germany had the world’s best army but Kaiser Wilhelm, but the German reluer would like to compete with Britain so that it began to build a fleet of battleships to rival the British Navy in 1898. Britain were not worried about the growth of the German fleet too much at first since they had enormous lead.

However, the introduction of the powerful British ‘Dreadnought’ battleship in 1906 changed all this. The dreadnought was faster, bigger and had a much great firing range than existing battleships and this super-battleship made all previous battleships obsolete or out of date. This allowed the Germans to begin building ‘Dreadnoughts’ on equal terms with Britain. A race developed between two countries to see who could build the most. In 1909 Britain had 8 Dreadnoughts to Germany’s seven. This naval race poisoned the relations between the two countries and was the main bone of contention between the two right up to 1914.

When Germany was preparing to invade Belgium, the British sent her troops to protect Belgium from attack. British sent a telegram to call Germany to back her army. With no reply from Germany , the Britain started war with Germany and from then, all the great powers of Europe became at war with each other. On 5th August, 1914, WWI broke out. By worsening the relations between Germany and Britain and causing rival and tension between them to rise, the Anglo-Naval Race made the war between the two more likely to happen and it became a part a WWI. Therefore, the Anglo-Naval race was one of the factors of the outbreak of WWI.

Explain how the combination of two of the following elements was used in one live production that you have seen and assess their contribution to the creation of specific mood(s) and atmosphere(s) at moments: set design, lighting, sound. The live performance I have chosen to write about is ‘Warhorse’ which I saw on the 3rd February at the New London Theatre. In this essay, I am going to explain and analyse how the staging and the lighting together created the different atmospheres and moods such as fear and tension.

Throughout the play, numerous themes are illustrated such as the barbarity of war and the cruelty of man. The themes of loyalty and hope are also illustrated and portrayed. Not only did the set and lighting help portray these themes and atmospheres, they also helped making the transitions fluid and the change between the two locations were easily interweaved due to the composite set. The staging used was thrust upon stage with a circular revolve in the centre. The revolve in the centre allowed for separation of the two sections along with the outside edge.

The revolve was also used in holding frozen images when other action was taking place along the edge. The use of the no-naturalistic staging in the non-naturalistic theatre form was effective in portraying the different journeys from the likes of Joey. Even the flooring of the stage was a fundamental part of the set. The shades of grey and black gave the look of creased and uneven farmland and also the floor distinctively helped with making the trenches and war land look effective. The different appearances depended a lot on the lighting.

At one point, on the back wall, there was a projection of a page torn out from Major Nicholl’s notebook along with projections of dates. This helped the audience follow the events of the war in chronological order. The page torn was also accompanied with different pictures inspired from Paul Nash, the World War One artist. Poppies were also projected to highlight the deaths that were caused by World War One. At the back of the stage, there was a large black area. The depth of this area gave the idea of the vastness of war space and the large scale of war.

It also gave the illusion that the actors appeared from nowhere. We saw the transformation and transition of Joey from foal to adult in this black area. This moment was marked by the adult horse jumping over he foal in slow motion. Another big and memorable moment when this black area was used was when the new soldiers first arrived in France and they entered walking through the black space and into the wounded soldiers. This action was accompanied with a harsh white light which made the men look skeletal.

The revolve helped in creating different locations and atmospheres and also helped mark key moments. One example of this is the ploughing scene. The struggle of the horse was emphasised by the turning of the revolve as it gave the illusion of a far distance. When Joey got caught on the barbed wire, the revolve was elevated and raised to a higher level to emphasise it. Another example of the use of the revolve was during the enlistment scene. As the announcement of war was made, men were encouraged to sign up along with their horses.

The fun and exciting atmosphere at the funfair was highlighted by the revolvement. Flags were put up on the stage and also in the first few rows of audience. This made the audience feel involved and echoed how many people were involved in the war. There was a sense of dramatic irony as we saw the celebration of glory while one of the main themes of the play is barbarity of war. The striking, frozen image was held on the revolve and the image of triumph and glory was hugely contrasted with the action outside as Joey is being enlisted without the knowledge of Albert.

We see the father receive money and the uncle giving his son the hand-me-down knife and also we see Albert frantically search for Joey – each of these moments being marked by a spotlight. The non-naturalistic frozen image held on the revolve juxtaposed the naturalistic action and images that were performed outside of the revolve. When Joey gets caught in the barbed wire, I found this moment very moving and it was one of the key moments on the revolve. The revolve emphasises the struggle from the horse.

When Joey is ploughing for Albert, the revolve is again used to emphasise his struggle and also it gives the illusion of the long distance Joey had to plough for. The puppeteers who manipulated Joey in these scenes had the tough job of lowering his head and making all of his body parts move as if they were real. When he stumbles backwards, his legs shook and it looked very realistic. At the moment where he is stuck in the barbed wire, there is a projection of barbed wire on the back wall and this really enhanced the illusion that Joey was really stuck.

The audience were tense watching this as they really worried about whether he would be able to escape. This was also the moment when the revolve was elevated as it stressed how much pain Joey was in and the fear he would be been feeling. He was lifted higher than the trenches and this showed how much pressure the horses were under and also how much they suffered too; it wasn’t just the soldiers and their families that suffered. Joey was helped freed by the two sides of the war came together. This exemplified the unity of men. By having a composite stage, it was effective as two different scenes were allowed to take place at once.

One example of this is when Nicholls dies; men’s bodies and horses bodies were lying dead on the stage as Albert’s mother walked through in Devon; her life had not changed unlike the lives of these men. This moment illustrated how while these men and horses were fighting in the war, the families and people at home were safe at home going about as usual. When these two locations and atmospheres were combined it was really effective. At one point, in no-man’s land, black sticks were lowered from the hatches in the ceiling and they portrayed dead trees as it resembled the amount of deaths that were caused.

The trees were representations of the lack of life; this created a reminiscent mood and made the audience reflect on those that died. Paul Nash was also the inspiration behind this. Images of silhouetted men were projected; this also reflected the vast amount of soldiers that died. The lighting used was effective in illustrating the change of location as we moved from Devon to France. It also assisted the set in creating the different moods and atmospheres. The lighting used for Devon was warm and gave homely atmosphere. The audience generally received a warm sense when Devon was visited.

In comparison however, when in France, the lighting was dramatically different as it changed from cal, to quiet harsh white lights. The monochrome lighting that was constantly used in France really emphasised the gloomy and startling nature of the war. The bright lights intensified to portray key moments such as Nicholls’ death. Strobe lighting was also used to partner the repetitive gun shots. Nicholls’ death was a major key moment and was marked in numerous ways; he was thrown off Topthorne and a spotlight was focused on him as he and his horse fell in slow motion.

A green light was also used to represent the mustard gas attack. As the gas leaked towards the soldiers, the audience felt the climax as we watched it approach them. To show the transportation from Britain to Franc, blue gels were used and also a yellow glow shone on Joey and the others as it demonstrated the life within them. This contrasted hugely with the bright white lights that were used to portray the skeletal look of the men and horses at battle in France. These same bright white lights were used in representing the explosions.

Projections were also used alongside the lighting to effectively portray settings. The projection of Joey galloping freely in the open land was juxtaposed with the lack of freedom he got while at war. There was a projection of a tank during the scene where Joey is on stage with a huge tank. This was to done to portray the intimidation Joey must have felt as it was man vs. machine. As I have previously mentioned, the projection of Nicholls’ notebook created a sincere atmosphere for the audience as they reflect on the reason why Albert has gone to war; to find his horse.

The only projection that was not in black and white were the poppies; this represented the bloodshed caused and again, the audience were left with a solemn and reminiscent mood. However, the colour also gave the audience the chance to reflect as the red illustrated remembrance. To conclude, I thought that through the set design and lighting of ‘Warhorse’, a variety of moods and atmospheres were successfully created. Tension, hope, remembrance were all enhanced and the audience were often left feeling reminiscent of the horrors of war.