Lesson video

On the morning of the ninth of November 1918, German negotiators arrived in Northern France.

When they arrived, the German negotiators were taken to the railway carriage of the commander of the allied forces General Forsch.

But why were they here? During the previous 100 days, Germany's power had been broken by the superiority of the Allied armies.

Germany's ability to defend its borders was within a few days of collapse.

The Germans wanted an armistice.

Between the ninth and the 11th of November pressure grew as representatives discussed details before finally the German government agreed to armistice terms. The final details were arranged, and the deal was signed at 10 past five in the morning of the 11th of November 1918.

The order was sent to all Allied commanders, that hostilities will cease on the entire front on November the 11th at 11:00 am French time.

World War I had come to an end.

Hello, everyone, welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

My name is Miss Barnet and thank you for joining me for our first lesson into an inquiry, looking at why World War I came to an end.

Now that description on the previous slide, talks very loosely about what happens between the ninth and the 11th of November 1918.

When the German negotiators, plus representatives from the Allied forces were coming up with a way to end World War I.

However, the end of World War I had been playing out for a while beforehand.

Certainly as early as 1917.

And our four lessons are going to be looking at the different events and factors that contributed to the signing of the Armistice in November 1918.

Now, in today's lesson, our first lesson, we're going to be focusing particularly on the Eastern Front and the Russian Revolution.

So please pause the video here to get your title written down onto your pieces of paper in front of you.

And then when you're done unpause the video and we'll get started.

Okay, now before we look in more detail at 1917, we need to think back to the context of Europe at this time.

Now in 1914, when war broke out, Europe was divided into two major Alliance systems. And by Alliance systems, we mean two groups where we have countries promising to fight for each other.

Now, you can see these Alliance systems in different colours on this map.

In grey, we have the Allied Powers, they are England, France, Russia is the biggest ones, but you can also see here, Italy, Greece, Romania, and Serbia.

In lilac we have the Central Powers, so named because they are central and Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottomans.

Now because we have the Allied powers in circling the Central Powers, if you can see here, the Central Powers stuck in the middle of the map of Europe with the Allied powers surrounding them.

What ends up happening is that in Europe, during World War I, we have two main fighting grounds.

Now, the first of those fighting areas is the Western Front, which is a term some of you may have heard of before.

The Western Front is characterised by trench warfare digging in, and the soldiers pretty much staying put.

And this again, key characteristic of the Western Front is this idea of a stalemate.

Neither side really being able to break through.

And when breakthroughs are possible, is often at the expense of huge casualties.

And those breakthroughs are often quite small, the Western Front and the key lines of the Western Front, don't change much between 1914 and 1918 Now we also have another key fighting area, which is the Eastern Front.

And this is where the Central Powers meet the Allied powers in the east.

So the Eastern Front is quite different to the Western Fronts.

The Eastern Fronts, move more.

On this map that you're looking at currently, there are several different lines on here and this just shows how fluid the Eastern Front is.

What do I mean by this term of it being fluid? With the Western Front, we tend to think of a line of trenches running from the French coast down to Switzerland without really moving and a lot of their battles just taking place around that area, not much progress either way.

Now what we see here, by contrast on the Eastern Front is just how far the front lines change.

So, the red line on this map, which is more towards the left is the furthest that the Russians part of the Allied powers are able to advance.

We then have seen it move back slightly.

This thicker orange line is the front in 1917, the focus of today's lesson.

And then by 1918, we see a further push back into Russian territory by the Central Powers of Austria, Hungary, and Germany.

So the Eastern Front moves much more.

Now part of that is because our second bullet point here, the Eastern Front is much longer than the Western Front.

It covers a vaster area of land.

And because of that, the final point, it means that it's easier to break through, there is more land, there is more of a line to identify weaknesses, and to be able to put pressure on that front line, which is why it moves so much.

So whereas we tend to associate the Western Fronts with not much movement, stalemate, huge casualties without much progress, the Eastern Front, we still have very high casualties, but things are moving around much more.

Now what I would like you to do before we move on is pause the video here and just complete that sentence that I've started in blue, which should create a sentence describing in your own words, what's the Eastern Front was.

Once you've completed that sentence, unpause the video and then we will move on.

Okay, welcome back, everyone.

So one key thing that is always key to success when fighting a war is resources.

And this isn't anything different with World War I.

Now, when World War One broke out in 1914, it was infamously described in Britain as the war that would be over by Christmas.

And we're picking this war up in 1917.

So already, it's been going on for three years, which is far longer than anybody thought it would go on for.

What that means is that resources are depleting, they're running out and the countries that are fighting in World War I are struggling.

But it's resources that are key to success.

Now, what I would like you to do here is in a second you're going to pause the video and you're going to come up with a list of the different resources you think a country or a country's army would need to be successful in the war.

Now it's really important that you are being accurate here because we are studying World War I.

So please try and keep your list as accurate as possible in terms of what resources would have been available between 1914 and 1918.

I'm not expecting you to know all of those in particular detail.

But for example, you can put nuclear weapons on your list because they haven't been developed yet.

So pause the video here, get a list down of all the resources you think the countries would need to be able to be successful.

And then when you're done unpause the video.

Okay, welcome back, everyone.

So, I imagine most people have got items such as these on your list.

They are of course incredibly important for fighting and being victorious in a war.

So the image on the left hand side, the helmet is meant to represent men, the numbers in your army, you can't win a war without having enough men to be able to fight and sustain it.

We've then got a couple of images referring to the types of weapons that would have been required to win a war at this time.

So you've got on here a variety of different guns and shells, which would have been necessary to be able to win the war at this point.

And on top of that various kind of transport methods to help win.

Some of the countries are going to have navies, which may help them be victorious.

And we are seeing the development of some of the early tanks during World War I too, which do have an impact on the outcome of the war.

And I imagine most people's lists will have been based around what was needed to actually win in battles.

Now, I'm going to be very impressed people have got some of these added on to their list as well.

Now, these are perhaps lesser thought of resources, but would be incredibly important for a country to win a war.

And it's because you have to think about the scenario on the home fronts.

And when we're thinking about the home front, what we're thinking about is the civilians who remain at home during the war, because the country needs to continue running, even if it's fighting elsewhere.

Now, the first image on the second row then represents food, and making sure that civilians and soldiers have enough food to be able to sustain themselves throughout a conflict.

We've then got textiles, because you've got to be able to clothe and equip your army is not just about weapons, you've got to make sure they've got the correct equipment for fighting all year round and that includes making sure that they've got the correct uniform, shoes, boots, etc.

We've then got reference to a couple of natural resources that would have been very important too.

So we have got coal and steel here.

Both of these would have been important for developing the transport that we can see in the first row.

And then finally, we've got a reference to chemicals here.

So this is thinking about the development of chemical warfare during World War I, but also thinking about the things needed to produce natural goods and to produce the metals required.

So in terms of fighting the war, it's not just a case of thinking, what would a country need to be able to win in a battle? It's also thinking about what things does a country need to keep it's army sustained, but also to make sure that its civilians are well looked after at home? This is important for keeping up morale and a positive public opinion.

Now, how many of these did you get on your list? Did you manage to get some of the second row, which are perhaps some of the lesser known things needed for an army to succeed? Excellent job.

Okay, so why am I talking about resources? Why is this important for thinking about World War I? Now, this is because by 1917 in Russia, they are particularly suffering from the issue of resources.

Now, this has been a long term problem.

This means that it's been going on for longer, than just the war.

Prior to World War I, Russia had been involved in military conflicts with countries such as the Japanese.

And what we see is military defeats for the Russians there.

So already we have quite a low public opinion, quite a low morale in the country.

And because Russia has been fighting previously, they're already suffering from food shortages.

This has led to resentment of their leader.

In Russia their leader is Tsar, T-S-A-R, and Tsar is what we call an autocratic monarch, which means that Tsar is in complete control without anyone to question his decisions.

So even prior to World War I in Russia, there is deep seated resentment towards their leader, there is issues with regards to food and resources.

Now, this is made worse by Russia's involvement in World War I.

When Russia joins the conflict, resources are of course prioritised for the army.

And so the civilians are suffering even more significantly than they were before.

The issue, however is that despite those resources, the Russian army continues to suffer very heavy defeats.

And some of this is down to bad decision making by Tsar.

He takes complete control of the military and just doesn't have the experience necessary and makes some really bad military decisions.

So for some people, it's felt that the resources are being wasted and mismanaged by sending them to the frontline and yet the army is not being successful.

Now this combination of continuing military defeats of resentment towards Tsar both long term and due to his actions during World War I, plus poor situation at home on the home front for the Russians leads to Revolution.

And what we see in Russia with the Russian Revolution is an overthrow of Tsar, he leaves and there is a change of government.

Now, with that change of government we see various confusion going on, various parties trying to take control and to replace Tsar, and ultimately, the communists seize control.

This image here is of Lenin.

Lenin leads the Bolsheviks who eventually are the party who take power in Russia and they are a communist party.

Now one of Lenin's priorities, once he manages to take control and introduce communism into Russia is a withdrawal from World War I.

This is very high up in his priority list.

And as a result of this being a key priority, very quickly the Bolsheviks led by Lenin, negotiate a settlement with the Central Powers.

This takes the form initially of an armistice.

An armistice is when there is a hope to fighting.

So at the end of 1917, fighting between the Russians and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria, Hungary ceases and then ultimately is completely ended by a treaty that is signed in 1918.

So involvement in World War I leads this revolution which ultimately leads to the withdrawal of Russia from World War I.

Now this has a significant impact on the conflict.

So if we return to this map that we were looking at at the beginning of the lesson, if we think about the fact that we've got two fronts, and we've got the Western Front and the Eastern Front.

What this had originally meant up until 1917 for the Central Powers, but Germany specifically is that they're having to split their troops to fight on both fronts, which you can see here represented by the two pink arrows.

Now when Lenin and the Bolsheviks end up signing the Armistice, and then the treaty with the Central Powers, this happens, Germany and the Central Powers no longer need to split their troops, and they can focus all of their attention on the Western Front.

So the the Russian Revolution has a significant impact on World War I because it means that Germany no longer has to split its attention and can indeed, instead focus all of it on the Western Front.

Now, before we move on any further then, we're going to check our understanding so far.

On this slide, there are five sentences.

But there is one incorrect detail in every sentence.

What I would like you to do is to copy out these sentences, but correct it for me by adding in the right fact.

So pause the video here, complete this activity by correcting the sentences to make them accurate and then when you're done and you're happy with your answers, unpause the video and we'll check if your right.

Okay, everyone, welcome back.

So, let's see how we've done.

For sentence number one the incorrect fact was the date.

So our sentence should read World War I began in 1914.

For the second sentence, I gave you 1, 2 many alliances and so our sentence should instead be, Europe had, that's terrible grammar.

Europe had been split into two alliances.

I do apologise my sentence not much better then.

For the third sentence I gave you incorrect detail.

I described the Western Fronts, rather than the Eastern Front.

So the Eastern Front was a front that moved a lot to with regular breakthroughs.

For the fourth sentence, I gave you the incorrect date again.

So Russia withdrew from the war in 1917.

And Russia was the first country to become Communist.

How many did we get right everyone? Great job, okay.

So, we're going to flesh this information that we've learned so far out a bit more and to do that you are going to answer these five questions.

You are going to in a second pause the video, you are going to take yourself away read the reading sheet, and then you're going to answer these five questions in full sentences onto your pieces of paper.

By full sentence, I mean that you're including words from the question in your answer.

So for the first question, I want to know what were the two fighting fronts in Europe during World War I, so the names of them? For the second question, what were conditions like in the home France by 1917? So remember home front is the name given to the civilians who stay behind, remain at home during the war.

For question three, why had the Russians become angry with Tsar by 1917? Remember Tsar is the leader of Russia.

The question for why were other countries alarmed by the Communist Revolution in Russia? And then finally, question five, what was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918? So pause here, answer those five questions in full sentences and then once you're done, unpause the video and we're going to go through the answers together.

Okay, welcome back everyone.

So hopefully we now have an idea of what's happening in the Eastern Front and the impact of the Revolution in a bit more detail.

We're going to go through the answer to those five questions together, but firstly two points to cover.

I would always recommend when we go through these activities, having a pen of a different colour.

Firstly, so you can give yourself a big tick and you can see how well you're doing.

But secondly, just in case you need to edit any of your answers and then you can see which were the bits that you got incorrect first time around to help you identify your common errors for future lessons.

The second point is that my answers maybe worded differently to your own.

The key thing with your answers is just checking that you have got the relevant detail in there.

So don't worry so much about the wording, just check that you have got the relevant details.

So for question number one I wanted to know, what are the names given to the two main fronts in Europe during World War I? On each side, you'll see an acceptable answer and a good answer.

Now, we're always going to focus on the good answer, because that's where I have included the question in my answer.

So that's what we're aiming for.

So the good answer here is that the two main fronts in Europe during World War I were the Western Front and the Eastern Front.

If you have got those two key details, which is Western Front and Eastern Front, then give yourself a tick.

If you need to edit or amend your answer, then please pause the video to do that now.

If you're happy with your answer, we are going to look at question two.

Okay, what were conditions like on the home front by 1917? Straight to the good answer.

Conditions on the home fronts were tough by 1917.

Many countries were suffering from a shortage of food and goods were becoming more expensive.

People were also growing tired of the war.

So have a look through your answer, double check if you've got the key details, your answer here should ultimately be a negative one.

And the conditions on the home front were not great.

If you've included specific details for each country, then fantastic job.

But if you've just gone with the broader answer, like my own, then also very well done.

If you're happy with your answer, then we're going to move on, if you're not pause here, just give yourself a bit more time to edit and amend.

For question three, I wanted to know why had the Russians become angry with Tsar by 1917? The good answer, the Russians had become angry with Tsar by 1917 due to their poor living conditions.

Food was scarce, rare, and working conditions were poor.

Tsar also made bad military decisions, which resulted in six million casualties by 1917.

So, check your details.

Key details here are to do with living conditions and his bad decisions.

If you are happy with the details in your answer, give yourself a tick.

If you need longer to edit or amend your answer, please pause here.

Question four.

So why were other countries alarmed by the Communist Revolution in Russia? Straight to the good answer.

Other countries were alarmed by the Communist Revolution because they saw similarities between their countries and Russia.

Power was held at the top and many people couldn't vote.

If the Russians could overthrew their leader and bring in these revolutionary ideas, then what would stop it happening in other countries where people were unhappy? So lots of countries worried about communism, perhaps spreading.

So if you've got that key detail in your answer then give yourself a tick.

Pause here if you need a bit longer to edit or amend your answer or add in anything that you've missed.

We are going to go on and look at the final, question five.

What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918? The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a treaty signed between Russia and the Central Powers so Germany and Austria, Hungary, that formally ended Russia's involvement in World War I.

The terms of the treaty were harsh on Russia with a lot of land and natural resource given up to end their involvement.

If you have included specific details about those terms, then again really excellent job.

If you've gone with a slightly broader answer like mine, then really good job too.

The key detail here is that is the treaty that formally ends Russia's involvement in World War I.

Okay.

Now, our inquiry then for this series of four lessons, our big question that we're trying to answer is why did World War I end in November 1918? And at the beginning of this video, I narrated the last couple of days of the war quite broadly.

But ultimately, the path to the end of World War I had happened prior to, sorry, had been underway prior to this.

Now, where does the Eastern Front in the Russian Revolution fit in? The withdrawal of the Russians from World War I has a significant impact on the war.

Firstly, with the Russian withdrawal, it freed up approximately one million German soldiers.

And if you think back to our map at the beginning of the lesson, it means that those one million german soldiers can now focus their attack attentions on the Western Front, making it harder for the other allied troops.

Now, also by withdrawing, there is now a bit of a lack of manpower.

The Russian army in 1914 had, had approximately six and a half million men in it, and they have now withdrawn.

So the Allied forces cannot use those troops any longer.

And on top of that, as part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russians have given up control of some of its key areas.

So a lot of its natural resources and industry is now owned by the Central Powers.

Now, where does this fit in? I want us to think about then, if this is the situation in 1917, why did Germany surrender? A year later, in November 1918, they sent negotiators to the Northern France to the train carriage of General Forsch.

And this is what you can see in this photograph on this slide.

This is the negotiators having just signed the Armistice.

But surely these details here, give Germany the advantage in 1917.

So where does this content fit in? Where does it help us understand why Germany surrenders at this particular time? Now this is going to be something we're going to come back to at the end of every lesson.

And ultimately, the reason for the end of World War I in November 1918 is three key factors, three key reasons.

And they are military, so to do with the army.

They are political, so to do the leadership of each country, and they are economic.

So they are to do with the finances of each country too.

And so at the end of each lesson, we're going to come back to these three.

We're going to see how we can piece these three together to come up with a reason for the end of World War I.

So, what we're going to do, just to finish off today's lesson is get set up a note taking place ready for each lesson, where we're going to come back to these three factors.

So at the top of a clean page, ideally, you're going to write the heading, Why did World War I end in November 1918? And I always do this as a table, but you don't have to do a table.

You're going to write down the three headings, military reasons, political reasons, economic reasons.

You can do this as a table if you want, you can do it as three separate mind maps if you want, I don't mind.

But pause the video here to get that set up on your page.

Make it big enough, because you're going to come back to this at the end of each lesson to add notes to and then when you're done unpause the video.

Okay, welcome back everyone.

So now we've got our note taking page set up.

Let's reflect then on what we've been looking at today, which is the Eastern Front and the Russian Revolution.

Now thinking about what we've learned today in terms of content, what we've learned today in terms of how these events affect the war, I would like you to add some of these key details underneath these headings that help us explain why World War I came to an end in November 1918.

I want you to think about the events of the Russian Revolution and the withdrawal of Russia from World War I and think about which heading it best goes under.

But keeping it focused, not just narrating what happens in the war, but keeping it focused on what it tells us about why the war came to an end.

So pause the video here to get that done.

And then when you're done unpause the video.

Okay, welcome back, everyone.

So that is the end of today's lesson.

Please keep these notes really safe because we are going to come back to them.

Our inquiry is going to build, and build, and build to the point where we can answer this inquiry question.

So this table or mind maps that you've set up here are going to be really, really important for us to go back and add notes to either the final three lessons.

So we've began our investigation into why the war comes to an end.

I look forward to seeing you here for lesson two, which is where we're going to look at what happens when the USA enters the war?.