World War I History Quiz

[Vrylakas]

Kahran Ramsus wrote:

12. Kitchener drowned when his ship was sunk by a German mine, while he was on the way to Russia.

Yes! Kitchener was still very popular when he died, though there was unease in Parliament over the effectiveness of his policies. The Germans denied targeting Kitchener, saying they do not engage in political assassinations.

18. Blitzkrieg?

Yes! The military philosophy of World War I was still heavily influenced by Napoleonic belief in fronts. Essentially, the whole front had to move, and if one part of it got bogged down (which they always do), then the whole front had to halt and wait. The Germans in 1918 created this elite class of "shock troops" who were drugged up so they wouldn't sleep for a week, and just sent into the fray to fight extremely aggressively, and just keep going regardless of where the front was behind them. This penetration of the front proved very successful, with regular army units following behind them to mop up the bypassed harder areas of enemy resistance. The French and British adopted this tactic by wars' end, which explains the sudden burst of mobility in the summer of 1918 that led to victory for the Entente. The West (especialy the French) settled back into older military patterns in the interbellum years, but the Germans developed this idea further, using highly mobile units of armor and light infantry to form "Blitzkrieg".

Good job Kahran! # 18 was probably the hardest question!

 

[Vrylakas]

Case wrote:

6. What do Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, who was the last major German officer to surrender in the war, and Ali Dinar at El Fasher have in common? (Hint: I believe Morten Blaabjerg created a scenario based on one of these guys...)

They were operating in East Africa

Yes! I thought this question would be an easy one, but everyone stumbled until now. Good job Case!

7. The Ottoman Turks opened hostilities with the Russians by steaming two of their ships, the Sultan Selim and Midillu into the Black Sea and bombarding the Russian ports of Odessa and Sevastopol in Crimea. The crews of these ships had troubles with their fezes though; why?

Because they were German (and to earn some bonus points: thier German names were the Goben (changed to Sultan Selim) and Breslau (changed to Midillu)

Yes again! This was a bit difficult, but I thought this one would go quickly too! The Turkish entry into the war on the German side was partially in response in a British decision to halt delivery of two battleships the Turks had ordered. The Germans responded by giving them the Goeben and the Breslau, complete with trained German crews. For the mission I described above the crews literally were forced to wear the Turkish-style fezes.

13. On 24. October 1918, General Armando Diaz launched a major offensive against Austro-Hungarian positions across the Piave River, despite the fact the Habsburg empire had already virtually ceased to exist. What was Diaz seeking to avenge?

The Italian defeat at the battle of Capparo (sp?)

Yes! The Italians, in the 8+ battles of the Isonzo, had been utterly devastated in the October 1917 Battle of Caporetto under the incompetent leadership of General Cadorna. They lost a good chunk of their army and their front only stabilized when the Germans and Austrians ran out of steam. If Italy was going to get those territories the Allies had promised, Diaz had to make it look like Italy had won back its honor.

18. Explain the tactical uniqueness of a "stuermgewehr", and its strategic implications for the future. (This is a toughee.)

stuermgewehr = Stormtroopers? Elite troops heavily armed with automatic weapons, they were used to spearhead German offencives (they were basically the German answer to tanks).

Right on! Kahran Ramsus was on this track too.

BTW, I've read that Spanish Influenza actually originated in Capetown

Where did you read this? Everywhere I've read agrees on Kansas. This was a shock to the Americans because their inference that the epidemic had started in Spain was a bit condescending, assuming that an impoverished country like 1918 Spain could spawn such a plague....

Good job Case!

Now we only have # 11 left folks!

 

[Vrylakas]

Well, this one's about wrapped. I'll spill the beans on the remaining 1 1/2.

# 10 Several people got, that Pershing earned his nickname "Blackjack" leading black American troops; my further question was where. He led them in Mexico in 1916, chasing a Mexican rebel (Pancho Villa) who had attacked a couple American border towns. the Mexican government barely existed at all and was unable to do anything about Villa, so the U.S. ordered Pershing to chase him down. Pershing was in Mexico when he got Wilson's appointment to head the AEF in Europe. As I recall, BTW (and I may be wrong on this one), Pershing never did get Villa, but rather some other rival Mexican rebels did.

# 11. Radoslavov, the Bulgarian prime minister, was refering to the Allied encampment at Salonika. The Allies wanted to aid the retreating Serbian Army in 1915 (which had been driven into Albania) so they set up camp in Greece. There was initially a pro-German Greek government, but the British helped overthrow it and then established the forward camp at Salonika. This was supposed to be a launching camp from which Anglo-French-Serbian armies would overrrun the Balkans but they did little but sit in the camp the entire war. This is why the Bulgarians were joking that it was like a huge Allied POW camp; all the Bulgarians did was sit outside the parameter for 4 years. Finally, in October 1918, the Allies broke out and took both Bulgaria and threatened Turkey out of the war.

Thanks for to everyone who tried - it was fun!