A little thread on the importance of building knowledge beyond the exam spec, with my beautiful assistant: the forgotten Western Front battles of 1915. #historyteacher #aqahistory #firstworldwar #ww1
So the AQA GCSE First World War course syllabus only mentions 1915 in the context of Gallipoli. I imagine this is all most schools focus on. 1915 wont really happen on the Western Front for most students. A year of soldiers sitting in trenches twiddling their thumbs.
But hang on- 1915 is so crucial to the war’s development. For starters the first use of gas at the Second Battle of Ypres is a major use of new technology. Sure, most schools will teach that. But not in the context of a battle. Just a random use of a weapon by the Germans.
You need the battle context to understand why gas doesn’t lead to a huge breakthrough. You also need to go further and understand that the French and British also can’t work out how to make the most of it at Artois and Loos. And by now both sides are learning how to defend this.
The Battle of Artois also sees the development of trench clearing tactics by the French using lightly armoured troops working in waves. This is usually only seem as a German advancement later in the war.
And Loos gives us Britain’s first attempt to ‘bet big’ on the Western Front (thanks @DanHillHistory ). Supply and reinforcement problems at Loos scupper success as they did in all these earlier battles.
Again a key problem of the war to be resolved and part of the ‘learning curve’ in terms of strategy and logistics. Loos also taught the British they needed to go bigger on artillery- a prelude to the Somme.
So- 1915. The forgotten year of the First World War. It it will take us one lesson, but fill a huge chunk of student understanding. Build that hinterland to enrich the core. @Counsell_C
P.S. I entirely realise that teaching beyond the spec is difficult with the limited time we have, particularly at GCSE. So selection here is key. What are those missing pieces in the jigsaw?
