The First World War and the Russian Revolution, Part 3
Question 1: Describe the campaign in Gallipolli.
Answer 1: The Allies hoped to aid the war on the Eastern Front by forcing the Ottoman Empire out of the war. Doing so would ease pressure on the Russians and allow Allies to get much-needed supplies to poorly equipped Russian troops. The Allies forged a plan to advance through the Dardanelles and take Constantinople. In April 1915, British and French ships began to bombard Ottoman Turks on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The battle dragged on for eight months, with heavy casualties on both sides. Australian and New Zealand forces played a major role in the fighting, an experience that increased patriotism and national pride in those countries. Finally, having achieved little success, the Allies retreated from Gallipoli in January 1916, and the weakened Ottoman Empire remained in the war.
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Question 2: Summarize how the war changed social and economic roles for women.
Answer 2: Women on both sides played major roles in the war. Propaganda campaigns encouraged women to take on economic roles by filling jobs in much-needed industries and carrying out volunteer work for the war effort. Women also played larger roles in the military, serving as nurses and support staff, often in dangerous war zones. The war dramatically changed cultural opinions of what women were capable of doing. In democratic countries, especially the United States and Great Britain, feminists used this change to rally political support for female suffrage. They urged women to support the war effort to prove their loyalty and usefulness to the government, hoping that officials would reward their loyalty with political rights once the war ended. Their tactic would prove successful.
Question 3: Describe the antiwar movements during World War I.
Answer 3: Despite propaganda efforts, antiwar movements existed in all major countries. Some governments tried to suppress criticism of the war by associating peace movements with socialism and anti-democratic values (aided by the fact that many socialist leaders did speak out against the war, especially during the early days). Antiwar sentiments ran particularly high in the United States. Reasons for opposition to the war ranged from isolationist desires in order to avoid foreign entanglements to religiously inspired pacifism. Notable opponents to the war included reformer Jane Addams. After the United States entered the war, the government used the Espionage Act to deport foreign-born antiwar activists. The Alien and Sedition Acts helped suppress antiwar speech but never completely squelched opposition to the war. As the tide of public opinion turned toward supporting the conflict, social pressure helped limit antiwar ideas that had been common prior to U.S. entry.
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