Home - Education Bureau



-----------------------

Topic 18 Popular Use of steel and the arms race

)

Teaching Flow

| |Items |

|Skills |1. To compare changes before and after development of historical events |

| |2. To use diagrams to master complicated historical events |

| |3. To summarise and analyze historical facts |

|Attitude |To reflect on disasters to human beings caused by continuous improvement of weapons |

Task 1: Steel, Steam Power and Wars

Source A

The Source below describes the conditions of warships in the 18th century.

Question to ponder

What are the relationships between changes of war instruments and social and economic developments?

In the 18th century wind was the motive power for warships. They were made of wood. Therefore, they could only go as fast as the wind could carry them. Because they were small, the guns they could carry were also small. (If you fire cannon, the gun moves backwards as the cannon ball goes out. This backward movement, known as “recoil”, could upset the ship unless it was steadied by its weight.) An arms race in those days consisted of putting more guns on the ship. The guns were fitted on the two sides (known as the broadsides). During war, ships turned their sides towards their enemies so that they could fire their guns at them.

2

Topic 18 Popular Use of steel and the arms race

Source B

The Source below describes the conditions of warships in the 19th century.

Study Sources A and B, identify the differences of 18th century warships and 19th century warships.

Suggested answer:

|By the beginning of the 19th century, warships were built which were powered by steam. When the ship was driven |

|by steam, it was no longer dependent on wind. It was not, in fact, a good idea to fit steam engines on wooden |

|ships because the fire from the steam engine was always a fire hazard. |

|In the mid-19th century, new furnaces were invented which greatly improved the steel-making process. Before |

|these new machines were invented, it took several days to convert iron into steel, but with the new furnaces, |

|steel could be produced in about half an hour. Steel is a very useful metal for machine-making. It is harder |

|than iron and not brittle (that is to say, it does not break easily). It became widely used in railways, |

|engines, ships and other machines. |

|By the end of the 19th century, warships were no longer made of timber, but of steel. Steel is much heavier than|

|wood. When ships were made of steel, they became much heavier than wooden ships. They could be fitted with |

|heavier guns, which had a much longer range than the lighter guns fitted on wooden ships. |

| |18th century warships |19th century warships |

|Materials |wood |steel |

|Warship Volume |small |large |

|Weapons |fewer cannons |more cannons |

|Source of Power |wind |steam |

|Speed |slower, since restricted by wind |faster, since driven by steam engine |

|War Tactics |short range attack on each other |long range attack on each other |

|Loading Capacity |lighter |heavier |

3

To know more

Short file on Warships: HMS Dreadnought built in 1906

The battleship HMS Dreadnaught (ships belonging to the British Royal Navy are referred to as “His, or Her, Majesty’s Ship”, HMS for short), built in 1906, became the standard for warship production among the naval powers of the period. A race was started between Britain and Germany for building the most powerful navy. Ships competed for the size of the guns, the thickness of their armour and speed. Not only the Western powers, but also Japan, were involved in this arms race.

|Displacement |18,000 tons |

|Power device |18 steam boilers, 4 steam engine units, 22,000 horsepower |

|Weapons |10 12-inch guns |

| |27 12-pounder cannons and 5 18-inch torpedo tubes |

|Armour thickness |102-279 mm |

Source：

4

Task 2: Transport and Wars

Source C

The table below shows the major wars in the 19th century.

|Years |Wars |Outcomes of Wars |

|1812 |Battle of Moscow |The force of 600,000 soldiers led by Napoleon suffered setback in its expedition |

| | |to Russia. The crucial blow was the loss of manpower sources in the long journey |

| | |and the lack of supply. |

|1854 |Crimean War |The emergency of liners enabled Britain and France to transport easily large |

| | |troops to Turkey and Crimea, and eventually defeated the Russian troops. |

|1859 |War between France and Austria in |It took France only 11 days to transport 120,000 men to the battlefield. |

| |northern Italy | |

|1870 |Franco-Prussian War |The use of railways transported 1,000,000 soldiers to the front line. |

What change of factor would bring about certain effects on the scale of wars and their outcomes? Explain your answer with reference to Source C.

Suggested answer:

A crucial factor that determined the result of the wars would be the changes of the mode of transport. Before the emergence of steam ships and railways, it was relatively difficult and slow to transport troops to the frontline. In 1812, Napoleon’s expedition to Moscow suffered defeat because of the inconvenience of transport and supply difficulties. However, when the railway came into use, the transport of troops became faster, and the scale of wars enlarged. For example, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the troops of both sides exceeded a total of 1,000,000 men.

Task 3: Industrialisation and Wars

Source D

The text below identifies a new war concept of the 19th century.

5

By the 19th century, war required continuous supplies of ammunition, machinery, raw material such as steel, medicine, and food. Hence, the ability to mobilize all these resources was a decisive factor in winning. In order to fight a war, it was not only necessary to recruit a large number of soldiers, but also to mobilize a large number of civilians to produce for war. At the same time, with the invention of the telegraph, reports of war could be sent quickly home. This meant that governments could take charge of war efforts much more effectively than in the past, and for news of the war, through the newspapers, to spread to civilians. The age had come when war would be “total”, that is to say, involving the entire country, civilian and military alike.

Topic 18 Popular Use of steel and the arms race

6

|Year |War |Warring parties |No. of men |

|1704 |Battle of Blenheim |Combined forces of France and Bavaria vs |56,000 |

| | |Combined forces of Germany and Austria |52,000 |

|1853-1854 |Crimean War |Combined forces of Britain and France vs |650,000 |

| | |Russia |1.2 million |

|1870 |Franco-Prussian War |France vs |500,000 |

| | |North German Confederation |550,000 |

Source E

The table below reflects the scale of the major battles and wars in the 18th and 19th centuries.

What caused the emergence of a “total war”? Explain your answer with reference to Source D.

Suggested answer:

In a war, apart from the soldiers, the civilians also had to participate in production for the war. At the same time, the invention of telegraph resulted in faster transmission of information on the battlefields back home, thus enabling the government to direct the warfare on the front more effectively. Civilians at home can also acquire the newest information of the war through newspaper. Thus the age of “total war” emerged.

Task 4: Comparing the importance of various factors that affected wars

1. According to Sources E, what changes took place in the scale of wars of the 18th and 19th centuries?

Suggested answer:

The scale of 19th century wars was conspicuously larger than those a century earlier. The number of men deployed in the troops increased greatly. For example, in the Battle of Blenheim of 1704, the troops had a total of 100,000 men, while in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the number of men involved in the war already exceeded a million.

Teaching Tips

Before teaching this topic, the teacher may ask students with higher ability to search more information on the Internet on the effects on wars of the use of steel and steam, the improvement of transport and industrialization.

2. According to Sources A and D, the factors that decide the outcome of wars include the use of steel, improvement in transport, and industrialization. Among these three factors, which one do you think is the most important? Explain your answer.

Suggested answer:

Students are free to express their views, but they must make a reasonable comparison

without over-emphasizing any of the factors.

Task 5: Features of wars in the twentieth century

Source F

The Source below describes the main features of wars in the 20th century.

2. 根據資料I，梁啓超認為甚麼因素才是改革成功的關鍵？中國又是否具備該些因素？解釋你的答案。

建議答案︰梁啓超認為除改革政治、學術、技藝之外，最重要是從思想方面改變國人，當中又以公德是中國人所缺乏，公德是各種德行之首，個人所做的必須有益於羣眾。

• In the First World War, soldiers were stationed in trenches on the battlefield. Trenches were fortified. Barbed wire and machine guns provided defence against enemy attack. Advances beyond the trenches were difficult.

• The tank was invented to overrun trenches. The tank’s heavy armour gave it protection, and its tracks allowed it to move easily on the battlefield, even when there were no roads.

• By the later stages of the First World War, aeroplanes were used to bombard the enemy’s rear, thus expanding the war into areas far away from the battlefield.

• Submarines also came to be used widely during the First World War. The German submarine (known as the “U-boat”) was a serious threat to British and American ships.

• By the Second World War, war was waged on land and sea, and in the air.

• The aircraft carrier, combining the ability to fight on the sea and in the air, became the centre of command

• The tanks in the Second World War, such as Germany’s Tiger I, possessed thick armour and powerful and large cannons.

7

Extended activity

Write an essay based on the discussion results in Task 4.

Topic 18 Popular Use of steel and the arms race

Human beings of the 20th century witnessed two world wars, which brought about even greater harm to them. Compare the features of the two World Wars with reference to Source F and using your own knowledge.

8

Suggested answer:

| |The First World War |The Second World War |

|War Tactics |Positional Warfare (Trenches) |Three-dimensional on the land, on the sea and in |

| | |the air |

|Weapons: Tanks |Already existed |Thicker armour / More powerful fire |

| Submarine |Submarine War |Submarine War |

| Aircraft Carriers |Not yet existed |Became the centre of command on the sea |

|Air force Fighters |Already began using |Cooperated with the army and the navy in large |

| | |scale |

Conclusion

Through the 19th century, weapons of war became closely tied to industrial development. Advances in ship building and gun making started the arms race in Europe, while weapons such as the battleship, tank, aeroplane, and submarine increased the cost of war. Research and development of military technology was crucial to success in the armament race. The entire population of the country was involved in their financing and development.

Teaching Tips:

Students with higher ability may do a search of information beforehand and write a piece of short essays.

9

Summary Chart

Topic 18 Popular Use of steel and the arms race

Popular Use of Steel

Improvement of Transport

Sustained development of Industry

Relationship between Changes of

War Instruments and Social and

Economic Development

Changes of War Instruments

Arms Race

Total War

(Civilians and soldiers of entire nation are mobilized to get involved in the war)

Outbreak of the two World Wars

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download