Luke -The First Battle of Ypres

October 21, 1914

The First Battle of Ypres

Luke Warren

The Battle of Ypres, particularly the First Battle of Ypres, contained many flanking maneuvers (flanks are when someone or something goes to the opposite side of it's enemy to try a sneak attack to get the drop on it's enemy) (Duffy). The Germans captured Antwerp, Belgium which forced the Belgian defenders to fall back to Nieuport, which was near Ypres (Duffy).  The French and the British went back to Ypres after Antwerp fell (Duffy).  The Allies defended a small important trench from German artillery (Britannica).  The French army flanked south around the city, they held the hope of launching their own offensive attack instead of just doing grouped allied attacks (Duffy).  The German army's attack began on October 20, 1914 when Falkenhayn's Flanders ordered an advance on the allied trench line, trying to get to ports of Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne (Duffy).  The Germans struck Belgian forces on the Yser River between Dixmude and Nieuport (Duffy).  The already weakened Belgian forces were forced by the Germans to open the sluices, which were gates or other devices to hold back the sea, on October 27, 1914. The Belgians flooded the land between their position and the Germans' along the twenty mile strip of land between Dixmude and Nieuport. That created a two mile wide water barrier (Duffy). This forced the German army to halt and reconsider their plans (Duffy).  It's astonishing how complicated and horrible war can be.

Bibliography

Duffy, Michael. "Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

"Battle of Ypres." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

A&E. "First Battle of Ypres." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 201