The 2nd Battle of Ypres, April 1915

The second battle of Ypres, Belgium April, 1915 involved the allied troops and the German Troops. Faltenhayn (German chief of general staff) had a big hand in starting this battle. Poison gas was introduced in this battle by the Germans against the Allied troops. Canada‘s bravery in the battle made a good reputation for itself. In 1915, Faltenhayn had planned to be defensive in the west, but decided to be offensive near Ypres. This is what caused the 2nd battle of Ypres. He wanted to pre-empt any coming Franco British attack in the west (Duputy 217).

This means that Faltenhayn wanted to attack the Allied troops before they attacked Germany. In the battle the Germans attacked with artillery, after the attack was done the Allied troops waited for Germany‘s first wave but Germany surprised the allied troops by doing something totally unexpected. Poison gas was used by the Germans in this battle against the Allied troops. Faltenhayn agreed to use poison gas in the attack even though in 1907 Germany signed a treaty forbidding the use of poison gas.

The German army filled poison gas into canisters and brought it to the front line. If the wind was heading in the right direction they would open the canisters and the gas would drift across no-man's land to the Allied troops. But the allied troops decided to fire artillery to the front line of Germany so the canisters would break and the Germans would die (Duputy 218). Germany used the poison gas against two French colonial divisions, which caused the French army to run away.

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Canadians were not affected by the poison gas because they used wet (with water) cotton bandoliers to cover their mouths and noses so they counter-attacked on the same day, which made a good reputation for the Canadian army. "On April 22nd 1915, the 1st Canadian Division has just arrived at the front which was located just outside the city of Ypres, near Belgium. Here they achieved recognition for holding their ground against the new weapon of choice in modern warfare known as chlorine gas". (vac) Canada entered the battle because it was one of the colonies of Great Britain. The Canadians withdrew from the battle on May 3rd, where they were relieved by British forces" (vac). Canada was sympathized for its bravery, thankfulness, and its efforts during this battle. The 2nd battle of Ypres also gave Canada a good reputation in the world. This battle involved the Allied troops and Germany. Faltenhayn decided to be offensive near Ypres in 1915. Poison gas was used by the Germans against the allied troops. Canada, being one of the colonies of Great Britain was involved in this battle and set a good reputation for itself in the battle for its hard work, and bravery.

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