What is "battle of ypres"

1. n. battle in World War I (1917); an Allied offensive which eventually failed because tanks bogged down in the waterlogged soil of Flanders; Germans introduced mustard gas which interfered with the Allied artillery [syn: Ypres, third battle of Ypres]

2. battle in World War I (1915); Germans wanted to try chlorine (a toxic yellow gas) as a weapon and succeeded in taking considerable territory from the Allied salient [syn: Ypres, second battle of Ypres]

3. battle in World War I (1914); heavy but indecisive fighting as the Allies and the Germans both tried to break through the lines of the others [syn: Ypres, first battle of Ypres]

The Battle of Ypres was during the First World War, in the general area of the Belgian city of Ypres, where the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force) clashed. There were hundreds of thousands of casualties. The term "Battle of Ypres" could mean all the fighting that occurred in that area. But the "Battle of Ypres" could refer more specifically to any one of five battles which have been separately identified and named (and which themselves can be subdivided into smaller named battles).

The five battles were:

• First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November, 1914). During the "Race to the Sea". More than 100,000 casualties.
• Second Battle of Ypres (22 April – 15 May, 1915). First mass use of poison gas by the German army; included first victories of a former colonial nation ( Canada) over a European power (Germany) on European soil. Around 100,000 casualties.
• Battle of Passchendaele (31 July – 10 November, 1917) also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. 400,000 to 800,000 casualties.
• Battle of the Lys (1918) (9–29 April, 1918) also known as the Battle of Estaires or the Fourth Battle of Ypres. Around 200,000 casualties.
• Fifth Battle of Ypres (28 September – 2 October, 1918) an informal name given to a series of battles in northern France and southern Belgium, also known as Advance of Flanders and Battle of the Peaks of Flanders. Around 10,000 Allied casualties; German casualties unknown.