Now the war of Attrition began in the battle of the Somme 1916. After Verdun the French had very heavy losses especcially since the French commander General Pétain announced that "They shall not pass", obviouslly refering to the Germans. So because of Verduns effect on the French army the BEF had to pretty much fight the battle of the Somme alone with half of the anticipated amount of French troops. This battle saw the use of the first tank, which shocked the Germans so, that they retreated. But the BEF didnt capitalise and the Germans built up thier defences once more. The tank was not fully developed when first used at the Somme and all of the tanks used were there after lost for various reasons including reliablility problems. The tank was very basic but effective as they had a high psychological effect on the Germans as they were highly frightened by it. Even though they had the tank the BEF suffered a lose of 20,000 deaths on the first day of attack. But they didnt stop as the generals believed in they idea of wearing your opponent down steadily. After Septmber the land over the Somme turned to mud and niether side could progress.
In 1917 the second major battle of attrition started. It was the second battle of Ypres and in July it seemed to make progress until November rain halted the attack. Like the Somme many were lost in the battle of Passchendaele and again like the Somme little land was gained but German morale was at a low due to it and the Americans entrance in the war wouldnt of helped either.
The German commanders knew the only way they could win this war was to do so beffor the Americans entered Europe, and because Russia had dropped out of the war they only had to fight on one front. The Germans had two main offensives which at first seemed successfull but were stopped dead litrally by the wave of American troops. The Allies then started a counter attack and now that German morale was at an all time low it wasn't long until Germany was forced to defeat and the ceasefire signed on 11 November.
The Royal Navy also had an important part to play in World War One. The main use of the British Navy was to defend its shores against any German attacks, and to protect British convoys containing British soldiers heading off to France. The Royal Navy also also put in to action a blockade to try and strangle the German nation in to defeat via starvation. The British Navy easily controlled the sea even though the Germans tried to equal its greatness in there own navy.
The major sea battle of the North Seas was the battle of Jutland, which took place on 31 May and 1 June 1916. Even though the British had technical difficulties (useless shells, litrally as they were faulty and did nothing), the German fleet retreated to friendly waters and stayed there until 1918 were the German marines mutinied due to the fact they believed they were being sent to thier deaths.
In efect no one one the battle of Jutland both sides could easily sing victory but both were at a loss and a gain. Even though the German fleet seemed inaffective, they still had an ace up thier sleeves as the German Generals called off unrestricted submarine warfare. This meant that the Germans could easlily starve Britain as the British Navy planned to do so against the Germans. The German U-Boats easily sank British convoys thanks to thier mass numbers but finally were defeated in 1917 after Britain used armed convoys which meant that mearchant ships would be protected by warships with depthcharges. The British also placed decoys called Q-Ships to confuse the U-Boats. Finally the British placed mines around British waters to make life hell for the U-Boats. This meant that unrestricted submarine warfare eventually failed.
The War in Europe effected the British people at home. Linked in with the British Navy, the British citizens had to watch what the yate as the German U-Boats were destroying the British convoys. An act named The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) gave the government the power to control the consumbtion of food so that Britain wouldnt starve to defeat as the Germans intended. DORA also gave the government control of factories and land to help the war effort. Women were used in these factories making ammo due to the lack of men.Censorship was introduced and the only news of the Westorn Front the puplic got was that given in patriotic films made by the government which bigged up the British and made the Germans look like crazy baby killers. DORA even restricted pub opening times so that alchol wouldn't cause absense from work. The government also used propaganda to convince people to eat less and so forth if not then you aren't considered to be British or your in leauge with the Kaiser.
Women had a major role in the home front, at first they were used in propaganda campaings to encourage enlistment and as more and more men went to fight women had to take over there jobs in factories and as buss drivers and postmen. Even though they did the jobs equaly well they were still paid less. They also joined the Womens Land Army, who replaced farmers and farm hands who went to war.MAny women were also nurses in the Red Cross.
Eventually the Germans used aeroplanes and Zepplins to attack the home front so British pilots had to fight the enemy off in thier primative plains which were as reliable as a racing car with out an engine. But as the war progresed so did the technology and the planes became faster more reliable and better fighting machines. In 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed and with great effect.
We can see now that Britain played a principal role in the First World War and that without its contribution we could easily be speaking German fight now.