Once each side had “dug themselves in” at Marne this immediately had the effect of creating a “stalemate situation”. One reason for trench warfare being so slow was because it was static (there would be no action for days on end).
Another reason is that it was a lot easier to defend a trench rather than attack one. Whichever side was defending always had the upper hand. This meant that most attacks would fail because no side could hold the attack for any lengthy period of time. The same tactics were used up until the closing months of the war.
The new conditions of trenches and the defensive mechanisms used in trench warfare prevented the war from ending and instead prolonged it. A main reason for this was because the generals did not know how to win the war. So, instead, the generals used old tactics of having more men and more ammunition than the enemy. These tactics rarely worked because of it being easier to defend than attack.
It is a sad fact that throughout history people have tried to invent new ways of killing each other. Each new weapon has helped to shape the way war is fought. The Great War was not the short, swift war and politicians had expected. It was long. It was fought mainly from trenches and neither side gained much land in battle, but millions of lives were lost. It seemed to be more about wearing the other side down than swift battles on the open field.
Chapter 2
What were the effects of military deadlock on the Western front
Section
- How did an attack take place – E.G. The battle of the Somme
- Why did this style of attack lead to military deadlock
- What were the physical & psychological effects of trench warfare
- What was the effect of development of the new weapons
How an attack took place – E.g. The Battle of the Somme
The battle of the Somme was planned by Rawlinson and Haig because the allies needed to divert the Germans attention from Verdun, where the French were suffering particularly badly, elsewhere. The German line at the Somme was very strong and if the allies were to penetrate it then it would seriously damage moral at home in Germany. 400,000 men were attacking a trench line 28 miles long. The allies heavily bombarded the German line with shells for days on end and when at last it stopped the allies, expecting all to be dead and the wire to be crushed, walked slowly in a line across no-man’s land towards the German trenches. However the shells had merely made craters, making it harder for the men to cross and the barbed wire was so mutilated making it even harder to get through. After the infantry the cavalry was supposed to charge in killing the remaining Germans and take back the Somme. All this in theory sounded excellent but it reality the soldiers were sitting targets for the Germans to shoot at and mow down (walk very slowly in a straight line). If the German trenches were not so advanced then perhaps this battle plan may have had more of an effect but because the German trenches were literally an underground network of tunnels all they had to do was wait in the tunnels for the barrage to stop. 20,000 British troops died on the first day. However, Haig insisted that the battle should carry on, bringing in more men to be slaughtered. The battle of the Somme took 142 days and by the end of it 500,000 German soldiers were dead, 400,000 British soldiers were dead and 20,000 French soldiers were dead and no more than a mile of land was gained. The rain during the Somme made no-man’s land turn into a mud bath and living conditions got worse than the already previously bad living conditions
Why did this style of attack lead to military deadlock
The First World War is known as a war of attrition. The dictionary definition of attrition is the wearing down of an adversary. Without a clear understanding of this concept, the nature of the war and how it was fought cannot, and will not, be fully understood. Much ink has been spilt over the years about whom to blame for the huge loss of life in the First World War. Some historians point their finger at men like General Haig or Marshall Joffre as being too old and backward for the new mentality demanded by modern warfare. Still others blame the politicians for not generating the right circumstances for a negotiated peace as the war progressed along seemingly un-winnable lines.
The First World War coincided with the peak of European industrialisation. The war, when it came, would be a product of that self same industrialisation process. Heavy industry would produce mechanical weapons on a huge scale. Never before had factories been turned over to war in this way. As the war ground to a halt along the Western Front it took on a strange mixture of attributes. On the one hand there was the machine gun and the howitzer, the rifle and the gas shell; but on the other was the native wit of the common soldier whose main friend, apart from his comrades, was his shovel. Men dug in along the whole of the Western Front. They built networks of trenches, which ran in a web like fashion along the whole line. First line trenches linked by communication trenches to second, third and even fourth lines of trenches. Simple but effective inventions like barbed wire took on a new meaning in trench warfare. Huge amounts of wire were manufactured to guard the entrance into the trench networks. The gap in between the trenches became known as No Man's Land, a terrifying place of shell holes, bodies, mud and death. Gaining access across this area, and then to enter the enemy trench, could only be done by attrition. Yes, mistakes were made and other avenues of breakthrough were employed, but in the end it appeared that this war would be won or lost by the side that could stand the pressure the longest.
What where the physical and psychological effects of trench warfare
After few months these trenches had spread from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier. The Germans started digging first so they were able to choose more tactfully where their trenches would be. They were able to position themselves on higher land giving them a tactful advantage but they were also able too avoid the major problem of waterlogged trenches.
When trenches would become waterlogged, it would make the bottom of the trenches always wet and temperature inside the temperature would decrease rapidly. Being in permanent wet would cause the soldiers to get trench foot, which is a rotting of the foot and it would have to be amputated. In order to avoid getting the disease the soldiers would have to put oil on the feet but many people didn't do It so they could out of fighting.
"There was a danger of getting trench foot, and the had to rub a sort or whale oil on their feet to prevent it. Lots of the blighters avoided doing that if they knew that if they got trench feet they would be sent down the line."
Sergeant J. Haddock, quoted in N. Jones, 'The War walk', 1983
Trench Mouth, acute infectious disorder of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat, so called from its prevalence among World War I soldiers. It is characterized by painful ulcerations. Predisposing factors for infection include poor oral hygiene. Painful and bleeding gums are the chief symptoms, and they are usually accompanied by malodorous breath and an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
The effect of development of the new weapons
Zeppelins
In August 1914 ordinary civilians in Britain prepared themselves for air attacks from Germany’s massive airships known as Zeppelins. Sure enough, the Zeppelins did attack Britain and France. For the first time in history, civilians far away from the battlefields were in danger of direct attack.
Aircraft
Zeppelins were not the only aircraft in the Great War. Aeroplanes were also used. The first ever aeroplane flight had been made in 1903 by the Wright brothers in the USA. Since then the machines had developed quickly and were reliable enough to be used for. .
By August 1914, the Germans had about 180 aeroplanes ready for action. The British and French had about 184, mostly French.
Machine Guns
In the first few days of the Great War, generals ordered men to attack the enemy across open ground and watched as row upon row of men were mown down by machine gun fire. The only defence against machine gun fire was to take cover. Both sides dug trenches and used machine guns to hold these positions. For four years the two armies hardly moved from these positions.
Artillery
The type of weapon that killed more people than any other between 1914 and 1918 was the . The biggest guns used in the Great War could fire shells as large as a soldier. The troops were terrified of them. Men watched their fellows being blown apart or dreadfully wounded by shrapnel. They lived in fear that their turn would soon come.
Poisonous Gas
In their search for a weapon that could break the on the German generals turned to a frightening new weapon: poisonous gas. On 22 April 1915 near Ypres, the Germans released chlorine gas from cylinders and allowed the wind to blow the thick, green vapour across to the trenches.
The first to suffer were Algerian soldiers of the French army. Their throats burned, they spat blood and struggled to breathe. Thousands died.
As the war went on, gas technology developed. Gas masks were issued. Gas-shells were fired into trenches and new gasses were used by both sides that could blister skin, eyes and lungs. Gas did not help either side to win the war but soldiers came to see it as a terrifying new weapon and a sign that war had changed forever.
Submarines
The Germans came close to winning the war thanks to another recently developed weapon; the submarine. The most famous submarine attack of the war came in May 1915 when a German sank a British passenger liner called the Lusitania.
In February 1917, Germany’s leaders ordered a massive submarine campaign against all ships carrying goods to Britain. They hoped to starve Britain into surrendering and they almost succeeded.
Tanks
The stalemate on the Western Front continued. Then, in 1916, a strange new armoured vehicle appeared. This British secret weapon looked like a huge water container, so it was given a suitable code name; the ‘Tank’. Tanks had many faults but they clearly showed that twentieth century wars needed the skill of mechanical engineers as much as the courage of soldiers.
How Trenches were designed – What were the differences
After few months these trenches had spread from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier. The Germans started digging first so they were able to choose more tactfully where their trenches would be. They were able to position themselves on higher land giving them a tactful advantage but they were also able too avoid the major problem of waterlogged trenches.
The trenches were made up of different sections, the front line trench was usually seven feet deep and six feet wide as it was so deep there was a fire step so the soldiers could see over the top of the trench and fire. The trenches were not built in a straight line; as if an enemy shell was fired into a trench then it would explode outwards killing all the men in a straight line. If it was not straight then only the men next to the to the shell would be killed or badly wounded.
Behind the front line were support and reserve trenches. The three rows of trenches covered between 200 and 500 yards of ground. Between each of the trenches would be communication trenches, which were used to transport men, food and equipment between the trenches.
To protect the trenches there was a long line of barbed wire. This was to stop the enemy attacking on foot. As the trenches were built like this, nearly all the battles fought were defensive.
Being in the front line was extremely dangerous and many of the casualties occurred in these trenches. The soldiers didn't spend all their time in the trenches and they had a 16-day timetable. Eight days were spent in the front line, four in the reserve trench and four in a rest camp a few miles away. Many shells were fired into the trenches and would explode inside badly injuring many soldiers each day. It was found that almost one third of all casualties occurred in the trenches. It was not uncommon for a man to spend much more time in the front line and once one regiment stayed there for 51 days at one time.
When the allies heavily bombarded the German trenches they expected everyone to be dead but the German trenches were literally an underground tunnel network. So the Germans were barely affected by the heavy bombardment.
