Trench Warfare

Trenches

Both the Germans and the French had the same idea and both nations raced to outflank or trap the enemy with trenches. Both countries then deployed massive amounts of men to reinforce the Western Front. The French called Britain for backup, while Germany deployed even more troops. Both sides made attempts to breach the enemy lines, but the Western Front soon came to a bitter stalemate. The trenches became a living hell for soldiers; the Western Front was a death trap. It was a war of attrition, where both sides attempted to cripple each other with major losses of men and equipment. The trenches were a frightening place to be in, but the soldiers remained there for multiple reasons: they were loyal to king and country, and they were fighting for patriotism. The soldiers were also held together by camaraderie; their troop was their family.

No Man's Land

No Man's Land was the area between two opposing trenches. It gained this title due to its extremely harsh and unforgiving environment, littered with barbed wire, artillery shells, deep mud, corpses, and to the fact that it was unoccupied by neither side of the war. To attempt to traverse the area while under fire was considered suicide. In most parts of the Western Front, No Man's Land was as long as 2.5 football fields, or 250 yards. Sometimes, soldiers were ordered to go into a hole in the ground created by friendly artillery to spy on the enemy.

Living Conditions

Living in the trenches was just as deadly as fighting in them, as anywhere from 3 to 4 million casualties stemmed from disease and illness. Soldiers often failed to clean their feet, leading to trench foot, where your foot swelled and turn shades of purple. Rats and lice also spread the diseases, and soldiers would even get themselves sick in order to be sent home.

Communication

Communication was an essential factor in the first World War. There were basic forms of communication such as carrier pigeons or runners, who were soldiers sent out of the trenches to deliver messages (explain more, like their purpose). There were also more advanced forms of communication, for example, the telephone or telegraph. There was also visual signaling which was more direct, for example, flags or lamps. The radio was a major advancement in the war, as it allowed soldiers to directly communicate with each other faster than a telephone, although it was able to be intercepted by the enemy. At the beginning of the war, the slower methods of communication delivered outdated information. As the war went on, the forms of communication became faster and more complex to match the pace of a major battle.

WEAPONS

Planes

When the war began, many were doubtful over the usefulness of an aircraft in warfare. However, aircraft were still vital, even early on in the war, as they gathered intelligence. Air combat was still extremely rare, with there even being stories that rival aircraft passing each other only smiled and waved. The first time a plane was brought down by another was when an Austrian aircraft was rammed by a Russian plane in September of 1914, resulting in the deaths of all passengers. Aircraft warfare eventually evolved to the firing of handheld weapons, and then to mounted machine guns. One major innovation in aircraft warfare were planes with "synchronization gears", which allowed machine guns to shoot from behind a plane's propeller without striking the blades by timing the shots to match the speed of the propeller.

Gas

Non-lethal gasses such as tear gas were used since the beginning of the war since it did not violate the Hague Treaty of 1899, which prohibited the use of "asphyxiating or poisonous" gas. Lethal gas warfare began in 1915, when chlorine gas was used by the Germans against the French. Since then, gas and other various chemical weapons were used by both sides in the war, resulting in hundreds of thousands of painful deaths and horrible injuries.

For more info, check out the Poison Gases page.

Guns

The advancement of technology in guns drastically changed how armies moved and fought. For example, the invention of the magazine-loading gun made it impractical to charge the enemy in large groups, relying on the slow fire rate of breech-loading rifles. The machine gun changed the war and is possibly the second leading cause of death in the Western Front.

THE BATTLES OF THE WESTERN FRONT

The battles of the Western Front shaped the outcome of the first world war. Each of the battles was

The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of Somme consisted of the British and French troops against the Germans. The main goal of the British and French was to weaken the German troops and provide help to many of the troops fighting in the battle of Verdun. Over 19,000 British soldiers were killed in total during the first day of the battle of Somme, over 57,000 were killed in the 141 days that the battle was fought during. The battle of Somme was known for one of the first uses of tanks for military purposes. The battle of Somme took the German army off of their offensive approach and forced the Germans to leave the battle of Verdun to the battle of Somme. The French were able to recapture much of their territory because of the absence of the Germans in the battle of Verdun.

The Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres)

The Battle of Passchendaele was a British offensive and the 3rd battle located on the Ypres salient in Flanders, Belgium and began on July 30, 1917 until November 10, 1917. Belgian, French, British, and German forces were involved in the battle. It was the most costly battle on the Ypres salient with over half a million casualties. The decision to launch an offensive was by the Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (later the Earl Haig). Out of the 5 battles on the Ypres salient it was the most costly with over half a million casualties. The commander of Entente forces was General Sir Hubert Gough and the commander of the German forces was General Friedrich Sixt von Armin. The battle occurred on the famed Ypres salient it was extremely notorious for the rain and mud present during the battle. The outcome was an Entente victory with five miles of land gained.

Soldier Behavior

Shell Shock

Shell Shock, a type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was an extremely prevalent condition in the trenches on the Western Front. The term Shell Shock was first coined by Medical Officer Charles Myers who went on to found the British Psychological Association. Doctors originally thought that nerve injuries and the constant exposure to heavy bombardment. Soldiers sometimes returned home blinded, deaf, or paralyzed due to Shell Shock. Officers were four times more likely to have Shell Shock than enlisted soldiers and officers often suffered the worst symptoms due to they had to repress their symptoms to set an example. It was generally seen as a sign of weakness and soldiers were often charged with desertion or insubordination and could face execution if convicted guilty. The treatments during the war were often harsh and soldiers were at the will of the Medical Officers. “Treatments” included electric shock therapy, solitary confinement and constant shaming.

Deserting

Soldiers were often accused for desertion of their posts in fear of being injured or killed. Torture and death were usually the punishments for soldiers who deserted their posts. A firing squad usually carried out the task. The punishment was the same for surrendering to the enemy troops, and both were under the category of cowardice. Additionally, self inflicted wounds were a common way of escaping time on the battlefield. Medics would identify if the injury was inflicted by the enemy or “home-grown”. If the injury was indeed self inflicted, the soldier would be killed by firing squad and the execution would be made as public as possible.

CASUALTIES

One of the most notable days during the Western Front was the first day of the battle of Somme. Approximately 57,000 soldiers were killed on the British side, resulting in the biggest loss of life during the Western Front. The battles of Somme and Verdun resulted in a hIgh number of casualties due to the brutal nature of trench warfareN. There were approximately 4 million casualties on the Western Front by the end of the wars.