3.2-3.
4 Trench warfare WWI 1914-1918
From 1914 to 1917, the Great War
got bogged down in a stalemate.
Neither side could defeat the other.
Both the Germans and the Allies dug
large, well defended trenches.
The trench System
● In the winter of 1914, both sides
dug in along the Western Front with
complicated system of trenches.
● They were 2m deep for British and
French, but German trenches were
deeper. They had front-lines where
all the fighting was done and behind
them was a series of communication,
reserve and support trenches.
● These were where the kitchens
and lavatories were.
● As well as field hospitals and the
battalion headquarters.
● The top of the front line trenches
was protected by sandbags that
absorbed enemy bullets.
Life in the Trenches
 Duty would be rotated.
Typically a soldier would spend
about one week in a support
trench facing the enemy,
 four weeks in a support
trench, just behind the front
line, and
 Eight weeks in a reserve
trench, about three hundred
metres behind the support
trench. Soldiers in the Western
front didn’t spend all their time
in the trenches. They had a
schedule.
● There was only a little
Food happening in the trenches. In
● It was often difficult to get food up to the
other words-it was boring!
front line. Everything had to be carried ● Selected groups of soldiers
along the communication trenches. were sent on night-patrol,
● The standard food was bully beef, hard crawling through mud, filth,
biscuits, bread, margarine and jam, with shell-holes and decaying bodies
the occasional cheese and bacon. Tea was of the land to spot enemy.
drunk is large quantities, sweeten with
condensed milk.
Dirt and Disease...
*For fighting efficiently the men must keep fit and well. And trenches were
not healthy places: troops had to face cold, mud and the side effects of rough
sleeping.
The ground in Flanders quickly turned into sea of mud. Men and Horses
drowned in it.
Since, it was impossible to keep their clothes clean in the trenches. Most
soldiers were infected with body LICE. The only way to kill a louse was by
squashing it or burning it with a candle or light cigarette.
Men standing for hours in the wet trenches, without being able to change
their socks and shoes. Ended up with feet that went numb and turned red and
blue.
The mud quickly coated boots, socks and trousers and were not changed for at
least a week. This caused TRENCH FOOT.
Second only to the hatred of lice was their hatred of Rats. The trenches were
swarming with them. Growing fat on leftover food and rotting bodies in no-
man’s land.
Nervous and mental breakdowns amongst soldiers were common, due to
unrelenting shellfire and the claustrophobic trench environment.[61] Men
who suffered such intense breakdowns were often rendered completely
immobile,
Deadlock on the Western Front
● When the German advance was
stopped in 1914, trenches were
dug from the sea to the
Swiss mountains. The Germans
generally “dug” in at very difficult
places as it would be difficult to be
attack.
● Trench systems were very
difficult to attack. Not because of
the barbed wire and sandbags.
Worse- because of machine guns!
So it was very likely that troops
crossing no man's land could get
killed before the enemy trenches
were reached.
● Attacking weapons were not
very effective as the gun were in
defence.
● But the real key to success were
tanks and planes.
● Flanders was quite wet area so it
was really hard to cross.
● *Deadlock/ Stalemate- a
situation in which no progress can
be made
Letters home
Messages home were censored so
sensitive imformation would not be
leaked
Casualties...
Stretcher parties searched for men in no-mans
land.
● Hanging over everyone was the threat of sudden
death, either from a bullet or a planned attack.
● The men lived with the sight, sound and smell of
dead, dying and wounded soldiers.
● Thousands were killed or wounded in every
battle, either by shelling or by machine gun fire.
● During battle, most of the casualties happened
in no-man’s land and at night stretcher parties
searched for the wounded who were too badly
hurt to get back to trenches. Soldiers who were
seriously wounded were sent to Casualty Clearing
Stations (CCS), situated several km behind the
trenches. Others were taken by vehicles or
sometimes by train, to base hospitals and nursing
homes.
● Shell shock was very common by this time. Many
couldn’t cope with the horrors they saw and
heard. Their hands shook and their eyes twitched.
Some couldn't hear OR speak.
● Some men couldn’t bear the horror and
deserted. If deserters were caught , they were put
to death by firing squad. During the war, 346
British soldiers were shot for desertion.

New weapons and Methods

The war at the front became a war of attrition, to see who could wear the other side down first.
Aircraft - initially they were unreliable. Then they were used as ‘eye’ of their enemy, reporting back on enemy movements
and ammunition dumps. After Antony Fokker invented the synchronised machine gun, ‘Dog fights’ became common and
trenches were fired upon. A pilot could expect to live 3 weeks.
Machine Guns -These became one of the most effective weapons at the western front. They could fire a distance of about
2,000m at a rate of 500 bullets a minute, a nightmare for a soldier trying to cross no man’s land.
Artillery - The largest gun was the German Big Bertha which could fire a 108kg shell up to 132km. A barrage on enemy lines
was ineffective as the barbed wife would not be destroyed until the British made the fuses that exploded parallel to the
ground cutting up the wire
Gas – This was used to create fear rather than being effective as a weapon. If the wind changed direction the poisonous gas
could come back on oneself. Phosgene, chlorine and mustard gas could suffocate and blind soldiers. Many did not use the
gas mask as they were cumbersome. The Germans were the first to use it in 1915.
Tanks - The original tank, the Mark I was a heavy vehicle designed to flatten enemy fortifications. It was developed to be
able to cross trenches, resist small-arms fire, travel over difficult terrain, carry supplies, and to capture fortified enemy
positions. Germany concentrated more on the development of anti-tank weapons. The tanks were very slow and were
quite unreliable in rough terrain. They were best as a tool of intimidation towards the Germans.
Battle of Marne, September 1914
The river is the last natural
obstacle between northern
France and Paris. If the Germans
could cross the Marne and make
it onto the plains around Paris,
then the allies would have no
natural line of defence in order to
stop the German advance. This
made the French capital very
vulnerable.
Somme offensive, July 1916
The Battle of the Somme was one
of the largest battles of World War
I, and among the bloodiest in all of
human history. A combination of a
compact battlefield, destructive
modern weaponry and several
failures by British military leaders
led to the unprecedented
slaughter of wave after wave of
young men.
Battle of Passchendaele 100 day Offensive
July 1917. IT did nothing It was a series of attacks by
to help the Allied effort the Allied troops at the end
and became a symbol of of WWI. From August 8,
the senseless slaughter and ending with the
of the First World War. Armistice on 11 November
1918, It led to the defeat of
the German Army. By the
Summer of 1918, German
attacks in the war had
halted.