Trench+Warfare

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Summary:

With the crossing of the French border by the German army on 22nd August, 1914, the first step to trench warfare was taken. As on the 4th to 10th September the Germans were pushed back, out of France, towards Germany. The German commander, General Erich von Falkenhayn, decided that his troops must hold onto those parts of France and Belgium that Germany still occupied and ordered his troops to dig in. As the attacks of the French and British were unsuccessful the allied dug in as well. These were the first trenches which soon developed from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier.
 * __ Trench Warfare in WWI __**

The weapons of trench warfare developed drastically. At the beginning soldiers were only equipped with the standard rifle made their own weapons suitable for trench warfare such as; metal maces, brass knuckles and sharpened shovels. However the commanders soon ordered new weapons such as the Bayonet, huge amounts of grenades, shotguns and flamethrowers. One of the most deadly weapons would be the machine gun which could literally massacre thousands of attacking enemies. The heavy machine gun was so big it needed up to eight men to use it.

However not only the infantry got new equipment but heavy machinery was developed and improved as well. The artillery became the most important long range weapon of the war. With one-ton shells over a distance of 10km these weapons were deadly. Entire villages were flattened. Artillery was mostly used to destroy the enemy defenses, and weaken their army straight before an attack. The tanks were first introduced by the British to break the deadlock but were easily destroyed by shells. Over the course of the war the tanks developed with huge steps and was later one of the most important weapons. But not only the allied brought forward deadly innovations, the Germans introduced gas to trench warfare in 1915. Three gases were available; mustard, chlorine and phosgene gas. Mustard gas being the most feared as it is heavier than air and would stay on the ground for up to a month. Soldiers wouldn't notice the gas stuck to them and it would spread in the warmer sleeping areas killing or injuring many at sleep. However gas wasn't too effective due to gasmasks as a 100% countermeasure.

The soldiers had a miserable live with nearly no sleep, low rations and bad hygiene causing infections. The trench foot was the most feared sickness as it would cause feet to mould. It was caused by the wet and cold in the trenches, sometimes entire legs would be amputated due to trench foot. Many writers developed in the post war era to describe the horrors of the live in the trenches.

To break through the enemy line and hold their own line was the priority in trench warfare. Barb wire was placed in the no-man's-land far enough out that no soldier could throw a grenade in the trenches without being seen. The Cavalry proved itself to be useless in trench warfare even though it had been an essential factor before WWI in any armed conflict. The horses were simply mowed down. Miners from the inland were gathered at the trenches. Their aim was to dig tunnels to the other side and blow up the enemy trenches from below. Men had to listen the ground to detect enemy miners and dig towards them to defeat them before they would reach the trenches.

With 3,6-4,1 million casualties on the allied side, 2,9-3,3 million casualties on the German side and over 450 thousand civilian casualties the Western Front was one of the bloodiest battle sites in the history of man.