Practices of War- Battles in the War of Attrition

Operations on the Western Front

Plan XVII/17 (7-24 August 1914)

A series of offensives across regions of Alsace and Lorraine.

Aim: Reclaim territories Germans took in Franco-Prussian war (humiliated)

How: Rapid advance into German territory

Failure: Fr + Ger armies clashed early on in ‘The Battle of the Frontiers (Fr didn’t achieve rapid success)

• French advance wasn’t uniform- allowed germans to exploit gaps in their counter

• Turned into static trench warfare for rest of war

The Battle of the Marne (5-12 September 1914)

Turning point where Allies halted German advance + forced them to retreat.

Why did the Schlieffen plan fail? (August 1914)

• Belgium resistance gave allies time to prepare troops

• Logisitical challenges: supply lines exhausted due to rapid movement

• Communication issues; delayed picture of events + difficulty in coordinating movement

• Difficult terrain and weather slowed troops down

Ypres (April 1915)

• Multiple battles

• Second battle of Ypres most important because:

  • First large-scale use of poison gas by Germans

  • Didn’t change stalemate

  • BUT; significantly impacted tactics and use of chemical warfare

The Battle of Verdun (February-October 1916)

German attempt to break stalemate on the Western Front.

Aim: ‘Bleed the French white’ through heavy artillery + massive amount of resources

Failure:

• Start of battle postponed due to weather- allowed Fr to bolster their defences

• Due to heavy artillery + over 2.5 million shells, landscape churned up

  • Many forts + hills compiled with shell damage made it very hard for troops to advance

• Single road supplying Verdun key to French resistance (Voie Sacrée); sustained constant flow of reinforcements to defend against German attacks (Ger never manged to cut it)

The Battle of the Somme (July-November 1916)

Allied offensive attempting to relieve pressure off French in Verdun + breakthrough the Western Front stalemate through a long week artillery bombardment

• First use of tanks

Failure:

• Due to poor communication- planned artillery barrage bad timing- not as hoped

• Very heavy casualties through trench warfare

• No breakthrough, little gains

• Lowered public morale- cost of war emphasised

• Poor weather conditions + lack of understanding of terrain slowed troops down

• Limited impact of new tech (tanks)- slow, ineffective

Impact: Profound impact on military strategy, Allies adapted their tactics to try improve coordination, Germans adjusted their defensive strategies.

The Battle of Passchendaele/Third Battle of Ypres (July-November 1917)

Failure:

• Resulted in a stalemate in a stalemate

• Heavy casualties

• Barely any gains

• Challenging Terrains

1918

• 3 exhausted armies in a war of attrition

• German race to knock Britain out of war, therefore crushing France before US mobilised

  • Whilst they did kill many Brits, they exhausted their 250,000 troops

  • Allies and Germans similar amount of losses but US came in

  • Hundred Days- Allies pushing Germans back, once Ger politicans achknowledge this- ARMISTICE requested + signed