medicine in the western front

allies at war during ww1

britain, france, russia

central powers at war in ww1

germany, austria-hungary

when was ww1

1914-1918

western front

where the two armies meet / frontline of fighting

who was fighting on the western front?

the allies

central powers

allies - british soldiers, belgium soldiers

central - german soldiers

events that led to the start of trench warfare

• germany invaded belgium using schlieffen plan to quickly defeat france.

• british expeditionary force (bef) joined france and fought german troops.

• after battle of marne, the german advance was stopped.

• both sides dug trenches to defend their positions form new weapons (machine gun)

• LEADING TO TRENCH WARFARE

how was it different from previous wars?

it was industrialised.

new weapons - machine guns, poison gas, heavy artillery, tanks, submarines.

why was this?

industrialisation and technology advanced rapidly. factories could mass produce weapons.

why could the allies not "go around"?

the trench stretched from north sea to swiss border. switzerland is a neutral country and so it blocked movement. trying to go around by sea or heavily defended areas was difficult + dangerous.