war in the trenches western front 1914-1917

avoiding a war on two fronts

• schlieffen plan failed and germany was forced to fight a war on two fronts: east and west

• how did the germans survive?

• “dug in” - trenches in belgium/france

  • german trenches were typically sturdier because they were happy to stay where they were (hold territory was goal) abd si dug in and dug deep so their trenches were sturdier and dugouts set deeoer with concrete and iron girders in the roof. some even had electricity

• russians were weak - large but slow → had difficulty getting troops to the front lines, disorganized, poor rail system

• ended up in a stalemate - “unwinnable war”

a war of attrition -outlast the other side/kill more

• “bullet, spade, and wire” - trench warfare

  • referred to the defensive trinity used in trench warfare : they used bullets to defend their trench and kill enemies, they used spades to dig the trenches, and they used wire to build a barricade in front of the trenches

  • wwi machine gun could fire 500 rounds/bullets per minute

    • “digging in” - trenches to hold territory

      • trenches were zigzagged to make it harder for enemy artillery to destroy them - prevented enemy soldiers from firing down the length of the trench if one section was captured

      • a sap was a 30 yard narrow passage past the front trench where 2 or 3 men would sit and listen for slightest enemy movement (shovels and picks underground), shell craters also worked

        • enemy

      • trench warfare was slowpaced, and soldiers were antsy

    • “attrition” - outlast, outkill, exhaust enemy

    • “going over the top” - running recklessly over “no man’s land” to enemy territory

• the battle became more defensive in nature

• trains and factories could supply millions of soldiers, weapons, and supplies to the battlefield

• artillery, mortars, machine guns, and poison gas made soldiers efficient killers, but slow movement on the field made it easy to defend and impossible to win any real territory

• millions of lives sacrificed in fruitless offensive attacks