The Nature of the Trenches and Their Effectiveness as a Method of Defence
Trenches were first introduced during World War 1, the sole purpose of
the trenches being, a strong method of defence. When both armies of
equal strength met, deadlock/ stalemate occurred (end of 1914). The
war of movement ended, this resulted in soldiers in digging holes,
roughly 3metres in height and 1.5metres wide, known as trenches, for
protection along the front line. Soldiers built trenches because men
wanted to find shelter from the weight and firepower of modern arms
and artillery, as underground was the best hope of survival. This was
the introduction of the first trenches during the stalemate, towards
the end of 1914.
Trench systems, though initially made for the purpose of where men
stood whilst the fighting died away, became more complex. The original
trenches were developed to a point where trench system became a strong
method of defence during the war. Trenches became deeper, front line
trenches were upwards of roughly six feet deep, duckboards or strips
of wood were used as flooring, a firestep for sentries and the
soldiers on the forward facing wall for when they were repelling an
attack, in the rear wall there were dugouts for men to rest or shelter
from artillery bombs. Sandbags were piled on the front edge of the
trenches to make the trench deeper and to form parapets with loopholes
which the soldiers could fire through, and coils of barbed wire
reaching 15metres in font of the trenches prevented the enemy to break
through. The first line, the second line and the reverse lines were
usually the main lines of trenches on either side, with communication
trenches connecting the rear areas with the front line. Trenches were
in a zig-zag pattern to prevent the enemy from taking a whole section
of the opposition with their fire. To the front was an area named “No
Mans Land”, which was the area between both armies’ sides. Both sides
fought to gain ground of “No Mans land”.
During the 50 years before the start of the war, most of the European
World War I, also known as the Great War, lasted from the summer of 1914 until the late fall of 1918. The war was fought between the Allies, which consisted mainly of the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire, and the Central Powers, which consisted mainly of the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria (Alliances - Entente and Central Powers). In total, it is estimated that twelve million civilians and nine million combatants died during this horrific and devastating war (DeGroot 1). When the war first began in 1914, many people thought that it would be a war of movement that would quickly be over. However, that changed when the Germans, who were trying to reach and capture the city of Paris in France, were forced to retreat during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914 (Ellis 10). German General von Falkenhayn, who felt that his troops must at all cost hold onto the parts of France and Belgium that they had overtaken, ordered his men to dig in and form defensive trench lines (Ellis 10). The Allies could not break through the enemies lines and were forced to create trenches of their own (Ellis 10). This was only the beginning of trench warfare. A war of movement had quickly come to a standstill on the Western Front. A massive trench line, 475 miles long, quickly spread and extended from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier (Ellis 10). With neither side budging, soldiers were forced to live in the most miserable of conditions. Simply put, life in the trenches was a living hell. A lieutenant of the 2nd Scottish rifles wrote, “No one who was not there can fully appreciate the excruciating agonies and misery through which the men had to go [through] in those da...
The film “Slaughter in the Trenches” shows us a big part of how terrible the World War 1 was. Men, who signed up to serve in the war, were signing up for their death. Thousands of men fought in the war, but only few hundred survived. Many of these men who did survive, became pieces of evidence of the warfare to show the world what a war does to people. The film introduces us to the trench warfare and does a great job of portraying the war, the lives of the men, and the countries that participated in it.
was useful for firing over the top as you could rest your gun on it.
The First World War saw a new form of warfare known as Trench warfare which involved trenches which were deep long dugouts made by the soldiers that lived in these trenches. The trenches proved useful as they protected the soldiers from artillery and bomb fire and were most likely situated in the eastern and western fronts of Europe. However the conditions of the trenches were far from exuberant but were in fact severely terrible. There was bad hygiene throughout the trenches, for example soldiers bathed probably only once a month and as such were prone to diseases such as trenches fever (which were due to the lice attracted by the bad hygiene). The weather was no exception as well, in the summer it would be too hot and in the winter it would be too cold and due to the nature of the trenches, when it rained the trenches would be filled with water, and due to such conditions welcomed the disease known as trench foot which was due to prolonged exposure to water and claimed the foots of many soldiers. There was also the constant danger of bomb fire and snipers would always be on the lookout for any movement. Latrines, which were toilets used in the trenches also sprouted fear as the enemy could see them in this area of the trenches and therefore were in constant danger of death. Soldiers also had to follow a strict code of conduct which was known as trench etiquette which ordered them to respect higher officers and they would have to be punished if the trench etiquette was ignored.
The First World War witnessed an appalling number of casualties. Due partly to this fact, some historians, developed the perception that commanders on both sides depended on only one disastrous approach to breaking the stalemate. These historians attributed the loss of life to the reliance on soldiers charging across no-man’s land only to be mowed down by enemy machineguns. The accuracy of this, however, is fallacious because both the German’s and Allies developed and used a variety of tactics during the war. The main reason for battlefield success and eventual victory by the Allies came from the transformation of battlefield tactics; nevertheless, moral played a major role by greatly affecting the development of new tactics and the final outcome of the war.
the minds of the public, is that there was more to the Battle of the
In the world during the 19th century many wars marked history, people chose to die for their country and their religion. The two movies chosen were "No Man's Land" and "Gallipoli." The first movie was "No Man's Land" which took place in Bosnia, which was about the Serb-Bosnia conflict. The second movie was "Gallipoli" which took place in Austria, which was about the trench warfare in Gallipoli
Thus, a prolonged occupation of either of the combatant’s trench systems would be untenable: It is said that a single Stokes 2 in. Mortar projector on the hands of a well-trained mortar squad could have fifteen rounds in the air before the first one hit the target. Imagine the effect of a sustained barrage of this ferocity on even a lightly manned trench. Obviously, then, some form of compromise must have developed, on some occasions, between the warring sides; at least during the inevitable prolonged periods of inactivity in the majority of the sector... ... middle of paper ... ...
As countries adapted to trench warfare, new techniques and tactics emerged. For instance, the countries made trenches in a zigzag pattern and surrounded them with barbed wire so the enemy could not bomb them in a straight...
In the time era of world war 1, technology was beginning to advance. The soldiers in the war were deprived of these extensive resources, causing them complications while serving their countries. At nineteen, protagonist Robert Ross experiences trench warfare. As technology advances the soldiers begin to feel the physical, mental and spiritual impact of the insufficient resources. IN The Wars, Findley ultimately shows these detrimental affects, disfiguring Roberts overall well being as a Canadian solider.
By December 1914 the First World War had reached a dilemma on the western front that neither the triple entente nor the triple alliance had expected. The war had reached a stalemate, a state where both sides are so evenly balanced that neither can breakthrough against the enemy. The advances in Technology played a big role in creating the stalemate through strong defensive weaponry such as Machine Guns and Artillery, this caused ‘trench warfare’ (BOOK 48). Trench war is when troops from both sides are protected from the enemy’s firepower through trenches. Many advances in technology also attempted to break the stalemate throughout the war with tanks, gas and aircraft, these however failed. Eventually the stalemate was broken through a combination of improved technology, new strategies and the blockading of the German ports.
Long tunnels were dug up by British, French and Germans soldiers and filled with explosives destroying enemy trenches. The tunnels were used to build an underground network for the real battle. Twelve subways, reaching more than five kilometers deep, were dug at night by construction companies which allowed troops to move to their jumping points faster. Smaller tunnels called sapper, leading off subway to the front-line, were sealed until zero hour. At that point they were blown on, giving Germans an element of surprise, the soldiers attacked right on the front. The network reduced injuries among the troops and wounded soldiers could be brought back safely for recovery. The equipment could be carried to the battleground in less hazardous conditions. “Canadian and British engineers repaired 40 km of road in the Corps’ forward area and added 4.8 km of new road. They also reconditioned 32 km of tramways, over which light trains hauled by gasoline engines.” After widening the road and repairing the trail more dangerous, heavy and explosive equipment could be carried to the front for Canadian soldiers. All the firepower amounted was divided among the total
Trench warfare became a common practice in World War One, leading to a war of attrition. Both the Allies as well as the Germans enacted similar basic defense strategies and dealt with many of the same debilitating trench conditions. Trenches were built in an elaborate networking system, with three major sections, the front lines, the support, and the reserves. There was a rotation schedule for soldiers in the trenches, so that each regiment served time at the front lines. Trench conditions were horrendous including rodent infestation as well as unsanitary living spaces; many were infected with diseases such as trench foot with most trenches were filled with dead corpses for weeks after they were first killed. Defense mechanisms included creating dense fields of barbed wire in No Man’s Land, between the enemy trenches, in order to prevent an attack on the trench. Trench sanitation and defense were not the only reasons for the stalemate connected with World War One. The weather played
The First World War introduced a new type of warfare. New weapons were combined with old strategies and tactics. Needless to say, the results were horrific. However, a new type of warfare was introduced: trench warfare. In the movie War Horse, the character that owned the horse originally while he worked on his farm, Albert Narracott, finally was old enough to join the army. His first sight of battle was the Battle of Somme which took place in France near the Somme River. During this battle, the British troops start out in trenches, which were pretty much tunnels dug strategically to avoid gunfire. The soldiers would wait until they were told to advance, and they would run from one trench to the next. Trenches and the area between trenches were muddy and the trenches themselves were poorly conditioned (http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/chapters/ch1_trench.html). Many of the soldiers who fought in trenches succumbed to a foot disease called trench foot and if not treated immediately, gangrene could infect the foot and an amputation would be necessary for survival. Commanding officers ordered one or t...
Geography is a branch of science that seeks to learn about the physical aspects of the earth, and how human activity is having an impact on it. War, on the other hand, is a militaristic conflict between two opposing parties, where violence and strategic thinking plays a big part. War relies on several aspects in Geography to help win battles such as using maps to have an overview of a battlefield, understanding how the land can be used to a commander’s advantage, and so on. Wars or other kinds of militaristic conflicts can sometimes occur due to the nature of Geography in many ways: expanding the territory of a country, conquering another nation for its resources, or for other reasons. Geography matters very much in warfare because the types