Trench Warfare During The First World War

How The Opposing Armies Decided To Build Extensive Trench Systems

Oct 12, 2008

British and French success in halting the Schlieffen Plan led to the widespread experience of trench warfare that lasted until the last months of the war.

Germans gained a reputation for constructing the most effective trench systems that the British and French found especially difficult to breach let alone destroy. The resilience of German trench systems was demonstrated time and time again on the Western Front.

Trenches And Stalemate On The Western Front

General staffs of the opposing forces developed techniques to make their own trenches more effective whilst attempting to break through the trench systems of their opponents. For the most part they stuck to launching their infantry units in suicidal frontal assaults against enemy trench positions. In many respects the trench systems were used as a means of grounding down the enemy, a gruesome war of bloody attrition.

The Western Front was locked in a deadly stalemate. Generally the attacking armies would suffer the lion share of fatalities and causalities, for example the Germans when attacking Verdun, or the British assault on the Somme.

The Horror Of The Trenches; Barbed Wire, Poison Gas, And Heavy Shelling

The First World War was at that point the most horrific war in history. That was mainly due to the best dug in trench systems with barbed wire, with numerous machine gun nests made it virtually impossible for major offensives to capture significant amounts of ground. Heavy not to mention prolonged artillery bombardment failed to break up the trench systems. In fact such bombardments were arguably counter-productive as it warned the defenders that an offensive was going to be launched against them.

Heavy shelling also tended to make it harder for the infantry to advance across no man’s land once the offensive began. If the artillery bombardment failed to cut up barbed wire and destroy machine gun positions then it made it impossible for the advancing infantry to penetrate the trench system of their enemy.

Barbed wire as well as machine gun nests provided extra protection from enemy attacks, yet conversely became murderous barriers as soon as soldiers had to go over the top to attack enemy positions. Different tactics and weapons were used in order to find a means to break through enemy trench positions, yet until 1918 none of them seemed that effective.

Poison gas, tanks, and rolling artillery barrages as well as flame-throwers were all used against trench systems, with limited impact until 1918. The tactics used for the German spring offensive of 1918 broke the static nature of trench warfare. However the failure of that offensive did not bring a return to the static stalemate of earlier years. American, British, and French forces for the first time armed with a high number of tanks were able to break through the Hindenburg Line in France.

Hobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London

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