World War One
Trench warfare was undoubtedly a large part of the war on the battlefield, but it also had an affect on society out of the trenches. The evolution of war and weapons made it hard to use trench warfare effectively, but in the early stages, trench warfare was all that was used.
Originally, the trenches were dug around 6 ½ feet deep (slightly taller than most of the soldiers). They were 2-3 feet wide, so walking through the trenches was not the easiest thing. Being in the trenches was very hard for the soldiers, but they had to make it as comfortable as possible because they were going to be in it for months at a time. Once they were in and battle began, there was no leaving the trenches. When a soldier was going to fire, the soldier would have to step on a step about one foot high. This allowed the soldiers to fire their weapons with only their head visible to the opponent, and they could quickly step down and back into the trench when they were done shooting. Shooting spaces for the soldiers were created around every two paces so that the whole trench was covered with weapons being fired.3
Trench warfare became effective because of the weapons that were used in the war. Before trenches soldiers stood in lines and openly fired at the opposing side. With the advancement of the machine gun, this was no longer logical, so trenches were created. There were many different types of bolt-action rifles that were used in World War One, such as the Arisaka Type 38, the Lee-Enfield series, and the Mauser Gewehr. Not only were there bolt-action rifles, but also there were machine guns and explosive grenades. These weapons were very inaccurate. The Browning M1917 was a machine gun the Americans used and many countries used hand grenades by throwing them at trenches.
The battle of Somme was a battle where trench warfare did not work. The battle took place from July to November of 1916, and it will go down as one of the bloodiest battle in history. It took place on either side of the Somme River in France. It was the British, the French and other allies, attempting to take out the German army. 4 During the war, the British soldiers got out of trenches and walked into no-man’s-land. There line stretched more than 12 miles long. The soldiers had no chance and on this day the British lost 19,240 men all in one day. The Germans stayed in their trenches while the British marched and fired machine guns at them. The British were helpless in this situation. This battle lasted around five more months, and nothing was accomplished. The British moved approximately two miles, not even getting close to the Germans and they lost over 420,000 men while they were at it. In total, over 1.5 million people were killed from both sides during this battle. This battle let the world know how ineffective trench warfare was. Nothing was accomplished from this battle, and it will ever be remembered as one of the bloodiest battles in history. The only thing that trench warfare did for this war was give the soldiers a place for defense., otherwise it was terribly ineffective.
The experience of being in a trench was not a pleasant one. The trenches became disgusting, especially the longer the time spent in them. Soldiers would be stuck in trenches for months at a time, and had no control over it. As long as the battle was still going on, then they were still in trenches. In the Diary of Kenneth Sydney Day, and Australian who was involved in the war from August 1914 to November 1917, he writes about his experiences and the daily life of being in the trenches and just being involved in the war. He explains how everyone had certain sleep shifts and that there was always things to do. They had a certain amount of time to feed and sleep and then it was back on the job. Being apart of the war was not something enjoyable, and being in the trenches was terrible. People would see their friends and loved ones die, and the bodies would be dragged out of the trench and buried in no-man’s-land. Friends and family were dying and being killed right in front of your face, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Being in a trench was a slow painful type of warfare and many soldiers could not take it. 6 Winters in the trenches were even worse. Temperatures were freezing, but soldiers would remain in the trenches. One-soldier talks about his Christmas experience, which had a few positives compared to any other day. He says, “We received all kinds of gifts from our relations at home and other people. We were at last able to change our underwear which we had worn for months.”7 This completely sums up what it was like being in trenches. Soldiers would go months at a time with out cleaning themselves or changing their underwear. [AWH1]
Overtime, trench warfare became inadequate and ineffective. New military tactics were needed in order to progress in war. Opposing sides eventually tried to overtake the other’s trench. In the battle of Marne of 1917, the “creeping barrage[AWH2] ” was used as a solution to the stalemate of trench warfare. It wasn’t extremely successful in this battle because of the large area the battle took place in. On the other hand, creeping barrage was very successful in the battle of Vimy Ridge. In this battle the attacks were smaller, but much more precise. The soldiers would travel 100 yards; every three minutes and the infantry behind the soldiers that were “creeping” would be close enough to storm these lines before the enemy could react. 8
The Germans advanced trench warfare greatly. They created the Hindenburg Line, which stretched from Lens to Verdun France. The Germans began the line towards the end of the battle of Somme. It consisted of concrete bunkers, machine gun emplacements and much barbed wire. There were many command posts, and the trenches along the line were dug out extremely deep. The Hindenburg Line even had tunnels to make transporting troops easier. The Germans divided the line into five main areas, and the strongest area was known as the Siegfried Stellung. 9 The line was extremely strong and could resist many attacks. It was not until 1918, that the line was broken[AWH3] .
The Hindenburg line was crucial, especially in the battle of Cambria because the use of the tank became relevant. Little trenches would have stood no chance against tanks.
Propaganda played a huge roll with trench warfare. The British film “Battle of Somme” was extremely successful in Britain, and is still one of the most successful films in British film history. This was extremely significant because for the most part the public reacted positively.[AWH4] The objective of the film was to raise to moral of the public in Britain, as well as inform them of what happens in trenches. The women did not appreciate it as much because of some of the vivid shots, but as a whole, the film was received extremely well[AWH5] . There were however people that did not take the film well. It caused a certain group of people to be against the war and the fighting because it did show the terrible life style of being a soldier in trench warfare.
3 http://www.google.com/imgres?q=ww1+trench+design&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1279&bih=596&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=foiZt8RJlj20SM:&imgrefurl=http://www.cracked.com/funny-3998-world-war-i/&docid=ld6oH5l4N8WSfM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Trench_construction_diagram_1914.png&w=790&h=650&ei=ltWWUOTYEorg0gGsnYCoCQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=461&sig=110298130135128482426&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=185&&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0,i:98&tx=160&ty=103
4 First World War textbook. Strachan.
5 http://military.discovery.com/history/ww1/somme/somme-2.html
6http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Diary_During_My_Service_with_the_Australian_Imperial
7 http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/XIX_CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_TRENCHES_Forces_-_1914-15-16-17
8 http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prcreepingb.htm
9 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266235/Hindenburg-Line
[AWH1]Why?
[AWH2]What is this?
[AWH3]Why was it broken? How did trench warfare do it?
[AWH4]Didn’t this film turn many people against the war?
[AWH5]Your essay exploring trench warfare during total war included a detailed analysis of the Battle of the Somme and the inability of attackers to break trenches in the early years of the war. However, you did not consider how both sides developed tactics designed to break the stalemate of trench warfare. For example, the Germans developed storm troops and the Allies perfected the creeping barrage. How did advances in tactics help both sides eventually shatter the trenches in late 1917 and early 1918?
84/100
Originally, the trenches were dug around 6 ½ feet deep (slightly taller than most of the soldiers). They were 2-3 feet wide, so walking through the trenches was not the easiest thing. Being in the trenches was very hard for the soldiers, but they had to make it as comfortable as possible because they were going to be in it for months at a time. Once they were in and battle began, there was no leaving the trenches. When a soldier was going to fire, the soldier would have to step on a step about one foot high. This allowed the soldiers to fire their weapons with only their head visible to the opponent, and they could quickly step down and back into the trench when they were done shooting. Shooting spaces for the soldiers were created around every two paces so that the whole trench was covered with weapons being fired.3
Trench warfare became effective because of the weapons that were used in the war. Before trenches soldiers stood in lines and openly fired at the opposing side. With the advancement of the machine gun, this was no longer logical, so trenches were created. There were many different types of bolt-action rifles that were used in World War One, such as the Arisaka Type 38, the Lee-Enfield series, and the Mauser Gewehr. Not only were there bolt-action rifles, but also there were machine guns and explosive grenades. These weapons were very inaccurate. The Browning M1917 was a machine gun the Americans used and many countries used hand grenades by throwing them at trenches.
The battle of Somme was a battle where trench warfare did not work. The battle took place from July to November of 1916, and it will go down as one of the bloodiest battle in history. It took place on either side of the Somme River in France. It was the British, the French and other allies, attempting to take out the German army. 4 During the war, the British soldiers got out of trenches and walked into no-man’s-land. There line stretched more than 12 miles long. The soldiers had no chance and on this day the British lost 19,240 men all in one day. The Germans stayed in their trenches while the British marched and fired machine guns at them. The British were helpless in this situation. This battle lasted around five more months, and nothing was accomplished. The British moved approximately two miles, not even getting close to the Germans and they lost over 420,000 men while they were at it. In total, over 1.5 million people were killed from both sides during this battle. This battle let the world know how ineffective trench warfare was. Nothing was accomplished from this battle, and it will ever be remembered as one of the bloodiest battles in history. The only thing that trench warfare did for this war was give the soldiers a place for defense., otherwise it was terribly ineffective.
The experience of being in a trench was not a pleasant one. The trenches became disgusting, especially the longer the time spent in them. Soldiers would be stuck in trenches for months at a time, and had no control over it. As long as the battle was still going on, then they were still in trenches. In the Diary of Kenneth Sydney Day, and Australian who was involved in the war from August 1914 to November 1917, he writes about his experiences and the daily life of being in the trenches and just being involved in the war. He explains how everyone had certain sleep shifts and that there was always things to do. They had a certain amount of time to feed and sleep and then it was back on the job. Being apart of the war was not something enjoyable, and being in the trenches was terrible. People would see their friends and loved ones die, and the bodies would be dragged out of the trench and buried in no-man’s-land. Friends and family were dying and being killed right in front of your face, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Being in a trench was a slow painful type of warfare and many soldiers could not take it. 6 Winters in the trenches were even worse. Temperatures were freezing, but soldiers would remain in the trenches. One-soldier talks about his Christmas experience, which had a few positives compared to any other day. He says, “We received all kinds of gifts from our relations at home and other people. We were at last able to change our underwear which we had worn for months.”7 This completely sums up what it was like being in trenches. Soldiers would go months at a time with out cleaning themselves or changing their underwear. [AWH1]
Overtime, trench warfare became inadequate and ineffective. New military tactics were needed in order to progress in war. Opposing sides eventually tried to overtake the other’s trench. In the battle of Marne of 1917, the “creeping barrage[AWH2] ” was used as a solution to the stalemate of trench warfare. It wasn’t extremely successful in this battle because of the large area the battle took place in. On the other hand, creeping barrage was very successful in the battle of Vimy Ridge. In this battle the attacks were smaller, but much more precise. The soldiers would travel 100 yards; every three minutes and the infantry behind the soldiers that were “creeping” would be close enough to storm these lines before the enemy could react. 8
The Germans advanced trench warfare greatly. They created the Hindenburg Line, which stretched from Lens to Verdun France. The Germans began the line towards the end of the battle of Somme. It consisted of concrete bunkers, machine gun emplacements and much barbed wire. There were many command posts, and the trenches along the line were dug out extremely deep. The Hindenburg Line even had tunnels to make transporting troops easier. The Germans divided the line into five main areas, and the strongest area was known as the Siegfried Stellung. 9 The line was extremely strong and could resist many attacks. It was not until 1918, that the line was broken[AWH3] .
The Hindenburg line was crucial, especially in the battle of Cambria because the use of the tank became relevant. Little trenches would have stood no chance against tanks.
Propaganda played a huge roll with trench warfare. The British film “Battle of Somme” was extremely successful in Britain, and is still one of the most successful films in British film history. This was extremely significant because for the most part the public reacted positively.[AWH4] The objective of the film was to raise to moral of the public in Britain, as well as inform them of what happens in trenches. The women did not appreciate it as much because of some of the vivid shots, but as a whole, the film was received extremely well[AWH5] . There were however people that did not take the film well. It caused a certain group of people to be against the war and the fighting because it did show the terrible life style of being a soldier in trench warfare.
3 http://www.google.com/imgres?q=ww1+trench+design&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1279&bih=596&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=foiZt8RJlj20SM:&imgrefurl=http://www.cracked.com/funny-3998-world-war-i/&docid=ld6oH5l4N8WSfM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Trench_construction_diagram_1914.png&w=790&h=650&ei=ltWWUOTYEorg0gGsnYCoCQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=461&sig=110298130135128482426&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=185&&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0,i:98&tx=160&ty=103
4 First World War textbook. Strachan.
5 http://military.discovery.com/history/ww1/somme/somme-2.html
6http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Diary_During_My_Service_with_the_Australian_Imperial
7 http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/XIX_CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_TRENCHES_Forces_-_1914-15-16-17
8 http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prcreepingb.htm
9 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266235/Hindenburg-Line
[AWH1]Why?
[AWH2]What is this?
[AWH3]Why was it broken? How did trench warfare do it?
[AWH4]Didn’t this film turn many people against the war?
[AWH5]Your essay exploring trench warfare during total war included a detailed analysis of the Battle of the Somme and the inability of attackers to break trenches in the early years of the war. However, you did not consider how both sides developed tactics designed to break the stalemate of trench warfare. For example, the Germans developed storm troops and the Allies perfected the creeping barrage. How did advances in tactics help both sides eventually shatter the trenches in late 1917 and early 1918?
84/100