Trench warfare was a result of the continuous opposition on the western front due to the failure of the Schleiffen Plan, as well as the new developments in technology. The Schleiffen Plan relied on keeping the right wing strong and weakening the left wing. The left wing was to draw the French to attack the wrong area while the right wing swung around and took out the French against the German fortresses in Lorraine. The Germans were to stand on the defensive against Russia until France was defeated, which they thought would only take six weeks. The problem came when Moltke strengthened the left wing and even weakened the front against Russia. When the plan was executed, the Germans had not counted on Belgian interference, which threw off the careful balance of timing that was crucial to the success of the operation. As a result, the French and British were able to halt the German advance on Paris at the Battle of the Marne in 1914. After that, to protect themselves from the new technologies of machine guns and shelling, both sides dug trenches, and the war became one of position. Trench warfare would evolve to use gases, such as chlorine gas and mustard gas, which blistered the skin and mucous membranes of the airways, and it took victims four to five weeks to die, writhing and strapped to their beds. As a result of this, the gas mask was used to replace urine-soaked rags that had to be held to the face. Tanks were also later used by the British, and even airplanes came to be used to bomb the trenches.
The trenches affected soldiers, civilians, and governments. The soldiers in the trenches were subject to constant shelling and living in the trenches for months on end. The constant aura of death drove some soldiers to madness, and the entirety of the atrocious conflict psychologically altered or numbed others. Fighting was rather pointless because as soon as men appeared from the trenches, they would be shelled and gassed nearly instantaneously, and often little or no land was gained. Men who would fall in No man’s land would be left, even if they were still alive, to be trampled upon by the next battalion. Soldiers would have to endure seeing their comrades die from being shot or being poisoned by chlorine and mustard gas and watch as blood came pouring from their friends choking throats. Those that did die in the trenches were often consumed by huge flesh-eating rats, and the smell of blood and death was everywhere. Soldiers were also susceptible to disease and trench foot in the wet, miserable conditions in the trenches, and they were often hungry and had low supplies, as communication and provisioning was difficult on the front. Civilians who lived close to the front often suffered the same fate as the soldiers. Towns were shelled, as some houses were targeted for possibly billeting troops, and gassed. They were also raided by hungry soldiers who were low on supplies. Civilians whose family members were in the war were often shocked at the return of their loved one(s). Men, boys, fathers, were changed by the experiences in the trenches and had become alienated from their own families, as their families could not even begin to understand the pain and suffering that they had gone through. The men were haunted by the war as it had been ingrained in them. Men could also return with physical injury, such as lost limbs or other body parts, or damage from disease or trench foot. Lastly, the governments were effected as they had to go about providing the armies with supplies. However, they were probably the least affected emotionally or psychologically as they only really saw the war on paper, and did not experience firsthand what it really was.
The trenches affected soldiers, civilians, and governments. The soldiers in the trenches were subject to constant shelling and living in the trenches for months on end. The constant aura of death drove some soldiers to madness, and the entirety of the atrocious conflict psychologically altered or numbed others. Fighting was rather pointless because as soon as men appeared from the trenches, they would be shelled and gassed nearly instantaneously, and often little or no land was gained. Men who would fall in No man’s land would be left, even if they were still alive, to be trampled upon by the next battalion. Soldiers would have to endure seeing their comrades die from being shot or being poisoned by chlorine and mustard gas and watch as blood came pouring from their friends choking throats. Those that did die in the trenches were often consumed by huge flesh-eating rats, and the smell of blood and death was everywhere. Soldiers were also susceptible to disease and trench foot in the wet, miserable conditions in the trenches, and they were often hungry and had low supplies, as communication and provisioning was difficult on the front. Civilians who lived close to the front often suffered the same fate as the soldiers. Towns were shelled, as some houses were targeted for possibly billeting troops, and gassed. They were also raided by hungry soldiers who were low on supplies. Civilians whose family members were in the war were often shocked at the return of their loved one(s). Men, boys, fathers, were changed by the experiences in the trenches and had become alienated from their own families, as their families could not even begin to understand the pain and suffering that they had gone through. The men were haunted by the war as it had been ingrained in them. Men could also return with physical injury, such as lost limbs or other body parts, or damage from disease or trench foot. Lastly, the governments were effected as they had to go about providing the armies with supplies. However, they were probably the least affected emotionally or psychologically as they only really saw the war on paper, and did not experience firsthand what it really was.
