Question 1: How does World War I evolve into trench warfare on the Western front?
The execution of the Schlieffen plan by the Germans in 1914, which required a quick, decisive invasion of France in order to free troops for the Russian front came to a standstill at the Battle of the Marne late in the year, as the French managed to stop the Germans from reaching Paris. As the conflict dragged on, both the French and Germans began to dig trenches as a defensive measure, as neither side was willing to lose ground. The development of new weapons such as the machine gun and stronger artillery were also reasons for the development of trenches, which provided some protection from the power of these weapons.
Question 2: Evaluate the importance of trench warfare on soldiers, civilians, and governments.
The development of trenches in the war did little to deter the attempts of commanders to advance into enemy territory, and actually even seemed to bring on reckless charges across the devastated wastelands between trench lines known as "no man's land". The escalating war in the trenches appealed to the pride of both nations and their military commanders, as the French raised rallying cries of "They shall not pass!" at Verdun, and the Germans continued to throw thousands of men at enemy lines, and neither side was willing to give in. Due to the nature of the trenches, assaults on the heavily fortified enemy lines by either side resulted in gains of, at most, a few miles, meaning that the war was essentially fought over the same area of land all of the time. The stalemate at the trenches eventually led to the development of new weapons to attempt to break enemy lines, such as poison gas canisters and tanks; however, even these developments, many of which violated the laws of war that were decide at the 1907 Hague Convention, failed to grant success to either side. It can also be noted that the entire notion of trench warfare, especially the assault on Verdun violated many of the articles from the Hague convention, one of which forbids poison weapons, and another of which forbids the bombardment of undefended civilian buildings. Needlessly to say, the war resulted in millions of civilian casualties, as towns that were caught in between the trench lines were unfortunately utterly destroyed. However, even all of the civilian casualties do not compare with the terrible conditions in which soldiers lived. Due to the nature of trench warfare, the bodies of those who died in the trenches could not easily be removed, as anyone who left his trench was at risk of being hit by machine gun fire, and thus the bodies stayed in. As a result of the thousands of rotting corpses in the trenches, rats were attracted by the hundreds. Due to the abundance of "food", some said that the rats grew to the size of large cats, and managed to spread disease and infection among the living, producing even more dead. For the same reasons that the bodies could not be removed, the trenches became synonymous with the latrine for soldiers, and combined with the corpses, the human waste produced a stream of sludge in many areas of the trench, which helped to spread disease further, and the cycle fed into itself, meaning that as the war pressed on, trench conditions grew steadily worse. When the war had finally ended, it was estimated that over ten million had died as a result of bombardments and horrible trench conditions.
Sorry for the long post, I had a lot to say.
The execution of the Schlieffen plan by the Germans in 1914, which required a quick, decisive invasion of France in order to free troops for the Russian front came to a standstill at the Battle of the Marne late in the year, as the French managed to stop the Germans from reaching Paris. As the conflict dragged on, both the French and Germans began to dig trenches as a defensive measure, as neither side was willing to lose ground. The development of new weapons such as the machine gun and stronger artillery were also reasons for the development of trenches, which provided some protection from the power of these weapons.
Question 2: Evaluate the importance of trench warfare on soldiers, civilians, and governments.
The development of trenches in the war did little to deter the attempts of commanders to advance into enemy territory, and actually even seemed to bring on reckless charges across the devastated wastelands between trench lines known as "no man's land". The escalating war in the trenches appealed to the pride of both nations and their military commanders, as the French raised rallying cries of "They shall not pass!" at Verdun, and the Germans continued to throw thousands of men at enemy lines, and neither side was willing to give in. Due to the nature of the trenches, assaults on the heavily fortified enemy lines by either side resulted in gains of, at most, a few miles, meaning that the war was essentially fought over the same area of land all of the time. The stalemate at the trenches eventually led to the development of new weapons to attempt to break enemy lines, such as poison gas canisters and tanks; however, even these developments, many of which violated the laws of war that were decide at the 1907 Hague Convention, failed to grant success to either side. It can also be noted that the entire notion of trench warfare, especially the assault on Verdun violated many of the articles from the Hague convention, one of which forbids poison weapons, and another of which forbids the bombardment of undefended civilian buildings. Needlessly to say, the war resulted in millions of civilian casualties, as towns that were caught in between the trench lines were unfortunately utterly destroyed. However, even all of the civilian casualties do not compare with the terrible conditions in which soldiers lived. Due to the nature of trench warfare, the bodies of those who died in the trenches could not easily be removed, as anyone who left his trench was at risk of being hit by machine gun fire, and thus the bodies stayed in. As a result of the thousands of rotting corpses in the trenches, rats were attracted by the hundreds. Due to the abundance of "food", some said that the rats grew to the size of large cats, and managed to spread disease and infection among the living, producing even more dead. For the same reasons that the bodies could not be removed, the trenches became synonymous with the latrine for soldiers, and combined with the corpses, the human waste produced a stream of sludge in many areas of the trench, which helped to spread disease further, and the cycle fed into itself, meaning that as the war pressed on, trench conditions grew steadily worse. When the war had finally ended, it was estimated that over ten million had died as a result of bombardments and horrible trench conditions.
Sorry for the long post, I had a lot to say.
