Trench Warfare In World War One

The grim reality of living in muddy, rat-infested trenches epitomizes the brutal and prolonged nature of this new form of combat. Soldiers endured constant peril from enemy fire, disease, malnutrition, and psychological trauma, locked in a deadly stalemate that exacted a heavy toll on both sides. In the document packet, document 4 talks about how trench warfare got very severe and how the introduction of new machinery changed warfare too when gasses were made and added into the fight. Its effect on the French was a violent nausea and faintness, followed by an utter collapse. It is believed that the Germans, who charged in behind the vapor, met no resistance at all, the French at their front being virtually paralyzed” This shows how trench warfare got extreme and soldiers were left injured in many ways if not

In throughout WW1, trenches were used quite liberally along the front lines. As a strategy to prevent advancement of the enemy’s front lines trenches proved effective, however due to its widespread use by both sides it prevented nearly any progression in the war for periods of time. The stagnation it caused is a major reason why widespread use of the tactic was ineffectual. Dues to the long periods troops stayed in trenches, which were quite unsanitary and muddy soldiers often contracted infectious diseases or gangrene, pushing this tactic further into the reaches of inferior due to the harm it could cause one’s own troops.

The trenches were long, narrow paths and walkways used to protect both sides from open fire from the enemy. They were dug into the ground and were often two to five meters

The types of weapons employed in World War 1 included poison gas, that killed many. Chlorine gas was one of the gases first used by the Germans at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, killing hundreds of French troops. The British also deployed chlorine gas, and later developments in the war included the deadlier phosgene and mustard gas, which blinded those it came in contact with. By 1917, poison gas could be delivered with greater accuracy by chemical shells, and there were an estimated one million gas casualties on all sides throughout World War I.

In addition to new protection from trenches came new war technologies such as machine guns, artillery, barbed wire, and various machines. In 1914, the modern Gatling gun was perfected into a gas-powered, water cooled war machine that only needed two men to operate it. When airplanes were added into the mix of destruction, both sides hastily flew into the air to claim the skies. With the amount of planes from the German and Allied sides being sent up into the sky became what is now known as the Flying Circus. Then as if the new guns, wires, and death machines weren't enough, poison gas was created by the Germans but soon back fired. This is because gas can spread throughout the air very quickly, resulting in both sides having the defects from

During the portions we viewed in class, The Last Voices of World War I covered the dangers of trench warfare, as well as the medical system devised to treat casualties. Trench warfare developed as a result of the old style of fighting, where formations of soldiers would battle on open fields, met modern weaponry such as artillery and machine guns. This led to extreme danger, not only during, but after battles. Filth, and vermin developed quickly due to the close quarters or the trench. Thus, a strong effort was made by the British to develop top of the line medical care for the wounded. This included stretcher bearers to move the men to first aid tents, then to hospitals. Consequently, World War I became one of the first wars where disease was not the primary cause of death. Disease, notwithstanding, was still a factor, as well as ailments such as trenchfoot.

The trenches in World War 1 could be muddy and smelly. There was many dead bodies buried nearby. The toilets would overflow into the trenches occasionally. Millions of rats that grew the size of cats would infest the trenches, and lice would bother the soldiers every day. The trenches were long skinny ditches that were dug into the ground by the soldiers. Soldiers lived in these trenches all day and night. And would protect the soldiers. Trench warfare reached its highest development on the western front when armies of men faced each other in a line of trenches. The western front extended from the Belgian coast through to northern eastern France to Switzerland. Trenches were not an enjoyable place to be.

The nature of life in the trenches was a dangerous place. It was a place for the dead or for the survivors. Trenches were a front line which was dug metres underground, inside the trenches, were supplies, training areas, stores and mainly headquarters. The trenches were the main area to store arms of artillery and mortars. Life was hell for soldiers. Bearing the pain they went through, the diseases, the infections, the bad conditions living in, having to deal with sickness, all these illnesses became worse in the long run as soldiers ceased from them.

World War 1 changed the world around it. More men fought than one could comprehend. World War 1 almost destroyed an entire generation of men. The battlefield for Australians were lined with trenches filled with disease, pests and the fallen where they had medical aid. They experienced traumas not yet known commonly at all. The war was not embellished for its inhumanity in its time but as we see now the men and women who helped with the war effort lived with fear of death, disease and infection.

Trench warfare is a war strategy used in the American Civil War in 1861 – 1865 and the Russian – Japanese War of 1904 – 1905, but it wasn’t until World War One that trench warfare became the standard form of fighting. World War one is best known for being the war fought in trenches, and the ditches dug into the ground to give troops protection from gunfire and enemy artillery. When men volunteered to fight in World War One on the Western Front, little did they know about the living and fighting conditions that was seen in the trenches. World War one saw massive development in technology which allowed enemies to fight in different ways. Trench warfare was the most important and significant operation undertaken by troops.

These trenches were as long as three miles on the British Front by 1917. In between the allied trenches and the enemy trenches was "no man's land", which was as long as a football field. When making the trenches, no one stopped and realized the consequences it was going to have on the war and on the soldiers that fought in the war. Trench Warfare devastated the British and French soldiers fighting in France during World War One through psychological, physical, and environmental effects.

British and French troops served in World War One at the western front, in trenches that were built by these troops as well as 140,000 men from neutral china, who were known as the Chinese Labour Corps. It would take 6 hours for 450 men to make approximately 250m of trenches, which were about 1 to 2 meters wide and 3 meters deep, per night. They were of a zig-zag shape, so preventing the enemy from firing down a straight length of trench, which were about 2,490 kilometers in total. The conditions in the trenches would have been very significant to the soldiers, as they were the main feature of trench warfare, and I will discuss these conditions further using sources that refer to these conditions.

The life of a soldier in the trenches during World War I was unimaginable to the people back home in Canada. Soldiers carried out their duty to their country in the most horrifying conditions. The trenches were rivers of mud and blood, food rations were very basic and designed only to keep the soldiers alive, hygiene was non-existent, and military direction was poor as these men fought for their country. Constant shelling and gas attacks made many soldiers feel that death was imminent and a great deal of men suffered from mental breakdowns due to the war.

Chemical warfare was developed by German scientist in 1914, but was not deemed chivalrous until January 1915. . The Germans launched the first major poison gas attack near Ypres on April 22, 1915. French colonial troops were the victims. Two days later another gas attack hit Canadian troops who had just entered the trenches. On both occasions the Germans inflicted thousands of casualties and penetrated enemy lines but failed to achieve the hoped-for decisive results. Much the same pattern would follow as the war progressed. Following the initial German example, both sides used increasingly treacherous varieties of poison gas and perfected methods of delivery (Lengel 18). The use of poison gas claimed the lives of 500,000 to 650,000 people. One man who served for the British Expeditionary Force described poison gas as, “a crawling yellow cloud that pours in upon you, that gets you by the throat and shakes you as a huge mastiff might shake a kitten, leaves you burning in every nerve and vein of your body with pain unthinkable” (Gay).

The first actual use of a chemical weapon was in August 1914. The French utilized tear-gas grenades during an attack against the Germans. One of the more known use of a chemical weapon was at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. 160 tonnes of chlorine gas was released onto the French and Algerian troops. This could be considered the starting point in chemical warfare as it was the first large scale deployment of a chemical gas meant for harm. As more and more chemical weapons were developed, more and more countries followed the trend.