preview

Trench Warfare: World War One

Good Essays

Trench Warfare – World War One
The First World War, thought to be at the time, the war to end all wars, was the first global scale conflict, predominately fought between [British Empire, France, Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary] 28 July 1914 – 11 Nov. 1918. A major part of this war was Trench Warfare, impacting men strategically, physically and mentally. Trenches protected soldiers, helped soldiers strategically and ended up being known as one of the most brutal parts of war. When examining the devastating impact that trench warfare had on the soldiers it is important to look at the strategy, living conditions, and medical implications. Trench warfare was how the soldiers protected themselves from artillery and the enemy, in trenches. There …show more content…

These soldiers had to live and sleep in these trenches and become use to the conditions. This included freezing cold weather, wet surroundings, dead and dying bodies scattered everywhere, mud, dirt, lice and rats, bullets and guns, and soldiers upon soldier. These circumstances weren’t only uncomfortable, they were harsh, and extremely dangerous. The rations were small, and food was seen as a highly valuable source (Hillman.R, 2001) This only added to the discomfort of the men there. Many soldiers watched as their teammate was shot right in front of them, “You are eating a crust of bread and a man is shot dead in the trench next to you, You look calmly at him for a moment, and then you go back to eating your bread.” William Peden. They became prone to the tragedy and the horrible conditions that they had to endure on a daily basis. A photo was captured on the Western Front (Photo captured on July 1916, found in World War One in Photographs) showing a soldier walking through a huge puddle in the flooded trenches. The sandbags kept the sides up but did nothing to prevent the water. Things like this made even the smallest journeys very treacherous and hard to do. Many people lost these men due to exhaustion and therefore drowning in mud. Obviously, living conditions were a big part of trench warfare and contributed to it being a very brutal part of

Get Access