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Felix Schaber

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Outline The beginning of Trench Warfare Weapons of Trench Warfare Life in the Trenches Strategies to break through the enemy lines and defend their own Facts and figures

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The beginning of Trench Warfare 3rd August, 1914, German troops crossed the Belgian border in the narrow gap between Holland and France. Germans are quickly victorious over the Belgians The French an British are defeated at Sambre (22nd August) and Mons (23rd August). The German army marches for Paris but is unable to break through due to a French counterattack (Battle of the Marne 4th to 10th September) The German commander, General Erich von Falkenhayn, decided that his troops must hold onto those parts of France and Belgium that Germany still occupied. Falkenhayn ordered his men to dig trenches that would provide them with protection from the advancing French and British troops. The Allies soon realized that they could not break through this line and they also began to dig trenches. After a few months these trenches had spread from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier. For the next three years neither side advanced more than a few miles along this line that became known as the Western Front.

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Weapons of Trench Warfare

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Infantry At the beginning improvised weapons Rifle Bayonet Shotgun Hand grenades Flamethrowers

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Machine guns British: Vickers machine guns Later changed to Lewis Gun German: Maschinengewehr 08 Mostly used to defend Heavy machine guns

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Tanks British innovation First use: Battle of Somme At first they were very ineffective Later became essential

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Artillery Essential for any attack Shaped the landscape at the Western Front Fragmentation, highly explosive and gas shells German 420 mm howitzer: Weight: 20 tons Could fire a one-ton shell over 10 km

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Gas Mustard gas Chlorine Phosgene 85% of the 100,000 deaths caused by chemical weapons during World War I Gas masks: Urinating over a handkerchief Later developed Not very effective due to countermeasures

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Life in the Trenches

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Water in the Trenches Germans had the higher and therefore better positions Water would be found 2-3 feet below surface Rain would collect in the trenches Caused trench foot

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Trench Foot Infection of the feet Caused by: Cold Wet Unsanitary conditions Sometimes feet had to be amputated

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Food Caned food Nothing fresh Rats ate some Rations got lower and lower over the course of the war

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Self Inflicted Wounds Hoped to be released home Mostly shot themselves in the arm or foot Could be sentenced with execution

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Strategies to break through the enemy lines and defend their own

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Barb Wire In front of the trenches in the No-Mans- Land Worsened with the artillery fire Redone at night

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Cavalry High place value at the beginning Equipped with: Sword Rifle Lance Massacred by machine gun fire

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Miners Specialist Miners-Not soldiers! Objective: Blow up the trenches from below Then start a quick attack Other side tried to hear them Could take a year to dig

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Facts and Figures

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BattleYearAlliesGerman 1st Marne263,000220,000 1st Ypres1914126,921 - 161,921134,315 Verdun1916400,000 - 542,000355,000 - 434,000 Somme1916623,907465,000 - 595,294 2nd Aisne1917118,00040,000 3rd Ypres1917200,000 - 448,000260,000 - 400,000 Spring Offensive1918851,374688,341 Hundred Days Offensive19181,069,636785,733 Total Casualties from Major Western Front Battles 1914-19183,619,838 - 4,077,8382,948,389 - 3,297,683 1914 Over 450,000 civilian deaths

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Bibliography Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrench.htm http://www.jop-kriegskunst.de/1welt.htm http://www.historyman.co.uk/ww1/Trenwar.html www.mrberlin.com/8th/WWI/trench_warfare.ppt www.mrberlin.com/8th/WWI/trench_warfare.ppt http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/trench.htm Pictures: http://mgb-home.de/Zar-Beginn-Erster-Weltkrieg.jpg http://serbien.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/04.jpg?w=450 http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/66/British_tank_crossing_a_trench.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Passchendaele_aerial_view.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Various_gas_masks_WWI.jpg http://www.worldwar1.com/foto/fww2352.jpg http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWfoot.jpg http://military.brucemuseum.ca/d/14299-1/A95-01%2307+-+No+Man_s+Land.jpg http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund- images/2008/04/22/51/00ec5247681886e9cc9c295488a2e97d_image_document_large_featured _borderless.jpg http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund- images/2008/04/22/51/00ec5247681886e9cc9c295488a2e97d_image_document_large_featured _borderless.jpg