the great war stalemate
TRANSCRIPT
The Great War: Stalemate
The Fighting in Europe
Stalemate? August 1914
Most believed in a war of movement
Schlieffen Plan: Germans attack through Belgium and into France
Germans stopped at the First Battle of the Marne outside Paris
German Defeat at the Marne
Germans pull back “dig in” to hold French Territory
French and British likewise “dig in” to defend France.
The Race to the Sea: Aug-Sept 1914
Result: Stalemate:Trench Warfare 1914-1918
Central Powers and Allies attack each other head on.
Can’t go around the enemy.
Land gains are measured in yards not miles!
Trench Warfare 1914 - 1918
Enough trenches are dug between Switzerland and the English Channel to circle the globe three times!!!
No Man’s Land: the space between the trenches
No Man’s Land
No Man’s Land: Men died and were rarely recovered from it.
Case Study: Battle of Verdun Feb-June 1916
To bleed France into submission.
Germany attacked to break the stalemate on the Western Front
French response “They shall not pass”
Neither side gave in or gained anything
French lost 540,000 men
Germans lost 430,000 men
Verdun: 350,000 unidentified remains still there today.
Scars are stillthere as well.
How did this stalemate persist for four years?
Answer?
Industry andTECHNOLOGY