TRENCH WARFARE AND NEW MACHINERY

World War One

THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN German attack

strategy developed before the war

2 front strategy Germany believed it

could fend off Russia in the East while it defeated France in the West with a lightning speed attack

Believed Russia would take a while to assemble troops

SCHLIEFFEN FAILED! German officers

pulled troops from the West to defend Eastern Boarder- Weakened the attack line in France

No fast victory for Germany

Now fighting a 2 front war

RESULT : TRENCH WARFARE Germans dug in a defensive line along

the river Somme and into Belgium British and French Soldiers dug a trench

line to face Germans Trenches stretched from Swiss Boarder

to English Channel By Christmas 1914 stalemate!

NO MAN’S LAND The area between

enemy trenches Wasteland of

bodies, barbed wire, mud, mines

No protection from machine guns

Traps set up after dark

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES Flooded by rain and

filth Overrun by rats Stinking cesspools Trapped for weeks Disease spread Lice infestations Mental exhaustion Trench Foot

WAR OF ATTRITION Each side repeatedly attacking the

other until one side completely exhausted and unable to continue

This old style cannot work due to new weapons

New Weapons turned war into a slaughter

MACHINE GUNS Changed the way

war is fought- Trenches!

Fires 400-500 rounds per minute

Old School Generals sent hundreds of thousands of men “over the top” into no man’s land to die by machine guns

TANKS

The only weapon that could breach enemy trenches-a response to the stalemate that trench warfare had created on the Western Front

POISON GAS Germany 1st to use

poison gas in battle Chlorine gas at Ypres 1915 Gas blinded soldiers

and attacked respiratory systems

Early defense- rags soaked in water/urine

Later defense- gas masks

SUBMARINE WARFARE The Silent

enemy Used most by

Germany U-Boats Attacked ships

carrying supplies to Britain

Armed with torpedoes to sink ships

WAR IN THE AIR Planes used to: Scout enemy

positions Drop bombs on

enemy planes or shoot with handguns

Later on planes had top mounted guns

THE ZEPPELIN Called Dirigibles

(inflatable airships) Filled with light

gases such as hydrogen and propelled by engine on bottom

Used for scouting and bombing