Five "insurmountable problems" → trench warfare:
1. STRATEGIES for open warfare failed
Fr. Plan 17 & Ger. Schlieffen Plan failed → huge losses.
'Race to the Sea' = failed attempts to outflank enemy.
2. Weapons TECHNOLOGIES made open battlefield deadly
Artillery fired 7km, used new explosives (melinite).
Small arms (e.g. Enfield rifle) = multi-round clips.
MGs (e.g. Vickers) = 500 bullets/min.
3. Armies struggled to co-ordinate infantry & artillery
Early artillery tech = inaccurate, rolling barrage failed.
Aerial reconnaissance couldnt identify targets well.
4. Problems of command & control of huge armies
Millions of men, telephone tech inadequate.
Wireless messages EN CLAIR → intercepted.
5. Supply problems
Infantry = on foot, artillery = horse-drawn → slow advance.
Railheads far → food, ammo, fodder supply issues.
TRAINS could rush men & supplies to key points fast.
Shortages of SHELLS → attacks limited.
Life in the Trenches
1. Trench system
≠ just 2 front lines, but system
of MULTIPLE LINES w. comms & supply trenches.
Ger. trenches = well-built & safer; Allied = makeshift & deadly.
2. Army organization
Section: ~10 men (led by NCO: Cpl/Sgt)
Platoon: 2-3 sections (~30 men, Lt.)
Company: 2+ platoons (~150 men, Maj./Capt.)
Battalion: 3+ companies (~1,000 men, Lt. Col.)
Brigade: 3 battalions (~4,000 men, Brig.)
Division: 3 brigades (~15,000 men, Maj.-Gen.)
Corps: 2-3 divisions (Lt.-Gen.)
Army: 2+ corps (~150,000 men, Gen.).
WWI Br. Army = 11 armies.
3. Soldiers routines, exp. & trench culture
Ideal rotation: 3 days front-line, 1 week reserve, 2 weeks R&R.
R&R = games, prostitutes, chatting (lice), trench-digging.
Front line = mostly waiting, ≠ constant fighting.
Modern historians stress:
◦ Bottom-up (soldiers' exp.) vs top-down (plans & orders).
◦ How most avoided
BREAKDOWN; Sassoon/Owen ≠ represent all.
◦ Role of religion (padres), home contact, patriotism,
COMRADESHIP and resignation.
◦ New trench culture: social/moral codes, slang, humour.
◦ Film: All Quiet on the Western Front → alienation from home.
What happened during an attack
1. Attacks varied (small raids → mass assaults). Typical sequence:
ARTILLERY bombardment.
CREEPING BARRAGE lifts (cuts enemy support).
Signal to attack (e.g. whistle, football kicked out).
MINES exploded under enemy lines.
Troops go OTT.
Race across No Mans Land.
Defenders open MG fire.
(If successful) Jump into trench, fight w. bayonets/grenades.
Signal to retire (e.g. red flares).
[Defenders counter-attack].
2. Later war → better tactics:
Whereas, at the Somme, men marched in lines → later:
RAN-AND-FELL in small groups, used craters.
Attacks still = mass slaughter till wars end.
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