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Sebastian Sirotin Ms. McGuire Social Studies8 E 01/03/12 How Was Trench Warfare Successful?

With Archduke Ferdinand assassinated by the Black Hand and the countries of Europe falling into the war like dominoes it was inevitable that new defensive and offensive strategies were employed: one of the most used defensive strategies was the trench. The trenches spanned thousands of kilometres, they were nearly impossible to take over, and they were full of rats and disease. They were also rendered obsolete towards the end of the war. So how did these huge trenches filled with disease and obsoleteness become successful? The source I used for this information was the Encyclopaedia Britannica specifically the article entitled Trench Warfare. The purpose of this article was to help historians and other people learn about WWI. It was also made to help people learn how trenches were used. This source was very useful it was very objective and it was unbiased. It was also mainly factual. It was a very useful source. This source was useful because it sketched the general history of WWI for me and it told me a lot of facts about trenches which I didnt know. I also used the History Alive textbook, specifically the chapter subheading about WWI. The purpose of this book was to teach students about American History. The textbook seems to be a good source because it is objective and unbiased. It is also factual because it does not show

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any bias or feelings for any particular person and it states only facts not opinions. The source is useful because it told me few things that I didnt know and they were really interesting.

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The topmost picture shows how dark and cramped the trenches could be. The bottom picture is of a larger trench with troops. If looked at closely you can see that one of the trenches was named as if it were a street.

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For my primary source I used these excellent pictures taken from the book The First World War by John Keegan. The purpose of these pictures was to show what horrible places the trenches were and they were also taken so that WWI would not be forgotten. It is factual because it can show a lot about the trenches just by looking at the pictures. It is unbiased and objective. It is unbiased because it all depends on whether the photographer was on the eastern or western front. The pictures are of (in order from top to bottom) a small and dark trench, a larger trench which is most likely a main defence, a communications trench, and a small trench with the troops leaving. This source is useful because it showed me that the trenches were sometimes named like streets and that they were usually very small and cramped.

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To further show the usefulness of these sources I have described the information I have found. I found that the idea for extended trenches was first thought of by a Frenchman, Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban. He originally intended for the trenches to be used as a defence, but during WWI they first saw their use as offence. They
The topmost picture depicts a communications trench filled with defending soldiers. This also shows how dark and cramped they could be. The bottom picture is of troops exiting their trench. The trench is so cramped that they have to leave single file.

were primarily

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used when the opposing side had superior fire power: with the beginning of better firearms trenches also had to be used. Trenches are built by digging into the ground then the dirt that is dug up is put on either side of the trench to make the walls even taller. Eventually fire steps for people with rifles or machine guns are put in so that they can shoot over the top of the trench. People would also put in duck boards so that they would not slip on the bottom of the trench. Trenches would sometimes begin as foxholes; small holes dug into the ground where soldiers seek refuge. Then as they became more needed they would eventually transform into a trench. Many trenches that were dug spanned thousands of kilometres. By the end of World War I there was 600 miles worth of trench spanning all of France. Some of these trenches used booby traps to keep interlopers out. Keeping this in mind a normal trench is approximately 1.6 kilometres (2 miles). This amounts to huge lengths of trenches all along France. Trenches would also be parallel to each other in rows of three or four. The foremost trench, referred to as the outpost trench, was not defended with many guns only a few machine guns. However, the outpost trench had large amounts of barbed wire protecting it. The second and the third trenches were the main defending trenches. Most of the infantry was housed in the second and third trenches there were also a large amount of machine guns defending these trenches. The fourth and sometimes third line of trenches usually housed the artillery. All the areas between these trench lines were filled with barbed wire to impede the enemy should it try and take the trench. To further make the taking of a trench more difficult trenches were dug in a zig-zag pattern so that should the enemy take the end of a trench they could only shoot a few meters in. Between all trenches were smaller trenches used for supply transport and communication making the trenches safe for the transport of necessities.

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All trenches Allied or other were in horrible condition. They were wet, muddy, infested with rats and lice, and contained corpses. The wet and the muddiness was one of the primary reasons for duckboard being installed. There was also a condition called trench foot in which the soldiers feet were never dry. Nearly all soldiers in trenches received this condition. In addition many soldiers in trenches got lice and had to live with rats grown enormous from feasting on dead bodies. The trenches not only had these things but it was usually home to many diseases and with the invention of mustard and chlorine gas the trenches became traps, because if the soldier climbed out of the trench he would be shot by the enemy and if he stayed he would most likely die from the gas. The trenches were truly an awful place in which to fight. Despite the fact that trenchers were horrible places to be in they were also so well defended that they were nearly impossible to take. The general tactic for taking over a trench was to barrage the enemy with increased intensity of artillery then afterward send masses of troops charging toward the opposing trench to fight with trench knives and rifles, because the soldiers had almost no access to extra ammunition while in the enemies trench so they had to use pistols that they picked up or trench knives. Eventually this strategy was found out and in once this happened the side being attacked would send their own masses of troops to counteract the oncoming masses. However, before this tactic was found out it had a difficulty that the charging infantry had to cross the no mans land. This land between the two sides was pitted and rough from artillery fire and there was a lot of barbed wire which made the oncoming infantry slow down and sometimes trip. The German trenches were the most difficult to take because they often had more than four lines of trenches with the last of them out of artillery range, they were reinforced with concrete so that artillery fire did not harm the trench, and by the end of the war in

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1918 some of the trenches were as deep as 22 kilometres deep. To further add to the difficulty of taking the German trenches there were also pillboxes: small thick concrete buildings with a machine gun and a lot of barbed wire surrounding it. In 1916 with the first deployment of a tank trenches were rendered obsolete. The tank was immune to machine gun and rifle fire. Due to its treads instead of wheels it easily traversed the pitted no mans land and was able to crush the barbed wire. Also because tanks would sometimes carry their own guns they could easily get rid of any opposition. With all sides using this new weapon the trenches were rendered obsolete. They may have still kept out other armies but they were susceptible only to tanks. These sources are all very good. They were factual, unbiased, and objective. They were meant to show people about WWI and the horrors, and were written without any feelings for any one side. Using these sources I also found that in 1918 all sides called an armistice. This was due to the fact that all sides had suffered many losses and no side had made much product throughout the war because no one could take the opposing trenches without losing a lot of soldiers. The trenches also offered less protection with the invention of the tank making trench warfare even more difficult and obsolete. Trenches were not only abandoned for this reason but also because they contained disease, rats, lice, and were wet and muddy. Since WWI trench warfare has never been used again because it caused so many losses inside of them and when trying to take them this caused the world to forever abandon the trench.

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Works Cited Bower, Bert, and Jim Lobdell. History Alive!: The United States. Palo Alto, Ca.: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2002. Print. Keegan, John. The First World War. London: Hutchinson, 1998. Print. "Trench Warfare -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/604210/trench-warfare>.