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What are some of the defenses associated with the trenches?
Trenches were longer, deeper, and better defended by steel, concrete, and barbed wire than ever before. They were far stronger and more effective than chains of forts, for they formed a continuous network, sometimes with four or five parallel lines linked by interfacings.
How did trenches protect soldiers?
Trenches provided relative protection against increasingly lethal weaponry. Soldiers dug in to defend themselves against shrapnel and bullets. They were usually used to hastily dig basic, shallow trenches or holes for protection, but were also sometimes used as weapons in hand-to-hand combat. …
What was trench warfare like on the Western Front?
On the Western Front, the war was fought by soldiers in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived. They were very muddy, uncomfortable and the toilets overflowed. These conditions caused some soldiers to develop medical problems such as trench foot.
Why was trench warfare dominant on the Western Front?
One reason that World War I became a massive trench war on the Western Front was that western Europe was densely populated. The opposing armies in the west were so vast that they could be deployed across the entire European continent, forming a continuous front.
What was the area between the trenches called?
No Man’s Land
“No Man’s Land” was a popular term during the First World War to describe the area between opposing armies and trench lines.
What ended trench warfare?
The Allies’ increased use of the tank in 1918 marked the beginning of the end of trench warfare, however, since the tank was invulnerable to the machine gun and rifle fire that were the trenches’ ultimate defense.
Where are the trenches on the Western Front?
The trenches were located from Belgium to Switzerland, so basically all places in between would have been either attacked, destroyed, or part of the attackers. There were many hospitals set up for both the Allies and for the German empire, meaning not everybody on the Western Front were there to fight, kill and destroy.
Where was trench warfare used in World War 1?
Trench warfare in World War I was employed primarily on the Western Front, an area of northern France and Belgium that saw combat between German troops and Allied forces from France, Great Britain
What was the warfare like on the Western Front?
Soldiers on both sides faced frequent bombardments of bullets, shells, and poison gas. They lived and fought in deep trenches stretching great distances across the battlefields. Trench warfare ›
What was the German strategy on the Western Front in World War 1?
At the outbreak of the First World War, the German Army, with seven field armies in the west and one in the east, executed a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, moving quickly through neutral Belgium to attack France, and then turning southwards to encircle the French Army and trap it on the German border.