On July 28, 1914, the world was changed forever when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, setting stage for the First world war. A relatively new form of warfare, known as trench warfare, would arise and cause one of the most brutal stalemates in history. Trench warfare was an inefficient way to fight World War One. Even though it’s main purpose was to defend soldiers, it caused outrageous amounts of casualties due to stalemates and scarred the landscape forever. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where two sides fight each other from semi-permanent trenches. This is usually caused by the defending side’s firepower forces the opposing side to dig down into the ground for protection (Britannica inc). Trench warfare was first used by the
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The trenches were formed after the Germans retreated and regrouped. They were a means of defense and the French quickly created their own trench (Thomas Donlan). Trenches usually start out with individual foxholes that were created by troops during a battle. Once the hole was deep enough to stand in, they would connect each hole together. Once this is complete the soldiers would create more sturdier fortifications that would last longer (Britannica inc). Both sides began to dig north, trying to cut off the enemy by going around their north flank (Thomas …show more content…
The system was as follows: Each side included two to four trench lines running parallel from each other, each was one mile long, each trench was dug in a zigzag pattern to prevent an enemy soldier from being able to shoot any farther than a couple of feet, the main lines were connected to each other and the rear by communication trenches, and soldiers/supplies/mail/orders were delivered through these communication trenches (Britannica inc). The front line was called the outpost line. It was defended by scattered machine gunners and barbed wire. Behind the front line was the main line. The main line was a series of trenches parallel to each other that had barbed wire in front of each. It held the majority of the troops. At the back of the trenches, there was artillery. The front wall of a trench was called the parapet and the back wall was called the parados which protected soldiers against friendly fire and cut off a soldier’s silhouette or outline from the sky (Britannica
The trenches were formed after the Germans retreated and regrouped. They were a means of defense and the French quickly created their own trench (Thomas Donlan). Trenches usually start out with individual foxholes that were created by troops during a battle. Once the hole was deep enough to stand in, they would connect each hole together. Once this is complete the soldiers would create more sturdier fortifications that would last longer (Britannica inc). Both sides began to dig north, trying to cut off the enemy by going around their north flank (Thomas …show more content…
The system was as follows: Each side included two to four trench lines running parallel from each other, each was one mile long, each trench was dug in a zigzag pattern to prevent an enemy soldier from being able to shoot any farther than a couple of feet, the main lines were connected to each other and the rear by communication trenches, and soldiers/supplies/mail/orders were delivered through these communication trenches (Britannica inc). The front line was called the outpost line. It was defended by scattered machine gunners and barbed wire. Behind the front line was the main line. The main line was a series of trenches parallel to each other that had barbed wire in front of each. It held the majority of the troops. At the back of the trenches, there was artillery. The front wall of a trench was called the parapet and the back wall was called the parados which protected soldiers against friendly fire and cut off a soldier’s silhouette or outline from the sky (Britannica