Trench Warfare

Essential Questions:What was the Schlieffen Plan and how did it impact trench warfare?

The Schlieffen Plan Germany’s overall plan for

victory

The plan argued that if war took place it was vital that France was speedily defeated If this happened, Britain and

Russia would be unwilling to carry on fighting

It would take Russia six weeks to organize its large army for an attack on Germany It was vitally important to

force France to surrender before Russia was ready

The Schlieffen Plan The plan involved using 90% of

Germany's army to attack France

In August 1914, the Schlieffen Plan was put into operation Germany invaded Luxembourg and

Belgium

The Germans were held up by the Belgians Then Russia attacked in the East!

The Schlieffen Plan didn’t succeed

Instead the armies of the two sides dug-in and built extensive networks of trenches

The Western Front was established

The Trenches Frontline trenches were about 6 feet

deep and 6 feet wide

It was impossible to see over the top So a ledge known as a fire-step, was

added

Trenches were not dug in straight lines If the enemy got into your trenches

they could not shoot straight along the line

Soldiers made dugouts and funk holes in the side of the trenches to give them some protection

Behind the front-line trenches were support and reserve trenches

Communication trenches, were dug and used to transport men, equipment and food supplies

Communication Trenches to move men and supplies to the front lines

Concrete block housing for machine guns

Communication Trenches to move men and supplies to the front lines

Reserve Trench

Support TrenchFront-line trench

Barbed wire; was feet deep and impossible for troops to pass

No man’s Land (the stretch of land between the trenches of the opposing side). The area has already be churned up by shell fire. In wet weather it becomes a mass of mud, even more impossible to pass.

Front-line dugouts; provide protection but not against a direct hit from an artillery shell

A deep dug out: Some dugouts could be so far below ground and too well constructed to be destroyed by an artillery shell

What were they thinking? The allies believed they

could win a war of movement They’d simply

breakthrough the enemy’s line and secure that position

But after this proved unsuccessful, the allied commanders devised a new plan, a war of attrition Attrition: the act of

weakening or exhausting by harassment, attack, or abuse

The idea now was to kill as many Germans as possible

The New Plan with Trench Warfare Instead of movement what

was important were attacks to gain ground

To do this the allies planed to capture the frontline of an enemy trench: 1st – Blow them away with

artillery shells 2nd – March across no-

mans-land and capture the front line trench

3rd – Use the enemies trench network to kill more of the enemy and capture more land

4th – Repeat process when new front line trench is established

What they wanted to happen:

What actually happened: