Trench Warfare The ugly side of WWI

Sandwich Cookie Effect Europe is split into two regions: Western Front: France and Germany Eastern Front: Russia and Germany How can Germany fight a two sided war with two different enemies?

Scheifflen Plan First Germany will go and fight France Then after the quick defeat of France, Germany will move in and defeat Russia Sounds easy hey? But what problems occur? Why is this not a solid plan for war?

Trench Warfare What kind of tactic is this? Is it effective? How was such a strategy created? What is meant by Over the Top? What is No Man’s Land? What is a stalemate? How did one Christmas Day in 1915 lead to a temporary truce?

What were the trenches? The trench system was created along the Western Front and ran for approximately 475 miles, in an "S" shape across Europe, from the North Sea to Switzerland.

Trench Facts Each battalion had its own supply of rum that it distributed to its soldiers. Each division of 20,000 men received 300 gallons.  - Every soldier carried iron rations -- emergency food that consisted of a can of bully bee, biscuits and a tin of tea and sugar.  - A single pair of rats could produced up to 880 offspring in a year.  - A total of 3,894 men in the British Army were convicted of self-inflicted wounds. A firing-squad offense -- none were executed, but all served prison terms.  - The British Army treated 20,000 soldiers for trench foot during the winter of 1914-15.  - One-third of all casualties on the Western Front may have been killed or wounded in a trench.  - A lit candle was fairly effective in removing lice, but the skill of burning the lice without setting yourself on fire was difficult to learn.   -Soldiers in the trenches often depended on impure water collected from shell-holes or other cavities, causing dysentery.   Source: Spartacus Educational

                                                                        

Next Slide What do you think the picture represents or depicts?

Problems in the Trenches UNSANITARY RATS Bordem Trench FOOT ALWAYS WET and MUDDY Dystentary LICE Night Patrol

Trench Foot                                                                             

Isaac Rosenberg, The Immortals (1918) POEM FROM THE TRENCHES: Isaac Rosenberg, The Immortals (1918) I killed them, but they would not die. Yea! all the day and all the night For them I could not rest or sleep, Nor guard from them nor hide in flight. Then in my agony I turned And made my hands red in their gore. In vain - for faster than I slew They rose more cruel than before. I killed and killed with slaughter mad; I killed till all my strength was gone. And still they rose to torture me, For Devils only die in fun. I used to think the Devil hid In women’s smiles and wine’s carouse. I called him Satan, Balzebub. But now I call him, dirty louse.  

Video Clip: All Quiet on the Western Front http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEaHnD0DIgc

What were the effects of gas?

Go to….. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWgas.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_ani_wwone_movies.shtml

Christmas Truce 1914 Between British and German Troops Dec. 24th, 1914 All firing had ceased and troops moved into No Man’s Land Gifts were exchanged and both side took opportunities to bury their dead Generals got a hold of the news and stated for this never to happen again

Work Cited www.firstworldwar.com www.awm.gov www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk www.eyewitnesstohistory.com www.worldwarone.com http://www.greatwar.co.uk/westfront/ypsalient/secondypres/prelude/images/gasjustwf-1.gif