Trench Warfare

How a trench battle would happen No Man’s Land A A A BBB

Tactics  Prior to any attack- massive artillery bombardment  Would shell opposing trenches for days  Then send men to attack  Almost always attackers suffered extreme casualties  Thousands killed in minutes

Ypres  Three battle of Ypres  Western Belgium  Germany surrounds on three sides  British soldiers push back eventually  Pay terrible price  First gas use on Western Front  City destroyed  Came to symbolize destruction

Before… And After…

Gallipoli  Attempt to break stalemate of Western Front  Cutoff Ottoman Empire  Give Russian fleet an outlet  Help suffering ally  Break through the Bosporus

Failure at Gallipoli  Landed on peninsula  Poorly coordinated  Those with opportunity did not take advantage  Turns into another trench struggle  Eventually Britain withdraws  205,000 Allied casualties  No gain  Large ANZAC force

Landing at Gallipoli

Fighting at Gallipoli

Battle of Verdun  New German strategy  “Bleed them white”  Pick a target France would not surrender  “They shall not pass”  Objective: Kill as many as possible  Only way to win was outlast  Longest battle of WWI  21 Feb. – 18 Dec  Quarter million dead, half a million injured

Fighting at Verdun

Verdun Today

Battle of the Somme  Launched by Britain, July 1916  Take pressure off France (Verdun)  Most casualties in British history  Britain’s first day- 60,000 wounded, 20,000 dead  Eventually over 1 million casualties  Tank debut

Soldiers Attacking at the Somme

Fighting at the Somme

Impact  The British and French did succeed in capturing ground, but little more than five miles (8 km) at the deepest point of penetration — well short of their original objectives. The British themselves had gained approximately only two miles and lost about 420,000 soldiers in the process, meaning that a centimeter cost about two men.

Passchendaele (Third battle of Ypres)  July 31-Nov. 6, 1917  British attempt to drive Germans out of Belgium  British attacked German lines  Suffered thousands of deaths  Germans counterattacked and suffered nearly as many  Thousands drowned in water after being stuck or wounded  Enormous waste of lives on both sides

Areas of Fighting  Western Front  Italian Front  Eastern Front  Southwest Africa  East Africa  Serbia  Palestine Front  Mesopotamia  Gallipoli  Seas around UK

Check for Understanding  With a group of 3-4 people, discuss the following questions.  How were battles in WWI fought?  What were the battles like?  Why do you think the battles lasted so long?  In 3-4 sentences, on a half sheet of paper, summarize what your group discussed and what you learned today.

Assignment Draw a picture of a battlefield or battle during World War I. Can be colored or black and white (shaded) but should display your best efforts. Try to depict what these battles were like (think back to pictures we saw today. Indicate what battle you are showing. On the back, describe how World War I was different than previous wars we have discussed (Civil War, Spanish American War). 4 sentences