Trench Warfare

When the Germans attacked in Belgium they quickly beat the armies defending the borders and managed to get

into France very quickly. The British and French generals, uncertain about how to stop the German advance

decided to ‘dig in’ and ordered the construction of Trenches to act as a barrier against the attack.

The soldiers dug a hole about a meter wide at the bottom and two meters deep. Boards were placed on the

ground to act as drainage. On the side of the trench facing the enemy a ‘fire step’ was cut into the wall. This was

for soldiers to shoot from. Sandbags were placed at the top of the trench. This would stop the trench caving in if

a bomb went off nearby. It also provided more protection from bullets. In front of the trench Barbed wire was

rolled out. This was to stop soldiers being able to charge at the trench.

The Trench: Important points

Advantages: easy to make, easy to defend,

cheap to build, don’t need lots of men to defend

them.

Disadvantages: wet, cold, hard to get in and out

of without being seen by the enemy. Trenches

were very dirty and unhygienic as there was no

running water or flushing toilets.

The British government wanted to encourage

men to enlist for war. They said the war would

be safe, hardly any fighting, a good lark and

over by Christmas. They used advertising

posters to encourage this idea!

The Reality was far from this poster’s message.

Standing in dirty water constantly

usually resulted in – Trench Foot.

Artillery & Machine Guns

Most important weapon in trench warfare • fast, easy to reload, fired at long range • fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition without stopping • they were too heavy to pick up and carry, so they were placed on stands

Maxim Machine Gun • A gun that fires off a stream of bullets ---about 10 bullets every second • One machine gun was said to be worth 80 rifles • Good for defending trenches • Weights 62kg and needs to rest on a stand • It gets hot very quickly and bullets can jam • At the start of the war, the Germans had 12,000 • By the end of the war, they had 100,000

Submarines or U-Boats

U-Boats

• Germany suffered because of the British blockade, so it developed small submarines called U-boats to strike back at the British.

• U-boats are named after the German for “undersea boat.”

• In February 1915 the German government declared the waters around Great Britain a war zone, threatening to destroy all enemy ships.

• Germany warned the U.S. that neutral ships might be attacked.

• The German plan for unrestricted submarine warfare angered Americans, and Wilson believed it violated the laws of neutrality.

• Wilson held Germany accountable for American losses.

America’s Involvement

• In 1915, Germany sank a luxury passenger ship to Great Britain called the Lusitania, killing many, including 128 Americans

• Americans were outraged, and Wilson demanded an end to unrestricted submarine warfare.

• The Germans agreed to attack only supply ships but later sank the French passenger ship Sussex, killing 80 people.

• Wilson threatened Germany again, and Germany issued the Sussex pledge, promising not to sink merchant vessels “without warning and without saving human lives.”

Submarines • On Feb 1, 1917, the Germans pursued unrestricted submarine

warfare with the order “To all U-boats, sink on sight.” • In 11 months, the Germans sank 2,966 Allied or neutral ships

carrying food, munitions, or men • 1 in 4 British ships were sunk • This led to the USA joining the war against the Germans • British started to sail in convoys escorted by warships and sea

mines to break the German submarine control of the seas

Tanks

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Zeppelins

• A gas-filled balloon with a motor • Slow-moving and became easy target for an enemy fighter plane • Jan 19, 1915, the Germans make the first Zeppelin airship raids to drop bombs

on Britain along the east coast. • On June 7, 1915, the first Zeppelin airship is shot down over Flanders in

northern France. • On Oct 14, 1915, five Zeppelins kill 71 people in London • Would run air-raids on heavily populated business districts to kill many & cause

extensive property damage in 1915 & 1916 • However, if the Zeppelins were fired upon, they would blow up due to the gas

and burn fiercely. A zeppelin is a gas-filled, buoyant airship named after pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin. He founded the first airship company, Luftschiffbau (Airship) Zeppelin, in 1908 after several prototypes had already successfully flown, starting with the LZ1 in 1900. The design of his rigid-sided airships was so successful that the name became an informal term for any rigid-sided dirigible. A zeppelin differs from a blimp in that the latter is essentially a large gas-filled bag with a non-rigid skin. The bodily structure of the zeppelin is not only rigid, but it also contains cells for individual compartments of gas. The rigid structure allowed it to be much larger than any blimp and to carry heavier payloads.

Airplanes

• Used initially for reconnaissance/spotting

– Wireless communication critical development in spotting.

• Then the pilots started to try to kill each other with handguns &

shotguns

• Fokker developed a interrupt mechanism that allowed German

pilots to fire machine guns between the blades of the propeller

• Germans also developed dogfight techniques using the loop

method (Sudden change of direction)

• By the end of the war, planes were being used to drop bombs on

railways, intersections, factories, etc.

Dog Fight

Poison Gas

Germans used 68,000 tons of poison gas

France used almost 37,000 tons

Britain used more than 25,000 tons

91,198 soldiers died due to poison gas attacks

1.2 million were hospitalized due to poison gas attacks

• French army used tear-gas grenades, then the Germans expanded on the poison gases

• Chlorine Gas-destroyed the respiratory organs and led to a slow death by asphyxiation

• Phosgene Gas-caused the victim to violently cough & choke; often a delayed reaction up to

48 hours

• Mustard Gas-used later in the war in 1917; almost odorless; caused serious blisters

internally & externally; remained active in the soil for several weeks. The most lethal of all

the poisonous chemicals used during the war, it was almost odorless and took twelve hours

to take effect.

• Yellow cross or Yperite was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to

high explosive shells to be effective.

• Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.

• The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became very sore and they

began to vomit.

• Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial

tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane.

• This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It

usually took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning

• One nurse, Vera Brittain, wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war

whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great

mustard-colored blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath,

with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will

choke."

THE DREADNOUGHT – warship

The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century.

The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's Dreadnought, made such a strong impression

on people's minds when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built

subsequently were referred to generically as "dreadnoughts", and earlier

battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts.

Dreadnought 's design had two revolutionary features: an "all-big-gun" armament

scheme, with more heavy-caliber guns than previous ships, and steam turbine

propulsion. As dreadnoughts became a crucial symbol of national power, the arrival

of these new warships renewed the naval arms race between the United Kingdom

and Germany.

Dreadnought races sprang up around the world, including in South America, lasting

up to the beginning of World War I. Successive designs increased rapidly in size and

made use of improvements in armament, armor, and propulsion throughout the

dreadnought era. Within five years, new battleships had outclassed Dreadnought.

These more powerful vessels were known as "super-dreadnoughts." Most of the

original dreadnoughts were scrapped after the end of World War I under the terms

of the Washington Naval Treaty, but many of the newer super-dreadnoughts

continued to be used throughout World War II.

Flame throwers

The German Army first began experimenting with flame-throwers in 1900 and they were issued

to special battalions eleven years later. The flame-thrower used pressurized air, carbon dioxide or

nitrogen to force oil through a nozzle. Ignited by a small charge, the oil became a jet of flame.

Flame-throwers were first used at the Western Front in October 1914. Operated by two men,

they were mainly used to clear enemy soldiers from front-line trenches. At first they had a range

of 25 meters but later this was increased to 40 meters. This meant they were only effective over

narrow areas of No Man's Land. Another problem was that the flame-thrower was difficult to

move around and only contained enough oil to burn 40 seconds at the time. Soldiers who

operated flame-throwers had a short-life span because as soon as they used them they were the

target of rifle and machine-gun fire.