The First World War : The Trenches

Throughout Europe the start of the war in Aug. 1914 was greeted with enthusiasm and a great wave of patriotism. Even Socialists , who had campaigned against the war , came to support the national cause .

The Shlieffen Plan 1895

When France and Russia had become allies, German military leaders had made plans to fight a war on two fronts. The plan was to strike at France rapidly, through Belgium, defeat France and then turn to face Russia three weeks later. It was thought that Russia would be slow to get soldiers into fighting position. However the plan failed when the Belgians resisted, Britain entered the war, Paris could not be surrounded and the Russians actually attacked Germany.

The Opening of War

The German offensive in the west , through Belgium and northern France, was halted at the battle of the Marne (6-11 Sept. 1914) to the north -east of Paris.

The Making of the Fronts

By early 1915 the fighting in the west and east had stabilised into static lines of trenches which neither side could break through. The line of trenches in France was called the Western Front.

Trench Warfare

( What was this? Use the pictures & text pages 13 -16 to write notes. Key words are : mortar, artillery, machine gun, trench, dug-out, sandbag, barbed wire, 'No Man's Land' , 'over the top' gas, tanks. ).

The Great Battles of the Western Front

The great French offensive in the Champagne in 1915, the German offensive at Verdun in 1916, the Anglo-French at the Somme in 1916 and the French attack at the Chemin des Dames in 1917 all finally failed to break through this line of trenches.