WWI: The Western Front

Big problem in trenches

*MUD* -Rats came into trenches to feed on dead and scraps -Soldiers got trench foot due to not being able to keep feet dry

The Schlieffen Plan

-*German plan* to *defeat France quickly* in 6-8 weeks and then *focus on Russia after* -Required* going through Belgium*, despite the country being neutral (geographic reasons: land was flat here compared to German-French border) and into the *heart of France*

Counterattack to the German advance towards Paris

-*Great Britain mobilized quickly* and sent troops to France -*First Battle of the Marne River*

Verdun

-*Northeastern France* -*February - July, 1916* -*Massive German offensive* -700,000 casualties -"No one who started it finished it"

The Somme

-*Northern France* -*July - November, 1916* -*British offensive* -Over *one million casualties* -One of the *bloodiest* military operations ever recorded -2 battles also fought in this area in 1918

Champagne

-*Northern France* -Massive *French and British offensive* -Over *500,000 casualties* -3 battles: 1914, *1915*, 1918

Extension of trenches

-Dug out along the Western Front -Stretched for miles (about 400, but zig zags made it 25,000)

Trench communications

-Field telephones -Morse Code -Animals (dogs, pigeons, etc) -Flare guns -Balloons

Trench Warfare

-Had a system -Parallel trenches -Barb wire -Sand bags at front and back of each trench -Ducky boards (to prevent from standing in mud/water) -Poison gas, machine gun fire, artillery -Various methods of communications

Ypres

-October/November 1914 -"Race to the Sea" -Germans stopped by British and French

Trench layout

-Reserves in back with machine gunners and artillery -Parallel trenches in between with connecting tunnels -Barbwire -No man's land between enemy trenches -Dugouts for sleeping

First Battle of the Marne River

-September, 1914 -British and French troops against Germans -*German advance stopped* -*Most important battle* -*Schlieffen plan was foiled*

How many times did Germany try to get Ypres?

3 times total; failed each time

How long did it take for Belgium to be overrun by Germans?

3 weeks

Combatants

Great Britain, France, and Germany

After Marne and Ypres, what position did Germany find themselves in?

Landlocked and fighting a 2 front war

General Joseph Joffre

Leader of French troops at Marne River

Stalemate

Settled down in Western Front

Where the Western Front is located

Southern Belgium and Northern France

Why did Germany want Ypres?

They wanted a port on the Atlantic