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
