Western Front Materialization
After the defeats of 1915, Allied Command would meet a devise a plan for the Allied Offensive to begin in the Summer of 1916, "near the Somme River about 20 miles to the east of the city of Amiens." Waiting for the Summer, was agreed upon by both France and Britain because of the need for recruits to receive training, as well as for the forces to regroup and refit for the next stage of the "Great War." With the battles of Somme and Verdun, two of the bloodiest battles in the war, the Western Front materialized. The bulk of the fighting happened in Belgium and France. There were so many soldiers in one area, the camps became slowly over run and cramped. The Western Front stretched from Belgium to France, dominating a good portion of the western part of Europe.
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Opposing Force, Different Plans
German Chief of Staff General Falkenhayn, had a different plan than waiting almost 6 months until the Summer. Falkenhayn, came to realization that a swift and decisive victory was nothing more than pure fantasy at this point in the war, and promptly came up with a different point of view. His point of view, was "Starve Britain and, Bleed France," he felt if he could somehow cut off the supply lines from Britain and get France into a battle of attrition, he could lead Germany to an although costly, but earned victory. To do this he enacted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, meaning in today's terms the submarine fleet no longer had to abide by a ROE, or Rules of Engagement and sink any non-central power ship in the English Channel. In addition, to the unrestricted submarine warfare, Falkenhayn wanted to enter a war of attrition, or kill enough French soldiers that the France itself would withdraw or surrender, he wanted so much blood on there side that they "would be 'bled white.'" Of course, although even this plan was far-fetched to Flakenhayn as he believed Germany, would not survive a long war and eventually be defeated, so in infamy he devised a plan that would give him the opportunity to have his cake and eat it too, by choosing a target that France would refuse to lose. This would allow him to create a bottleneck along the soon to be established front, giving him an small area to use the superior German firepower in artillery and save men by concentrating fire and creating an inescapable deathtrap for French forces.
Trench Warfare: As modern technology entered the war, both sides had to counter this seemingly unstoppable advantage in order just to gain ground either way. This modern technology was the first real warfare use of machine gun, which had the capability of mowing down advancing forces with unprecedented efficiency. The counter to this technology was the invention of Trench Warfare, which essentially were massive man-sized moats for infantry to maneuver unexposed around the battlefield. They were dug by expeditionary forces of each side along the drawn battlefield lines of the war from the North Sea Coast in Belgium through the borders of France and Germany. They some 25,000 miles and 12,000 of those miles were made up of allies. According to history.com there were three line of trenches. The front line was often "guarded by tangled lines of barbed wire; a support trench line several hundred yards back; and a reserve line several hundred yards behind that" (history.com). There were three different types of trenches: firing trenches, communication trenches, and saps. Each with a specific design in mind. The trenches were designed to fight, sleep, and find a barrier of protection from the enemy. Additionally, these trenches were never straight, but zigzagged in order to offer more protection as well as, usually in threes giving the forces a front-line, support-line, and a reserve-line. Overall, although this counter technology was viewed by both infantries as one the main horrors of the war, it also brought to fruition the makings of the advanced artillery that we still use today. Furthermore, these trenches would lay the lines for nearly the entire war along the Western Front, creating what is known today as the Western Front Stalemate.
The Concept of Total War:
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Total war, [is] military conflict in which the contenders are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and other resources to obtain a complete victory." This concept, meant for the powers involved that every man, woman, and child was going to help the war effort, either by participating in the conflicts themselves or working in some capacity to make items like munitions or equipment for the soldiers on the fronts. Additionally, this as the definition pointed out resources, which could things such as fuel, materials, food, etc. Overall, the concept of total war, meant that everyone not just the command and the forces on the ground were in the fight.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Total war, [is] military conflict in which the contenders are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and other resources to obtain a complete victory." This concept, meant for the powers involved that every man, woman, and child was going to help the war effort, either by participating in the conflicts themselves or working in some capacity to make items like munitions or equipment for the soldiers on the fronts. Additionally, this as the definition pointed out resources, which could things such as fuel, materials, food, etc. Overall, the concept of total war, meant that everyone not just the command and the forces on the ground were in the fight.
Photos retrieved from:
http://3dhistory.co.uk/sites/default/files/images/049-the-somme-01.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/73/ac/eb/73acebb969b8af872f18a5c5bf12f1b9--world-war-one-warfare.jpg
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history/pictures/world-war-i-trench-warfare/british-soldiers-fighting-in-trenches