Trench Warfare on the Western Front, 1914-1918

• War of movement


  Military strategy where the belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and materiel
• Mobilisation


  Preparing for war, calling up reserves, and organising command and supply systems
• General mobilisation


  Enlisting all soldiers fit for war
• Assassination in Sarajevo triggered World War I


  June 1914
• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia

  28th July 1914
• Russia mobilised to aid Serbia

  31st July 1914
• Germany declared war on Russia and France


  August 1914
• Britain declared war on Germany

  4th August 1914
• German attack plan


  Drafted by Alfred von Schlieffen, aimed to defeat France in 6 weeks
• German forces moved through Belgium too quickly, causing supply issues
• Troops suffered from hunger and supply problems, leading to a halt in the advance
• Trench warfare


  War of movement transitioned into trench warfare
• Entrenchment and barbed wire made movement difficult
• Both sides experienced heavy casualties in battles like the Marne and Ypres
• Winter of 1914-15 saw a shift to defensive trench systems
• Trench construction


  • Significant labour, barbed wire, timber, and sandbags required
  • Trench systems became complex with fire and communication trenches
  • Soldiers rotated between front, support, and reserve trenches
  • "No Man's Land" existed between opposing trenches
• Military adjustments


  • Constant flow of regiments, with exhausted units replaced by fresh troops
  • Railways crucial for supplies and troop movement
  • Adjustments in manning arrangements and constant rotation of soldiers
  • Trench foot, lice, and poor living conditions were common issues
• New fighting techniques and technologies

  • Introduction of metal helmets and uniform changes
  • Evolution of cavalry tactics and introduction of tanks
  • Rifles, machine guns, and grenades
  • Artillery and creeping barrage
  • Introduction of poison gas
• Tanks used effectively in the Battle of Cambrai (November 1917)


  Tanks and aircraft supported infantry, making the Western Front more mobile
• Allied tanks advanced significantly in the Battle of Amiens (August 1918)
• German exhaustion and Allied superiority led to the German Spring Offensive's failure
• Germans abandoned the Hindenburg Line in October 1918
• Armistice was requested


  8th October 1918
• Ceasefire set


  11th November 1918
• War began with patriotic optimism in 1914
• Anti-government protests largely suspended, with labour and TUC supporting the war
• Emmeline Pankhurst called for equal status for women in munitions factories
• Despite casualties, public support remained strong
• Government control and censorship

  • Government gauged public mood through news reactions, letters, and public meetings
  • Newspapers practised self-censorship, and official correspondents were controlled
  • Soldiers' letters were censored, and casualty lists were published from 1915
  • Changing attitudes toward direct reportage evolved by 1917-18
• Eyewitness reports and propaganda

  • Frustration with the press led to the War Office issuing its own reports from September 1914
  • Charles Masterman's War Propaganda Bureau focused on war aims and social reform
  • Propaganda targeted foreign countries, including America
  • Alleged German atrocities and anti-German sentiment influenced public opinion
• Restrictions on journalists and managing the media

  • Journalists faced restrictions on reporting details of plans and battles
  • Government and army directed reportage rather than denying it
  • Lists of casualties were stopped, and Haig became more communicative
  • Government propaganda machine had divisions for managing publicity
• Controlling war imagery


  • Soldiers' cameras were restricted after photos of British and German troops meeting were deemed unfit
  • Newspapers like Daily Mirror and Daily Sketch published photos and snapshots
  • Magazines relied on drawings, and official war artists portrayed a more realistic view
  • War photographers, like Ernest Brooks, emerged by 1916, contributing positively
• Trench humor and literature

  • Trench humour and literature flourished independently of government control
  • Soldiers' satirical newspaper, Wipers Times, and cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather's "Old Bill" gained popularity
  • Government struggled to censor war poets like Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves
  • Reflective memoirs after 1918 played a role in shaping public understanding
• Haig


  Commander-in-Chief of the British forces on the Western Front during World War I
• Antipathy between top British generals on the Western Front
• Sir John French


  BEF commander, criticised for indecision, clashed with Haig
• Opinions on Haig


  • Unimaginative and insensitive ordering more attacks despite mounting casualties
  • Responsive to new ideas (tanks)
  • Learned from his mistakes
  • Generals Rawlinson and Plumer favoured a less ambitious 'bite and hold' strategy, to make limited gains, Haig was ambitious
• Haig's background


  • Joined army in 1885, Royal Military College
  • Personality: Dogged, persevering, shy or aloof
  • Cavalry soldier in India
  • Studied the German Army
  • Fought in Sudan and the Boer War
  • Regarded as a 'new ideas' man
• Haig's offensive strategy


  • Sought to regain initiative on the Western Front
  • Volunteer army, not as well-trained as desired
  • Emphasised detailed orders for continuous attacks
• The Somme, 1916


  • Joint French-British offensive to relieve pressure on Verdun
  • More than 300,000 wounded or killed with the Germans suffering equally
  • Haig's expectations of casualties exceeded reality
  • Expected 40,000 casualties in 3 days but in actuality, 58,000 lost on the 1st day (1st July), 20,000 were killed
  • Total British casualties were over 400,000, French casualties of 194,000 with the Germans suffering roughly ½ a million
  • Despite limited gains, new warfare strategies emerged