Trench+Warfare

=World War I Trench Warfare=

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World War I is often considered the bloodiest war in Europe's history. Most of the fighting occurred in trenches, and early trench warfare was bloody and dangerous. It was not only the bloodiest aspect of WW-I, but it was also what most of the war was comprised of. Although there was a lot of trench fighting, Most of the casualties were not caused by bullets and shrapnel, but instead by infections and diseases. ====

Early Trench Warfare
World War one started in early 1914 when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, and lasted till late 1918. Most of the fighting was done by Britain and Germany, although many other nations soon joined. Early in the war, the Germans advanced rapidly to Paris and everything happened fast. However, soon a stalemate occurred and both sides were stuck in trenches. This stalemate lasted for most of the war.The use of the tank by the British in 1916 soon broke the stalemate and helped to turn the tide of the war. Soon diseases began spreading from the bodies of other soldiers, attracing rats and other vermin and causing hundreds of thousands of casualties. ====

Verdun, 1916
The battle of Verdun is often seen as the most costly battle of the entire war, with almost 1 million causualties its not hard to see why. The French had built a massive wall of bunkers extending across thier eastern border, when the war started, the Germans quikly captured many forts and bunkers along this line of fortifications. Verdun was one of the towns on the line of bunkers. The battle of Verdun took over ten months of trench warfare and there were no territory changes, by the end of the battle, the French had won and both of the armies were literally in the exact same place as they had started.

Tanks
Tanks were first introduced by the British in 1916, but the French and Germans were quick to catch on. Tanks offered the armor and mobility that no other land vehicle had, resulting in quick success against the Germans. The German tank design was much worse than the British design, the German tanks had shorter treads and only 40mm of ground clearence. This meant that the German tanks did not have the offroad capibilities of the British tanks and therefore were almost useless in trench warfare. The tank contributed greatly to the outcome of the war.

Life in the trenches
Life in the trenches was usually like living in a dirty sewer. There were rats and decaying bodies everywhere. Many soldier tried to kill the rats, but it was useless, a single pair of rats can make about 900 offspring a year. This resulted in hordes of vermin swarming around the battlefields and trenches. The stench of overflowing latrines and sweaty guys with guns overwhelmed most new recruits, but they eventually got used to it. Diseases and trenchfoot were common and deadly, and usually resulted in soldiers bieng taken off the front line by the thousands. Due to the massive number of troops in the armies, most people only spent about 10% of their time on the frontline, and spent most of it in reserve or medical duty.



The end of trench warfare
The widespread use of tanks marked the end of World War 1 trench warfare. Tanks were impervious to machine gun fire and could devestate the enemy's morale. Just a few tanks could easily capture an enemy trench when it would take hundreds of soldiers to do so. Although it is very uncommon, trench warfare is still around today, it was used recently in the Iraq-Iran war. Trench warfare is used mainly because of a surplus of infantry and a lack of mobility, it is slow and deadly, it is also one of the most costly ways to fight a war.