historypaperwoldwar1

How Trench Warfare Impacted Future Wars Trench warfare was an important strategy used by both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers during World War 1. The need for trench warfare stemmed from the First Battle of Marne in September 1914. The Germans did not want to lose any progress they had made, so they built trenches as a defensive measure. Due to technological advances in weaponry, older styles of battle were no longer useful and this caused the Allied Forces to form trenches as well. These trenches had intricate designs, caused new methods of attacking, and brought unfavorable living conditions, which all led to a long stalemate and many deaths. The duration of the stalemate and the many lives lost made trench warfare a symbol of the Western Front and drove changes in technology for future wars to come. In the beginning, the trenches built were not very big because the Germans thought the war would be short, but as the stalemate raged on the trenches grew in size and in design. The trenches eventually reached from the North Sea all the way to Southwest France; when combined the trenches were approximately 25,000 miles long. At the front of the trenches were tall walls with sandbags added for protection. Since these walls could reach up to 10 feet tall, ledges were built so soldiers could see over the top or through the sandbags to know when to fire. The same reinforcements were made to the rear of the trenches to protect the soldiers from attacks from behind. Dugouts were also made in the trenches to shelter beds and other furniture so that the soldiers could live in the trenches for extended periods of time. These dugouts became more prominent as the war progressed. The layout of these trenches made it extremely difficult for head-on attacks by the opposing side to occur, which is why the stalemate was so significant and drawn out. As a result of the stalemate, new methods of attacking were designed. Soldiers could no longer walk in line formation and