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Trench Warfare Prior to World War 1 - Trench Warfare. Life In The Trenches. There was nothing glamorous about trench life.

Life In The Trenches

World War 1 trenches were dirty, smelly and riddled with disease. For soldiers life in the trenches meant living in fear. In fear of diseases (like cholera and trench foot) and of course, the constant fear of enemy attack. Trench warfare WW1 style is something all participating countries vowed never to repeat and the facts make it easy to see why. Constructing WW1 Trenches The British and the French recruited manpower from non-belligerent China to support the troops with manual labour. 140,000 Chinese labourers served on the Western Front over the course of the First World War (40,000 with the French and 100,000 with the British forces).

No Man’s Land The open space between two sets of opposing trenches became known as No Man’s Land because no soldier wanted to traverse the distance for fear of attack. The climate in France and Belgium was quite wet, so No Man’s Land soon became a mud bath. Hell on Earth. Illustrated trench scen. Two soldiers in flooded trenc. BBC Schools - Life in the trenches. 31 October 2014Last updated at 15:07 Two British soldiers standing in a flooded communication trench during World War One On the Western Front, the war was fought in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived all day and night. There were many lines of German trenches on one side and many lines of Allied trenches on the other. In the middle, was no man's land, so-called because it did not belong to either army. Rest. BBC Schools - Life in the trenches.

World War I: One Word Video - World War I History. Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story. Trench Warfare Video - World War I History. Causes of World War I. Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Britain attempting to keep the lid on the simmering cauldron of imperialist and nationalist tensions in the Balkans to prevent a general European war.

Causes of World War I

They were successful in 1912 and 1913, but did not succeed in 1914. The crisis came after a long and difficult series of diplomatic clashes between the Great Powers (Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Austria-Hungary and Russia) over European and colonial issues in the decade before 1914 that had left tensions high. In turn these diplomatic clashes can be traced to changes in the balance of power in Europe since 1867.[2] The more immediate cause for the war was tensions over territory in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary competed with Serbia and Russia for territory and influence in the region and they pulled the rest of the Great Powers into the conflict through their various alliances and treaties. Background "Moltke described to me his opinion of our military situation. Domestic political factors. First World War.com - A Multimedia History of World War One. In the trenches of 1914-1918.

What were the trenches?

In the trenches of 1914-1918

Although most of us think primarily of the Great War in terms of life and death in the trenches, only a relatively small proportion of the army actually served there. Life in the Trenches. Life in the trenches during the First World War took many forms, and varied widely from sector to sector and from front to front.

Life in the Trenches

Undoubtedly, it was entirely unexpected for those eager thousands who signed up for war in August 1914. A War of Movement? Indeed, the Great War - a phrase coined even before it had begun - was expected to be a relatively short affair and, as with most wars, one of great movement. The First World War was typified however by its lack of movement, the years of stalemate exemplified on the Western Front from autumn 1914 until spring 1918. Not that there wasn't movement at all on the Western Front during 1914-18; the war began dramatically with sweeping advances by the Germans through Belgium and France en route for Paris. So what was life actually like for the men serving tours of duty in the line, be they front line, support or reserve trenches? The National Archives. First World War: Trench Warfare.

The Battle of Verdun. WORLD WAR ONE TRENCH WARFARE. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan. BBC iWonder - How did so many soldiers survive the trenches? World War One.