Trench Warfare
WORLD WAR I
Hook Video
Europeans Head for WAR

Many Europeans were excited about war

Thought war would be over in a few
weeks

Belief that because of industrial changes
& modernization, war could not be
conducted for more than a few months

Glorious adventure
The Schlieffen Plan
Germans race to Western front 1st
 Goals: after defeating France,
concentrate on the Eastern front w/
Russia
 Avoid fighting a two front war
 Germany made vast encircling
movement through Belgium (brought
Great Britain into war) to enter France

The Schlieffen Plan’s
Destructive Nature
Trench Warfare - WWI
Basic Info



New weapons were
used more for
defense; so trenches
were made for
soldiers protection.
There are two sides
Middle = No Man’s
Land.
Trench Warfare
Basic Info
Western Front 1914 
France v. Germany
Trench Warfare: System
Trench Warfare in Action Video  Example of a Battle Scene (Violent)
TRENCH WARFARE
What did it look like?

Elaborate systems of
defense
 barbed wire
 Concrete machine
gun nests
 Mortar batteries
 Troops lived in
holes underground
When a soldier went ‘over the
top’ across No Man’s Land to
attack the
enemy he had to carry all of this
equipment through the mud,
barbed wires and crater holes
made by mines. They had to
make sure that they did not get
shot at the same time.
Video 
SO WHAT DID THEY EAT IN
THE TRENCHES?
 VIDEO
Trench Warfare:
Conditions






Lice
Rats
Cramped up
Flooded
trenches
Diseases – trench foot
Decaying flesh
Officers walking through a flooded communication trench.
The trenches were wet and
cold. The battalion
lived in mud and water.
Gum boots were provided for
the troops in the most
exposed positions.
Trench foot was still a new
ailment and the provision of
dry socks was vitally
important.
Part of the trench was reserved
for men to go two at a time,
at least once a day, and rub
each other's feet with
grease.
The outstanding feature of the
trenches was the extraordinary
number of rats. The trenches were
infested with them. It was
impossible to keep them out of the
dugouts. They grew fat on the food
that they stole from soliders, and
anything they could pick up in or
around the trenches; they were
HUGE!
Some were nearly as big as cats.
.
A full day's rest allowed us to clean
up a bit, and to launch a full scale
attack on lice. I sat in a quiet
corner of a barn for two hours
delousing myself as best I could.
We were all at it, for none of us
escaped their vile attentions. The
things lay in the seams of
trousers, in the deep furrows of
long thick woolly pants, and
seemed impregnable in their deep
entrenchments. A lighted candle
applied where they were thickest
made them pop like Chinese
crackers. After a session of this,
my face would be covered with
small blood spots from extra big
fellows which had popped
too vigorously.
Private George Coppard
Trench Warfare:
Technology




Tanks: Slow and clumsy
Machine guns: Rapid fire,
made advancement
difficult, caused
stalemates
Airplanes: used to drop
bombs and for air conflict
Poison Gas: caused
blindness, blisters, some
caused victims to choke to
death
Soldiers digging trenches while protected against gas
attacks
Christmas Truce 1914
British and German
troops stand together
during the Christmas
Truce of 1914-15.
One of the most remarkable incidents in history was the
impromptu truce that took place on the Western Front on
Christmas Day 1914. Beginning late on Christmas Eve, the
entrenched British and German troops began serenading each
other with songs and carols. By the next day a full truce was on,
with soldiers and officers from both sides fraternizing and
exchanging gifts. There was even an international soccer match
played with teams comprised of warring soldiers. On December
26, 1914 the First World War started again. How sad. Ninetyfour years later, in 2008, soldiers from the same opposing
regiments reenacted the famous Christmas Truce in the same
location. (video – 3:06)
Trench Warfare: Analysis

This was the new
tactic in war.
Video 

After the war, it
had left horrific
scars- both
physical and
mental
TRENCH WARFARE COLLAGE
LEFT PAGE
At least 5 pictures of trench warfare
 At least 5 words describing conditions of
living in the trenches
 At least 2 quotes from someone who lived in
the trenches during WWI. Include the name
of the person who gave the quote.
**Be careful not to choose pictures/quotes
from other wars or unrelated topics!**
