TRENCH WARFARE EXERCISE C – MODEL ANSWERS
1. Use Source A and your own knowledge. Why was the Schlieffen Plan developed by the Germans? What were its essential features?
The Schlieffen Plan was developed in order to allow Germany to avoid fighting a war on two fronts – against both Russia and France. Germany recognised that in such a conflict, it would likely lose, given the size of the Russian Army and the industrial strength of France.
Since the Russians were expected to take eight weeks to reach the German border, Schlieffen believed this would give Germany six weeks to defeat France. The army would then move east to confront the Russians, who were expected to surrender without a fight.
In order to achieve a knockout blow against France, Schlieffen planned for the attack to go through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. He therefore arranged for four fifths of the German army to be placed on the right flank. These forces would move in a great arc, capturing the Channel ports and encircling Paris. Meanwhile, the remnants of the German Army in Alsace-Lorraine would repulse any French advances into Germany, and ensure that retreat would be impossible. These moves are shown in the diagram in Source A.
2. Use Source B and your own knowledge. Why did a stalemate develop on the Western Front?
Stalemate developed on the Western Front, following the failure of the Schlieffen Plan. The Plan failed because it was poorly devised and badly implemented. The right wing of the German Army had been weakened to the point it was unable to capture Paris and the Channel Ports. Schlieffen's successor, Moltke, had moved troops to Alsace-Lorraine even before the war began; later, Falkenhayne (Moltke's successor) was forced to shift troops to Eastern Prussia, to reinforce Hindenburg's army facing the Russians. Once the war began, the German High Command discovered that its troops were unable to move at the speed necessary to achieve their military objectives. In addition, the military leadership failed to anticipate that the Belgians would put up a fight, thereby slowing the German advance.
With their numerical superiority lost, the Germans were stopped at the Battle of the Marne. Both sides quickly dug in, and the trench line soon stretched from the English Channel to the Swiss border. Given the military tactics and technology of the time, trenches became the principle form of defence. They were easy to construct and hard to destroy, and when combined with the development of light-weight machine guns, they made defence far easier than attack. An assault force would need a huge numerical advantage in order to breach the maze of interlocking trenches and dugouts (illustrated in Source B). Troops in the main fire trenches could be easily reinforced by reserves in the support trenches not far behind. If the enemy did manage to breach the line, counter-attacks could be launched via the various communications trenches and strong points. Reinforcement was difficult for the attackers, but easy for defenders. Given these circumstances, it is little wonder that so few assaults actually succeeded.
While most leaders on both sides remained blind to the new reality, a few demonstrated great foresight. Writing soon after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, German commander Helmuth Von Moltke (later to become Chief of Staff) stated that "the tactical defensive has acquired a great advantage over the offensive." The Polish banker Block even predicted the importance of trenches in the next major conflict. "The spade," he wrote, "will be as indispensable to a soldier as his rifle." The Germans were not slow to capitalise on these developments, once they had failed to defeat France. By fighting a war of defence, as Von Moltke had recommended, they were able to stave off defeat for four long years.
3. Use Source C and your own knowledge. Outline the main features of trench warfare?
Trench warfare on the Western Front was characterised by artillery barrages, infantry attacks, patrolling and the use of gas.
An infantry assault would be preceded by massive artillery bombardment, intended to kill as many defenders as possible and destroy their positions. At the Battle of the Somme, for example, 1,437 guns fired over 1.5 million shells into the German trenches over a period of seven days. At Passchendaele, 4.25 million shells were fired.
The infantry would then be sent across no-man's land to seize the enemy’s trenches before the latter had a chance to regroup. As mentioned in the Tactical Notes of the 4th Army HQ, there was little prospect of artillery support during this phase of the attack, due to a lack of reliable information about troop positions and to the paucity of communications. The attackers were usually forced to run the gauntlet of enemy machine gun fire (the deadliness of which was enhanced as a result of the crossover effect). At the Somme, the Germans had 1,000 machine gun crews ready to face the British attack. Not surprisingly, the casualties were horrendous.
Infantry assaults were rarely successful, not only because of the advantages enjoyed by defenders, but also because of poor planning and even incompetence on the part of the attacking generals. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George later said of his own generals that they "knew nothing except by hearsay about the actual fighting of a battle under modern conditions." Many soldiers and officers shared this view, as evidenced in poem by Siegfried Sassoon, where a particular general's staff are described as "incompetent swine." The general himself is responsible for sending a group of men to their deaths during an ill-considered attack. Sassoon was an officer in the British Army during the war, and was in an excellent position to make such judgments of his superiors.
4. Use Source D and your own knowledge. What methods were used by the combatants in their attempts to break stalemate?
The main method used to break the stalemate in World War I was the frontal assault. This would be preceded by a ferocious artillery bombardment, sometimes lasting several days. As the war proceeded, artillery shells became more powerful, and the extent of the bombardment was intensified. Neither tactic managed to secure a decisive breakthrough, though.
Following the artillery barrage, patrols might be sent out to assess the impact on the enemy (as described in the excerpt from Robert Graves' book Goodbye to All That) or to cut the barbed wire near the enemy’s trenches. (Source D) Then the troops would be sent over the top to seize those trenches. They would be met with machine gun fire and artillery, as described by Erich Remarque in the excerpt from All Quiet on the Western Front.
As mentioned above, the tactic of frontal attack failed because developments in technology had given the upper hand to defence. The principal means of achieving mobility in battle – the horse – was vulnerable to machine gun attack. Moreover, attacking armies were forced to move by foot when conducting operations, while defenders could bring in reinforcements by train.
By 1915, a new weapon had been introduced into the attack: gas. This was used as part of the artillery barrage, to drive soldiers out of their trenches, where they could be slaughtered with conventional artillery and machine guns (see Graves’ account). The new weapon was extremely effective, as witnessed at the Second Battle of Ypres where it was first deployed. However, the Germans failed to make proper use of their new weapon. Instead of waiting until it had been perfected and mass produced, they experimented with it in smaller battles. In this way, the Allies became aware of its dangers, and were able to issue protective masks to their troops.
In 1916, the British introduced tanks into the war, as a means of breaking the stalemate. They were initially of only limited value, since they tended to break down frequently. However, as the war progressed, their importance increased. Their main use was to break through enemy trench lines and to break the morale of the enemy troops.
A final tactic introduced by the Germans to break the stalemate was the use of storm troopers, to sneak through the enemy lines and cut communications. However, by 1918 the German Army was too exhausted to take full advantage of the tactic. In the end, the stalemate was only broken when Germany collapsed as a result of exhaustion, the blockade and the arrival of limitless numbers of men from the United States.
Trench warfare exercise C – model answers