Name: ______Period: ______Date: ______
WORLD WAR I: Trench Warfare
This Webquest explores the horrors of trench warfare in WWI. You will research what trench warfare was, how the trench system worked, its impact on the western front of the war, and what life was like for the soldiers who fought and lived in the trenches. After researching you willwrite a first person letter home explaining the realities of trench warfare inWWI on the western front. YOUR GOAL FOR THIS WEBQUEST IS TO GATHER INFORMATION BY ACCESSING THE WEBSITES BELOW, AND THEN WRITE A LETTER HOME DISCUSSING TRENCHWARFARE. Make sure you write the letter in a “letter format.” If I were completing this Webquest, I would go through the websites first, gather information and then put it all together at the end, thus writing my letter.
Station # 1-Explosion
Immediate Cause of World War I
Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism were all underlying causes for World War I to begin but one specific incident brought those many causes to a climax.
Source:
1. How did the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand instigate (urge on) the collapse of peace in Europe?
Station # 2-The Outbreak of War
Germany “would have Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner.” ~Kaiser Wilhelm II
The assumption that the European war would end quickly was far from correct.
Source:
Read the information and watch the animation, then answer the following questions.
2. What was the Schlieffen Plan and how did it support Kaiser Wilhelm’s goals in the quote above?
3. Why didn’t the Schlieffen Plan work?
Station # 3-The Trenches
First find out what trench warfare was. Google search “definition trench warfare” to find a meaning.
4. By war's end, how many miles of trenches had each side dug?
Source:
5. In the section “Organization of Trenches,” what were the four types of trenches used by the Allies?
6. What made the trench system different from other styles of fighting? How did this change how the battles were fought and won?
7. Approximately how many British soldiers were killed, disabled or wounded each day?
Station # 4-Trench Warfare Map
Trench Warfare Diagram
8. Look at the picture – *Diagram of trench system‐ Why do you think the trenches were formed in a zigzag type pattern?
Source:
[Station 4 continued]
9. Describe “no‐man’s land.”
Use the link below to view a diagram of a typical trench in WWI. Include this information in your paragraph, describing what the trench system was and how it worked.
Life in the Trenches
After the initial invasion of France by the Germans, the Allied troops pushed the German troops back to a stalemate position. Neither side would back down; so they ‘dug in.’
Source:
Write 2 facts from each section about daily life in the trenches.