Military Tactics

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Outdated Tactics on the Western Front

Technology was advancing, but military tactics were struggling to catch up.

Early tactics

Initially, tactics were decided in central headquarters and then sent out to the front line. But it soon became obvious that this was incredibly slow. A better method of communication was needed.
Tactics were still based to a large extent on ‘charges at the enemy position'.
New weapons made it difficult to remain in the open and cross land.
- This led to a lot of casualties in the war.

Trench warfare

Between September and November in 1914, the Entente and Central Powers started digging trenches.
The trenches stretched for 400 miles from Switzerland to the English Channel.
This was the Western Front.
Most of the conflict on the Western Front involved trying to attack the enemy trenches in the face of machine gun fire.

Tanks

Tanks were introduced in September 1916. They were a good way to counter new weapons.
They could cross No Man’s Land and crush machine gun nests. But they were very unreliable.

Trench Warfare - Strong Defence and Poor Offence

Trench warfare led to very strong defences, but poor options for attacks.

Strong military defences

In trench warfare, soldiers essentially sheltered in their trenches, using machine guns and rifles to shoot any advancing soldiers.
Barbed wire was laid out in front of trenches and put in No Man’s Land (the area between the two sides’ trenches) to create traps.
A soldier going “over the top” would leave their side’s trenches and travel across No Man’s Land towards the enemy.

Weak attacks

During an attack, the enemy would fire machine guns and shells at the soldiers. Many were shot in seconds.
Barbed wire protected the trenches. Barbed wire was also used to force the enemy down particular paths into 'kill zones'.
- These zones were covered by machine guns or artillery.

Increasing stalemate

It was very hard to make advances and win territory in this trench warfare.
Because it was so hard to gain ground, it became a war of attrition, where each side tried to exhaust (run down) the enemy’s resources.

Inadequate offensive weapons

Artillery guns, tanks and aircraft (planes) were not particularly effective at this time.
Tanks were useless in some conditions. For example, the mud was so thick at the Battle of Passchendaele that they could not be used.

1The Causes of the First World War

1.1The Alliance System

1.1.1The Threat of Germany & The Triple Alliance

1.1.2The Franco-Russian Alliance & the 'Entente'

1.1.3End of Topic Test - The Alliance System

1.2Crisis in Morocco and the Balkans

1.2.1The Crisis in Morocco

1.2.2The Crisis in the Balkans

1.2.3The Balkan Wars

1.2.4Impact on International Relations

1.2.5End of Topic Test - Morocco & the Balklans

1.3Anglo-German Rivalry

1.3.1Britain & Splendid Isolation

1.3.2Kaiser Wilhelm II's Foreign Policy

1.3.3European Rearmament

1.3.4End of Topic Test - Anglo-German Rivalry

1.4Outbreak of War

1.4.1Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

1.4.2The July Crisis

1.4.3The Schlieffen Plan and Belgium

1.4.4Reasons for the Outbreak of Hostilities

1.4.5End of Topic Test - Outbreak of War

2The First World War: Stalemate

2.1The Schlieffen Plan

2.1.1Reasons Behind the Schlieffen Plan & its Failure

2.1.2Stalemate

2.1.3End of Topic Test - The Schlieffen Plan

2.2The Western Front

2.2.1Technology

2.2.2Military Tactics

2.2.3The War of Attrition (1915-1916)

2.2.4The War of Attrition (1917)

2.2.5End of Topic Test - The Western Front

2.3The Wider War

2.3.1The War at Sea

2.3.2The War in the Air

2.3.3Other Theatres

2.3.4End of Topic Test - Wider War

3Ending the War

3.1Changes in the Allied Forces

3.1.1The Bolshevik Revolution

3.1.2Reasons for the Entry of the USA

3.1.3The Impact of US Entry on the War

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Allied Forces

3.2Military Developments in 1918

3.2.1Tactics & Technology

3.2.2Ludendorff & the German Spring Offensive

3.2.3The Allied Advance During The Hundred Days

3.3Germany Surrenders

3.3.1The Impact of the Naval Blockade

3.3.2Abdication of the Kaiser

3.3.3Armistice

3.3.4The Contribution of Haig and Foch

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Developments & Surrender

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