The War of Attrition (1917)

Battle of Passchendaele

The Battle of Passchendaele (also called Third Battle of Ypres) took place outside the city of Ypres in Belgium from July to November 1917. It is most famous for the terrible conditions that soldiers had to fight in.

Background

The British Field Marshal Haig launched Passchendaele partly because he feared German strength. He hoped to reach the Belgian coast and attack German submarine bases.
With the worst rain in 30 years, the soil turned into a muddy marshland.
- This mud and marshland clogged rifles and stopped them from working. It also stopped tanks from being used.
- The mud was so deep that some soldiers and horses drowned in it.

The battle

The British launched their attack on July 1917.
With the difficult conditions, the attack was suspended and started again on 16 August and then again on 20 September 1917.
With the successful battles of Menin Road Ridge, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde, the British succeeded to gain the east of Ypres.

The battle ends

6 November 1917: Field Marshal Haig called off the attack and declared British victory.
Passchendaele cost the Allies 325,000 casualties and Germany 260,000 casualties. The Allies gained five miles of territory in the offensive (attack).

Haig's philosophy

Field Marshal Haig believed that World War One would be won on the Western Front.
To achieve this, he focused his efforts on the large offensives at places like Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele to end the stalemate.
He hoped that huge offensives would overwhelm the Germans and force their defeat.
- In fact, huge offensives brought about mass casualties.

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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