Aim: Summarize Military Events on the Western Front

A Bloody Stalemate Fall 1914: War turned into a long & bloody stalemate along battlefields of France Region known as the Western Front Facing war on 2 fronts, Germany developed a battle strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan Plan called for attacking & defeating France in the west & rushing east to fight Russia Russia lagged behind the rest of Europe in its railroad system & take longer to supply its front lines Speed vital for the Schlieffen Plan September 5, Allied attacked the Germans northeast of Paris After 4 days of fighting, Germans retreated and left the Schlieffen plan in ruins 2

War in the Trenches Early 1915: Opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of Parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire Became known as Trench Warfare Space between the opposing trenches won the grim name “no man’s land” Artillery fire brought death right into the trenches Western Front became a “terrain of death” Stretched nearly 500 miles from north Sea to the Swiss border 3

Military Strategists at a Loss New tools of war had not delivered the fast-moving war they had expected Machine guns, poison gas, armored tanks, large artillery Slaughter reached a peak in 1916 Germans launched a massive attack against the French near Verdun Each side lost more than 300,000 men In the first day of battle, more than 20,000 British soldiers were killed What did the warring sides gain? Near Verdun, the Germans advanced 4 miles In Somme valley, British gained 5 miles 4