WWI The War to End All Wars

Attitude towards War “The whole idea was to get a hold of a rifle, learn to shoot a bit, proceed to France at the earliest possible moment, kill vast quantities of Germans, possible get wounded in some artistic place, win the war and march back with colors flying and bands playing and the girls falling on your neck.” - Captain Allan Goring

German Soldiers on the Way to the Front

British Volunteers on their way to training

Attitudes quickly changed when soldiers were faced with the warfare and weapons of war.

Where was the Western Front?

The Border Between Germany and France

What type of Warfare was used on the Western Front?

“No one who was not there can fully appreciate the excruciating agonies and misery through which the men had to go through in those days…Paddling about by day, sometimes with water above their knees; standing at night, hour after hour on sentry duty, while the drenched boots and breeches became stiff like cardboard with ice from the freezing cold air.”

'My memories are of sheer terror and the horror of seeing men sobbing because they had trench foot that had turned gangrenous. They knew they were going to lose a leg. Memories of lice in your clothing driving you crazy. Filth and lack of privacy. And cold deep wet mud everywhere. And of course, corpses. I'd never seen a dead body before I went to war. But in the trenches the dead are lying all around you.‘ -- Arthur Savage

What impact did trench warfare have on the war ?

42 Million men mobilized 42 Million men mobilized 5 million killed 5 million killed 13 million wounded 13 million wounded 4 million POW’s and missing 4 million POW’s and missing 22 million total casualties 22 million total casualties 52% of men mobilized 52% of men mobilized 65 Million men mobilized 65 Million men mobilized 8.5 million killed 8.5 million killed 21 million wounded 21 million wounded 7.7 million POW’s and missing 7.7 million POW’s and missing 37 million total casualties 37 million total casualties 57% of men mobilized 57% of men mobilized AlliedCentral Casualties