1. Trench Warfare and New Machinery
World War One

2. The Schlieffen Plan German attack strategy developed before the war
2 front strategy
Germany believed it could fend off Russia in the East while it defeated France in the West with a lightning speed attack
Believed Russia would take a while to assemble troops

3. Schlieffen Failed!
German officers pulled troops from the West to defend Eastern Boarder- Weakened the attack line in France
No fast victory for Germany
Now fighting a 2 front war

4. Result : Trench Warfare
Germans dug in a defensive line along the river Somme and into Belgium
British and French Soldiers dug a trench line to face Germans
Trenches stretched from Swiss Boarder to English Channel
By Christmas 1914 stalemate!

7. No Man’s Land The area between enemy trenches
Wasteland of bodies, barbed wire, mud, mines
No protection from machine guns
Traps set up after
dark

8. Life in the trenches Flooded by rain and filth Overrun by rats
Stinking cesspools
Trapped for weeks
Disease spread
Lice infestations
Mental exhaustion
Trench Foot

9. War of Attrition
Each side repeatedly attacking the other until one side completely exhausted and unable to continue
This old style cannot work due to new weapons
New Weapons turned war into a slaughter

10. Machine Guns Changed the way war is fought- Trenches!
Fires rounds per minute
Old School Generals sent hundreds of thousands of men “over the top” into no man’s land to die by machine guns

11. Tanks The only weapon that could breach enemy trenches
A response to the stalemate that trench warfare had created on the Western Front

12. Poison Gas Germany 1st to use poison gas in battle
Chlorine gas at Ypres 1915
Gas blinded soldiers and attacked respiratory systems
Early defense- rags soaked in water/urine
Later defense- gas masks

13. Submarine Warfare The Silent enemy Used most by Germany U-Boats
Attacked ships carrying supplies to Britain
Armed with torpedoes to sink ships

14. War in the Air Planes used to: Scout enemy positions
Drop bombs on enemy planes or shoot with handguns
Later on planes had top mounted guns

15. The zeppelin Called Dirigibles (inflatable airships)
Filled with light gases such as hydrogen and propelled by engine on bottom
Used for scouting and bombing