1. Trench Warfare & The War at Sea
World War I
Trench Warfare & The War at Sea

2. Trench Warfare Stalemate at Ypres Casualties high New weapons of war
Soldiers “dig-in”
Casualties high
New technology vs. old tactics
New weapons of war
Machine guns
Tanks
Airplanes
Flame throwers
Bayonets
Grenades
Pistols
Poison Gas

3. Balloon reconnaissance of trenches
British 55th Division troops blinded by tear gas during the Battle of Estaires (April 10, 1918).
Balloon reconnaissance of trenches
Soldier with mustard gas burns (1917/1918)

5. Flame thrower

6. Trench Horrors Trench Rats Decomposing bodies attracted thousands
One pair produce 880 offspring in one year
Big as cats
Would sleep under blankets with the men
“The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn’t defend himself. These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men. Two or three rats would always be found on a dead body. They usually went for the eyes first and then they burrowed their way right into the corpse.”

7. Trench Horrors Trench Foot
Trenches were waterlogged and constantly muddy
Only way to prevent was to keep feet dry
Cure: amputation
“Your feet swell to two or three times their normal size and go completely dead. You could stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing.”

8. Amputations Gangrene: rot
“Day after day we cut down stinking bandages and exposed wounds that destroyed the whole original plan of the body.”
“…I saw that tiny bags, containing pure salt, are sometimes deposited into the open wound and bandaged tightly into place. These bags of salt – must inflict excruciating pain. It is certainly a purifier, but surely a very harsh one.”
American soldiers who lost limbs during a WWI battle. Recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.

9. 1917 aerial reconnaissance picture of German and British trenches.
Trench Warfare
Verdun, France
In 10 months, 700,000 killed over just a few miles of land
War of attrition: war based on wearing the other side down by constant attacks and heavy loses
1917 aerial reconnaissance picture of German and British trenches.

10. The War at Sea German U-boats British Blockade U.S.
Attack without provocation, commercial or military
British Blockade
Cut supplies to Germany
Germany responds with war zone around British Isles
¼ British fleet destroyed
1 million tons of shipping lost
U.S.
Wish to remain neutral – trades with everyone

11. The War at Sea Sinking of the Lusitania – May 7, 1915
Killed 128 Americans
Wilson demands: apology, money, no more subs
Gets: all but sub promise – U.S. begins arms build-up
Sussex – March 1916, more Americans lost
Sussex Pledge: will not sink merchant ships without warning and attempt to save human lives
February, 1917 – Germans resume sub warfare
Violate Sussex pledge
U.S. begins policy of “armed neutrality”
Lusitania
Sussex after attack