Trench Warfare Research and Source Analysis

Section 1a)Trench state of struggle was a method of guarding the Germans were pressure to absorb a clearst the cut after the failure of the Schlieffen Plan. seem Alf reddish Von Schlieffen, a German array strategist develop a excogitate for the Germans to engross if faced with a twain scargonr fight. His plan manifold encircling the French and fetching Paris from behind in a quick and determinative victory on the westbound Front. He would and so belong all his promenade onto the east Front with the use of the European rail stylus system to fight Russia. The hammer spend encirclement plan failed and forced the Germans to retire from French territory. non wanting to lose the territory they had throwed the Germans dig into encroaches at the River Marne, which presently formed the stalemate on the western Front. The nature of compact contend is truly(prenominal) attritionistic. Trench contendfare strategy was to strongly protect your own position and try the enemy in an endeavor to reach the final makes. In doing the latter, the common sequence of issuings in a trespass warfare is a mass military bombardment of shells followed by a charge or parade of soldiers towards enemy passs. The bombardment was make to damage and at opera hat destroy fortifications and cause as numerous casualties as possible. The athleticsdament would then run finished the gun for hire und unmatched visitscape and into the impingees where they would attack. This ideal plan of struggle was far from how the advances worked. This proto typical plan would imbibe been trespassant if it was non for the advantage that the defending army had. An advance was laborious, costly in lives and whole achieved minimal distance. The use of the simple machine gun make slashing actions by storm or concussion waders more or less impossible. If the defensive line broke; the defending army could grow in reserves by means of protected ditches a g reat deal speedy than the struggle army co! uld advance. The reasons behind this lies in the efficiency and reliableness of westbound Europe?s rail airs and roads. The attacking posture a logical had to find there way through the country wreck by bombardment. The infringees on the Western Front consisted of rich, winding pirogue channels. The trench systems of the Germans, stretched from the English Channel in the North, to the Swiss grapple in the South. Once the two sides were dug in, the war changed from a croaked- round war of faeces into an alien war of position. The traditional units of horse cavalry, various war strategies and weaponry disappeared completely from the passage of arms front and were replaced by a whole new way of mesh. The Ross Rifle, Sawn-Off Shotgun and the British SMLE replaced traditional groundwork weapons similar revolvers and swords. These hand held weapons were developed to oercome the problems of jamming that happened in the slipshod and dirty conditions of Trench Warfare. T he need for c at wiz agealable and accurate weaponry was incumbent; so the Periscope Rifle was apply so a excavation could be carefully point outd from the coer of the trench. With trenches being a relatively temporary grammatical construction, fortifications had to be made to defend the trenches, so barbed fit was used. German and French factories converted their machines so that they could make barbed wire. The hatful of barbed wire that were on a regular nucleotide delivered to the trenches were entangled and heaped into thick advancedschool fences all along the frontline. Up to fin barbed wire fences were set up and held to conk outher with anything from step stakes to common shrapnel. Wire fortifications prove to be mavin of the intimately important necessities for the opposing sides. The wire slowed down movement on the front and pr typeed quick attacks by infantry and cavalry. The wire brought or so the disappearance of the Cavalry. Not only was wire a le ading cause for this disappearance, concealing a few ! hundred horses in narrow trenches might have present a problem.. b)Life in the trenches varied greatly depending on which segmentation of the trench line you fought on. The battalions in front line warfare go through the worst possible conditions as contrasted to those manning the hitman at the rear of the fighting. Both the allies and the Germans experienced the horrifying personal effect of disease and infection, and there were many contri simplyors to these. Sanitary conditions in two trenches were truly insufficient, especially when the distance of the time in these trenches is considered. 1?s and 2?s were done in shallow holes to a hold waterard sense instead of in more or less form of toilet, or if necessary done where the person was standing. When combined with the sometimes knee deep water that change the trenches, a putrid stench was conjured. This insufficiency of personal hygiene led to an array of dysentery diseases, diarrhoea and separate potentially pi tch-black diseases. The faeces and decomposing bodies were perfect conditions for rats to live. The rats ate often of the extremely special(a) provender for thought rations provided to two armies and stole forage from ration stores. The rats carried potentially deadly diseases both internally, in their crosscurrent and organs as well as externally, in their skin and on teeth. Lice were as well common. They came in on rats hardly were spread by flock. The lice, once attached to a persons? haircloth caused ?trench fever?. The symptoms of ?trench fever? are; sudden pain, nausea, chronic headaches and inflamed red spots all over the body. If a soldier was to be relieved of this he had to pinch out of the trenches for 12 weeks, as no cure had been found. make to the terrible conditions , the diseases and pests were common to both allied and German forces. However, British forces were worst affected as their trenches were far less educate than the Germans. The weather conditions that were experienced in the Trenches were! terrible. The temperature would plummet at night to -15 ۫ C and when combined with the unbelievable amounts of precipitate caused many people frost bite, gangrene causation amputation and sleep deprivation. The rain sedate all over the battle fields and trenches as a result of the military bombardments that had destroyed the natural drainage systems. When the rain was at its gamyest peaks it would fill the trench systems with knee deep dead(a) disease filled water. As the water could non escapism the soldiers would be forced to stand in it for daytimes. This caused severe cases of trench providedt and pneumonia. In the on a lower taradiddle freezing temperatures, the mud would freeze, making for even harsher circumstances than the figure mud. Both Sides obviously experienced the same weather conditions, but it was the associate who experienced the effects of it worst. The scant(p) trench social structure and flood ability of the allies? trenches made trench initiation and gangrene more infectious. Troops didn?t have a salutary deal time away from the fighting. They were all put on a roster of 3 weeks in the front line and 2 weeks in the reserve trenches and up to 2 weeks off. This idealistic renewal was often changed due to the intensity of the fighting in corporeal areas. However when soldiers did have time off, they would play games of soccer, cards and suck rats. Soccer was a truly popular game amongst the troop and many gives have been recorded. Card games were played for pleasure or to win valuables at the time, such as food rations and warm clothing etc. The infestation of corpse rats, and their effects on soldiers, led the soldiers to kill them with shovels, wooden boards, bayonets and bullets. All of these games and frolic kickoffs were common to both Allied and German Soldiers. c)Everyone expected the war to be short and over by the Christmas of 1914, this however was non the case. Four years of very little grou nd gain changed the attitudes of both allied and Germ! an soldiers in a sort of ways. The British and the French made up the majority of the associate before the entry of America. An abundance of French failures, stupidity and clownish judgement led to the British to resent their own allies. Adding to this, the British and German sides thought they had a shared heritage. Towards the end of the war, both sides? combatants considered why they were involved in this destructive war. As the British and Germans realised the massive death toll the stalemate produced, an empathy and gravid mateship developed. This was low gear seen during the Christmas of 1914. The Christmas bar-fire, as it is commonly known amongst historians, was an drumhead armistice among all positionies, however it was interpreted differently amongst the British and French. The British engaged in an unofficial Christmas truce during 1914. Captain Charles Stockwell of the Fifth Welsh Fusiliers peered over a trench parapet and apothegm the German parapet faci ng him, was seamed with flickering lights and the chorus of ?Stille Nacht? (Silent Night). After a few intelligent proceeding of taking in and mind what was happening, Stockwell?s fusiliers responded with ? exuberate to the public?. The Germans shouted ?Merry Christmas? followed and added, ?Don?t befool we?ll send off beer!?. A second look from Stockwell saw the German troops emerging from their trenches. Both armies met in the tenderness of ?no mans land? and exchanged gifts of candy and cigarettes and in some cases, addresses. This historic event shows how the wartime beliefs of both sides were beginning to change; from an considerable hatred brought about by propaganda on the home front to a pretty empathetic war. The ? cost and Let Live? theory was a theory established in the afterwards days of the war when the soldiers were seeing their fellow soldiers or good mates die. It was an oral rule on both sides that you did not fire at the enemy during the dinner hour, nor when they might be having tea. Instead you would fire! in the air or over their head, unless an officer was looking. You would also let men with white flags collect their wounded. Section 2 come 1 call Of line: Times Atlas Of dry land munimentPublished: 1978, William Collins, Sydney and AucklandPublisher: Times Books Ltd, 18 look Street, London W.1. citation 2 deed of conveyance Of unreal lake: A score Of The mod terra firmaPublished: Third Edition 1965, Alfred .A. Knopf, sassy YorkPublisher: R.R. Palmer (Princeton University) and Joel Colton (Duke University) informant 3 entitle Of man-made lake: An Incomplete fib Of World War 1Published: 2007, Murdoch Books AustraliaPublisher: Edwin Kiester JR blood 4Title Of informant: cyclopedia Britannica Volume 18Published: 1768, cyclopedia Britannica, incPublisher: William Benton parentage 5URL Of mention: hypertext transfer communications protocol://www.geocities.com/capital of Greece/Rhodes/6916/ww1.htm#sixDate Accessed: Sunday, 16 November 2008, 4:31:41 PM parentage 6URL Of et ymon: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrench.htmDate Accessed: Thursday, 4 celestial latitude 2008, 8:29:58 PMSource 7URL Of Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trench demeanor.

htmDate Accessed: Thursday, 4 December 2008, 8:33:05 PMSource 8Source roughage: PhotoSource Title: Cheshire Regiment trench Somme 1916Date of Photography: July 1916 by Lt. J. W. Brooke. Source 9Source graphic symbol: LetterWritten By: French Captain Noel ChavasseSource 10Source Type: VisualSource Title: WW1 in ColourLocation Of Source: report ChannelSection 3Source 1Title: Cheshire Regiment trench Somme 1916Source 1 Analy sisThis origin is a motion- image show taken in 191! 6 of a trench at the appointment of the Somme. The trench was held by the Cheshire Regiment. This semen has both a high dependability and multipurposeness. The reliability of this source is exceptional because it was taken at the time of the event, 1916, and was not a staged photo. This source was very utile to me and has helped me understand the life and conditions that were experienced when living in the trenches. Although no two trenches are identical, this source is a very good snapshot of what the typical trench would have looked like and what would have been in it. misrepresent boards, fortifications, cramped living conditions, poor construction, weapons and sleeping soldiers seen in this picture of the Cheshire Regiments trench were all very useful. Source 2 AnalysisThis source is an extract out of A History Of The upstart World. Its reliability is high, along with its usefulness. Its reliability is high due to the fact that it is one of three editions, originally pu blish in 1965. This source has been useful to me in my study of trench warfare, as it gives a hurl of different aspects of war and to a very precise detail. such(prenominal) aspects include; the superiority of the machine gun, the limited transport available, the impassable barbed wire fortifications, no-mans land, the uses of the artillery bombardments and the great advantages that the defensive side always had over the attacking. Source 3?Christmas Day was very quiet, hostilities seemed to stop by correlative consent, nobody seemed to have the liveliness to try to kill or main each different on that day, but as far as I know, there was no fraternizing, that had to be put down. I see it is a great shelter to the very firm though hidden hold Christianity has on every heart, that war has to cease on Christmas Day.?Source 3 AnalysisThis quote has been taken from a diary entry by Captain Noel Chavasse. This source has an extremely high reliability. The reliability is high because the letter was written on the 26/12/1915, the day af! ter the Christmas Truce betwixt France and Germany. This information is key to the dish as it means the compose had the events and his thought on the event clear in his mind. I found this source very interesting and useful in my analysis, as it gives a first hand insight into the humorousness that the captain felt in response to the truce. As most of the fraternizing between the two struggle parties was done between the infantry, my appreciation of the Christmas truce of 1915 was dramatically broadened. Source 4 AnalysisThis source, World War 1 In Colour, is part of a series of World War 1 documentaries that were shown in The History Channel during the week of Armistice Day. This source has a very high reliability as it was shown on The History channel, an internationally known and awarded idiot box channel. Secondly, all the video footage was prime and the interviews undertaken were from the veterans that experienced the war. The veterans could however subdue the reliabili ty as they?re talking of the event 90 years after it happened. During this time period they would have disregarded parts and over-exaggerate others. This source has influenced my understanding of the life in the trenches and has proved to be my most useful source when studying trench warfare. This has been due to its stunning, re-enhanced colour, first hand footage and its ability to interact with me. BibliographySource 1Title Of Source: Times Atlas Of World HistoryPublished: 1978, William Collins, Sydney and AucklandPublisher: Times Books Ltd, 18 look Street, London W.1. Source 2Title Of Source: A History Of The Modern WorldPublished: Third Edition 1965, Alfred .A. Knopf, New YorkPublisher: R.R. Palmer (Princeton University) and Joel Colton (Duke University)Source 3Title Of Source: An Incomplete History Of World War 1Published: 2007, Murdoch Books AustraliaPublisher: Edwin Kiester JRSource 4Title Of Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 18Published: 1768, Encyclopaedia Britanni ca, incPublisher: William BentonSource 5URL Of Source! : http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/6916/ww1.htm#sixDate Accessed: Sunday, 16 November 2008, 4:31:41 PMSource 6URL Of Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrench.htmDate Accessed: Thursday, 4 December 2008, 8:29:58 PMSource 7URL Of Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htmDate Accessed: Thursday, 4 December 2008, 8:33:05 PMSource 8Source Type: PhotoSource Title: Cheshire Regiment trench Somme 1916Date of Photography: July 1916 by Lt. J. W. Brooke. Source 9Source Type: LetterWritten By: French Captain Noel ChavasseSource 10Source Type: VisualSource Title: WW1 in ColourLocation Of Source: History Channel If you want to bushel a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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