The Century of Wars

During WWI, weapons of great firepower (mainly machine guns and artillery) served primarily defensive purposes. Soldiers on both sides entrenched themselves which provided some protection for them. Gradually entire networks of trenches developed, for example on the Western Front, where the opposing armies were facing one another in long, uninterrupted lines of trenches.

Attacks against entrenched soldiers claimed huge numbers of casualties, but were usually unsuccessful. Battle lines became static.

Listening post

These posts were used to monitor enemy activity and direct artillery fire from behind the front line.

No man’s land

Unoccupied field between the lines of two opposing entrenched armies.

Barbed-wire obstacles

Barbed wire fencing was erected in front of the trenches to slow down the approaching enemy’s progress.

The Battle of the Somme illustrates well the horrors of trench warfare. The battle, lasting from July to Novem­ber 1916, raged along an approximately 20 km long section
of the front line. The combined British-French forces, by repeated bloody attacks, managed to push the German lines back just a few kilometres. The num­ber of dead and injured on both sides totalled 1.2 million.

Support trenches

Communication trench

Artillery

Artillery guns were usually positioned behind the front line, at a relatively long distance.

Life in the trench

Soldiers usually spent relatively short (5–15 days) spells in the front line, but these periods were extremely stressful. Even during quieter intervals enemy sharpshooters presented constant danger, and so did enemy artillery bombardment. Due to the lack of chance to take even a short rest, soldiers were suffering from constant fatigue. Personal hygiene was non-existent, parasites and infections caused a lot of suffering. Winter was a particularly hard time for frontline soldiers, as it was impossible to light fires.