Life In The Trenches Research Paper

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Life in the Trenches An Examination of Living Conditions on the Western Front During the First World War World War I Erupts The First World War erupted in the summer of 1914. Initially the war was met with tremendous optimism as hundreds of thousands eagerly volunteered for duty. British and French recruits greeted by cheering crowds in 1914. War of Movement In the early phases of the war, all combatants launched offensives designed to win the war before Christmas. In the West, German troops crossed the Belgian border in the narrow gap between Holland and France. Strategic Situation in the Summer of 1914. Fighting in the West By the end of August the Allied armies were in retreat and the German First Army began to head…show more content…
Each soldier usually spent eight days in the front line and four days in the reserve trench. Another four days were spent in a rest camp that was built a few miles away from the fighting. However, when the army was short of men, soldiers had to spend far longer periods at the front. It was not uncommon for soldiers to be in the front line trenches for over thirty days at a time. Soldiers did not spend the whole of the time in the trenches. Barbed-Wire Trenches on the Western Front were protected by thick barbed-wire entanglements. Barbed-wire was usually placed far enough from the trenches to prevent the enemy from the trenches to prevent the enemy from approaching close enough to lob grenades in. Sometimes barbed-wire entanglements were set up in order to channel attacking infantry into machine-gun fire. Barbed-wire entanglements were virtually impassable. The primary function of any preliminary bombardment was to ensure the destruction of the enemy’s barbed-wire. No Man’s Land No Man's Land is the term used by soldiers to describe the ground between the two opposing trenches. Its width along the Western Front could vary a great deal but generally averaged about 200-250

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