Trench Warfare In World War 1

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Trench Warfare World War 1 is most notably known for the vicious fighting that lead to mass death all over Europe. This bloody war consumed approximately eight million soldiers. This does not include the number of wounded soldiers or the countless number of civilians that lost their lives. Trench Warfare had a lot to do with the huge number of casualties that accorded during World War 1. All Quite on the Western Front helps to give a real insight to what a battle was like during WW1. The set up of the trenches along with new weapons made trench warfare extremely disastrous. When watching All Quite on the Western Front, one gets a good idea how the trenches were set up. Watching the movie allows one to actually get a visual on how hard it was to pass the enemy lines. The set up of the trenches allowed the war to be as bloody as it was. For example, if the French were trying the take over a German trench they would have to run across no-mans land being completely open to German and friendly fire. If the soldiers were to make it past no-man’s land they were stopped by a stretch of barbed wire. This would slow them down right in front of enemy trenches making them an easy target. If the French…show more content…
Repeating rifles, machine guns, and high powered artillery was expected to shorten war time. The new weapons did the opposite; they prolonged war time and allowed huge loses of lives. Machine guns could mow enemy soldiers down form a distance. This act is seen clearly in the battle scenes of All Quite on the Western Front. Shelling also became very popular during this war. Again All Quite on the Western Front shows the devastation shelling causes to the land and the soldiers. Shelling could be timed perfectly to blow up right in front of troops but not kill them. The technological advances during WW1 helped to raise the death toll to a staggering
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