Delta 7 World Geography: WW1: Tactics, Technology, and Terror

Western Front• Germany’s Schlieffen Plan fails,

German offensive stalls• Both sides dig in for winter• Positions become “static”(fixed)

for much of war• Trench-War begins, trenches

stretch from Switz. to English Channel

No Man’s LandEmpty space between trenches“moonscape”, packed w/ craters,

mud, barbed wire

TacticsHad not changed for decadesReliance on frontal assaultsCavalry charges still used

WeaponsModern weaponsMachine guns, tanks, planesartilleryPoison gas- tear gas, mustard

gasOne man could fight/defeat

hundredsEnfildaded(to skewer)

Costly BattlesBattles of attritionWho would “blink” firstBattle of the Somme, July to Nov,

1916British lose 58,000 men first few

hoursTotal loses from this one battle:420,000 U.KFrench 200,000German 500,000

The Great WarLargest war in history up to that

pointMillions mobilized from dozens of

countries. Colonies and territoriesNew war, not like “old” ones

SummaryEurope not prepared for the true

powers of industrialized warfareTechnology had outpaced tactics

so that generations of men were lost for yards of territory