... fired from upgraded versions of cannons, they were used to soften up enemy trenches and attack heavily fortified positions. Light artillery was used in the initial stages on the Western Front such as the French 75-mm field gun, however with time technological developments allowed Germany to develop heavier guns of greater range and more destructive power such as the Big ... Bertha; however its effectiveness was limited as their immense weight, which meant that rail transport was needed to move them. Shells were used as a way to break through enemy lines of barbed wire, they were extreme...

• Word Count: 945
• Approx Pages: 4

All Quiet on the Western Front - Essay All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, is a novel that takes you through the life of a soldier in World War I. Remarque is accurately able to portray the many stresses soldiers ... Paul returns from leave he is soon caught in a shell hole during the attack. Here, he is forced to kill a Frenchman who jumps into the trench while attacking the German lines. Paul is horrified at his action. He thinks, "This is the first time I have killed with my hands, whom I can see close at hand, whose death is my doing" ... (193). The war and...

• Word Count: 1266
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

From somewhere in Belgium January 03, 1915 Dear brother, I am writing you a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and I am keeping quite well. I hope you all are enjoying the best of health and strength especially my dear mother. I also take ... was an English one and we had sacrament. We all tried to make it a wonderful Christmas but it was much different than last year. On Christmas Eve, I was on the front. Bullets were falling around us and I was thinking what I was doing last year. I never thought I would be here one day. But you can never tell. I have been out on working ... ...

• Word Count: 524
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... this was to be broken. By the start of 1915 new and innovative ideas were being made by Allies and the Germans to break the lines of the Western Front, in the hope that one of the sides could gain an "edge" upon the other. One of the first revolutionary weapons of the ... to induce a violent fit of sneezing. Three months later, on 31 January 1915, the Germans deployed tear gas for the first time on the Eastern Front. Fired in liquid form contained in 15 cm howitzer shells against the Russians at Bolimov, the new experiment proved unsuccessful, with the tear gas liquid failing ... (alt...

• Word Count: 3422
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

... told about a possible German gas attack but it failed to provide any information or means of defence to the soldiers who were already on the front lines. A cloud of strange, green smoke rolling towards the Canadian and French-Algerian trenches made the French-Algerian troops panic and flee from the trench. ... 1914. It was finally decided that the British forces would attack at the Ypres front as part of the three phase attack. On July 18, the British and French artillery started a massive barrage on the German lines. On July 31, an attack was planned to take place. The battle itself .....

• Word Count: 1595
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ascendancy of the Central powers as a whole, and Germany especially, whom, by the eve of the war, were challenging Britain on virtually every front except finance, to the prevention of global domination by a single power. This is shown between the posters, the former merely being straightforward recruitment ... most attacks were recognised long before they took place, while trench "raids" tended to reveal more than any writing by a "patriotic" soldier from the front. Surprise attacks were thus rare, especially early in the war, infantry tactics being far from competent. However, when sur...

• Word Count: 6124
• Approx Pages: 24
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... World War, was trench warfare. Trench warfare was one of the main reasons so many men died. It was a ruthless system of warfare, in which lines and lines of men were repeatedly mowed down, one after the other. Life in the trenches, on the daily, was filled with horror, and death. Death was ... in the trenches as a consequence of a precisely aimed sniper's bullet. It has been estimated that up to one third of allied casualties on the Western Front were actually sustained in the trenches. Aside from enemy injuries, disease wrought a heavy toll. The trenches were also a place full of diseas...

• Word Count: 1346
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... German forces of reserves, although territorial gain was a secondary aim. The attack was to start on July 1, 1916. It was preceded by an eight-day preliminary bombardment of the German lines, beginning on Saturday 24 June. The expectation was that the ferocity of the bombardment would entirely destroy all forward German defenses, enabling the attacking British troops to practically walk across ... No Man's Land and take possession of the German front lines from the battered and dazed German troops. 1,500 British guns, together with a similar number of French guns, were employed in the bo...

• Word Count: 920
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... almost any price. The Russians ally Rumania had collapsed. .In March 1918, the Germans began a sweeping assault which saw them break through Allied lines. They swept forward, captured thousands of prisoners and came within striking distance of Paris. But by November of the same year, the asked for ... and had captured 1,100 artillery cannons. But they moved so quickly, breaking through trench after trench and speeding deep into Allied territory that their supply lines could not keep up. Artillery support was left behind, and a huge salient was created, plunging into France. Eventually, ...

• Word Count: 1069
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... death in the trenches but only a relatively small proportion of the army actually served there. The trenches were the front lines, the most dangerous places. However behind them was a mass of supply lines, training establishments, stores, workshops, headquarters and all the other elements of the 1914-1918 system of war, in ... in 1915 it rapidly decreased, however a small amount of cases continued during the war. The Trench Cycle Normally a battalion would be needed in the front line. Then some time is spent in support. A period of rest would continue (generally short in duration) befor...

• Word Count: 1506
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to overpower them by sending in more and more men. All this led to was an abundance of casualties. As the attacks went on, the Western front became strewn with decaying bodies and the remains of shells. In 1916, the French and British forces decided to launch an allied attack on the German's ... along the Western, Eastern, and Italian fronts. The Somme was chosen for the Western front. The allied plan of the French and British was changed when the German's decided to set their battlefield on the edge of Verdun. Verdun was a very ... neared the end of June, they were ready for the first m...

• Word Count: 1223
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... changes in the still settings. American inventions such as barbed-wire and machine guns played huge roles in the trench warfare. Being in the front-line was extremely dangerous. Almost every day some enemy shells would fall on the trenches. Many of the same sides" men would be ... telling the horrid stories that they witnessed, others optimistic in return, wrote plans for whenever they got home. Men rotated shifts as far as front lines, and reserve lines go. From repairing the trenches, to supplying ammunition and food, to sleeping and reporting to headquarters, trench warfare was a const...

• Word Count: 678
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... that trench warfare favoured the defender and not the attacker, even armed with this knowledge, all faith was put into preliminary bombing the enemy lines before any major offensive. This tactic rarely worked as fortifications were built to withstand such intense bombing, as well in the case of the Allied ... begin. The expectation of the bombardment was too completely knock out German trenches, enabling allied troops to cross no mans land and capture the German front lines. Not only did these expectations fall short, but also ten minutes before the troops were to go over the top, a mine...

• Word Count: 1178
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... protected France along its border with Germany, not Belgium. The assault concentrated on the enemies back line and rear areas to break the lines of supply and communication. Once achieved less mobile forces were able to destroy smaller isolated groups of resistance. Blitzkrieg also required new technology ... They were the first to attack the enemy, destroying strong resistance so tanks and ground troops could then enter. Dive-bombers shelled and attacked front line troops; towns to spread panic, and enemy airfields were destroyed so the Germans were sure they wouldn't have an air assault...

• Word Count: 856
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... French before Russia could attack her. Russia can be commended for her swift mobilization, part of Russian mobilization involved military control in the front line territories and military installations. This martial law for all territories bordering Germany. It was this force of 208 battalions of infantry and ... . German troops became a familiar sight at bridges, viaducts rails and roads. Most of the skilled European work force was sent to the front lines to die and European industry suffered accordingly. Since all means of German transportation was being use to support the war; German...

• Word Count: 757
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... spread from the Swiss border to Belgium totaling about 25,000 miles. For three years, this line of trenches that became known as the Western Front never moved more than about 5 miles between the sides. The Germans were the first to use trenches. General Falkenhayn wanted to hold off ... offensive strategy. These military actions were known as attacks. Attacks usually involved a division of men (16,000), and were used to break the enemy lines. Offensives were the defensive military actions used to hold their position (what the trenches were first used for). During these attacks and offens...

• Word Count: 1489
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... value of the fort to the French people and hoped that's the attack would draw in major portions of the French army from throughout the entire front. Falkenhayen appointed the commander of the German 5th Army, Crown Prince Wilhelm, to take the French salient. Wilhelm proposed to attack from two sides along ... , Wilhelm hoped to greatly reduce the number of defenders before the German infantry advanced. By February 24, the Germans had managed to take the first two lines of trenches ahead of the fort and as a result the commander of the French forces, Langle de Cary, was replaced by Genera...

• Word Count: 432
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... of men have escaped it's shells, were destroyed by war..." (Remarque). All Quiet on the Western Front is a gruesome film displaying the soldiers impact during World War I. This film goes beyond enemy lines into Germany's front in a rigorous battle of gruesome violence. World War I's trench warfare dehumanized young soldiers and had a ... carnage and gore. Portraying the evil side of war and never glorifying the battles, demonstrating the real emotion during war. All Quiet on the Western Front does not portray W.W.I as a romantic picture of glory, but more as an unromantic fearful experie...

• Word Count: 927
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... were dominated by the killing power of the weapon. The battle of Somme utterly demonstrates the effectiveness of this weapon. On 1 Jul 1916 an attack was launched on a 30 kilometer front north on the Somme river. It was a joint attack from the French and the British. The French Commander in Chief Joffre planed the attack as an attack of attrition with ... slowed the French looked up to see the Germans had reached there barbed wire. They immediately opened fire with there machine guns. The weapon tore large holes in the German lines. In one location the artillery fire opened a hole in th...

• Word Count: 1642
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... by men, who fought in the Great War and the return of "shell-shock" veterans in England. Many British soldiers left to serve their country on the Western Front, while woman maintained the home front and witnessed the negative effects of the war. Prior to this time, women were considered inferior and subservient to men. Before the war, "most well-bred girls ... civilian clothes, and to disgrace civilians on the street by giving them a white feather, a symbol of cowardice and dishonour. Government and industry also needed women to replace men in many lines of work. Todd skillfully develop...

• Word Count: 2089
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... spent in trenches led to a spread of diseases, an invitation to pests, and a demoralization of its troops. With the hope of a short war now lost, the fighting on the Western Front settled down to trench warfare. Victories on the battlefield were soon being measured in yards. Soldiers spent four years in trenches, contracting diseases, fighting rats, and fighting their own morale ... . There were three types of trenches that formed the strategy. The three types were: fire (front line), cover (reserve troops who supported front lines), and communicating. Overall, the trenches of the Wester...

• Word Count: 671
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... filled with smells of contamination as they walk through the freezing cold water that they had to persist on tramping in. The men then walked away from the front line where the flares are described as "haunting". They remind the men of people dying as the flame of the flares brought them back to the battlefield ... so the officers don't want the fresh recruits to see them so they have a traffic light system where the new recruits go up one tunnel to the front line while the wounded come down the other tunnel so their disturbing injuries can't be seem. They then have to walk about four mi...

• Word Count: 1476
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... patriotic side of the war, his poem "The Soldier" represents this fact very well. Them poem itself soldier is written in the form of a sonnet, 14 lines of iambic pentameter, divided into an octave and sestet. The poem is written as if it was the last words of a soldier, writing a message to his ... mood of the first months of the war. Rupert Brooke is happy to die for his country, but knows nothing of what comes before death on the Western Front: exposure, mud, the constant dangers of snipers, the regular loss of friends and comrades. There are certain passages in Birdsong that reflect ...

• Word Count: 3313
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

... it had succeeded, history would be very different. The Union artillery had devastated the Confederate charge. The soldiers that did make it past the artillery had to face the Union lines and muskets. The losses had been too much for the Confederate forces and they were massacred: Musket fire was beginning to reach them. The great noise increased, beating of wings ... line, saw gray faces as he passed, eyes sick with fear, but the line moved on. (324-325) General Lee is certain that the Union lines would break and orders Pickett's fresh division to the front to lead the charge. Although ...

• Word Count: 957
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . Using pressurized air and carbon dioxide or nitrogen it belched a stream of burning oil for as much as 54 feet. Fielder's second, larger model the Grossflammenwerfer. Worked along the same lines but was not made for transport by a single person, but whose maximum range was twice that of the smaller model. it could also sustain flames for an impressive forty seconds ... on the battlefield. Ironically its use ought not to have been a surprise to the Allied troops, for captured German soldiers had revealed the imminent use of gas on the Western Front. Their warnings were not passed on how...

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School