The Development of Stalemate on the Western Front

742 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Consequences of ww1 for britain

The Development of Stalemate on the Western Front Stalemate in war is when there is a deadlock and neither side can win. There are many reasons for the stalemate of World War 1. By the end of 1914 both Germany and France were digging trenches, using bared wire and sitting machine guns. The war became stagnant the war had changed from a war of movement to a war of stalemate. Both sides began to build trenches along what would become the western front. This was not what Count Von Schlieffen had planned to happen. So why did Stalemate develop on the western front. There are many reasons why Stalemate developed on the western front, one of the reasons was because the German troops were exhausted as the German army had to cover from 20 - 25 miles a day. So they were getting emotionally and physically drained. J.M Winter who wrote 'The Experience of World War 1' said 'Why did the plan fail? First the men of the German army had to cover 20-25 miles a day. Is it a surprise by early September many units were simply exhausted?' So when there was a chance to stop walking they took it. This exhaustion meant movement stopped and stagnation started. Another reason why Stalemate developed was because the Russian troops mobilised themselves so quickly so German troops were not focused on France, as they turned their attention on to what Russia was doing. This is what Barbara Tuchman said 'Russia's loyal launching of an unready offensive drew German troops away.' They were now fighting a war on two fronts. Another reason why Stalemate developed on the western front was because the British and Russian troops arrived at the battle of Marne. Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914. The battle of the Marne was between August and September; the Germans advanced across Belgium but were held up briefly by the British Expeditionary Force at Mons on 23 August. The British then retreated south to join the French. The Germans marched into France, but they were forced, because of the lack

Show More
Related

  • How Did Imperialism Lead To The Outbreak Of Ww1

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine four years of justing trying to capture the other teams trench, how dreadfully boring. World war one a great war of powers, invoked first by serbia’s overwhelming feeling to be their own people separate from Austria-hungary which thus lead to the assassination of the archduke Ferdinand of the Austrian-hungarian empire, which then lead to all the countries allied with Austria-hungary to support Austria in it’s attack on serbia, then all the countries allied with serbia to bring up arms on Austria, and Austria’s allies. This in terms of alliances had come upon through imperialism that lead to germany already against Austria in terms of expansion.

    Read More

  • Assessment of the Reasons for Allied Victory in 1918

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though German high commanders have received much praise, they relied on the ability of senior German generals. Many commanders lacked ideas for victory and often were indecisive which led to unwillingness of using modern technology and resources to conduct a successful war effort. Commanders had little understanding on what was really needed; many only thought more men would successfully defeat the allied forces, along with an increase in firepower all which strained the troubled home nation. Not only did the war effort rely on the efficiency of the army and armed forces, but it also relied on the homefront. The German homefront felt the brunt of the war and the British naval blockade was not helping.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Battle of Arracourt

    3155 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the summer of 1944, General George S. Patton and his 3rd Army successfully broke through heavy German Forces resistance from the Normandy invasion. German forces were in total disarray by the end of August 1944. Patton pleaded with his boss, General Omar Bradley, that if 3rd U.S. Army could be allocated as little as 400,000 gallons of fuel, he could be inside Germany in two days. Time was crucial before the inevitable reaction by the Germans to shore up their defense, preventing Patton from advancing. General Bradley refused Patton's request for more fuel; Unfortunately, General Patton advanced to Germany. Morale ran high throughout Patton’s Army, and there was no sign of heavy resistance before the German border. Consequently, by early September, the 3rd U.S Army had ground to a virtual halt along the flooded Moselle River. In places, Patton's tanks and vehicles ran out of fuel on the battlefield and their swift momentum outran their supply lines (Fugate, 1999). Lack of logistics allowed the German forces to take advantage of Patton’s Army and initiate one of the largest tank battles of World War II, the Battle of Arracourt.

    Read More

  • The Change in the Fighting on the Western Front

    404 Words  | 1 Pages

    People did not expect the war to develop in the way it did. In 1914

    Read More

  • World War One Battlefield Tactics

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ced to retreat or be cut off from their supplies. The German High Command, at this point, knew that they could no longer continue to fight and needed to surrender or face annihilation.

    Read More

  • The Stalemate in World War I

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    The stalemate on the Western front had developed by December 1914 because of the new advances in defensive weaponry where both sides had developed lethal weaponry like the machine guns and artillery, which subsequently led to trench warfare. The Machine Gun was a very dominant weapon in the First World War. It could kill hundreds of men a minute due to its rapid firing rate of 600 bullets a minute. However the machine guns that were used in the First World War weighed between 30kg – 60kg, would require a four to six operators and could heat up extremely quickly; clearly not very effective as a offensive weapon (Duffy, Michael. "Machine Guns.") Machine Guns were only effective for defense as they were extremely heavy, required a lot of ammunition a needed to be fixed into the ground. This made it severely difficult to attack and move with machine guns. Artillery was even deadlier as a defensive weapon and was one of the most important weapons of the First World War as it was the cause of the majority of human losses. The artillery ranged from field artillery to heavy and long range artillery that could fire long distances and would trap the enemies in their trenches. The Trench Mortar was also a very effective weapon in the war, which was a “tube” that would fire at a vertical angle (higher than 45 degrees) and could therefore be fired within the safety of the trench, unlike artillery. All these new advances in technology made trenches almost impossible to attack yet also kept each side trapped in their trenches.

    Read More

  • The Schlieffen Plan in The First World War

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    The plan intended that1.5million of Germany’s men would win the war in just six weeks. They aimed to invade France through Belgium, en-circle Paris and therefore becoming behind the French army to the lack of their knowledge, and attack France form the rear, making them surrender. By doing this they would have captured Paris, thus being the capital, making Germany in control of France. Unfortunately for them they were not able to do this. As this would be an extremely rapid victory, Germany would then be able to concentrate on attacking Russia as by this time they would have only just mobilised.

    Read More

  • The Battle Of Stalingrad: The Turning Point Of World War II

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zhukov planned an attack from two directions, sweeping in and meeting in the middle. After four days, the Soviet attack had met in the middle and had completely surrounded German forces. The Soviet forces were ordered to stay very close to the German troops so that the airstrikes would put their own forces at risk. The German army begged Hitler to allow them to retreat, but he denied them and ordered his men to hold their ground at all costs. This proved to be a pivotal mistake.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of All Quiet On The Western Front

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, author Erich Maria Remarque reveals a dimmer sense of the cost of war. The main character in the book, German soldier, Paul Baumer, embodies the cost of war before he reaches his ultimate fate. The tactics and weapons used in World War 1 were more advanced compared to the past as a result of the industrial revolution. Germany was forced to fight a two-front war and this intensified the losses suffered by soldiers like Paul and the other men in the Second Company (Gomez 2016, German Strategy for a Two-Front War – Modern Weapons: War and the Industrial Revolution). Remarque’s observations that he shares with readers are not to World War 1 because it portrayed not only the physical but mental consequences of combat. Regardless of what era of war soldiers were involved in they were the ones who paid the price for facing so much death.

    Read More

  • The Reasons why the Western Front was Broken

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Reasons why the Western Front was Broken There were many equally important reasons why the stalemate on the western front was finally broken: New technology like the tank The American entry into the war The blockading of German ports The German offensive in March 1918 Explain how far you agree with this statement The new technology and tactics helped to break stalemate. The machine gun and artillery had been used since the outbreak of the war making attacking almost impossible. Then they made the wonder-weapon other wise known as the tank. It was first used during the Somme by the British but they had very little tanks and most of them broke down before they arrived at the front.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of All Quiet On The Western Front

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Erich Maria Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front in 1929 to advertise the horrors of World War I, the dangers of complete nationalism, and how any type of war can turn even the strongest soldier into an emotional and physical mess. With the novel being written in the early 20th century, the starting point of the World Wars, Remarque had the emotions of the public and Europe and American and the tip of her fingertips. The point of the novel was not to glorify war like previous war time novels had, rather it was to show the horror and the realistic negative aspects to war that the common person would not see. Remarque uses many different ways to portray the violence and horrible aspects of war, but one of the most visual is his description of destruction. This is not destruction of buildings or human made objects; this is the destruction of actual human beings. He uses this method to be able to grab onto the reader. If Remarque was only trying to tell a story, this use of blood and gore would not be necessary, but since he is trying to prove a point about the

    Read More

  • All Quiet On The Western Front Critical Analysis

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing future, reducing the quality of his life.

    Read More

  • The Battle of France

    2520 Words  | 6 Pages

    The French placed their defense in old, outdated tactics of static warfare. Gone were the days of two sides slugging it out against prepared reinforced defense structures. Closely integrating concentrated armor, infantry, and closely supported by aviation assets all combined to crush France in a matter of only six weeks. France was simply not prepared for this new age of warfare.

    Read More

  • The Alliance System Led to World War I

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    There were long term causes that contributed to the war and were the origins. This answer will explain the causes, focusing on how they contributed to World War One and what the important links are between them. The Alliances not only contributed to war breaking out; it made the war last longer and become on a much larger scale; major political disputes would inevitably cause a large conflict. The alliances caused suspicion, fear, and tension among nations. The two camps were the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary).

    Read More

  • Shlieffen Plan Essay

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Germans wanted to get the war over with France so that they didn't have to fight Russia at the same time, so when they got delayed, they were in trouble.

    Read More

More about The Development of Stalemate on the Western Front

Open Document