Battles of WW1

BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE 1914

One of many important battles in 1914 in which both sides attempted to fight a war of movement which would see the war ended by December 1914.
It was also important in contributing to the stalemate which eventuated at the end of 1914. It heralded the failure of the Schlieffen Plan.
The importance of this battle is that it was the culmination by both sides of any attempt at a war of movement, as it was realized that frontal offensives were impossible. Thus the ‘race for the sea’ developed.
It exposed the weaknesses of German battle plans and the inability of the German General von Moltke, to effectively deal with the situation as he was unable to control German strategy and virtually surrendered this to his individual commanding officers.
Before the battle von Moltke even sent two corps from his army to the Eastern Front, thus severely weakening his chances of encircling Paris as directed by the Schlieffen Plan
At the actual battle he ordered a general withdrawal of all armies to the River Aisne, 60 kilometers north of the Marne.
Sir John French, the British commander, had strained relations with the French generals. Although he did have some success, he was generally considered to be lacking in courage. He even considered withdrawing all British forces to England on the eve of the Battle of the Marne.
This battle is also an example of the power of the industrially-produced new weapons. These were not included in the strategic planning of either side, both of whom saw this war of movement as firstly an infantry attack followed finally by the cavalry who would ‘swoop down’ and claim victory.

2ND Battle of Ypres April 1915:

This battle was significant because of the German use of gas, which caused some British units to retreat in panic opening an 8 km line between then and the Germans.
However the Germans refused to capitalize on the advantage by following the British because of the effects of gas on themselves.
Gas had a devastating effect because it could blind a soldier within minutes, and if inhaled would burn the entire respiratory tract, causing a horrible death.
The wind was a negative factor for the side using gas because if the wind changed, gas would be blown back onto them. now forced to reorganize its munitions industry (Munitions Act of 1915 in Britain) and to stockpile ammunition.
Strategies: The battle plan for each side was to give supporting artillery fire to advancing troops. However, hitting those advancing troops was a real problem as it was not possible for the artillery to switch targets from the enemy trench once the infantry was approaching these trenches.
Therefore defending trenches had to be fired on prior to an attack which lost the advantage for the attacker. The Germans learnt more quickly how to counter this preparatory bombardment, by keeping soldiers in the reserve trenches and only moving them to the front line once the attackers were in view.
The creeping barrage was used towards the end of 1915. Guns would fire at pre-set barrage lines for a set number of minutes in support of an infantry attack. The first barrage would meet the enemy first trench line and so one.
The infantry wave then moved forward 100 to 150 metres behind the artillery fire. Theoretically the artillery would destroy the enemy position. However shrapnel and too few heavy guns caused the plan to fail.
The enemy simply waited behind the first line of trenches and when the fire was over they manned the trench again.