Battle Strategies of Wwi

Battle Strategies of the First World War
A battle strategy is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim or a tactic used to direct military operations and movements in war or battle.
In World War I, battle strategies were often planned with the idea of wearing down the enemy’s supply of troops and equipment allowing the enemy to become more vulnerable to a later attack.
Battle strategies were used to deploy aircraft in the sky, direct soldiers and vehicles on land and control naval ships on the sea.
Well known battle strategies fought on land are such as the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Verdun.
Tactics such as using trenches, artillery and vehicles were all used in an advance to defeat the enemy trench line on land.
Trenches consisted of a fire trench, a support trench, a reserve trench and communication trenches which were joined. They were specifically built to provide protection against enemy gunfire whilst also providing a method of transportation for rations, water, ammunition and new reserves for the front. Trenches were built to a maximum of four to five feet deep. Inside was a fire step to allow men to shoot, duck boards to prevent men from sinking into the mud and dugouts or pozzies were built from wood and provided a place to sleep but were later banned due to a number of cave ins.
Weapons such as guns, bayonets and grenades were used for tactical support on land for men in battle whilst machine guns, mortars and explosive shells were used by each of enemy to bombard their trenches. British soldiers were forbidden to fire at the enemy and were required to hold their rifles across their chest and tackle the enemy with grenades and bayonets. These tactics failed continuously and many units adopted more flexible methods of attack to try to reduce casualties.
The tank was a common transportation method which carried soldiers across no-man’s land. Although they proved to be reliable when it came to protection from gunfire, they often broke down leaving soldiers stranded.
The Battle of Verdun was led by the Germans in order to invade Paris in February of 1916.This was named ‘The Schlieffen Plan’. The idea was to take Paris in exactly 39 days. Two whole German armies advanced to Paris starting from Luxemburg and then Belgium. Although the French army had their plan ‘XVII’ which created a massive blow to the German Centre, it only delayed their advance. This way, having invested Paris, the Germans would be able to turn their full attention to the Russians in the east. Unfortunately for the Germans, The Schlieffen Plan was later called off in late July after the attack was unsuccessful due to the fact that the Germans were unable to pass through Verdun. The French suffered over 542 000 casualties while German casualties rounded to over 434 000.
On the 1st of July 1916, the British launched an offensive on German forces along the Somme River on the Western Front. The strategy formed by the British was to attack with a series of bombardments on the German trenches following with an advance to the German trenches on foot. Although the Germans retreated and took refuge by a few kilometers, they managed to mow down those who crossed no mans and with heavy machine gun artillery. The battle proved to be a major failure with approximately 57 000 soldiers killed on the first day. By the end of the battle in November, the British only gained 15 kilometers and lost over one million men.
The battle of Ypres was seen to include three battles that occurred on the Western Front all near Ypres. The first battle that occurred from October to November of 1914 was an attempt made by the Allied forces to prevent the Germans from breaking through to the channel ports. The second battle which lasted from April to May in 1915 was trench conflict in which poison gas was used for the first time. Finally, the third battle which is known as the battle of’ Passchendaele’ or the ‘Battle of Passendale’ was a prolonged episode of trench warfare suffering a tremendous loss of life from an offensive led by the Allies during 1917 near the village of Passchendaele in Western Belgium. The Battle served no strategic purpose.
The Battle of Jutland is considered to be the only major naval battle fought between Germany and Britain in the First World War. A strategy thought up by the Germans was to use the ‘Dreadnought’, the most heavily armored ship in history being layered by 28cm thick plates. The dreadnought carried a crew of over 800 men; it was a total of 526 feet (160.1 meters) long. She had 10 twelve inch long guns, 24 three inch guns and 5 torpedo tubes located below the water. Although, even with the dreadnought on side, the German fleet never again sought to a full scale engagement on the seas after the Allies retained control of the North sea.
Other naval equipment such as submarines were used in the sea as well as ships. Until the beginning of the First World War submarines weren’t thought of as a great military tactic. They were usually only used for coastal defenses. It wasn’t truly until World War One that military leaders valued submarines. Mostly, submarines were used to blow up ships from underneath the surface of the sea. They could carry up to 700 tons of Amery and were armed with deck guns so they could approach the enemy with a surprise attack.
Aircraft technology was quickly and relentlessly developed to produce machines capable of serving each country initially for bombing raids, fighters and ground attacks.
Fighter planes were another method of attack linked back to the major battles.
An aircraft called ‘The Zeppelin’ was a popular method of attack for the Germans throughout the First World War. The Zeppelin was required for releasing bombs onto enemy territory. Although it carried heavy weaponry such as machine guns and bombs it was not consistent and could often be gunned down easily. Because of this, military forces discontinued the use of the Zeppelin.
Soon after the Zeppelin was considered an unreliable aircraft, the Allies equipped normal planes with machine guns, bombs and sometimes cannons. When the first plane reached the Western front in 1917, it shot down 120 enemy planes. The French had better strategy when it came to fighting with planes leaving tremendous pressure on the Germans in the war.
To this day, World War One has impacted the development of the world immensely. It has shown the horrors of war and the devastation that humans create by a simple disagreement or incident. It gave the people of its time an unexpected yet shocking insight to real suffering. Although, today, it has furthered our knowledge on the development of defense against future attacks and an understanding of what to expect if another war occurs. Bibliography: * P. McMillan. Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtactics.htm * C. Baker, 2010. The Long Long Trail. http://www.1914-1918.net/intrenches.htm * History on The net, 2000, World War One. http://www.historyonthenet.com?WW1/Weapons.htm * B. Tommy, 2006. Osprey publishing. http://www.essentialsomme.com/articles/combattactics.htm * R. Goodman. Grober Electronic Publishing. http://www.molossia.org/milacademy/strategy.html * M. Denger, 1999. Military History. http://www.submarinehistory.com/WWI.html

Bibliography: * P. McMillan. Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtactics.htm * C. Baker, 2010. The Long Long Trail. http://www.1914-1918.net/intrenches.htm * History on The net, 2000, World War One. http://www.historyonthenet.com?WW1/Weapons.htm * B. Tommy, 2006. Osprey publishing. http://www.essentialsomme.com/articles/combattactics.htm * R. Goodman. Grober Electronic Publishing. http://www.molossia.org/milacademy/strategy.html * M. Denger, 1999. Military History. http://www.submarinehistory.com/WWI.html