Trench Warfare free essay sample

One was a four year war, it started in 1914 and ended in 1918. over 12 countries were involved, for example Belgium, France, Italy and America. WW1 started for many reasons. For instance militarism (building up strong armed forces to prepare for war), Alliances (an agreement between counties to work together to achieve a common goal), imperialism (policy of powerful countries seeking to control the economic and political affairs of weaker or smaller countries) and nationalism (strong feeling of pride, loyalty and protectiveness for ones country. Also Germany wanted control over the world. WW1 was very special though. It was unique for many reasons, like Trench Warfare, propaganda and all of the new weaponry. Trench Warfare was a form of fighting in WW1 with heavy artillery bombardments, attacks and counter attacks across open land, and the use of poison gas. No body expected the war to last as long as it did (4 years). Trenches were built to protect yourself from the enemy(s). Trenches were generally around two meters deep and two meters wide. There was three rows. The first row was called the frontline trench. The frontline was the closest to no mans land (the land controlled by neither side of a war), it was also the most dangerous because that was were most of the fighting went on. The second row was called the support trench. It was back-up to the frontline, just in case the enemy got passed. The third and last row was called the reserves. This is were they kept all the supplies and equipment. Also there was communication tunnels connecting the trenches, they were used to transport supplies and messages to the other trenches. Trenches were very unhealthy. Lice, rats and all sorts of vermin occupied the trenches. There was little to no running water, the bathrooms consisted of a bucket in the trench. Also there was dead bodies covering all of the land. Worst of all, there was rats. They would eat dead bodies, or eat out the eyes and live in the bodies of the dead. Rats would nibble the living while they slept or when they were wounded. The other horrible parasite was lice. Lice is hard to get rid of and it spreads quickly. Lice also caused Trench Fever, Trench Fever was a disease that began with severe pain and a high fever. The only way to cure trench fever was to spend at least 12 weeks away from any trenches. The weather conditions in trenches were horrible. Most of the trenches were cold and muddy. Many soldiers died from the cold. The weather in trenches could reach below zero in the winter. Men would loose fingers and toes because of frostbite. Trenches were almost always filled with rain, sometimes up to there waist. The soldiers would get Trench Foot, it was caused from standing in the rain filled trenches for so long. Trench foot was excruciatingly painful. In most cases your foot would have to be amputated. As seen in Document One Private Michael Riley said â€Å"I’ve a little wet home in a trench where the rainstorms continually drench,† he tells how the conditions in the trenches were, cold and rained all of the time. Trench Warfare made WW1 different because in all of the other wars we did not use trenches. The second thing that made WW1 unique was propaganda. Propaganda is information that spreads ideas and influences someone’s thoughts or actions. This was used during WW1 to sell the war and mobilize support. The U. S government would put out poster that would say something to convince you to not eat meat or wheat on certain days, join the army or buy liberty bonds. As seen in Document Five one of the posters says â€Å"Sow the seeds of victory! Plant raise your own vegetables,† this means they wanted you to plant your own food so that the army would have more. We were running low on supplies and not eating store bought goods and not eating meat or wheat everyday would help because our soldiers were not getting the nutrient they needed to stay strong and win the war. Also Document three shows all of the participants in major wars, for example the civil war: the North v. South and the Spanish-American War: Spain v. USA. Both of these wars involved only two countries. It also shows WW1 and all of its participants. The allies were Britain, France, Russian (1914-1917), USA (after 1917). The central powers were Germany, Ottoman Empire and Austria- Hungary. This was a huge war. Most of the world was involved, that is why propaganda was so important. It helped give the soldiers food and supplies for one of the largest wars in history. Also it lasted a long time and the USA was only involved after 1917 but we still lost many men. Propaganda gave the army all of the supplies after they ran out because the war was lasting longer than anyone thought. That was why propaganda was important and unique because we didn’t use this method in any other wars, it was not necessary. The last but not least thing that made WW1 so different was all of the new weaponry. The most used was the bolt action rifle, it fired 15 rounds a minute at a person 1,400 meters away. The second new weapon was the machine gun. Machine guns needed 4-6 men to work them and it had to be on a flat surface. They had the fire power of 100 guns. There was also large field guns that had a long range and could drive devastating blows to the enemy but they needed up to 12 men to work them. They fired shells that exploded on impact. Next there was gas. The German army were the first to use chlorine gas at the battle of Ypres in 1915. Chlorine gas causes a burning feeling in the throat and you got chest pains. Death is painful, you would suffocate. The problem with chlorine gas is that the weather must be right. If the wind is in the wrong direction it could end up killing your own troops rather than the enemy. Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon used. It was fired into the trenches in shells. It is colorless and takes 12 hours to take effect. The effects were: blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks. In Document Four Henry says â€Å" on top of this, I encountered mustered gas for the first time last week. Fortunately, I had my gas mask ready. The same could not be said for my friend, Heinrich. To see someone die such a death is a horror I will never forget,† Henry saw his friend die from mustered gas. It was a horrible sight, dieing is a slow and painful process. Some men have to be strapped to their hospital bed while they scream till their death. Additionally there was tanks. Tanks were used for the first time in the First World War at the Battle of the Somme. They were developed to cope with the conditions on the western front. The first tank was called Little Willie and needed a crew of 3 men. Its maximum speed was 3mph and it could not cross trenches. The more modern tank was not developed until just before the end of the war. It could carry 10 men, had a revolving turret and could reach 4mph. Furthermore there was planes. Planes were also used for the first time. At first they were used to deliver bombs and for spying work but became fighter aircraft armed with machine guns, bombs and some times cannons. Fights between two planes in the sky became known as dogfights. Last but not least there was torpedoes. Torpedoes were used by submarines. The Germans used torpedoes to blow up ships carrying supplies from America to Britain. The Germans torpedoed the passenger liner Lusitanian on May 1st 1915 which sank with a loss of 1,195 lives. Americans were outraged and joined the war in 1917 on the side of the allies. This is another reason why WW1 is different because we did not have all of this new weaponry. These where some of the reason that made WW1 unique. Thankfully the United States was only involved for about a year. It was still very hard on our country. Propaganda also gave our country an economic boost though, from everyone buying liberty bonds. In the end we sign the Treaty Of Versailles (1919) and we agree that Germany should be punished severely for the damage they made. They also had to have a small military and they had to give back their land over seas. The war officially ended on the 11th day of November on the 11th hour.