Trenches, trenches, trenches; trenches everywhere. With the arrival of new, more powerful artillery and weapons, soldiers took to the ground. Digging three-meter holes created a system of trenches that went on for miles from Switzerland to the English Channel. These trenches were no hotels and living there was difficult. Apart from fighting the enemy, soldiers also had to fight the unsanitary and dangerous nature of living in trenches while under fire.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenTrenches, trenches, trenches; trenches everywhere. With the arrival of new, more powerful artillery and weapons, soldiers took to the ground. Digging three-meter holes created a system of trenches that went on for miles from Switzerland to the English Channel. These trenches were no hotels and living there was difficult. Apart from fighting the enemy, soldiers also had to fight the unsanitary and dangerous nature of living in trenches while under fire.
Trench warfare was a type of warfare that saw the participating armies of the First World War fight numerous battles against each other by the use of a man-made system of trenches that spanned hundreds of miles in total. The territory that separated the opposing trenches was called the "no man's land".
Trenches gained importance with the advent of new technology that was mainly used for war. In addition to the existing technological advancements. Trench warfare also accelerated the process of creating weapons such as the machine gun, an innovative firearm that revolutionized the age of the rifle. These new weapons were to be used specifically from trenches.
Machine guns and mobile artillery such as tanks made attacking a fortified position extremely difficult and dangerous. This was because both machine guns and tanks were recent inventions. These inventions were not made for trench warfare as they were designed to be utilised in more mobile conditions. Tanks, in particular, were designed to defeat trenches. The difficult conditions of trench warfare, however, forced most of the soldiers to use their trusty rifles and operate as cover shooters from the trenches.
Trenches were constructed almost on all battlefields from Europe to Mesopotamia, but the most violent and casualty-heavy battles were fought on the western front. Soldiers in the trenches had never experienced the devastation that had come with new, powerful and long-ranged artillery.
The arrival of tanks, mortars and similar artillery contributed heavily to what became known as 'shell shock'. This was a post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the extremely loud and frequent bombardment of the battlegrounds, which the soldiers were exposed to and had to endure for long periods of time.
Red Zones
To this day, in several locations throughout north-eastern France and Belgium, you might come across red banners that forbid you to go in a certain direction. This is because the bombs that were planted during the First World War may still be operational and the soil still contains deadly chemicals that could jeopardise your health even though it has been over a century since those chemicals and bombs were first used.
Life in the trenches was squalid. With conditions so poor, that made the war outside the trenches look more manageable. The trenches were dug from one to two meters wide and three meters deep, so movement was deliberately quite restricted. In addition, natural causes had made trenches a terrible place to be.
Rain was common, especially on the western front. As it had turned out, the rain was among the worst things to occur to soldiers in the trenches. Just imagine, a 3-meter deep system of trenches, with little or no irrigation. The soldiers were either constantly wet from the rain, or constantly dirty from the mud that followed the rain.
Living in the trenches also meant that pests such as rats were a constant problem for the soldiers. What usually attracted these critters were the stockpiles of food and dead bodies that were waiting to be transported back home. These rats were no ordinary rats either, many soldiers expressed in their diaries that the rats were as big as cats.
The Wipers Times
The Wipers Times was a trench newspaper founded and published by British soldiers stationed in Ypres, Belgium. The area surrounding the city of Ypres was one of the most battle-intensive locations during the First World War. In 1916, between the First and the Second Battle of Ypres, a unit of British soldiers came across a printing press that had been abandoned.
The Wipers Times boosted the morale of many British soldiers as it frequently included humour pieces that were meant to alleviate the soldiers' mood. The Wipers Times was printed and distributed until the end of the war.
Much like the British, French and German soldiers also had their own trench newspapers.
Poor health conditions in the trenches eventually led to diseases. The main diseases found in the trenches were typhoid, influenza, trench fever and the infamous trench foot. The first two were common causes that were caused by outbreaks of viruses in the trenches. However, the last two were directly linked to life in the trenches.
Trench foot was a condition that cost many soldiers to amputate their feet or even legs. Trench foot usually but not exclusively occurred during the winter. With poor equipment on top of already poor conditions, soldiers had to endure standing in the snow and the rain. Their feet never dry. Eventually, the soldier's feet would experience gangrene. This meant that due to the death of tissue in their feet, blood could no longer circulate in their feet, turning the soldier's foot black.
Gangrene
The death and decomposition of a tissue
Apart from trench foot, another disease that reared its head in the trenches was trench fever. Again, due to the poor conditions and pests present in the trenches, lice also became a big issue. Due to overcrowding, lice began to spread in the trenches, transporting many illnesses from soldier to soldier.
The more you know...
The famous British authors, J. R. R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and A. A. Milne took part in the First World War and each was diagnosed with trench fever at least once.
Trench warfare was a type warfare that utilised man-made trenches mainly used on the Western Front.
Trench warfare included horrors such as trench foot, trench fever, shell shock and other illnesses, both physical and mental, that were not uncommon for life in the trenches.
Trench warfare began in 1914.
Trench warfare was used as a defensive military tactic by both Allied and Central forces. Trenches protected soldiers from direct fire to some degree, but they also hindered them from readily advancing and directly battling each other.
Apart from trench foot, what other disease originated in the trenches?
Trench Fever
What new weapon revolutionised the battlefields of WWI?
The Machine Gun
Other than soldiers, who lived in the trenches that was a constant troubling matter for the solfiers?
Rats
How deep were trenches dug?
3 meters
What was the territory that separated the opposing trenches from one another called?
No man's land
What was the name of the British trench newspaper that was distributed in the British trenches?
The Wipers Times
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