<aside> <img src="/icons/bookmark-outline_gray.svg" alt="/icons/bookmark-outline_gray.svg" width="40px" /> In this lesson, you will…
Big Question: How did technology change the ways that we fight wars in modern conflicts?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AVNhTi9pzM&t=506s
The commanders and military leaders on both sides of the conflict held the optimistic belief that the war would be over quickly. This was a common sentiment, driven perhaps by a combination of hope and underestimation of the enemy's resolve.
A frequently heard phrase among the soldiers and their leaders was the prediction that the other side would certainly surrender by Christmas of 1914. This belief was fueled by a mix of wishful thinking and a lack of understanding of the complexity and intensity of the conflict that was unfolding.
The Central Powers realized that they’d have to fight on two fronts.
A front is the point at which an army must engage the enemy.
Germany’s initial invasion was known as the Schlieffen Plan which involved quickly defeating France by sending troops through the neutral country of Belgium.
The Germans came within miles of Paris, but were stopped by English and French troops at the Battle of Marne.
Because the Schlieffen Plan failed, the Central Powers were forced to fight a two-front war.
The hopes that the war would be over by Christmas of 1914 were quickly forgotten.
By 1915, the war had settled into a stalemate as each side fortified their positions with trenches – long ditches dug in the ground to protect the soldiers.
New and improved weapons were used in fighting the war, including the machine gun, poison gas, tanks, and airplanes. These weapons made it easier to defend a position than to attack.
Soon, trenches extended hundred of miles along eastern France.
These trenches were separated by fields of barbed wire and mines known as “No Man’s Land” and anyone who climbed out of the trenches faced near-instant death from enemy machine gun fine.
The only way to attack the enemy was to go “over the top” and leave the trenches and charge across “No Man’s Land” into enemy machine gun fire. Casualties were astronomically high.