Key Facts

The Germans and the allies faced each other in a series of trenches that stretched from the north sea through Belgium and France to the Swiss frontier.

The allies could only win the war by driving the Germans out of the trenches.

The German trenches had to be destroyed if the allies were to win. Otherwise all their troops would be killed as they crossed No Man's Land.

Heavy artillery - big guns - seemed to be the answer. The German trenches would be blown to pieces by high explosive shells. All the enemy soldiers in the trenches would be killed and the allied soldiers would be able to walk across No Man's Land safely.

At first the British Commanding Generals, Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig talked of a breakthrough. Allied troops would break the enemy trench lines, cavalry would burst through, and the enemy would be defeated.

Later Sir Douglas Haig adopted the strategy of attrition. In each attack by the British they would kill more Germans than the Germans would kill of them. Since the allied nations had more men than the Germans ultimately there would be more allied soldiers left alive than Germans. At that point the Germans would surrender.

The effects of the shelling were many and varied. Some men were blown to pieces so that they were never identified in order to be buried. Others lost legs, arms, parts of their heads, as metal fragments (shrapnel) from the exploding shells collided with their bodies. Others were killed by the shock waves, they died with no marks on them. Dirt from the trenches got into the wounds and this led to a very serious illness called gangrene.

In many cases soldiers were psychologically damaged by the shelling - shell shock (see previous notes)

In the end artillery - despite its destructive powers - proved to be a disappointing weapon. It could not destroy the barbed wire, it only made it more tangled. Also it could not destroy the reinforced concrete bunkers which the Germans built as the war went on. Many of these bunkers exist to this day.

Read pages 42 -43 and answer these questions-

What was the only way the allies could win the war?

What was heavy artillery? Why was it now possible to use it against the enemy?

When was it first used to destroy German trenches?

What developments improved the accuracy of the artillery?

Copy table M on page 42.

What damage did shelling cause?

Why was it ultimately a disappointment as a weapon?

Document Exercise

How typical is source L of experiences in the First World War trenches?
This might be a typical reaction to the shelling , you might want to mention the physical and mental damage done by the shelling but also how it was not an automatic success.