Why Trenches? - WW1 Uncut: Dan Snow - BBC

[@faith2623]

Who is here to do homework set by your teacher during covid 19 🤣

[@jingletea]

yeah baha

[@wild_wolfgamez3021]

Sapphire Battersea yep

[@BlitzBoy-sp3cs]

same, the start of this vid is cringe

[@Edits-World]

yep

[@vexgraal6875]

Me

[@richardweldon2062]

For all the hostile criticism of these little documentaries by the keyboard malitia, this one does illustrate very simply how difficult it was to get across a field in WW1 whilst being shot at. Even by two or three people in dry, non-muddy, non-barbed wire, non-artillery conditions with what in comparison are low powered and innacurate paint ball guns. It's quite a stark and graphic reminder of how so many were cut down the moment they stood up.

[@kevinherbert4256]

700k GERMAN MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN WERE STARVED TO DEATH BETWEEN 1914 AND 1919 BY THE UK STAGED NORTH SEA BLOCKADE......WITH MILLIONS MORE SUFFERING LIFETIME HEALTH EFFECTS...AND IT'S NEVER MENTIONED.........EVIL ON A SCALE NEVER BEFORE SEEN...... Reply

[@LambertBowden56]

I love all the dummies who think they know better. Like they could do more than the generals of the time.

[@tonyweaver2353]

Yea they couldn't exactly line battle it out lol they would get massacred

[@nonegone7170]

@@LambertBowden56 Well, technically they could 'do more than the generals of the time'. Hindsight is a powerful ally.

[@kamrudjacobson4438]

This whole series, with the wacky sound effects and house music and goofy graphics deserves a kick in the nuts.

[@radioactiverat8751]

I find it hard to take seriously because it doesn't take anything it talks about seriously. First video I watched was a soldiers diet, and it opened up with Skrillex Bangarang and I rolled my eyes knowing *exactly* how this would go.

[@radioactiverat8751]

@Julie Wilburn had a bad day?

[@Akui_Kuragari]

@@radioactiverat8751 When you see comments like this, you know these commenters had a bad day.

[@radioactiverat8751]

@@Akui_Kuragari That or they were being a dick just because

[@jakey4318]

RadioactiveRat or they are about 7 years old

[@happymonkeyfish]

what kinda person is obsessed with ww1 but doesnt know anything about trench warfare, thats like saying you like metal music but not knowing who black sabbath is.

[@hugovalfridsson2847]

Borgo Dorgo It's a diffrent between obsessed and to lile something

[@gassass2663]

I like metal music but i dont know who is black sabbath

[@Anglisc1682]

He's acting in order to prove a point

[@olliefuture]

He's creating a scene and image for people that don't know so much. Surely that's clear !

[@factbeaglesarebest]

He’s interested in WW1, but wants to comprehend intimately how the trenches wound up so important... generals during WW1 didn’t expect trenches, and couldn’t answer the question. The problem was the advent of modern industrial machinery being introduced to war... battle tactics were ruined by this introduction of modern technology

[@gunjirox7485]

A fucking Paintball-Browning???? Cool.

[@gaz1415]

yeah they actually exist, for over £1000, you can even get 30 cals too

[@Apollo_1641]

Kane Batten If they only had a paintball maxim...

[@idontknowwhatiamdoinganymo1615]

You're going to WW1 and WW2 airsoft my good man.

[@doomcrew311]

I bet these vids are booming with views because of battlefield 1

[@lancerd4934]

Also because 2014-2018 is the centenary of the first world war. Battlefield 1 was made because of the surging interest in ww1 that has resulted from that milestone. Napoleonic stuff is getting a lot of interest right now as well because it was the 200 year anniversary of the battle of Waterloo last year.

[@candyman3]

i think that is a good thing, bf1 makes sure that ww1 wont be forgotten

[@lancerd4934]

***** Halo?

[@Supermario0727]

+lancer D Halo doesn't claim to be realistic, and it doesn't try to imitate any historical event. You can tell, just by playing it, that it is a game meant to have fun, not recreate a historical experience.

[@lancerd4934]

John Stuart Does Battlefield 1 claim to be realistic?

[@TaZ101SAGA]

Why Trenches? So you don't fucking die. Why is this even a question? Lol

[@CrniWuk]

When you think about it, it is actually an interesting question, because WW2 for example was a much more mobile warefare. In 1944 the American and British forces pushed trough france in just a few months. And before them, the Germans in Poland, Belgium, France and Russia. So the question might seem simple, but it actually contains a lot of informations that tell you something of the nature of WW1. Particularly when you consider major battles before WW1, like during the 18th and 19th century, where battle formations, the correct use of cavalry and all sorts of infantry tactics played a huge role. Many of which became obsolete with the start of WW1 or even before it.

[@blu3flare25]

They didnt really explain shit trenches are just like digging a fox hole because artillery shells and bullets cant kill you if you habe a endless wall of dirt around you

[@zackerycooper1206]

Artillery shells can sure as hell kill you.

[@jjcp8419]

"All quiet in the western front" anyone else got that reference?

[@AlastorTheNPDemon]

Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but it can't be simply the title of a certain book and movies.

[@idontknowwhatiamdoinganymo1615]

I really wanna see the movie.

[@maplebear6527]

If you're here, and don't get it...

[@Ccs1989]

It's important to remember Dan Snow is a television presenter, not a professional historian. People credit him as a historian, which is like saying Morgan Freeman is a scientist because he presents a show about space.

[@cinderellasdownfall]

He is actually a historian, I believe he studied history at Oxford.

[@Ccs1989]

But was it undergraduate or did he go through graduate studies? A bachelors degree in history doesn't mean you're a historian.

[@cinderellasdownfall]

He passed with first class honours I believe. And I think it does, surely completely an BSc in maths makes you a mathematician? Or a MBBS a doctor?

[@Elenrai]

What? Morgan Freeman is God, right?

[@philipritson8821]

It's a very British story. His aunty is Margaret Macmillan. She is an eminent historian! It's not what you know, is who you related to.

[@judeoster3222]

7:36 I got the reference. One of my favorite movies

[@velikiradojica]

Surely you mean one of your favorite books?

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Book first then I think 2 movies based on it was made.

[@Guted77]

German Trenches in world war 1 where immaculate, they where known to have window shutters and even door mats!

[@tiernonhall3132]

+Gutted77 so?

[@valtlo4806]

+Paul Llama verdun

[@adamsfamily4790]

No they weren't. Have you ever read the book all quite on the western front ? Dunb6ass

[@phantomwhite7972]

The main reason for the trenches is because technological advances in firepower and preceded advances in mobility, which favoured defensive tactics. It took the invention of tanks and bombers to overcome the dug-in machine guns and mortars, so by the time WWII came around, trenches weren't much use.

[@Valchrist1313]

Trenches were plenty of use. They just had roofs, fewer openings, and were called tunnels. The Japanese used them in WW2, and the Vietnamese in their ubiquitous war, and now they're being used by ISIS.

[@phantomwhite7972]

Valchrist1313 Tunnels =/= trenches, I have nothing more to add.

[@robert9595]

and mexicans.

[@Mourtzouphlos240]

Yes. Getting through the trenches wasn't that difficult, it was the fact that neither side could exploit a breakthrough or hold what they had taken indefinitely.

[@adamgrimsley6455]

That is just not true

[@Bufkey]

I like how people are complaining that these videos explain ww1 while using shitty dubstep music and stupid sound effects, but completely forget about the BF1 trailers...

[@Snowpeagaming]

(Insert raging comment here)

[@chantz7515]

All quiet on the western front was a good movie

[@thelvadam2375]

Chantz Petrie Everyone Died For Nothing!

[@Sleepy1988]

Saw it in 10th grade history, so many years ago. Sad stuff.

[@Sleepy1988]

And I'm pretty sure the book was banned in Germany when the Nazis came to power.....it was one of the ones being thrown on the pyres because it portrayed war in a less than favorable light.

[@e3hammer]

Trenches of the Damned. I doubt any fiction Hell could compare to reality of life and death in the trenches. Brave men who surrendered everything for what they considered a noble cause only to have to call to arms again 21 years later :( RIP all

[@cannonf_odder3041]

they weren’t playing the british. they were playing the french

[@thecell8787]

0:44 Why do so many so-called maps of world war 1 refuse to show Alsace-Lorraine as part of the German Empire?? This honestly is becoming a pet peeve now, whenever I see the western front drawn with Alsace-Lorraine being French. In case these so-called historians forgot, the territory of Alsace Lorraine was conquered in the Franco-Prussian War and has been a part of the German Empire since its birth.

[@Skibbi198]

***** It is annoying. It is shown to be in the occupied zone of France, because it was French since before the Empire.

[@Prairielander]

Don't forget the Americans had invented barbed wire for cattle and were able to mass produce it and this was adopted in warfare as well. So even if you made to to the enemy trench you could be tangled in bared wire and shot to death or left in it.

[@tiernonhall3132]

+Prairielander thats why the british made tanks

[@cloroxbleach9222]

Another function of barbed wire was to create a choke point. MGs fire at the choke point to make kills easy

[@v.t.o.l.friedchicken6973]

Tanks solved the trench problem. And planes.

[@FaithRox]

Planes didnt solve shit lmao

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Tanks didn't solve trenches either. Or at least not alone. Planes didn't either, in fact probably made it worse due to more effective artillery spotting. A lot of factors combined finally broke trench warfare.

[@Zamolxes77]

Trenches weren't the problem. Trenches are solution to a problem: how to defend a position. The combination of trenches, barbed wire and interlocking fields of fire machineguns gave defending side a supreme advantage. Tanks and planes helped solving THAT problem, but that didn't make trenches, barbed wire or machineguns obsolete.

[@FaithRox]

Zamolxes77 Yeah I mean the most basic of anti-tank traps are essentially a glorified trench.

[@blitzwaffe]

More like a combination of tanks, planes, infantry, and etc. WWI was where you started seeing the idea of modern combined military tactics, where you would have a coordinated effort of military forces to cover each other.

[@jennaslife4073]

anyone else watching this for school work because of corona

[@user-ui7tn1fq2b]

yup

[@JustCallMeM]

@@user-ui7tn1fq2b me too

[@Andersson203]

1:30 into the clip and they've touched on a bunch of subjects that you could dedicate several full length documentary to if you were so inclined.

[@Zemkezis]

I really liked how you explored different ideas and summarized why it did not happen or suceed. The understanding-per-minute value of this video is trough the roof :)

[@austinpontius01]

like how they used enter sandman

[@smallwithcold2994]

2:27 METALLICA!!!!🎸🎸🎸

[@nickdesimone6208]

2:27 if you were wondering what the song was Metallica - enter sandman

[@e2m514]

really hyped for BF1!!!

[@bassman3235]

there ain't trenches nor are there bolt actions rifles so basically it's nothing like ww1

[@e2m514]

Riad Guzin ikr! i feel like im playing BF4 re skinned

[@alexpiggford2757]

Well it wouldn't be a fun game if you just sat there and every time you popped your head up you died, now would it?

[@e2m514]

Salty Sloth yes...it would be like wack a mole...but with guns

[@alexpiggford2757]

Not my idea of fun. Besides, BF1 takes place in 1918, after the trenches.

[@ArisandBeth]

I love how they discuss ww1 in a new exciting way, yeahhh!❤❤❤❤

[@KuruGDI]

7:21 The best thing you can do is indeed have a cup of tea!

[@djjonmaby3995]

lol i like dan snow great clip

[@Basedweaboo]

Can we find a historical video on youtube that isn't a meme where the comments aren't filled with 15-year-old historians who have never looked at a primary source a day in their life?

[@foelancer7625]

"What's a source?"

[@nateemond197]

Please do another BATTLEFIELD SERIES DAN! THOSE AIRED HERE ON PBS IN NEW ENGLAND 5 YEARS AGO AND STILL BEST MILITARY SERIES ON TACTICS EVER AIRED ON AMERICAN TELEVISION! WE NEED A WORLD WAR ONE BATTLEFIELD SERIES!

[@kevinherbert4256]

700k GERMAN MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN WERE STARVED TO DEATH BETWEEN 1914 AND 1919 BY THE UK STAGED NORTH SEA BLOCKADE......WITH MILLIONS MORE SUFFERING LIFETIME HEALTH EFFECTS...AND IT'S NEVER MENTIONED.........EVIL ON A SCALE NEVER BEFORE SEEN...... Reply

[@9.2.197]

5:27 DAS IST SEHR BELEIDIGEND!!!!

[@TalladegaTom]

War. A needless and utter waste of humanity.

[@nathankahla2724]

Wow what a poet.

[@MasterFaust]

Without war, there won't be much of the technology we have now. War means technology research is accelerated deeply.

[@cloroxbleach9222]

+Paul Llama Wrong, war trades lives not for weapons only, but better medicine, a simple cut could kill someone back then.

[@thebritish1443]

I agree brb cuase war started when poeple wanted more land than others and more glory than others and then the whole age of wars started and we are lucky that WW3 hasnt started yet becuase its bound to happen

[@5thfjreenactor602]

Talladega Tom yet a crucial part of what is going to become and what has become without wars there are no humans

[@Rookheimer]

lotta things needed to take into consideration, 1 those paintballs dont have recoil, 2nd the “no mans land” wasn’t just a straight field, it was mostly covered with barbed wire, dug in’s from mortars, and well obviously corpses, 3rd like he pointed out, it would usually have a squadron or two running through. Well obviously thesy could’nt do that stuff for the show. However would’ve been nice to bring it up.

[@spyderindustries8247]

Dude, what greatcoat is he wearing? That thing is awesome.

[@lordofdarkdudes]

"the generals werent stupid" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAASHAHAHHAHAHAAH!!!!!

[@tylerlee232]

Lol you're exactly the kind of idiot he was referencing

[@olliefuture]

Fantastic piece of work right here, brilliant

[@kevinherbert4256]

700k GERMAN MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN WERE STARVED TO DEATH BETWEEN 1914 AND 1919 BY THE UK STAGED NORTH SEA BLOCAKADE......WITH MILLIONS MORE SUFFERING LIFETIME HEALTH EFFECTS...AND IT'S NEVER MENTIONED.........EVIL ON A SCALE NEVER BEFORE SEEN...... Reply

[@zandrbob]

Great segment.

[@Mark-pf9st]

There was barely any trench warfare happening on the Eastern front of ww1. How did they fight there? Was it sort of like ww2? Or the early napoleonic stages of 1914.

[@Holret]

YOu hear that Battlefield 1 fans!? 3 years!!! (right up until the introduction of the tank)

[@Zyme86]

Or play Verdun

[@Holret]

fuck that game, WW1 sucks.

[@taureaurouge3315]

+Holret But Battlefield 1 is WW1. Also, Verdun is a WAY more accurate representation of WW1.

[@Callllum]

Holret still the same outcome

[@roberth1328]

WW1 didn't start with trench warfare though.

[@globes179]

Did they ever explain why this didn't happen in World War 2? That was his original question. So, what was the difference?

[@RTSBEST]

New technology which allowed for mobile warfare like tanks and planes.

[@KoMDraegast]

The Germans showed how to do it quite well, the development of tanks, which eventually broke the stalemate on the western front were so fast and heavily armored that a deadlock was virtually impossible to get anymore, except when you take Stalingrad of course, but that's another issue. Point is, the strategy and tactics caught up with the technology and prevented stuff like stalemates resulting in even more death. Planes were also developed further and ground attack aircraft were devastating to static targets. The importance of air superiority also became a big issue so the infantry alone became less important.

[@honoarystone3492]

Eric Wade morters

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

It was kind of implied when bombing was brought up. he explained WW1 didn't have this capability.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Tanks in WW1 were slow and very short operational range. Also unreliable. While you may break the first few trench network with help of the tank it could never actually break through entirely. Tactics also had to change. Tanks followed by infantry close by. Specialized artillery barrage. Quick but intense barrage immediately followed by the assault. A long barrage will just let the enemy know an attack is coming. Stormtroopers also were used instead of tightly packed infantry charges. Mass infantry are used to secure ground and mop up. Small unit tactics became the norm to assault and scout out enemy trenches prior to attack. Use of better close quarter weapons instead of bayonet, more dependence on grenade(grenades became common for every soldier during the war.) and also development or more portable fully automatic weapons to help sweep trenches. Various tactics had to be used too with a broad attack along the front to pin the enemy troops, then put concentration in a single area to breakthrough. It is complicated. During WW2, tanks were faster and longer range. Larger dependence on trucks and halftracks allowed troops to move quicker. Aircrafts could provide better CAS. Communication(prob most important) became much more reliable, longer range and portable at the company and platoon level. And of course developed new tactics based on WW1 experience.

[@gishpig1718]

Whats the song at 5:28?

[@aninverse]

I don't know what the BBC would do without the Prodigy.

[@phrozen17]

a hairdresser trying to understand ww1 trenches... this will be a treat

[@ZeroMercuri]

@7:20 Goldfish - Wet Welly :D

[@Focapolina]

Switzerland has no army but has one of the biggest home guard in the world. And 100% of the country are mountains so a fight against them will be more difficult than just stick to the original plan

[@jocomol6796]

no not 100% of the country are mountains there are flatlands north and south, just in the middle there are the mountains

[@Stopperlopper]

In the middle of history and you you hear enter sandman bro 🤯🤯🤟

[@tummywubs5071]

I like the question asked but explanation was not that good. For the first part of the war, it was on fields and rather traditional. Soon after the battle near Paris, the Germans hunkered down to a defendable location and its very hard to break through. British and French troops begin to make defences in retaliation after multiple attacks. Attacks happen but stale mate continues as both begin to improve defences and plan attacks. After these few months, its clear no side can break through as trench warfare beings. It took advanced technology to finally break this years later.

[@nolif3368]

Whats the rock song used in the video

[@matthewwicks1809]

Enter Sandman - Metallica

[@blogobre]

Dan's clearly got eyeballs immune to damage. Aka what the hell is he behind Michal and without a mask on? I guess the BBC can get another celeb anytime they need one.

[@hisexcellency5714]

Yeah Enter Sandman

[@Apollo_1641]

5:30 WTF?? Is that propaganda against german soldiers.....

[@nikitaantonov6319]

How?

[@hannesproductions4302]

White house gaming the germans lost

[@demondwilson706]

all I saw was a guy made a weird face, the guy in the paintball outfit went over the top, then the German fired a flare? was the guy making a strange face anti German?

[@happymonkeyfish]

Yes, and this whole video is supposed to make you think WW1 was all fun and games.

[@bpt466]

Also, for as trivializing this series was in depicting WWI, the new film “1917” pays homage to the soldiers and depicts it pretty brilliantly. Everyone go see that.

[@TheAngelOfDeath01]

Simply have got to love the British!

[@PolymurExcel]

Because they started to make use of tanks and planes. A very basic answer for the trench problem, but I think it works.

[@Mod-rw9cw]

To stay alive that's why trenches were dug.

[@lafox2833]

No shit

[@diablo2elitepvpguides405]

Their lucky that unexploded ordinance didn't go off

[@benquinneyiii7941]

Tanks

[@tomblurry4431]

yo this bussin

[@stewarthayhurst1079]

Could have explained how the trenches happened which is wear the saying getting into a scrape come from

[@dafrogtc2100]

0:40 did they really just used the Risk Board Game map for the other continents except Europe 💀

[@jxdvidz9914]

I'm wondering though as to why they didn't think of using old tactics like they've done in old sword and shield times, only this time a shield that'll block bullets, advance in a wall like the romans, sure you're fucked with artillery but you'll be a walking wall leading the advance which may make it a higher chance of success??

[@scottscott8123]

Good luck making a metal shield that can stop a bullet. I'm just wondering how you can carry that shit. This is why the tank was invented.

[@bigirongaming201]

The braving the breathing sounds like the briefing in fun and for naff three and five nights at Freddys three

[@anthonywalker2360]

I do not like how that lad is portraying the first world war??? He has no respect for those men who ran across those fields n gave their lives n in some cases the men who had no lives left to come bak to bcoz they were so wounded they were locked away from the public to see. My great grandfather fought at the somme he was 16 w went grey and talked with a stutter his whole life with the horror of that war

[@cultofdumbpling4699]

here for year 9 History who else?

[@Anglisc1682]

0:38 it's Mark Wahlberg!

[@graemesydney38]

Misleading; it was arty, arty and arty that made crossing no mans land so dangerous. Then MG's and then rifles. MG's and rifles could be neutralized by friendly arty until the last moments of the assault. Enemy Arty (just out of range of the friendly arty) could be used from 3 miles away the moment an assault was suspected to be on the per-reregisted per-arranged target area. It took about three months for the lower ranks to work out how to assault across no man land - but it took three years for the British Generals and staff officers how to do it - they were blinded by their upper class self belief and pride. And your summary perpetuates the BS.

[@evilskills]

For someone that claims to be obsessed by ww1 he doesn’t seem to know anything about it

[@harjifs]

yeah I thought that

[@radioflyer68911]

Nonsense. They were in trenches because the battle field had an occasional machine gun nest which would mow them down. But in modern times every soldier essentially has a machine gun, yet no trenches necessary. Those with the bigger numbers do the advancing.

[@johnathonmingle7937]

So would this be an effective tactic to use considering the technology we have now?

[@kevinherbert4256]

700k GERMAN MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN WERE STARVED TO DEATH BETWEEN 1914 AND 1919 BY THE UK STAGED NORTH SEA BLOCKADE......WITH MILLIONS MORE SUFFERING LIFETIME HEALTH EFFECTS...AND IT'S NEVER MENTIONED.........EVIL ON A SCALE NEVER BEFORE SEEN...... Reply

[@johnflores3372]

He flexing with Canada goose

[@MMOStein]

my question is how did they dig those big as trenches with only shovels....

[@nightshadegaming1735]

also they dug most of them far back to begin with and dug forwards

[@nightshadegaming1735]

Yeah and they had hundreds of thousands of men digging these trenches so that makes work faster as well

[@logibearkyt5691]

Switzerland is neutral .so why didnt germany just barge in ;it was no problem with Poland Russia & they had many mountaineering battalions ?

[@halo3odst]

people tended to give the Swiss a bit more respect due to a Lil thing known as the red cross that was founded there. besides during ww1 we are talking about Germany not the Nazis and even they didn't invade Switzerland.

[@Shoboki]

Think about it whats Switzerland famous of? Keeping the countries monies and their mountains. The Swiss would of picked off enemies so easily with artillery and machine gun fire from the mountains

[@jocomol6796]

We had an fucking grate army, and cuz pur land is full of mountains its not easy to just come in and take over everything

[@etyyuniarti]

referencing the book cold all guiet in the western front

[@thebritish1443]

Also the most dreadfull order a soldier would get is leaving your trench and going into no mans land where all you see is death, your friends screaming in pain, poeple behind tanks, guys trying to get through barbed whire but being sluaghtered, and yourself bleeding and getting shot at everywhere so mostly the trenches and tanks where the smartest ideas but... then germans made theyre own bunkers stuck a bit under ground for machine gunners

[@Wikplay]

also in WW1 in the middle parts of war There was Soldiers with bagpipes makin music and that also represented ireland scotland and Britian itwas still important represinting even if the soldier died they were very brave becuase they wouldnt have weapons and thats why there wasnt that many

[@acspectator8636]

I wonder how modern infantry soldiers of today’s generation would deal with this situation without tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft. If I were to make an attempt maybe I could try staying prone and crawl until I can fire back.

[@kingslushie1018]

AppSpectator JUST SEND MORE MEN! Or simple... you don’t fight a war in the first place!

[@T0XX1KK]

@@kingslushie1018 its not that easy

[@kingslushie1018]

Toxxikk maniac You’re right, I was kidding. I was hoping that the joke would come through.

[@lifedespisesme8358]

Hello

[@Loop42]

"Make cheese not war"

[@tombranch2261]

Swiss cheese.

[@battlelord667]

7:09 XD!

[@farhanfadillahharahap7370]

Dan u coolNice video!

[@jarogniewtheconqueror2804]

That is why the blitzkrieg was invented

[@KateMeacham]

The other guy sounds like Wallace from Wallace and from it

[@sheppeyscum]

This is trying soooo hard to make WW1 groovy and down with the kids....It's just unclear, historically confuding and very dumbed down. Embarrassing........and patronising to young students....

[@killerPENGUINZZ]

Patronizing*

[@sheppeyscum]

www.thefreedictionary.com/patronising

[@alexgorecki7282]

both ones are correct

[@spyderindustries8247]

Yeah, but only one is british, and only one is american.

[@johnwhite5306]

Dumb comment

[@gerardwilkie3650]

Soldiers learnt to dig little more than a shallow scrap at the start a rudimentary defence. The modern weapons kept the soldiers head down ..machine guns artillery, they realised Calvery charges suicidal against German machine guns..You had to dig in....The German army dug in and were on a defensive position hold the gains you've made. The allies wanted to push them back so the British were not encouraged to build deep permanent trench systems... On the other hand German trenches became more and more elaborate...Deep dugouts 30-40 feet deep lined with concrete.....They had electricity..beds ....That's one of the reasons that the week long bombardment before the battle of the Somme 1st July 1916 had little effect. The German soldiers sat it out deep underground and waited...they had trained for the day and could get from the deep dugouts with their machine guns in 3 minutes. By the time the British got to the German front line they faced fierce interlocking machine fire , artillery ,rifle fire and barbed wire...resulting almost 58 thousand casualties on the first day alone almost 20 thousand killed outright and many dying later.

[@coffee4682]

You know, a respirator and goggles, like the Tank Hunter WW1 would be very effective.

[@jkim09131]

There are things called tunnels... why didnt the "cleverest generals" ever think of that

[@nicknieberg8693]

Jkim0913 its hard to dig a tunnel 400m tunnel through mutt

[@EthanThomson]

Jkim0913 because they did use tunnels, quite extensively actually, to either blow up enemy trenches or to collapse enemy tunnels

[@cobalt2361]

What,Michael Douglas!?

[@bigirongaming201]

The braving the breathing sounds like the breathing in Finn and for naff three and five nights at Freddys three

[@jagergaming2281]

I dont think there were M4's MP5's and heavy machine guns in ww1...

[@Sergeant1990]

Its the opposite of a wall!!

[@TheMyronStube]

Like the German said their government and politicians betrayed them their army was huge

[@TanTan-zw7wb]

The prodigy music great choice!

[@Coman-th4ox]

2018?

[@user-ui7tn1fq2b]

2020 🌝

[@lols.4247]

@@user-ui7tn1fq2b 2021🌝

[@JustCallMeM]

@@lols.4247 me too

[@icytadbull]

No one brought their Winchester Model 1897s?

[@ch3rry908]

like the weird sound effects

[@jbmett1361]

I doubt it's possible to dumb this down any more than they have already. I assume it's aimed at primary school children and not adults.

[@4N50N]

ill manors song choice I like it BBC

[@danielcorral3041]

Why weren't trenches used in ww2

[@johnnydragon97]

daniel corral because tank are more effective and fast... airplane are faster and can carry many bomb.

[@onekill31]

Trenches were also used in WW2 but it is a not common sight.

[@valkingstare6287]

All quiet in the western front is a book,very good book