Why WW1 Turned Into Trench Warfare (WW1 Documentary)

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Trench Warfare is one of the lasting symbols of the First World War, especially on the Western Front. But when the war began, the German and French armies envisioned sweeping advances and defeating the enemy swiftly. So, how and why did the Western Front in 1914 turn into the trench system we associate with WW1?
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» SOURCES
Addington, Larry. The Patterns of War since the Eighteenth Century. 2nd ed. Bloomington, 1994.
Ashworth, T. Trench warfare, 1914-18 : The Live And Let Live System. 2000.
Doyle, Peter and Robin Schaefer. Fritz and Tommy: Across the Barbed Wire. 2016.
Griffith, P. and Dennis, P. Fortifications of the Western Front 1914-18. 2013.
Ferro, Marc. La Grande guerre : 1914-1918. 1968.
Hart, Peter. The Great War 1914-1918. 2014.
Imperial General Staff. Field entrenchments : spadework for riflemen, hasty fire-cover, fire-trenches, communications, concealment, obstruction, shelters. 1916.
Kendall, P. Aisne 1914: The Dawn of Trench Warfare. 2012.
Linnenkohl, Hans. Vom Einzelschuss zum Feuerhagel. Die Entwicklung der Artillerie- und Infanteriebewaffnung im Ersten Weltkrieg. 1990.
Legrand-Girarde, E. and H. Plessis. Manuel complet de fortification. 1909. gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt...
Loez, André (ed.). Mondes en guerre. Tome III : Guerres mondiales et impériales 1870-1945. 2020.
Palmer, Svetlana and Sarah Wallis. A War in Words. 2003.
Philpott, W. (2021). Warfare 1914-1918 | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1). [online] 1914-1918-online.net. Available at: encyclopedia.1914-1918-online... [Accessed 16 Sep. 2023]. 
Saunders, A. Trench Warfare, 1850-1950. 2010.
Strachan, Hew. The First World War. Vol 1: To Arms. 2003.
Zabecki, D. “Military Developments of World War I” in 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online...
Philpott, William. “Warfare 1914-1918,” in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online...
Stevenson, David. 1914-1918: the History of the First World War. 2004.
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander, Evan Chaisson
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2024

[@TheGreatWar]

Get a NordVPN with a 2-year plan plus 4 additional months with a huge discount and 30-day money back guarantee: nordvpn.com/thegreatwar

[@kohtalainenalias]

Will NordVPN protect us from enemy artillery fire?

[@tonyboss1875]

Awesome video, ww1 history is so interesting

[@MH-jg6vk]

Wasn’t the last major European war in 1877-1878 with the Russo Turkish war? This war often gets overlooked for 1870-1871 yet it would become a key factor to the origins of ww1.

[@robertjarman3703]

I would also have added that many soldiers is simply a gargantuan number to field over a front line that was as relatively short as it was. You can operate a far denser defense line and all the things that make such a thing work like logistics, reinforcing any weaknesses in your lines, suppressing any breakthroughs by the enemy, all sorts of things like that, with more soldiers per square kilometre, and there was nowhere to flank them or creative geography that was all that useful the way that East Prussia and Galicia create a bulge that was hard for the Russians to defend, or how few soldiers per square kilometre there were in Africa to defend their possessions even though they had modern weapons like big artillery cannons, machine guns, soldiers with modern rifles, and even some aircraft.

[@Wokerr]

Hello, great materials, they are the best possible. Will we see a film about the genocide in Volhynia by the UPA and the local Ukrainian population, where over 100,000 Poles died in terrible suffering in the years 1943-1945, where Poland as a state did not exist and the Ukrainians committed genocide against Poles? I will be very grateful, there are many people who would like to know this story, but this topic is often silenced by the Ukrainian side because they do not want the truth to come to light. Thank you for the fantastic history videos.

[@Bloatlord_the_Magnificent]

265,000 French dead in the first two months of the war is absolutely insane

[@lachainebackup5339]

The "agressive spirit" is Likely to be blame for that.

[@shaider1982]

@@lachainebackup5339Lugi Cadorna’s “morale above anything else”

[@faithlessberserker5921]

It's a number unfathomable to me. When wars get to numbers like that sometimes my brain doesn't process it really well. I maybe know 800 people pretty well in my own life. Maybe know 1000 by name and maybe have 10,000 acquaintances if I had to guess, I might say I have met around 240,000 people in my whole life give or take. If everyone I ever met in my entire life died within 2 months that's about equal to what happened to the French population. Still can't fully imagine it.

[@Autobotmatt428]

Well the French were the least prepared army on the western front when the war started. The uniforms were something out of the 19th century. The Label was out dated 2 years after its creation by the clip fed rifles of the Germans, Austrians and so on. The french did use a clip fed rifle but early models only held 3 rounds. And as noted the French tactics at this stage in the war were not the best. the results the highest losses of all the armies on the western front in 1914.

[@kohtalainenalias]

male privilege

[@edjohnson8017]

People are so critical of World War One tactics, but the generals of the time wasn’t callous idiots. There simply was almost no way to break a deadlock without huge casualties

[@davidmarsh3104]

I know most about the Canadian involvement and, for the most part, Canadian generals were not professional soldiers and, with the exception of Arthur Currie, were incompetent.

[@ryan-tc3rk]

Exactly if the Allies sat on the defensive the German army could out number them 2:1 even with heavy loses it was still in their favour

[@KarlBunker]

Probably true, but the statement of Captain Billiard (granted, not a general) at 5:22 is a piece of bare-faced murderous stupidity no matter how you slice it.

[@edjohnson8017]

@@KarlBunker but; all he had to go on was the Russo-Japanese war where the attacking spirit did pay off, I’m Sure he changed his values by 1916/17/18

[@JaMeshuggah]

I mean they were undoubtedly callous. They shot their own men for having PTSD or not charging to their doom.

[@Sabelzahnmowe]

I think it is an interesting historical irony that the mobility focused picture of a future war inhibited the development of tanks before 1914, because they would have been to slow to matter in these sweeping maneuvers.

[@FernandoMendoza-dw8nz]

And I don't think there was a way to properly change that. Imagine a time traveler telling them to hold off on the idea of mobile warfare until we can develop more powerful and faster tanks. 😅 Guys let's hold off on naval warfare until our ships can withstand a cannon ball to the side. 😂

[@pax6833]

The one thing that always seems to happen no matter when in modern times is the significant underestimation on how much ammo would need to be stockpiled for the war. The shell crunch was a huge unseen factor. If anyone had had a couple million shells in 1914, it's possible the early trenches would've been broken straight away and a decisive victory would've happened far more quickly.

[@user-ou9qd9no5n]

They have light shrapnel shells with small trajectory angles

[@umjackd]

It's ironic that while trench warfare is the best remembered aspect of WW1, most casualties actually came from the mobile warfare at the beginning and end of the conflict. That said, one dedicated video to mountain warfare in the Alps and Dolomites would be amazing.

[@Hankeshon]

it was the act of trying to break trench warfare that was the deadliest.

[@alphamikeomega5728]

Sabaton History has Indy Neidell talking about alpine warfare in Soldier of Heaven.

[@senpainoticeme9675]

The Battles of Verdun and the Somme beg to differ.

[@randomname3109]

@@Hankeshon no actually, it wasnt. the first and last three months of the war were horrifically lethal

[@Hankeshon]

@@randomname3109 Because in the first three months they were getting introduced to Trench warfare and the last 3 months (german spring offensive, operation michael, 100 days offensive) they were breaking trench warfare.

[@andrewsoboeiro6979]

Fun fact: the "French 75" cocktail was in fact named after the gun. Legend has it that in 1915, Harry's New York Bar in Paris was serving a new champaign cocktail recipe, which they served to some soldiers who were there on leave. The soldiers remarked that the drink had such a kick to it that it was like being shelled with a French 75 cannon!

[@johnl.7754]

The reasons why trench warfare started in WW1 sounds increasingly familiar to why it has grown rapidly in Ukraine War after initially it was not.

[@alphamikeomega5728]

In Ukraine, the main issues are that nobody has air superiority, and that there's a shell shortage on both sides (mostly on Ukraine's side thus far, though Russia's shortage is due to really hit in 2025).

[@robbstark8275]

​@@alphamikeomega5728Russia produces more and more

[@alphamikeomega5728]

@@robbstark8275 Russia is burning through Soviet stockpiles - which are large, but finite. Russia's also facing a labour shortage between those conscripted and those fleeing conscription. And it's easy to increase output by running your factory six days a week instead of five, but harder to run it eight days a week instead of seven.

[@robbstark8275]

@@alphamikeomega5728 yeah right 😄 There's no conscription in Russia (there was a limited one in September-October 2022). Now there's a constant flow of volunteers (around 1500 per day). And there are more shells and aviabombs produced in Russia than in EU and US combined. Ukraine forces are bombarded with hundreds of shells every day, that's why they are losing.

[@joebidome1445]

​@@robbstark8275 >aviabombs Правильно будет air bombs, ну или air launched munitions.

[@JaycoHin]

I've heard old generals being unable to adapt to modern weaponry and warfare but it's interesting hearing about factors like communications and logistics that aren't often mentioned. Great and informative video as always 👏

[@Ice_Karma]

First-time viewer here! I'm really enjoying your ability to pronounce French [edited:] and German[/edit] names, your high-quality, _referenced_ captions, and your unapologetic use of metric. 😻

[@kemarisite]

Melanite was the French version of picric acid, formally 2, 4, 6-trinitrophenol. It was very popular as a shell filler at the time, because it was powerful and easy to set off, as well as because it could be poured as a liquid into the burster cavity in the shell body. It was known as Shimose powder to the Japanese, Lyddite to the British, and Ecrasite to the Austro-Hungarians. The Germans would, for greater stability and reduced shock sensitivity, use blocks of TNT stacked inside the shell body. It was the shock sensitivity, along with poor fuses, that led to the poor British shell performance at Jutland/Skagerack in 1916. Also, and with apologies to Monty Python: "No one expects the artillery shell shortage!"

[@pax6833]

It's ironic that if the Germans had been able to score a major fleet engagement in 1914, they could've badly hurt the British on account of the poor shell performance. And if Scheer had not made so many mistakes at Jutland, the battle could've been a lot worse for the Brits as well.

[@richardthomas598]

There is trench warfare and there is trench warfare. Fighting from earthworks is ancient. What made WW1 unique was industry being able to field an army so large as to present a continuous front for hundreds of miles. You could remove the machine gun, barbed wire or even quick firing artillery, and you would still have gotten an attritional stalemate because of the sheer numbers involved.

[@pax6833]

No, those weapons, especially the machine gun, were vital to why the stalemate occurred. The troops needed to be able to delay the other side's attack long enough for reinforcements to counterattack. Without machine guns and barbed wire, the first wave would hit the trenches too intact and quickly cause the other side to fall back. It's what happened on the eastern front where there weren't enough guns and wire to cover everything.

[@thatguyoverthere9634]

​@@pax6833 yeah machineguns, smokeless repeating rifles, and breach loading quick fireing artillery all greatly contributed to the mountain of casualties sustained. Without these advancements, a trench line could simply be broken by concentrating enough forces. Sure the same could be done in WW1 but the numbers required to break a line with infantry alone would be simply too immense to justify.

[@clydecessna737]

The late great Gen. Powell, US Army, did a thesis on the Somme and showed how lateral movement by the defenders along light railways always moved troops and equipment to the point of defense much faster than the attacking force advancing over open ground could advance.

[@indianajones4321]

One of my favorite history KZbinrs

[@HistoryHaty]

I agree with you.

[@orgenb_]

what are the others?

[@indianajones4321]

@@orgenb_ World War Two, Armchair Historian, Simple History, Task & Purpose (for more modern history)

[@MrKconnell1]

I love the sourcing and use with photos and videos.

[@lordhamster9452]

Same

[@chrisharris5630]

There is an ambiance/ sleep sound playlist on KZbin that is the “sounds of the western front trenches”. I fell asleep to it once

[@DeadPixel1105]

Yeah, I saw that a few months ago. Just for fun, I let it play while I was in bed trying to go to sleep.

[@HistoryHaty]

Glad you are back. Trenchs of the Great War saw some of the most brutal fighting in history.

[@HoopTY303]

I fell asleep listening to Martin Gilbert FIRST WORLD WAR [audiobook] so I woke up in a muddy trench ( mentally).

[@edjohnson8017]

If you like World War One History I’d really recommend “mud blood and poppycock”

[@shaider1982]

The old great war episodes which was hosted by Indy Neidell heavily refenced on Martin Gilbert.

[@anbu94]

For some reason I was imagining Gilbert Gottfried. That would definitely put you into a mental state.

[@classic.cameras]

Whenever I look at photos of either side of WW1 I just think about how great and fun so many of these guys would have been to hang out with in non War circumstance. They were guys just like anyone else. Its sad how many of them died never having a chance at a long life.

[@Dave1-08]

I've always wondered what the extreme edges of the western front looked like. Did the trenches go all the way up to the beaches on the channel? Did the trenches simply stop at the Swiss border?

[@Giloup92]

You can fin videos showing these two ends.

[@FabioLopesdaSilvaBnegao]

@@Giloup92 how can I find them? I'm trying but I just can't.

[@Giloup92]

@@FabioLopesdaSilvaBnegao I don’t remember. There is a video on Belgian trenches on the channel beaches and one on Swiss trenches on the French border.

[@ZKP314]

Now I’m imagining a Swiss official marking the border and telling them “Okay, okay…stop.” And then promptly got up a mountain to get as far away from the Inavitable carnage.

[@eighthelement]

Fighting along the border would cause political crisis due to some shells inevitably falling inside Switzerland. Solution was to avoid any fighting few miles away from the border. Have some entrenched troops there but under strict orders not to do much.

[@KarlBunker]

A totally excellent video. Probably the best short coverage of the topic I've seen or ever expect to see.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thank you!

[@SherlockSpiner]

No other channel keeps me so engaged like this one. Thank you guys for all your hard work.

[@Waakala]

I'm always glad to play another round of the great game of predict which line will close the new episode, what a great channel

[@MrStevoslayer]

Those ending lines. Years later Im still here for it

[@bigsarge2085]

Always incredible history stories. Thank you!

[@christopherconard2831]

Real Time History. The only channel that will issue you a real shovel, not just a folding entrenching tool, to dig your trenches.

[@neilwilson5785]

Really excellent video. I like the detail for both the tactical and strategic aspects.

[@erinaporter1985]

Trench Warfare began in New Zealand during the Wars between Maori and the British. Maori liked to build fortified Pa during war as it was easier to win a defensive battle if you had inferior numbers then going head to head in the field. The British brought cannons and the old style of fortified Pa with wooden Palisade were easily breached with canon fire then overun with supporting troops. To combat this the Maori dug deep trenches to shelter from the canon fire and purposely left gaps under the Palisades so they could pop up and fire at the approaching troops from cover without the British being able to return fire accurately. This new "Modern Pa" became a major problem for the British as they began to increasingly lose troops during the attacks. Usually the British would onky capture the Pa after the Maori had abandoned it.

[@jbflores01]

excellent video! like always! well explained, well illustrated, and very well-researched!

[@dieselmech7227]

Great video, always been curious about the battles before they dig in 👍

[@Nyx571]

thank you great war team for continuing your work, makes learning and teaching history more entertaining!

[@Stew-kv8nw]

Once again this is a well done production.. big fan of the channel

[@TheGreatWar]

Much appreciated!

[@christopherkucher6902]

i always enjoy your work

[@flyforce16]

From mud, through blood, to the green fields beyond...

[@thehuntsmansniper]

The video time being 19:11 is almost perfect 🥺

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical episode about reasons that converted mobilizes warfares to stubbornly trenching wayfarer....thank you 🙏( RTH) channel for sharing this magnificent historical coverage episode

[@mickeymcafee7615]

It takes more than courage to win on the modern battlefield. A lot more. I'm currently writing a book about failed tactics of WW1 and several other wars of that era.

[@stevearchtoe7039]

Great video Jesse and team!

[@firun2635]

The resupply situation and railways resp. railheads being a big factor is an interesting new thought (to me). Thank you for that.

[@shantanusapru]

Great analysis!!

[@cameronferguson7145]

I greatly recommend Dr. Nicholas Murray's lecture on this topic, given as part of the Pershing Lecture Series. The density, lethal range, accuracy, and ubiquity of firepower, and the way it increased by orders of magnitude between 1860 and 1914, is just mindblowing.

[@oneshotme]

I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@akriegguardsman]

Sometimes artillery would limit attacks, Ernst Jünger wrote about his own artillery shelling himself because the guns where ordered to shell their max distance continuously

[@thomasfairhurst1212]

i love this channel so much man

[@py8554]

The title asks “why WWI turned into trench warfare” but the video focuses only on the western front. Now I have this question: Did other fronts (the Russian front, the Balkan front, the Italian front and the Ottoman front) see the same level of trench warfare? The reasons given in the video, namely the firepower technology, the difficulty of combined arms, challenges of command and control, and the logistics issues for attacking mobile forces, should also apply to other fronts. If those fronts did not see the same level of trench construction, then there must be some additional factors that made the western front so trench dominated?

[@jessealexander2695]

We clarify in the first part of the video we are concentrating on the western front. In the east, the concentration of men and artillery was far less given the greater spaces, so there was more movement (even though also some trenches).

[@py8554]

@@jessealexander2695 Indeed it’s clarified a bit in the video. I just think that it’d be better if the title could make it clear that it covers only the western front instead of all the theatres of the war. That said the analysis of the western front is informative and well researched. Thanks!

[@nobleman9393]

The eastern front was so vast that it was impossible to have the same level of trenches.

[@QZSW]

how to crochet a 3d star: R1: ch2, 6sc into first ch R2: 2sc in each st ( around 12sc) R3: [2sc in next st, sc in next st] around 18sc R4: 2sc in next st, sc in next 2 st (around 24sc) R5: 2sc in next st, sc in next 3 st (around 30sc) R6: sc in next 6 st R7: ch1, turn, skip first sc, sc in next 5 st-5sc R8: ch1, turn, skip first sc, sc in next 4 st-4sc R9: ch1, turn, skip first sc, sc in next 3 st-3sc R10: ch1, turn, skip first sc, sc in next 2 st-2sc

[@audiencesmember]

Great video!

[@daigakunobaku273]

You travel from your home in Vienna to the studio in Berlin, by train, without border checks, to tell how a hundred years ago tens of thousands of people died to move the border by several kilometers in one or the other direction. What a miracle is EU.

[@Rosie-yt8nd]

I understand the benefits of the trench but I used to have a hard time grasping how you got from no trench to trench. you dig while being shot at? yes, yes they did. It was one scene in Band of Brothers where they throw themselves into ditches, any kind of hole, even shallow. whatever you can find or make. the desperation of that moment. being shot at while digging is better than sitting ducks

[@TomLuTon]

With the speed at which technology was changing at the time, makes you wonder if WWI happened at the worst possible moment. Few years earlier and the weapons aren't as deadly, few years later and communications and tanks make trench warfare unlikely

[@jaybeeonyt]

Tanks wouldn't of been invented if it wasn't for trench warfare, it was the stalemate that created the innovation.

[@jeremiahbowen8405]

This was a war of countries literally learning a whole new military and battlefield

[@fmita_]

One thing not mentioned is how artillery during WWI was completely inaccurate. If an army fired 10,000 shells of artillery, about 5-10 would actually hit a trench and do damage. Armies would pound a trench for days, even weeks with thousands upon thousands of shells of artillery, and it still wouldn’t be enough to break the lines. Such a crazy war

[@jtsnowman66]

Quick, transfer more élans! Transferring more élans sir!

[@davidbowen5621]

Fantastic video! It would be awesome if you could cover the mobile warfare at the end of WWI

[@theromanorder]

Please do a video on tactics and warfare of the eastern and southern front, wasn't it trench warfare in Greece? And mabey the same for the ruso Japanese war

[@dqan7372]

Enjoyed that. Been too long since I watched.

[@shakazulu301]

Man, what a great day. A new video from the Great War channel 💜 I needed a pick me up for this week, and even though t took til Friday, I got it :) the dopamine really hit 😊 give me all the knowledge 💜

[@zebwheeler5683]

I cannot recommend the article “the cult of the offensive” enough! it explains the enormous casualties and the development of trenches in the 20th century

[@ivvan497]

Simple. Years of relative peace, very high rate of technological progress coupled with 19th century tactics and mentality, increase in population, european empires and politics, nationalism, massive nationwide conscription. Armies were largest they've ever been and weapons were deadlier than ever combined with mass production and mobilisation caused war with hige casualty number. Machine guns and high rate of fire weapons changed how warfare was conducted but tactics didn't exist at the start of the war. By the end of the war tactics and weapons to counter this threat were developed.

[@kinnikuboneman]

4:07 this made me laugh, that dude at the end

[@intoHeck1964]

Total WW1 casualties (low estimate): ~9 million 2022 NY City population: ~8.3 million

[@jcole3489]

im surprised there weren't more covert operations attempted in WW1 once the lines hardened; anyone know of any worth looking into?

[@TheRealSlimshadyyyyyy]

The first time I’ve heard the term “Clip” used accurately.

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@ForelliBoy]

Can't wait for the 110th Anniversary coverage of the Great War :^)

[@morbuskid1720]

What's funny is, during the American Civil War, there were European spectators who were watching the sieges of Vicksburg and Peterburg and saw Trench warfare unfold. But they thought this was the product of simply being in sieges. Little did they know, the accuracy and brutality of rifles and artillery would only get tighter and tighter. With the Advent of the bolt action and the machine gun, we find ourselves here in this situation of WW1.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

11:25 combined arms warfare wins battles, communication and logistics wins wars.

[@baronmemez]

I recommend you to make a video on Lord Kitchener because of his role for the British in WW1

[@adamzieba8364]

WW1 was very tragic for Poles in a special way. Polish lands were divided into parts ruled by Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia, so Polish men were conscripted into every of these 3 armies and because of that they often had to shoot each other. During one month (11th November - 6th December 1914) there was a huge batlle between German and Russian armies raging around my home city of Łódź. Combined German KIA and MIA losses in this battle were around 48 000 and Russian KIA+MIA losses reached 198 000 while WIA were 76 000 and 118 000 respectively. There are dozens military cemeteries in the countryside around Łódź where the fallen soldiers of both armies are buried together (but not all of them - bones are sometimes found in the forests and fields to this day).

[@hammerfist8763]

Lemme give it a shot. Trenches provided cover from WWI machine guns, which were accurate from several hundred meters, WWI rifles, which were accurate from well over 1000 meters, and WWI artillery, which could be directed from miles away. Directly exposing soldiers to any of these was often near instant death, as the Battle of The Somme amply demonstrated.

[@fabreezethefaintinggoat5484]

Thanks

[@ThomasEJohnson]

I love NordVPN. Your videos are great stuff.

[@wellston2826]

Some damned fool gave one of 'em a shovel, and things just snowballed from there.

[@tomz5704]

Like the scene in breaking bad where Jesse starts digging and the meth head takes over

[@lukeborst2751]

ive always wondered how both sides built the trenches at first like was it done at night? or did it evolve from the first fox holes?

[@angryvaultguy]

I got into history when i was young and i thought trench warfare in ww1 existed because everyone in charge of command and tactics was stupid and lazy. 8 year old me would just think "instead of running towards the trenches why not go around it." Ahhhh how innocent i was

[@apersonontheinternet595]

Can you guys do a video on how conscription affected the economy and soldiers' morale?

[@Wokerr]

Hello, great materials, they are the best possible. Will we see a film about the genocide in Volhynia by the UPA and the local Ukrainian population, where over 100,000 Poles died in terrible suffering in the years 1943-1945, where Poland as a state did not exist and the Ukrainians committed genocide against Poles? I will be very grateful, there are many people who would like to know this story, but this topic is often silenced by the Ukrainian side because they do not want the truth to come to light. Thank you for the fantastic history videos.

[@biologicalengineoflove6851]

I had to look up Melinite, came across the Great Phenol Plot, and was surprised I hadn't heard of it. The Germans bought out as much of America's/Edison's phenol production as possible so the British couldn't use it for bombs. So much crazy history from this war.

[@lordofthemound3890]

Trenches have been used for thousands of years. The Achaeans defended their ships against Trojans in the Iliad. BUT, trenches were normally used by besieging armies against walled cities. Was The Great War the first instance of large-scale trench vs. trench fighting? It was, if I’m not mistaken.

[@82dorrin]

You think the brutality of trench warfare is gone, then you take a look at combat footage from Ukraine. Trenches. Mud. Artillery. Aside from the modern weapons and uniforms, it looks like someone took a GoPro back to 1917.

[@grapeape780]

The evolution of tactic is like a boxing match turning into a wrestling match.

[@kidmohair8151]

07:42 I’m sure the poilu with the pipe in his mouth *while loading the powder charge* has to be against *all* safety regulations…even in 1914.

[@NoMoreCrumbs]

Trenches were the safest place to be. Mobile warfare is extremely unforgiving if your unit is caught in the open

[@eaglescout1984]

At Petersburg, the US army was so desperate to break the trench warfare after only a month of it, they tunneled under enemy lines and set off gunpowder to create a massive break in the line. Unfortunately, they failed to realize all they did was put a big hole in the ground and infantry found themselves unable to climb back out after charging in and the CSA soldiers were able to stand at the lip and pick them off.

[@everythingsalright1121]

Its kind of horrifying to think that likely every man we see filmed in the historical footage probably died in the combat in the first world war, given the insane death toll...its less terrible to think about when you just see numbers, but seeing all of those people...they had names, unique lives, but you realize after seeimg that, that to meet the death toll of millions...youd need to line up the groups of men in the footage thousands of times over next to each other...that takes up a lot of space...almost incomprehensible that WWI didnt have the highest death toll of an event in the 20th century. Just the beginning..

[@ProudhonKropotkin]

Spotsylvania. Everyone who was paying attention knew trench warfare would develop if the ability to maneuver was eliminated

[@agmcg81]

Hi, I have a question. At around 5:53 in the video we can see a German machine gun crew. What are the 'loops' on the guys webbing (on his right thigh) who is controlling the machine gun? Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Alan. :) Great video BTW!

[@TheGreatWar]

this looks like a sort of leather strap used for carrying something. maybe parts of the machine gun or ammunition?

[@agmcg81]

@@TheGreatWar Cheers 🍻

[@Zorglub1966]

@@TheGreatWarit was for moving the mg mounted on its carriage (i don't know how to call a tripod with 4 legs).

[@MRBF1MAN]

Correct

[@walnzell9328]

I'd like to see a video explaining how the war was fought on the eastern front. I cannot comprehend how it would've been done at the time without devolving into trench warfare like the west. I mean I know it didn't, but I just don't understand how.

[@MisterOcclusion]

I prefer to think of it as a siege, where both sides are besieging each other. It starts to make some sense then.

[@donnyboon2896]

Yes

[@romin7255]

As usual : excellent Français !

[@jessealexander2695]

Merci! Je l'ai quand même appris à la pré-maternelle... ;)

[@romin7255]

@@jessealexander2695 😁👌

[@Panacea9]

I don't know the current landscape. Someone wanted strategy but that is silly. You have to study their defense arms and how they react in combat today and also be reactive. I would say looking at that time is that you wouldn't have to aim for people to be crippling especially in the middle east. Work with others if you are taking oil sites in unstable places so you don't seem imperial. Can't say.

[@DeadPixel1105]

The answer should be common sense. When you have shrapnel coming down like literal rain constantly, being *ON* the ground is a death sentence. Your only hope is to dig in and go *INTO* the ground.

[@ChrisSmith-lo2kp]

preview of WW1 trench warfare can be seen in the Siege of Petersburg VA at the end of the American Civil War

[@HankBukowski]

The air above ground was filled with rounds of ammo.

[@SpeedDemon_Editzzz]

As Masters of Warfare (Germans) would beautifully called Stellungskrieg (Stational Warfare)🗿💪🔥💯

[@King.Mark.]

big fast guns

[@HistoryOllie1066]

Something else to help fathom the deadly scale of WWI trench warfare: The number of subscribers to this channel now (marginally) surpasses the number of lives lost on the Isonzo Front.

[@Mark-jp4vn]

Are there any games like this?

[@adg1390]

Reasons why they used trenches. 1- There was a war 2- They didn't want to die