Reasons For The Stalemate On The Western Front

The Western Front was fought between 1914 and 1918 where the Australians contributed in many different battles. After the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. Australian forces contributed to 26 battles across Germany, Belgium and France, however often ending in stalemate. Australians contributed through the enhancement of warfare and tactics, conditions and cures and the commemoration of fallen soldiers. The Australians contribution the battle of the Western Front is second to none and is highly recognised in the current community.

The opposing armies were in a deadlock and trenches had become a dominate feature of the war (Page 63, 2nd paragraph). Some trenches were from 5 feet deep to 30 feet deep; they caused a stalemate that was almost impossible to break. If you break into their lines there is another one waiting for you. The trenches were hundreds of miles long, constantly fighting. Also they were filled with rats and frogs. Trenches were always in repair, they were reinforced with sandbags, with sheets of corrugated

The Allies rallied an offensive for the liberation of France in late September 1915. This resulted in a stalemate between the powers, inflicting heavy casualties on the Allied and Central Powers. This fierce battling with no progression continued into late 1916, when the Germans became concerned at the amount of the allied forces on the western front and the invention of the tank - technology that Germany

The main theatre of fighting in World War One was on the Western Front. The

The Western Front was the main location of war during World War 1. The outcome of the battles resulted in the formation of a battle front, which saw three years of warfare in 1915, 1916 and 1917, with only a few months of mobile warfare at the start and at the end of four years of fighting.

The Western Front was a series of trenches the Germans built that span through 700 Kilometres of land. These trenches ran from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. Many battles were fought in this piece of land but in the end they reached a stalemate.

World War I was fought on the Western and Eastern fronts. Germany and its allies engaged France, England, Russia, and eventually the United States. The Western Front proved to be particularly bloody as battles were seldom conclusive. The war dragged on as it turned out to be less offensive than defensive. Troops became hopelessly bogged down and commanders refused to give

On June 26, the first 14,000 U.S infantry troops landed in France and began training for combat. A stalemate lasted for several years on the western front; this was mainly due to the weaponry used during the war. Miles of trenches were dug into the ground and supported by machine guns; many deaths occurred in order for either side to advance. There were a staggering total of 320,518 American casualties during the time span of the war (History.com, 2010).

Life in the trenches was very difficult and often very dangerous. They were often kept in the confined and small trenches for long periods of time. “Soldiers were bound to trenches, enduring long stretches of inactivity, suffering the random bombing or sniper attack, then undertaking terrifying charges” (Showalter). Trenches were often dug deeply underground and served as protection from incoming artillery. The idea and formation of these trenches were a result of France’s flat terrain. With flat terrain, soldiers were more prone to be killed from bullet fire. “Opposing forces dug deep trenches into the earth; from the trenches soldiers could safely lob explosives at their enemies” (Kreibohm). Trenches also spanned many miles and connected to other trenches. The most popular trench that spanned 475 miles was located between the Belgian coast and Switzerland called the Western Front, where most of the fighting took place. “The majority of the war was fought...stretching 475 miles between the Belgian coast and Switzerland...called the Western Front” (Kreibohm). The Central Powers and the Allied Powers both participated in this idea of trench warfare and elaborated on the complexity and the conformity of them. To protect the front line of the trench, machine guns were positioned in the front. Trenches were also protected by barbed

World war I is considered one of the bloodiest wars ever fought in the history of the world. A major contributor to the death toll of this war was the new tactic of trench warfare. Trench warfare is a battle strategy using man made trenches and weapons to attack and take the enemy’s trench. This battle strategy combined with the use of new war technology, and the living conditions in the trenches resulted in one of the deadliest wars ever fought by mankind.

The Germans were well equipped with state of the art weapons, had more troops than the allies. The allies were outnumbered and outgunned. Germans devised a plan that would use machineguns up front and artillery at the back. So constant fire from the enemies, the allies couldn’t fight back. Basically it was a death trap with one way in and no way out.

The lines along the Western Front in Europe had become stagnant in 1915 after the Germans had gained considerable

A Stalemate on the Western Front A stalemate formed on the Western Front due to four main reasons, one

This is a photo of French soldiers in a trench during the Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun was one of the largest and longest battles of WW1. The battle was fought in 1916 between the German and French armies on the western front in Verdun, France. The trenches during the battle were in horrible conditions. The rain and constant bombardment of artillery mixed up the clay and remains of fallen soldiers. The battle lasted almost an entire year and resulted in over 700,000 deaths and some estimates going above 1.2 million.

From January 1915 a stalemate situation existed between the Allied and the German armies. The Allies sat firm in a defensive semi-circular Front Line running from the northeast, east and southeast of Ypres. The occupation of this ground east of Ypres pushed a bulge, called a “salient” in military terms, into the German Front Line here. To the advantage of the Allies it forced the Germans to provide extra manpower to hold a longer section of Front Line. However, a serious Allied disadvantage here was that the Germans had knowingly secured relatively good positions along the edges of this salient. From the south of Ypres there is a naturally occuring spur of high ground which continues around the eastern side of the town of Ypres.