WW13+Strategies

=Overview of strategies and tactics to break the stalemate including key battles: Verdun, the Somme, Passchendaele=


 * Focus questions**
 * What was the purpose of a major offensive?
 * How successful were these offensives in breaking the stalemate?
 * What new weapons were developed to break the stalemate?
 * What other strategies were devised to break the stalemate?

Overview

 * The main strategy employed on the Western Front to break the stalemate was ‘the big push’, that is, a massive, concentrated attack at one point of the front to break the enemy’s lines and renew a war of movement.
 * The planning for such an attack took many months and involved assembling hundreds of thousands of men along with supplies, weapons and support.
 * The attack was preceded by heavy bombardment for a number of days to reduce the ability of the enemy to repel the attack.
 * Once the attack began, huge numbers of soldiers would go ‘over the top’, leave their trenches and attack the enemy’s positions.

There were a number of problems with this strategy: Other assessments of this strategy have shown it in a more positive light:
 * It was difficult to keep the enemy’s aerial reconnaissance from noticing the preparations for the push. This allowed the enemy to prepare their defences.
 * The trench system was so well developed by 1916, particularly on the German side, that the initial bombardment was ineffective.
 * Because the bombardment was ineffective, when soldiers went over the top they were confronted with enemy machine gun fire. Many hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides died as a result of these tactics. This strategy relied on huge numbers of expendable troops – “cannon fodder” – and if the breakthrough didn’t come, the attacks continued in the hope that the enemy would run out of soldiers first.
 * These large offensives only came to an end when the onset of winter prevented further attacks.
 * This strategy was widely condemned. Winston Churchill wrote in ‘The World Crisis’ that the generals were “**content to fight machine-gun bullets with the breasts of gallant men and think that was waging war**.”
 * “The Somme offensive was a necessary if painful stage in the process of weakening a skilful, courageous and highly professional enemy.” Peter Simpkins, foreword to Chris McCarthy, The Somme: The Day-by-Day Account, 1993
 * “The Battle of the Somme was not a victory in itself, but without it the entente would not have emerged victorious in 1918.” Gary Sheffield, The Somme, 2003

Other strategies
New weapons were developed during the war to attempt to break the stalemate:


 * Gas**
 * Various types of gas were used throughout the war: chlorine, mustard, phosgene, chloropicrin, prussic acid.
 * The Germans, who had a very well-developed chemical industry, were the first to use each type of gas in battle. Gas was first used at Ypres in 1915.
 * They had the effect of burning the skin, blinding the eyes and corrupting the lungs. The lungs would fill with blood and the victim would drown.
 * The panic caused by a gas attack would cause the enemy soldiers to leave their trenches which could then be captured.
 * The development of gas masks partially neutralised the impact of gas as an assault weapon, though it was used constantly throughout the war.

//British 55th (West Lancashire) Division troops blinded by tear gas await treatment at an Advanced Dressing Station near Bethune during the Battle of Estaires, 10 April 1918, part of the German offensive in Flanders.// //(Source: )//
 * Source A**


 * Tanks**
 * Tanks were developed by the British and first used at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. They were cumbersome, hot, noisy and difficult to manoeuvre. They would get bogged in mud or fall into trenches and not be able to get out. They could be easily targeted by the Germans. As a breakthrough weapon, the first use of tanks had little impact.
 * Further development took place, and tanks were first used successfully at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. Because of the heavy losses in the Battle of Passchendaele, the British were not able to consolidated this success at the time.
 * Tanks were successfully employed during the Allies' counter-offensives in 1918, though other factors contributed to the eventual surrender of the Germans.

//An early model British Mark I tank, named C-15, near Thiepval, 25 September 1916.// //The tank is fitted with the wire "grenade shield" and steering tail, both features discarded in the next models.// //(Source: )//
 * Source B**


 * Opening other fronts**
 * The allies sought to open other fronts to place greater pressure on the Central Powers and to provide support for Russia.
 * The first of these was the British offensive in **Gallipoli** in 1915. The aim was to capture the straits and take Constantinople forcing the Turks out of the war. This would weaken the Germans and make them more vulnerable to Russian attack in the east. The campaign was a disaster and was ended with the withdrawal of Allied troops in Dec 1915 – Jan 1916.
 * In May 1915, the Allies managed to bring Italy into the war on their side, opening up a new front against Austria-Hungary.


 * Source based questions**

1. Using Source A and Source B and your own knowledge, describe the strategies and tactics to break the stalemate on the Western Front.

2. Assess how useful Sources A and B would be for an historian studying the strategies and tactics to break the stalemate on the Western Front. In your answer, consider the perspective provided by the TWO sources and the reliability of each source.