World War IWorld War ITrench Warfare & The War at SeaTrench Warfare & The War at Sea

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare► Stalemate at Ypres

Soldiers “dig-in”► Casualties high

New technology vs. old tactics►New weapons of war

Machine guns Tanks Airplanes Flame throwers Bayonets Grenades Pistols Poison Gas

Soldier with mustard gas burns

(1917/1918)

Balloon reconnaissance of

trenches

British 55th Division troops blinded by tear gas during the Battle of Estaires (April 10, 1918).

Flame thrower

Trench HorrorsTrench Horrors►Trench Rats

Decomposing bodies attracted thousands One pair produce 880 offspring in one year Big as cats Would sleep under blankets with the men

►“The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn’t defend himself. These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men. Two or three rats would always be found on a dead body. They usually went for the eyes first and then they burrowed their way right into the corpse.”

TrenchTrenchHorrorsHorrors

►Trench Foot Trenches were waterlogged and constantly muddy Only way to prevent was to keep feet dry Cure: amputation “Your feet swell to two or three times their normal

size and go completely dead. You could stick a bayonet into them and not feel a thing.”

AmputationsAmputations►Gangrene: rot

“Day after day we cut down stinking bandages and exposed wounds that destroyed the whole original plan of the body.”

“…I saw that tiny bags, containing pure salt, are sometimes deposited into the open wound and bandaged tightly into place. These bags of salt – must inflict excruciating pain. It is certainly a purifier, but surely a very harsh one.”

American soldiers who lost limbs during a WWI battle. Recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare►Verdun, France

In 10 months, 700,000 killed over just a few miles of land

War of attrition: war based on wearing the other side down by constant attacks and heavy loses

1917 aerial reconnaissance picture of German and British trenches.

The War at SeaThe War at Sea►German U-boats

Attack without provocation, commercial or military

► British Blockade Cut supplies to Germany Germany responds with war

zone around British Isles ¼ British fleet destroyed 1 million tons of shipping lost

►U.S. Wish to remain neutral –

trades with everyone

The War at SeaThe War at Sea► Sinking of the Lusitania –

May 7, 1915 Killed 128 Americans Wilson demands: apology,

money, no more subs Gets: all but sub promise –

U.S. begins arms build-up► Sussex – March 1916,

more Americans lost Sussex Pledge: will not sink

merchant ships without warning and attempt to save human lives

► February, 1917 – Germans resume sub warfare Violate Sussex pledge U.S. begins policy of

“armed neutrality”

Lusitania

Sussex after attack