Lesson 6

WW I: Tactics, Technology &

Attrition
 Lesson Objectives

• Understand the tactics employed in the opening months

of the war and their incompatibility with the weapon
technology of the period.

• Understand and be able to discuss the efforts to break

the stalemate on the Western Front.

• Be able to list and discuss the impact of the new

technology employed during the war.

• Understand the issues involved with the shift in

prospects from a short war to a long war.

• Describe the outlooks for each of the Allied and Central

powers as a consequences of the 1916 Western Front 2
battles of attrition.
 Preview

Phases of World War I

1914 - Maneuver and Frustration

1915 - Search for New Solutions

1916 - Attrition

1917 - Desperation and

Anticipation
1918 - Dénouement
 Review of the War

August 3, Germany invades Belgium; war begins

1914
Sept 5-10, “Miracle of the Marne”; German
1914 invasion halted
October Race to the Sea ends; Stalemate on
1914 Western Front

1
Western Front

Stalemat
e!

September – October 1914

BBC
 Western Front
They Dug In

Excavating Machine

… and they got good at

it
 Western Front

Trench System, Loos, 1917

 Phases of World War I

1914 - Maneuver and Frustration

 Western Front

What caused the

stalemate?
Firepower
Machine gun
Heavy artillery
 Western Front

What caused the

stalemate?
Firepower
Machine gun
Heavy artillery

Outmoded Tactics
 Outmoded Tactics

Meanwhile
…
Muskets were replaced by machine
guns!
 Western Front

What caused the

stalemate?
Firepower
Machine gun
Heavy artillery

Outmoded Tactics
Inability to
Innovate
 Phases of World War I

1914 - Maneuver and Frustration

1915 - Search for New Solutions

 Breaking the
Stalemate
What attempts were made to break the impasse?

Technology
• Poison gas
• Tank
• Light Machine Gun
 Poison Gas

First used by the Germans (Ypres,

April 1915)
• Initially chlorine gas

• Later mustard,
phosgene
• Violated Geneva
Conventions of 1899
and 1907
Total War: A war that is unrestricted in terms of the
weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the
objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war
are disregarded. US Military Dictionary
 Poison Gas

First used by the Germans (Ypres,

April 1915)
• Initially chlorine gas

• Later mustard,
phosgene
• Violated Geneva
Conventions of 1899
and 1907
Total War: A war that is unrestricted in terms of the
weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the
objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war
are disregarded. US Military Dictionary
Poison Gas
 Poison Gas

Dispensed directly from cylinders

 Poison Gas

Loading Livens
projectors
(chlorine gas canisters)

British Livens bomb projectors

(mortars)
(12 gal.oil cans buried in the ground)
Poison Gas
Poison Gas
 Poison Gas

First use by Germans had a devastating

effect
• Significant gap in British line

Germans not prepared to exploit

breakthrough
Poison Gas

Early French gas mask

Poison Gas

Gas mask drill

 Poison Gas

Gas mask for horses

 Poison Gas

Soldiers in full chemical gear

 Poison Gas
Casualties

In perspective: Total Casualties (both sides):

30,900,000
Wounded: 21,200,000 Dead:
9,700,000
4.2% due to poison gas
 Tanks
Attempt to create a mobile “pill box”
• Initially carried machine
guns
• Later small cannon

British Mk IV “Male” tank

 Tanks

First significant use at Cambrai

(November 1917)

400+ tanks

Breakthrough
achieved
but …

No exploitation !
Tanks

Imperial War Museum, Art 3539

Learning Curve
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/greatwar/g3/cs1/
g3cs1s6b.htm
 British Tanks

Female (machine guns)

Mk V Tank

Male (6-pdr cannon)

Battlefield 1918
http://ww.battlefield1918.de/history/sct/
hisdbfahr/
 British Tanks

Mk I Tank
Male (6-pdr cannon) BBC
 British Tanks

Whippet Medium
Tank
French Tank

Schneider CA1 Tank

 French Tank

Renault FT-17

First tank with a traversing turret

(AEF markings)
German Tanks

German A7V Tank

Anti-Tank Weapons

3.7 cm TAK Rheinmetall AT

gun
1918
 Anti-Tank Weapons

8 mm vs. 13 mm 13 mm (top) vs. .50 cal

Mauser Tankgewehr 1918

13 mm AT Rifle
Light Machine Guns
First light machine gun?

Danish Madsen LMG

First produced in 1897

Probert Encyclopedia
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/
FMJ.HTM
 Light Machine Gun

French Chaucet

British Lewis Gun

 Light Machine Guns

U.S. Browning Automatic Rifle – BAR –

M1918
 Breaking the
Stalemate
What attempts were made to break the impasse?

Technology
Tactics
• Strumtruppen (Stormtroopers)
(late in war)
 Strumtruppen
Stormtroopers

Lightly equipped, specially

trained shock troops
• Special weapons & tactics
Used small units, bursts of
movement to overwhelm
objectives
Bypassed strong points to
attack from rear
 Strumtruppen
Stormtroopers

Bypassed strong
points to attack from
rear

Blitzkrieg
Strumtruppen
http://www.bellum.nu/basics/concepts/
http://www.worldwar1.com/
blitzkrieg.htm
arm011.htm
 Strumtruppen
Stormtroopers

Special weapons &

equipment

Machinegewehr 18 MG18
Schmeiser

Body Armor
 Strumtruppen
Stormtroopers

Major impact
during Offensive of
1918
but …

Too little, too

late!

A
 Breaking the
Stalemate
What attempts were made to break the impasse?

Technology
Tactics
Strategy
• Dardanelles ( Gallipoli )
Campaign
Breaking the
Stalemate

48

A Strategic Flanking
(attempt)
48
Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli
Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli
Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli
Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli
 Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli
1915-1916

British Commonwealth
Operation
Amphibious landings
Attempted to force the
Dardanelles, open passage to
reinforce Russia
 Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli

Landing operations, Sulva Bay

 Dardanelles
Campaign
Gallipoli

British force
• Predominantly Australian & New Zealand
(ANZAC)
Achieved tactical surprise
(April 1915) Turks to reinforce
• Allowed
Stalemate developed on the beaches
British withdrew (Dec 1915 -
Jan
Heavy1916)
casualties
• Allies: 180,000 • Turks: 220,000
 Dardanelles Campaign 1915-16

Living & Dying in WW I -YouTube: 0-2:4 "The Circle of Modern War" and logo
© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013

8
 Breaking the
Stalemate
What attempts were made to break the impasse?

Technology
Tactics
Strategy
• Dardanelles ( Gallipoli )
Campaign
• Maritime ( both
•Blockade
Strategic sides )*
( Germany )*
Distraction * Future Lessons
 Breaking the
Stalemate
What attempts were made to break the impasse?

Technology
Tactics
Strategy
 Review of the War

August 3, Germany invades Belgium; war begins

1914
Sept 5-10, “Miracle of the Marne”; German
1914 invasion halted
October Race to the Sea ends; Stalemate on
1914 Western Front
1915 Sea blockades established around UK and
Germany
Feb 1915-Jan Dardanelles Campaign
1916 (Gallipoli)
Beginning of Germans accept futility of
1916 breakthrough on Western Front, adopt
attrition strategy against French at
Verdun 1
 Phases of World War I

1914 - Maneuver and Frustration

1915 - Search for New Solutions

1916 - Attrition
 The War in 1916

Feb - Dec Battle of Verdun

1916
• German attempt to force French
capitulation by inflicting(Attrition
massive
casualties * Warfare)
• Targeted key position French
could/would not surrender (Verdun)

• French generals had all but

abandoned Verdun
• Preferred to defend in plains to
west
• Politicians said “Hold at all
cost!”

* Controversial interpretation
Why Verdun?

Traditional “Gateway to
France”
Vulnerable from three
sides
Close to German railhead

French had reduced

garrison, weak logistics
prospects
• Relied on single 75 km
road for supply
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

La Voie Sacrée
(The Sacred Way)

Initial Forces:
France: 30,000
Germany: French convoy on La Voie Sacrée
150,000 (1916)
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Battle began with huge artillery

attack
• 1,000,000 rounds in nine
hours
Germans made initial gains but
condition of battlefield stalled
advance

Initial Forces:
France: 30,000
Germany:
150,000
No Man’s Land

Verdun 1916
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Battle began with huge artillery

attack
• 1,000,000 rounds in nine
hours
Germans made initial gains but
condition of battlefield stalled
advance
French able to re-enforce

Bloody battle of attrition followed

Initial Forces:
for both sides
France: 30,000
Battle of Somme (July) relieved
Germany:
pressure on French
150,000
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Final French offensive 11 December

Germans driven back to initial
starting point

Horrific casualties:

French: 163,000 dead

215,000 wounded & missing

Initial Forces: German: 143,000 dead

France: 30,000 190,000 wounded & missing
Germany:
150,000
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Significance
German losses were more
telling
• Fighting two-front war
• Fighting alone on Western
Front
The Battle of Verdun exhausted our
forces like a wound that never heals.
Field Marshall Paul von
Hindenburg

Germany realized unrestricted submarine

warfare might be the only hope for ending
the war
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Significance

Verdun became a rallying point for French

people
Ils ne
They passeront
shall not passpas
General Robert Nivelle
Commander, Second French Army at
Verdun
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Sidelights

Air superiority became a key factor in

denying opponent reconnaissance
capability

Fokker E.1 “Eindecker”

Germans had air superiority: the “Fokker

scourge”
 Fokker’s Synchronizer
Gear

Fokker E.1
“Eindecker”

Anthony Fokker
1912

First confirmed victory 1 August

1915
 Battle of Verdun
21 February - 18 December 1916

Sidelights

Crucible of Future French

Leadership

Marshall Phillippe Charles de Gaulle

Pétain
 Battle of the Somme
1 July - 18 November 1916

Planned as a major
offensive to retake
Channel ports
Frontal assault across 25
mile front
Became an attempt to
take pressure off French at
Verdun
Initial Forces:
British Empire: 15
divisions
France: 11 divisions
Germany: 10 1/2
divisions A
 Battle of the Somme
1 July - 18 November 1916

Battle began with five-day

artillery preparation
• 1.7 million shells
• 17 mines under German
positions
Barrage was ineffective
• Germans had dug in
• Too few heavy guns
Initial Forces: • 2/3 of shells were
British Empire: 15 fragmentation
divisions British first-day losses very
France: 11 divisions heavy• 19,240 deadRidge
Hawthorn

Germany: 10 1/2 • 38,230 wounded, missing,

divisions
POW
 Battle of the Somme
1 July - 18 November 1916

First two weeks:

• French advanced 10 km
south of Somme River
• British advances minimal
• Poor organization &
communications
Germans halted Verdun offensive
(July 12th)
Initial Forces:
Final Forces: Developed into battle of
British
British Empire: 51 divisionsattrition
Empire: 15
divisions
France: 48 divisions
France:
Germany:1150
divisions
divisions
Germany: 10 1/2
divisions
 Battle of the Somme
1 July - 18 November 1916

First use of tanks

• British: Battle of Flers-
Courcelette
• 15 September
1916
Not decisive (no follow-up)

Final Forces:
British Empire: 51
divisions
France: 48 divisions
British Mark I tank
Germany: 50 divisions
Animated Map of Somme & Flers-Courcette
 Battle of the Somme
1 July - 18 November 1916

General Paul von Hindenburg

became German Army Chief of
Staff (Aug Erich
• General 1916)Ludendorff operational
commander

Final Forces:
British Empire: 51
divisions
France: 48 divisions
Von Hindenburg (l) &
Germany: 50 divisions Ludendorff
 The Cost of 1916
2,000,000 Casualties* - 616,000 Dead

France UK German
VERDU y
N
Total Casualties 378,000 330,000
Killed 163,000 143,000

SOMME
Total Casualties 204,000 420,000 465,000
Killed 50,000 96,000 164,000

Total Casualties 582,000 420,000 995,000

213,000 96,000 307,000
Killed
* Casualties = killed, wounded, missing, sometimes POWs
No Man’s Land

Somme 1916
 Germany’s Dilemma

German chancellor, Bethmann, appointed Hindenburg in

hope the field marshal would back peace

Hindenburg realized Germany could not win the

war
• Advocated unrestricted submarine warfare as
only hope
Bethmann feared this would bring US into war

Hindenburg advocated strong defense

• Hoped to wear down, knock out one of the Allied

Powers
Prestige of Hindenburg prevailed over chancellor
 Hindenburg Line

Construction
began September
1916

Allowed for prepared defenses in

depthlines by 50 km
Shortened German
Freed 13 divisions for a
reserve vacated land
Germans decimated
The Battle of the
Somme
The Movie

Released 1916
 The Battle of the Somme
Movie Excerpt

The Battle of the Somme "The Circle of Modern War" and logo
© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013

– YouTube – 3:14
Western Front December 1916
– 1914
 Review of the War

August 3, Germany invades Belgium; war begins

1914
Sept 5-10, “Miracle of the Marne”; German
1914 invasion halted
October Race to the Sea ends; Stalemate on
1914 Western Front
1915 Sea blockades established around UK and
Germany
Feb 1915-Jan Dardanelles Campaign
1916 (Gallipoli)
Beginning of Germans accept futility of
1916 breakthrough on Western Front, adopt
attrition strategy against French at
Verdun 1
 Review of the War

Feb - Dec 1916 Battle of Verdun (German Offensive)

Jul - Nov Battle of the Somme (Allied

1916 Offensive)
1 Feb German decision for unrestricted sub
1917 warfare
Mar 1917 Germans withdraw to
Hindenburg Line

2
 Phases of World War I

1914 - Maneuver and Frustration

1915 - Search for New Solutions

1916 - Attrition

1917 - Desperation and

Anticipation
 Lesson 7

World War I: Over There and Over

Here:
America In The War
 Lesson Objectives

• Understand the role of the US in the war to

1916.

• Understand the concept of unrestricted

submarine warfare and discuss its impact on the
war.

• Understand how and why the U.S. entered

World War I.

• Understand the impact of the war on British

and U.S. society.

• Be able to describe the efforts made to

End
Video Title

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo

© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
Artillery in WW I

(6:50) "The Circle of Modern War" and logo

© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
 Tanks

British Mark V tank

Video Clip
Western Front

January
September 1917 1914
– October
BBC