Deadlock+-+The+Trenches

= **HOW DID TRENCH WARFARE AND LIFE IN THE TRENCHES CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEADLOCK?** =   In World War One, infantrymen were supposed to attack through gaps in the enemy lines, however charging through gaps didn't work because of barbed wire and sandbags defending the enemy trenches. A common tactic still used was Cavalry charges, however the mud in no-man's land- caused by the constant artillery fire, made the charges ineffective. The main reason as to why there was deadlock on the Western Front was because no one knew how to win the war as trench warfare was a new kind of fighting.   The soldiers not only fought but also lived in the trenches. Most days were very boring and passed very slowly, many people were killed. Men spent the day reading, smoking or playing chess. Some soldiers wrote letters home, but they were checked by a censor before being sent home. Anything that could help the enemy or lower morale back home was crossed out. **STRUCTURE IN THE TRENCHES** The trench system was a series of intertwined trenches used in World War One, initially both sides dug one line of the trenches, over the next three years the trench system became stronger and more sophisticated.  No man’s land was a desolate land between the two enemy trenches, it could be as small as 100 meters wide. Artillery and constant bombing turned no man’s into a sea of mud and craters. Behind front lines both sides built reserve trenches in case the front lines were captures. The reserve trenches also consisted dug-outs where the troops rested. Running between the lines were communication trenches, they were used to move troops and supplies. All supplies moving up to the front lines had to go through these trenches, e.g. food, water, troops, mail etc  Trenches were constructed to give the defenders as much protection as they needed. The V-shaped lines were built to minimize the impact of artillery shells and injury of the soldiers in the lines. This shape also made it harder for enemy troops to capture the whole trench because even if they captured one line (e.g. the front line) they wouldn’t be able to fire along the trench. Both sides protected themselves with barbed wire and sand bags which were secretly added to and improved at night, these defences were often several meters high and deep.   **LIFE IN THE TRENCHES **  <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Food:** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> **Hygiene:** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> **Weather:** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> **Dangers** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> **Morale**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The troops didn’t go hungry, but their diets had very little variety
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cooking facilities, e.g. stoves, were also very basic
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were no hot meals
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Water was brought to the front in petrol cans, so chloride of lime was added to kill germs
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lice was a big problem, it was in the men’s hair, body and clothing- soldiers were occasionally deloused but lice appeared after a few days
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rats, feeding on rotting bodies and horse carcasses- they also nibbled on troops as they slept
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were many epidemics, the germs in the food and water gave typhoid, cholera and dysentery
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was snow and frost in the winter
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As well as rain at any time of the year, it was not unusual to find water at the bottom of the trenches
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some soldiers got trench foot, an infection that was caused by spending too long with their feet in the water of the trenches, the worst cases led to having feet amputated
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enemy snipers killed soldiers who stood up in the trenches
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enemy bombardment could lead to injury or death from flying splinters and debris
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poisonous gas caused death and a range of injuries
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morale was drastically lowered by the “over the top” tactic as they watched soldiers constantly being shot by machine guns
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conditions were horrible inside the trenches

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