Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a military strategy involving the construction of deep trenches where opposing forces engage in a cycle of attack and defense. Most famously utilized during World War I, this form of warfare emerged due to advancements in artillery and small arms, resulting in lengthy and complex trench systems that defined fronts and created a stagnant battlefield. The conditions within the trenches were often dire, marked by mud, pests, and diseases, with soldiers facing psychological pressures leading to conditions like what was then called shell shock. Despite attempts to break the deadlock with new weaponry, such as chemical agents, defensive tactics adapted quickly, maintaining the stalemate throughout much of the conflict. While the rise of tanks and improved air power began to diminish the prevalence of trench warfare after World War I, elements of this strategy have resurfaced in various modern conflicts, including the Iran-Iraq War and the ongoing situation in Ukraine. In these instances, trench systems have reappeared as both sides adapted to the limitations posed by contemporary warfare technologies.
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Trench warfare
Trench warfare is mode of warfare in which opposing forces attack, counterattack, and defend against attack from a system of deep trenches cut into the soil. Trenches are normally dug in the face of insurmountable defensive firepower. Trench warfare was most widely and famously employed in World War I, but has developed in many other conflicts as well.
History
Military strategists have recognized the utility of digging trenches for protection since ancient times, although for centuries such excavations tended to be relatively small-scale and were usually impromptu creations. In the seventeenth century, some European armies developed more formal trench systems to protect besiegers. However, it was only with improvements in artillery and small arms beginning in the nineteenth century that trench warfare fully emerged. Of particular note is the Petersburg-Richmond theater of the American Civil War (1861–1865), where elaborate trench networks were excavated by both Union and Confederate forces.
Trench warfare reached its height during World War I (1914–1918), when intricate lines of trenches, some of which stretched more than fourteen miles, were dug by both sides. These positions formed the fronts and dividing no-man's land that lasted for most of the war, as each side attempted to penetrate the other's line. Connected by networks of supply trenches, bristling with barbed wire and often reinforced with concrete, the trenches of the western front created a static war in which little but slaughter could be accomplished. Many weapons and other war technologies were developed in attempts to break the stalemate of trench warfare, including chemical weapons such as mustard gas and advanced mining and tunneling techniques. However, counter technologies and tactics, for example the gas mask, were quickly developed in response, and the fronts remained largely unchanged.
Additionally, the often squalid conditions of life in the trenches—which were often muddy and infested with rats and other pests—led to rampant disease, with long and complicated supply lines often delaying medical care and the lack of antibiotics preventing effective treatment. The psychological pressure of enduring bombardment and being ordered on raids across no-man's land also caused many soldiers to fall victim to shell shock, a then-mysterious condition often derided as cowardice by officers but later seen as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Occasionally, leaders on either side would broker temporary truces in the fighting, providing the only real chance to rescue wounded soldiers from no-man's land. The famous 1914 Christmas truce was one example of a ceasefire initiated by the troops themselves, but after interacting peacefully (against orders) both sides eventually resumed fighting.
The increasing use of the tank later in World War I spelled an end for this period of trench warfare. Powerful armored vehicles neutralized the rifles and machine guns necessary for the defense of trenches. Improvements in air power also made it easier to attack or bypass entrenchments. As a result, World War II saw great reductions in the amount and duration of trench positions, though they were still used in some situations. For instance, Japanese forces often made use of trench-like fortifications to resist American advances in the Pacific islands.
Although modern military technology has continued to discourage traditional trench warfare, the strategy has nevertheless reemerged in certain conflicts. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) trenches developed along the front lines mainly because armor and aircraft were scarce. The Persian Gulf War (1990–91) and the Syrian Civil War that broke out in 2011 also saw use of trenches, although in both cases airpower ultimately forced tactical changes. Trench warfare played a particularly prominent role in Ukraine's fight against separatist forces beginning in 2014 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. Many observers noted that military drones and other twenty-first century technologies in the Russia-Ukraine war limited the effectiveness of armored vehicles, resulting in a stalemate that in turn caused both sides to take up elements of classic trench warfare. Indeed, media coverage often compared combat conditions in Ukraine to the trenches of World War I, including rodent infestations and rampant disease.
Bibliography
Bull, Stephen. Trench: A History of Trench Warfare on the Western Front. Osprey, 2014.
Bull, Stephen. Trench Warfare. Compendium, 2003.
Edwards, Christian, and Olga Voitovych. "Rats and Mice Swarm Trenches in Ukraine in Grisly Echo of World War I." CNN, 21 Jan. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/01/21/europe/rats-and-mice-swarm-trenches-in-ukraine-in-grisly-echo-of-world-war-i/index.html. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.
Hess, Earl J. Trench Warfare under Grant & Lee: Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaign. U of North Carolina P, 2013.
Murray, Nicholas. The Rocky Road to the Great War: The Evolution of Trench Warfare to 1914. Potomac, 2013.
"Trench Warfare." The National WWI Museum and Memorial, www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/trench-warfare. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.
"Trench Warfare Starts." Canadian War Museum, www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/going-to-war/origins-and-early-phases/trench-warfare-starts/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.