The Origins and Effects of Trench Stalemate Nicholas Murray Truman Conference
What caused the stalemate? The stalemate on land occurred because of a unique imbalance in the interaction of firepower, mobility, and protection.
Modern Infantry Firepower
By 1914 all major powers possessed similar, modern, equipment
By 1914 all major powers possessed similar modern equipment, and their armies had similar structures and organization. They re the same! What now?
Not decisive
Only a resolute offense, conducted at a high tempo and to great depth, attains the enemy s total destruction. The offense has a number of indisputable advantages. The attacker s principal advantage is possession of the initiative. These attacks are rapidly and violently executed, unpredictable in nature, and disorient the enemy. They enhance the commander s capability to achieve a decisive victory. US Army FM 3-0 Operations ADRP 3-90, OFFENSE AND DEFENSE (2012)
By the end of 1914: 1,300,000 French casualties in 5 months!
Decisive? Hmmm. It s certainly bloody! By the end of the war there will be 38m military and civilian dead and wounded.
What has happened to the value of the object? Are the war aims still worth the costs already paid?
The morning hate
I still need to win the war and punish the aggressor, so how do I deal with this?
For every position there must be a battle, following each other as rapidly as possible. Each one needs a new plan, a new artillery preparation. If one goes too quickly, one risks being checked; too slowly and the enemy has time to make more positions. That is the problem, and it is serious. Marshal Fayolle, January 21, 1916.
proper trenches
proper barbed wire
hipster dugout
The effect on strategy of tactical and operational stalemate was the shift to a focus on attritional warfare as strategy. This came with a corresponding emphasis on mass firepower.
proper destruction
One strategic effect of trench deadlock: at Neuve Chapelle in 1915, the British fire more shells in 35 minutes than they fired in the whole of the three year Boer War 1899-1902
Maps?
The origins of the green movement and recycling
What is required to produce this?
What has to change in society to make this happen?
Women in work: In Britain, in 1914 roughly 23% of the workforce was female. By 1918 this had risen to roughly 47%. Similar types of changes were seen in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Russia. Only France does not see a clear increase in women participating in the workforce during the war. What does this mean for the costs of the war in societal terms? What is the effect on war aims? Can they remain the same?
Approximate aircraft production: Allies = 150,000 Central Powers = 54,000 Approximate tank production: Britain = 3,300 France = 4,800 Germany = 20
In terms of resources, as the war went on Germany was unable to compete
None of that worked so back to basics Education of the troops in that spirit of bold attack and will to conquer, with which we entered the present war, is the first guarantee of success. Ludendorff, The Attack in Position Warfare, January 1918
The cream of what is left of the German army Another tactical solution to a strategic problem: it also fails
Combined Arms
What was the overall cost: $337,846,000,000 In today s terms that is: $5,538,340,640,088 In terms of lives: circa 17 million military and civilian deaths, and 21 million military wounded. Broadberry, Stehpen and Mark Harrison, The Economics of World War I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) And: http://www.centre-robert-schuman.org/userfiles/files/reperes%20%e2%80%93%20module%201-1-1%20- %20explanatory%20notes%20%E2%80%93%20World%20War%20I%20casualties%20%E2%80%93%20EN.pdf
What do these costs mean for reaching an agreement to end the war? What do these costs mean for the warring powers over the longer term? What will the changes wrought by the war mean for society?
Questions?
Useful links https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collect ions-online/photographs https://encyclopedia.1914-1918- online.net/home.html https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections