Trench Warfare Research Paper

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Trench warfare during World War I in the early 20th century helped forge a path for current warfare and modern civilization. World War I was only expected to last a few months but the trenches stretched that into a deadly four year war. It caused stalemates all along the borders of the feuding countries and also caused serious health problems in the trenches themselves. They did bring about the new technology that helped to end the war and guide future warfare technology that is still used in today’s society. The poor conditions also helped guide the conditions for the future as the countries have learned what works and what does not in keeping their men healthy. At the start of World War I, many expected the war to last until Christmas, with…show more content…
They were constantly wet, dirty with human waste and the men were packed in like a can of sardines. The men often got infections in the trenches because of the conditions and many died because of it. Not many antibiotics were created at the time to combat the infections. Another way men died in their own trenches is when the opposing army used mustard gas on them, many died because the gas would seep into the trenches due to the nature of the poisonous gas and suffocate them because they could not get their masks on in time. It is seen in the coming wars after WWI that the leaders of each country and their armies learned from this. Trench warfare saw a serious decline after WWI because of how ineffective it was. The trenches brought the moral of the country and soldiers down. When WWII came along, it was not as easy to enlist men because of the previous war and the tactics used in it that kept the war from ending sooner. As the years gone by, each war has learned from the previous in how to house the soldiers and how to fight the opponents. Today, each country has a base that houses their armies and they do patrols of enemy lines. They often do not stay too close to the lines and the patrols come back at the end of each…show more content…
Mustard gas was one of the new ways to fight. Mustard gas is a heavy gas that sinks low to the ground and because of this, the trenches would be filled with it. The gas would allow the enemy to get over no man’s land and attack more efficiently than earlier in the war. The gas was so feared in later wars that many countries issued gas masks to its civilians to protect them from possible chemical warfare. Another technology that WWI helped create was tanks. Tanks were brought into the war at the very end. They had been designed to go over the trenches without falling and to break enemy lines. They were very efficient in their purpose but were also a crude prototype. They were long and did not have any offensive weapons on them. Tanks did improve greatly. World War II saw efficient tank warfare, they were smaller and equipped with weapons to attack with. Tanks are still used today by many armies around the world. They have improved to be effective at protecting the soldiers inside when traveling in unsafe areas. They have also been equipped with improved technology in and outside of the
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