trench warfare question? wwi?

Question

why was it hard for one opponent to gain advantage over an enemy in trench warfare?

Answer 1

Because of the existence of trenches, and the presence of machine gun nests, and the likelihood of being caught in barbed wire during an attempt to storm the trenches of the opposing forces, it was likely that a soldier would die before getting ten feet from his own trench. Furthermore, constant shelling from mortar rounds and cannon fire often led to both collapsing tenches, and difficulty in traversing the "no man's land" between two lines.

The trenches themselves ran for miles, so the common practice of outflanking an opponent was of no use. Moreover, the series of trenches often followed a pattern that accounted for such thinking and left little room for anything but a direct attack.

The other factor that is important to remember is that at the time, european military strategy was torn between the direct assault format thy had been using since before the American Revolution and more modern warfare. At that time, the machine gun was a cutting edge piece of equipment, and there was little military theory as to how to adjust tactics for well-placed machine-gun positions.

Answer 2

There was a large amount of Trench warfare, but it was not all in that situation. The battle of Jutland was the main naval battle of WWI, and was utterly epic, with many losses on both sides. The race to the sea was full of skirmishes and artillery played a large part in the warfare at this time. Trench warfare was indicative of the stalemate that occurred. Running battles were not that common, but often an area would be held by the enemy, and there would be an almost 'siege' mentality to take the area, with artillery cutting off supplies to the area, and the raiding parties to attack the enemy. Mining also became a part of exposing weakness in trench warfare, with thousands of pounds of explosives being planted under and enemy trench before detonating the mine and rushing the crater.

Answer 3

The biggest problem to trench warfare was the invention of the machinegun and rifle cartridges. An attacking side would have to leave there trenches and charge across an open field with little to no cover while a defender is able to essentially fire from defenible position and because of the previously mentioned inventions present a literal wall of bullets.

Answer 4

At the Western Front, yes. It needed massive mines underneat the enemy's trenches, or tanks to gain some small advance. Even poison gas gave only a temporary advantage.

Answer 5

The land between the trenches was guarded with barbed wire. It was easy for snipers to pick off soldiers and units who attempted to cross no-mans-land to attack men in the trenches opposite. The ground was completely torn up and often marshy and low-lying, making movement very difficult.

Answer 6

in the warland there was a space called No Mans Land. it was a space inbetween the trenches. if you went on to it then you were most likely going to die. you could'nt really cross over/

Answer 7

Because the machine gun protected by barbed wire defences was the dominant weapon and difficult to overcome by frontal assault until the invention of the tank.