The First World War buried the war of movement in mud and wire. From the Marne to the Somme, these battles defined a generation and an age of industrial slaughter.
This guide describes how the First World War buried the war of movement in mud and wire. Fought from the Marne to the Somme, its battles defined a generation and an age of industrial slaughter.
How did the trench warfare of the First World War take shape?
The guide points to First Ypres in 1914, when the trenches reached the sea. It marked the moment the First World War settled into a static front of mud and wire.
Which First World War battles does the guide treat as the most defining?
The guide highlights the Marne in 1914, the miracle that saved Paris, Verdun in 1916, remembered by the words they shall not pass, and the Somme in 1916, a million casualties and the symbol of the war. Together they define the industrial slaughter of the First World War.
Which battles does the First World War guide cover?
This guide to the greatest battles of the First World War covers the Marne, First Ypres, Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele, six battles fought between 1914 and 1917.
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