Why was the First World War so destructive of human life?
OUTLINE:
a) The sheer scale of the war:
i) Size of the armies, these ran into the tens of millions. The more people there were fighting, the greater number of casualties
ii) With the involvement of the British and the French worldwide empires and the United States the war was truly a world war.
iii) Length of the war.
b) The intensity of the fighting. Battles raged with ferocious intensity for months at a time.
c) The highly destructive tactics used:
i) Mass opening offensives and frontal attacks.
ii) Attrition Verdun and the Somme
iii) Deliberate targeting of the civilian blockade, bombing.
d) More deadly weapons used modern artillery and rifles, machine guns, airplanes, submarines, gas, tanks.
e) Finally, you should also bring in the militaristic attitudes and beliefs of the peoples of Europe and their leaders, which meant that they were ready and willing to go to war, and to continue with the war, no matter what the cost.
World War I was extremely effective in the destruction of human life. It was not just the war itself however, that caused the massive loss of human life. What caused the high death count, was the scale of the war (in size), the intensity of the battles, the destructive tactics used in the war, the use of the more modern weaponry, and the effects caused by nationalism and militarism i.e. their beliefs and the leaderships the soldiers either held or followed. This totaled up, was the deadly combination of destruction in WWI.
During WWI, the various nations and their armies faced off in vicious clashes resulting in various numbers of casualties. There were three factors that attributed to this, the various army sizes, the fact that it was a World War, and the length of time in which WWI actually took place. Because the army sizes were so massive, the casualties in battle were much greater. The number of troops in Germany were close to, if not exactly 1.5 million. Similar numbers applied to France, Britain, Russia, and of course the United States. Consequently, the number of casualties rose because more troops meant more and more people were dying on the battlefield. Battles such as those that occurred over the first weeks of the war resulted in high casualty numbers that reached approximately 300,000 men, were just one example of the extreme casualty rate. Another example would be that of the Austro-Hungarian attack on Russia, which resulted in an 'excess of 350,000 casualties' as well as various prisoners of war. But it was not just the massive amount of troops that caused such high casualties. It was also the fact that so many nations were involved in the war. Russia, France, Britain, Italy, Serbia, The United States, Austria-Hungary, and Germany were all going head to head with one another causing in all essence a World War. As previously demonstrated, nations continually clashed, leaving in their wake high casualty numbers. Perhaps the best example would be the battles held at Verdun and Somme, which resulted "with over 700,000casualties recorded on both sides at each battle." This was a massive number that impacted both the French and the German troops. Thus the result of massive numbers caused the effect of massive casualties. Lastly, the fact that WWI was so long, it lasted for four years (1914-1918) was also a contribution to the massive casualty amount. In fact, the amount of time in which the war lasted had not been the time estimated for it to occur. It was "concluded that the war would be short' and that 'the war was truly to be "over by Christmas".' if the German plan of attack succeeded. Such a long amount of time would mean that the death toll would be on a much larger scale than that of previous wars.
However, the mass casualty count was also to be attributed to the fact that the battles were much more intense and would last for up to months at a time. In fact 'the intensity of the war was unprecedented.' and 'Battles were longer' than those previously fought 'in the Napoleonic age or the wars of 1866 and 1870.' Such examples of these long lasting battles would be 'the bloody stalemate' that occurred on the Western Front "From the end of 1914 to the spring of 1918" during which, neither side moved forward more than ten miles. Also an example would be the Battle of Verdun which lasted from February 1916 to July of that year. The amount of troops that were lost by both sides at the Battle of Verdun was a massive blow to either commander. But this can be attributed to the fact that both sides were using immensely destructive war tactics.
The various plans of attack used by the different nations during WWI, were highly destructive because of the use of large scale frontal attacks and offensives, the use of Attrition, and the deliberate targeting of civilians. The French used a plan called Plan 17 as the plan of attack for their country. Plan 17 consisted of a massive frontal attack by French soldiers. The German response was an immediate defensive attack which resulted in 300,000 casualties. Also there occurred what is known as Trench Warfare. The basic idea was that different sides would dig deep trenches or ditches in order to hold a position on the front line. The space between the different sides, was a mass of burned trees, craters, and dead land which was known to all as "No man's land". The Germans were able to best utilize this war tactic, often securing the best locations and positions. French and British soldiers used their own trenches primarily as well protected positions from which they could attack. As a result of Trench warfare, however, there were higher casualty numbers inflicted on the attacking forces than that of the defending force. Also used during WWI, was the Attrition strategy. "A war of attrition is the process of wearing down by constant pressuring in order to weaken, exhaust, or destroy enemy forces" (War of Attrition as a Strategy in World War I) The best example of attrition are the Battles of Verdun. 'The Battle of Verdun is the major example of a war of attrition. Without any difference between friend and foe it crushed soldiers on both sides to the same extent." The Battle of Verdun had a high casualty count of 300,000 for either side, both French and German. But it left a massive impact on the German army that made it almost impossible to recover from the losses suffered in 1916. Both sides had ruthlessly battered against one another endlessly, neither relinquishing to the other. Both simply hurling body after body at the other side, desperate to win against the other. When these tactics didn't work, then the nations turned on the civilians. Air raids were frequently used to bomb enemy territory. The reason; bombing civilians could have a massive impact on enemy morale. And the formation of blockades helped to cause the enemy to suffer from lack of supplies.
what is known as a "total war". Total war is defined as "a war in which every available weapon is used and the nation's full financial resources are devoted" http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/total%20war
Mr. Hyer I was unable to finish but here is my work.
