The main reason for heavy casualties in the first world war was the tactics used by the commanders. How far is this true?
In the First World War, there were many casualties on both sides. The final sum of the dead was 8,538,315 and the total sum of casualties (including deaths) was 37,508,686. This is a massive amount of casualties for a war. The soldiers suffered a great deal in the trenches and the saying 'dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' was for once said to be a great lie, after the people had seen how many men had died for no proper reason. The tactics used by the commanders were often selfish and suicidal to the men fighting, yet they had no chance or right to say 'no' to them, even if they knew that their next action would be an almost certain death. On the first day of the battle of the Somme, the 1st July 1916, 20,000 soldiers were killed, mainly by this tactic. The over-the-top tactic usually only gained a few meters of ground, but cost the army high casualties. One of the many tactics used was the 'over the top' tactic, where wave after wave of soldiers would be sent over the parapet, to run over no-mans-land. Not many soldiers would return from this task, as the enemy would simply mow down the soldiers, easily, with machine guns. This tactic was used in practically every battle at the beginning of WW1. Later in the war used a more effective tactic, in 1917. It was called the 'infiltration' tactic. This was where small groups of highly trained soldiers to attack weak points in the enemy lines. This caused less casualties than the over-the-top tactic. Another tactic that caused an immense amount of casualties was the use of poison gas. Conditions had to be perfect for the use of poison gas to be effective. Often the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, so the gas killed caused more casualties on the attacking army than on the defending army because the gas blew onto the attackers. This happened quite often because the commanders were so determined to use poison gas, even though they knew of the risks, the risk of very high amounts of casualties. The battle of Ypre was meant to be the first use of poison gas (here they used chlorine gas) by the Germans against the Canadians, yet sources vary and many say that actually, the Belgians used poison gas first, against the Germans, in 1914. In the attack against the Canadians in Ypre, 1916, 2000 Canadian soldiers died because they had no gas masks. Gas was a sort of psychological weapon- it was invented to cause as much panic a s possible under the soldiers. It was very effective. In the poem 'dulce et decorum est…' (by Wilfred Owen) it shows you what terrible things happen to men if they didn't have their gas masks: 'If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood, Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud, Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues…'. This shows us that it was ghastly - even the thought of being attacked by gas was traumatizing.The weapons used in the war were made to cause the maximum amount of wounds and deaths. Guns were a relatively new weapon and could mow down the attacking soldiers from a distance. Shells could break up the enemy line from far away, making attacks through the barbed wire easier. When the attacking soldiers struggled over the top and over no-mans land, they could be picked off very easily as they struggled forwards. The use of tanks was tried in the battle of Ypre, but the battlefield was so wet and muddy that even the newest tanks couldn't move and just sank into the mud.The conditions in the trenches were terrible. There were rats the size of small dogs feeding on the dead. Clothes were infested in fleas and the soldiers lived in the mud - up to their knees. There was little to eat or drink. It was either freezing or very hot. Heavy rain could flood the trenches leaving the soldiers wet and cold, and this for weeks on end. At the bottom of the trenches were duckboards laid out to stop the soldiers drowning in the mud, yet if you stepped aside these you could sink deep into it. Because of the animals and fleas, as well as all the dead bodies and other conditions, illnesses spread like fire and infections were no rarity. At some battles, there was such a shortage of water that soldiers were sent on the mission of certain death to collect water at some of the puddles. They were so desperate for water that they drank muddy water that tasted of dead bodies just to keep themselves alive for a little longer. Several liters would have to be shared between hundreds - clearly not enough. In many cases, the conditions in the trenches were so terrible that soldiers often decided to sleep outside the trenches, even if there was a very large chance of death.Even though the commanders did not care for these conditions for they did not need to be in the trenches (they were happy bunnies bathing in luxury a few miles from the fronts) they could not do much about the conditions in the trenches. Illnesses were common in the trenches because conditions were so terrible. The most common illnesses were trench foot, shellshock, trench fever, small pox and many more. Trench foot was an infection that caused your feet to go numb and the skin to go blue and red. If left untreated, the infection would turn gangrenous. The feet would need to be amputated. This was caused by the constant exposure to cold and wet - the soldiers were not allowed to take off their boots. Shellshock was a psychic illness caused by the enemy's constant shell attacks and gunfire. Often the men would have mental breakdowns. Many men with shellshock were executed for cowardice, as the illness was not registered. Many man also harmed himself so that they could leave the front lines and go home. However, this was an offense to the army and if found out, the soldier could have also been executed. The question has truth in it. The war as it was fought on the Western Front was different to other theatres, but of course the weapons & so on were identical. What trench warfare did was to make men static targets which were concentrated. The problem which the Generals, much criticised as they are, particularly the British, is that Technology had advanced at a very great pace. Bullets,shells & exposives in general were much better at doing what they were designed for: Killing men. Now even with the aid of hindsight one wonders quite what the alternatives were.
