Armed Forces & Wars

The First World War is remembered for nearly four years of deadlock. The reason for this stalemate was two equally matched sides neither of whom was able to gain the upper hand. Instead both devoted resources to the horrendous doctrine of the war of attrition which attempted to kill as many of the enemy as possible - the side which had fewest losses would emerge victorious.

Coupled with this was the fact that the technology employed was largely defensive with huge batteries of artillery pounding enemy trenches and when offensive weapons were developed (notably the tank) they were not employed properly.

There was also the minor but important matter that the commander at the rear had little or no communication with the troops in the front line during battles - wireless was only in its infancy, and communication by runner, telephone or pigeon was easily disrupted. So he had little idea of what was happening and could not easily direct units to where they were needed in the heat of battle... Read More