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Question: What are 3 reasons for the development of trench warfare in WWI!? Specifically the Western Front!. !?
We haven't read the novel All Quiet On the Western Front, yet, and before we do, we need to know a few things!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Railroad, Barbed Wire, and Machine Guns!. The Rifled Cannon was no slacker, either!.

Barbed wire and the machine gun made defenses nearly impregnable, and the developed rail networks of western Europe made it possible to bring up the necessary quantities of men and materiel (not materials) to force the stalemate!.

So point to the automobile, but one should be aware that the vast majority of equipment moved the proverbial "Last Mile" aboard horse drawn transport!.

However, the causes are open for debate, and my three are only one of many contested hypothesis!.

also, it should be noted that the American Civil War was the true developing ground for many of the tactics and technologies that led to the stalemate apparent during the Great War!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Trenches were dug in order to get out of machine gun fire ans sniper fire!. It was a very inefficient way of fighting because the armies never advanced more than a few miles before being pushed back!. Trenches were also a death trap when poison gas was introduced!. The gas is heavier than air so it sinks into the trenches or fox holes and kills or disables anybody who comes in contact with it!. Bunkers were built underground to get out of artillery fire also!. The tank was created towards the end of the war and was a way to get through the enemy lines without the risk of being killed by the machine gun!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Wow - "All Quiet!.!." is such a beautiful book!.

The main reason was the super-sonic bullet!. This had been invented sometime before the First War, but the generals still hadn't really planned for it!. They were still thinking of the time before these fearsome new bullets!.

Wars were fought with black powder bullets - they were big and slow and didn't shoot too far - maybe 300 yards!. Most fighting was done very close because most guys couldn't hit anything far away!.

But then along comes smokeless powder, supersonic bullets and new weapons to shoot them!. NOW bullets shot for miles!. Each man with a bolt action rifle was the equal of a whole group of men before!. The bullets were absolutely deadly - could knock a horse off it's feet at a mile!.

So all the guys were there having a war, and the bullets were so deadly that all they could do was dig in and keep their heads down!. This developed into the institution of the trenches!. There was simply no other way to stay alive other than to stay in your trench!.

I met a few guys who fought in the First War - they said that there was a wall of flying steel about 1 1/2 foot off the ground!. It operated like a scythe!. If you stuck your head up far enough, it would be snipped off!. Most wounds during charges were in the legs first!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Barbed wire (slowed or stopped the troops from attacking)
machine guns
The effectiveness in precision fuses on shrapnel shells!. (overhead fragmentation of the warhead in the shell)
It bogged down soldiers from a mobile war to static trench war!. The ground surface was so dangerous troops had to dig in to the earth to protect themselves!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Technology developed faster than tactics!. They were still on with the old tactics of having soldiers line up in ranks and shoot at each other, but the weapons technology (gas, repeating rifles, machine guns, etc) made that a slaughter, so the best thing they could think of was to dig trenches and shoot at each other from those!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

To hide from machine gun fire, because machine guns were just being invented!. And also to hide from tanks!. And when they were charging, they had somewhere to hide and rest before going out into the battlefield!. Oh, and also to not be hid by mortar fire as easily either!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hey!

They were for cover fire mainly from artillery and small arms (rifles, grenades, etc!.), they were to safely connect areas to get supplys to the front, and they were there because a stalemate started and the soldiers had to "dig in"!.

ThanksWww@QuestionHome@Com

Trench warfare arose when a revolution in fire power was not matched by similar advances in mobility!.
They made it because it was the safest way to fight!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It was the wisdom of the day
Mechanized war fare was in it's infancy
WWI was barbed wire and machine gunsWww@QuestionHome@Com

Barbed wire, machine guns and lack of mobilityWww@QuestionHome@Com

Mainly Machine guns, and the way they were taught to fight from the past!.Www@QuestionHome@Com