Significance of Trenches

While the early days of World War I consisted of armies moving freely and striking at one another quickly, they eventually dig in and the lines remain locked in near-perpetual stalemates in seesaw fighting that costs millions of lives. The most recent European war had been the quick Franco-Prussian War in the 1870s, and most European commanders were either ignorant of or could care less about the deadliness of trench warfare –first employed extensively in the American Civil War.

Trench defenses were an elaborate system of trenches, tunnels, and dug outs that were difficult to capture and hold. Rats and other vermin were rife in trenches, feeding on rotting food and dead men. Disease, parasitic insects, and psychological trauma were commonplace.