WW1 Western Front and Trench Warfare - Notes History AQA GCSE
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Course
History
Institution
GCSE
This Revision Resource contains detailed revision notes providing all information and explanations required for the GCSE AQA History WW1 paper and spec.
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History Revision: WW1, The Western Front and
Trench Warfare
Failure of the Schlieffen Plan and Stalemate:
• The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan occurred due to the BEF holding the Germans up at
Mons. The combined British and French forces meet at the River Marne.
• The counterattack pushed Germany back however, they were not driven out of
France. On 8th September, both sides began to dig trenches in preparation for trench
warfare.
• Germany attempted to outflank the combined forces by the “race to the sea”. This
was not successful as Britain and France were able to stop them by breaking through
and splitting up their lines, using France’s infrastructure.
• Warfare favoured defence therefore a stalemate eventually developed meaning that
neither side really moved anywhere.
• A stalemate developed after the first battle of Ypres. The trench warfare involved
heavy artillery fire and shelling’s however, the deep German trenches protected them.
This ultimately lead to a stalemate with neither side able to gain any ground.
Germany Britain
• The advance through Belgium and • The Kaiser dismissed the BEF
France took its toll on German (British Expeditionary Force) as a
soldiers. ‘little army’ however they arrived in
• They were exhausted thanks to the France quicker than the Germans
long battles and resistance put up by expected.
the Allies. • The BEF were a small, but
• As such they were much slower excellently trained force.
reaching France than expected. • The new German commander, von
• Von Schlieffen, who devised the Moltke, had to transfer troops from
plan, said that the right wing should the Eastern Front to the West to face
be the strongest part of the invading the BEF.
forces. • On the 23rd August the BEF (British
• von Moltke, the new German Expeditionary Force) met German
commander, ignored this advice and forces at the town of Mons.
instead sent men to reinforce the • The BEF was heavily outnumbered
Russian front. by 160,000 German men and twice
• As such Germany were 100,000 the number of artillery guns.
soldiers short when they invaded • The British were so effective with
Belgium. their Lee Enfield rifles that the
• Other changes, such as only Germans believed they were up
attacking through Belgium and against machine guns.
Luxembourg, rather than also going • The BEF were only able to hold up
through the Netherlands, made the the German advance before being
attack narrower and easier to defend ordered to retreat to the River
against. Marne.
, Belgium France
• The Belgians, in their forts resisted • The French attacked Alsace-
and slowed down the Germans. Over Lorraine (on the German-French
one million Germans marched into border) however they suffered heavy
Belgium in August. casualties.
• Deep concrete forts protecting • They were aided by the delays
Antwerp, Liege and Namur delayed caused by Britain and Belgium.
the Germans. • The French moved troops towards
• The Germans had to use heavy guns Paris thanks to these delays, where
to break the defences down. they made a stand against German
• It took until October for Antwerp to forces at the Battle of Marne.
surrender.
• Belgian resistance gave time for the
BEF (British Expeditionary Force)
to arrive.
New weaponry began appearing on the battlefield. Britain’s Lee Enfield rifle was quick to
reload and very accurate. German artillery fire forced soldiers to take cover and act
defensively e.g. Snipers.
Digging trenches for protection ensured the campaign was not going to be quick and decisive
victory, instead a planned, prepared strategy that takes time,
Why did the war become a Stalemate?
1. Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
2. Battle of the Marne and First Battle of Ypres
3. Superiority of defensive techniques
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