The Western Front in a Nutshell

The Western Front was the main front line in the West during World War I and witnessed some of the most futile and devastating fighting of the "Great War". Cutting across Europe from the English Channel to the Swiss border, this infamous trench system would witness the deaths of almost a million soldiers from 1914 to 1918.

So, what was the Western Front, how did it form and what part did it play in World War I? In this article, historic travel website Historvius helps us explore these issues.

 

Background

When World War I - The Great War - broke out in 1914, Europe was divided into two opposing factions, the Triple Alliance made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy and the Triple Entente comprised of Britain, France and Russia.

At the outbreak of war, Germany attempted to put into action its main battle strategy, the Schlieffen Plan. From 4 August 1914, the German Army advanced through Belgium and into France, forcing the British to retreat 200 miles south, all the way to the River Marne.

 

Digging In

The German offensive finally came to an end over a month later at the First Battle of the Marne. From 5 to 12 September 1914, in what became known as the "Miracle of the Marne", Allied forces finally managed to force the Germans into retreat.

This wastechnically an Allied success, but it was not an overall victory. In fact, it marked the start of a sustained period of trench warfare. Having been pushed back over the Marne and Aisne rivers, German forces dug in followed by the Allied armies, signalling the birth of a system of trenches which would characterise the western front for years to come.

 

Race to the Sea

These lines only grew over the course of the next few months, as the two sides tried to outmanoeuvre each other by heading north towards the Channel ports. This was known as the "Race to the Sea". Each side vied to outflank the other, eventually reaching the strategic port of Ypres where, from 19 October to 22 November 1914, the Allies succeeded in preventing the Germans from making any kind of breakthrough.

Yet this would be a bittersweet victory. For now, as winter set in, both sides were stuck in a long and terrible deadlock. By this time, the trench system had grown to be over 440 miles long, stretching from the Swiss border to the English Channel.

 

Stalemate

Thus, 1915 would be spent with each side attempting in vain to break the stalemate. Various battles took place, in which small gains were made at great cost of life, One such example was the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April - 27 May 1915). This not only resulted in over 95,000 casualties, but ended with barely any advantage to either side.

 

Attrition

In 1916, frustrated with the lack of progress, the Germans made a significant change to their strategy. Rather than attempt to "break through" the stalemate, they would work to "bleed France white". In other words, they planned to inflict mass casualties on the French army in a war of attrition, thus forcing them to surrender. The German High Command planned to put this into action at Verdun.

Starting on 21 February 1916, they attempted to simultaneously capture Verdun and deal the French army a blow in terms of casualties, yet this was not to be. Instead, the Germans encountered immense French resistance.  In fact, by the end of the Battle of Verdun - one of the most brutal and lengthy of the war - the French had won an important victory.

 

Disaster at the Somme

Even though the French had managed to hold the Germans at Verdun, they also suffered massive casualties of over 400,000 men, while the Germans suffered 350,000. Aiming to reduce the burden on the soldiers at Verdun, the French and British armies tried to split the German focus with an offensive elsewhere. This would become the bloody clash known as the Battle of the Somme.

In what they hoped would be the "big push" that would end the war, the Allies planned to bombard an 18-mile stretch of German trenches over the course of a week and then have 120,000 men attack. This plan was doomed to failure.

Rather than a quick and effective offensive the Battle of the Somme lasted from 1 July and 18 November 1916, became one of the bloodiest ever fought with over 615,000 Allied casualties and the Allies only gaining a meagre six miles of German land.

 

1917 and the Hindenburg Line

With the Germans having suffered great losses in the Battle of the Somme, a change in military leadership offered them an opportunity to reflect. The new German generals decided that the western German army would go on the defensive and pulled them back to the "impregnable" point known as the Hindenburg Line.

Over the course of the rest of 1917, the Americans joined the war and the British and French launched numerous attacks against the Germans, including at Arras and Champagne. One of the most significant of these was once again at Ypres, where the battle known as Passchendaele took place from July to November. In a point largely seen by many as the "lowest" in the course of World War I, the Allies lost over 140,000 soldiers for the gain of a mere five miles.

 

The Turning Point

In early 1918, it looked like the Germans were going to make great gains. Having signed a peace treaty with Russia, they had many more troops to spare on the western rather than the eastern front. What's more, on 21 March 1918, they launched Operation Michael, an offensive intended to win the war before too many American troops arrived in Europe.  However this attack failed, as did those which followed it.

This gave the Americans time to amass more troops and offered the Allies a perfect opportunity to counter-attack. Several such attacks were launched, eventually resulting in what became known as the "Black Day of the German Army" on 8 August.

The Allies continued in their unceasing efforts to push the Germans back. In early October they breached the Hindenburg Line and, by the end of that month, the Germans had admitted defeat.

 

Silence

The end of war on the western front officially came at 11am on 11 November 1918, after the two sides signed an armistice. This brought to an end four years of suffering, bloodshed and terror, as the western front officially fell silent.

 

Visiting the Western Front

Today, various sites remain commemorating World War I and the Western Front. To find out where you can see Western Front sites, including the Somme Battlefields, visit historvius.com and explore the historic sites directory.

About the Author

Lily Pad is a freelance copywriting agency in London, specialising in producing professional, creative copy including features, SEO copy and web content.

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