History - World War I Battles

World War I : A Modern War fought with Ancient Strategies and Tactics

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In Partial Fulfillment to Course X

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City and Date World War I : A Modern War fought with Ancient Strategies and Tactics

The First World War was unfortunate in many ways for those who participated in it . Beyond the break up of empires and the loss of territory , the soldiers who fought the war were expected to fight battles with modern weapons but using tactics left over from the wars of the previous century . This was

especially true on the Western and Eastern Fronts of Europe . Commanders on both sides , designed battle plans that will ensure a swift and crushing blow to the enemy , grinding down the military strength of the opponent and bring about victory . The officers - most of them belonging to the crime de la crime of society - were indoctrinated with an outmoded philosophy of war and it is the belief that the bravest and most morally justified army will overcome those who oppose freedom , justice and truth

It wasn 't three years into the war , when Allied Forces led by Britain France , and Russia were able to understand that they need to adapt to a whole new world of mechanized warfare and to unleash new tactics that were designed to utilize the weapons at their disposal . They went back to the drawing board so to speak and designed new battle strategies that looked beyond pushing straight ahead and overcoming the enemy by sheer numbers and force

This will attempt to show that the behavior of the armies in the battlefield did not result from chance but a byproduct of prior events that can be summarized into the following

The armies from both Allied Forces and Central Powers came to the battlefield ill-prepared

The triumvirate - these three signed an accord that bound them as one in 1907- of Britain , France and Russia forced them to war , while their major opponents , the Central Powers composed of Germany Austria-Hungary , Turkey , and Bulgaria were rushed into war

Prior to the Great War there was no precedent in terms of a global scale conflict . The recent major conflict available for study was the decades old U .S . Civil War and colonial uprisings involving peasants and poorly trained rebel groups

Technology simply leap-frogged from simple weapons and munitions to complicated weaponry that most war cabinets and military leaders simply did not have time and opportunity to evaluate what the new arsenal can do

The major war philosophy at that time was that in to outflank and outsmart the enemy , the superior army must attack and surprise their foes therefore ensuring a quick and decisive victory . This is rooted in the belief in a warrior 's code and fighting in the open using disciplined maneuvers perfected in a time when swords , arrows , as well as the cavalry figured prominently in combat

All the above will be examined thoroughly in the following pages but it is imperative to go...