Tag Archive for trenches

POUNDED TO HELL AND GONE

Cantigny: A Test For The Americans. AEF Reputation at Stake; A High Price to Pay Special to The Great War Project. (Late May) By the end of May a century ago, there are hundreds of thousands of American troops in France on the Western Front. But they are deployed in relatively safe trenches, largely away…

THE LANDSCAPE OF DEATH

Deeper and Longer Trenches Divide Europe into Two Armed Camps. Little Changed in Nearly Three Years. Special to The Great War Project (4-8 January) With the coming of January a century ago, what does the global battlefield look like after more than two-and-a-half years of war? “The face of the war at the beginning of…

VERDUN REDUX

Pace of Fighting On the Rise. Verdun and the Somme Still Key Flashpoints. Thousands of German Prisoners Taken Special to The Great War Project (24-30 October) Increased military activity breaks out on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. At Verdun on the Western Front, the confrontation between French and German troops has been static for…

NO END IN SIGHT;

‘Life in These Days Too Hideous to Write’ Special to The Great War Project (13, 14, 15 January) Many in Britain and France are still hoping the war will end soon. Many believe Germany is faltering, facing a debilitating stalemate on the Western Front, and a tightening naval embargo that is slowly strangling the German…

MUD – THE SILENT KILLER

The Trenches Fill with Water; They are Sinking, Along with the Soldiers in Them. ‘More Cruel, Relentless, Pitiless: Sigmund Freud. Special to The Great War Project (12-13-14 December) Conditions on the Western Front are horrible, and getting worse. One great factor is mud, making fighting almost impossible. Visiting the front line, French General Philippe Petain…

THE TERRAIN OF DEATH

Letters from the Frozen, Blood-Soaked Battlefield. Every Man Wants it Ended “At Once.” Special to The Great War Project. (4-5 December) In these days of freezing temperatures and mounting fatalities, an extraordinary exchange of letters takes place involving Winston Churchill, the British First Lord of the Admiralty and one of Britain’s most aggressively pro-war senior…

GERMAN GENERAL: “WE CANNOT DEFEAT THEM.”

Failure of German War Plans; Central Powers Face Long War Special to The Great War Project (2-3 December) On this December 3rd a century ago, Belgrade, the Serbian capital, falls for the second time to the troops of Austria-Hungary. “Austrian troops staged a triumphal parade through the city,” reports historian Max Hastings, “and were soon…

FROZEN EARTH, FROZEN WAR

Germans Dig in for Long Haul; In the Trenches: Paneled Walls, Even Carpets; Ottoman Threat to Kill Allied Hostages. Special to The Great War Project. (24-25-26 November) In the central zone of the Eastern Front a century ago, as the battle around what is now the Polish city of Lodz comes to a close, the…

RELENTLESS BATTLE FOR YPRES, CONTINUED.

Water and Mud Fill the Trenches. Fighting is Merciless; Men on Both Sides Break and Run. Special to The Great War Project (6-7 November) On the Western Front a century ago, the battle for the Belgian town of Ypres continues, exhausting both sides. At the beginning of November, the Germans renew their attacks on British…