Verdun, the Somme, and Trench Warfare

1. Trench Warfare

1.1. advantages

1.1.1. well covered from enemy fire

1.1.2. safe place to sleep and eat

1.1.3. a crucial tactic

1.2. disavantages

1.2.1. the disease

1.2.1.1. rats and lice - transmitters

1.2.1.2. the trench foot

1.2.2. the stench of the dead bodies

1.2.3. prone to explosions

1.2.4. inescapable during enemy attack

1.2.5. weather

1.2.5.1. floods during rain

1.2.5.2. snow build up

2. Verdun

2.1. the longest battle

2.2. 800,000 casualties

2.3. German General Falkenhayn targeted the French town of Verdun

2.3.1. town's position on the Allied line

2.3.2. sentimental value to the French people

2.3.3. to weaken the French first

2.3.4. to get to Britain via Verdun

2.4. The Sacred Way

2.4.1. armies needed effective supply routes

2.4.2. the only open road for the French

2.5. German objective

2.5.1. Falkenhayn shared very little about his strategy

2.5.2. ranging from capturing the town of Verdun to destroying the French army

2.5.3. division in he German army

2.5.4. Falkenhayn resigned which brought chaos

2.6. France's final victory

2.6.1. Russian attack on German Eastern Front

2.6.2. Battle of Somme

2.6.3. Romania entered the war

3. Battle of the Somme

3.1. 1916

3.2. the British against the Germans

3.3. 141 days

3.4. the first and bloodiest day - 58,000 British casualties

3.5. Douglas Haig leads the British troops

3.6. underground network of telephone cables

3.7. preliminary bombardment of the Germans

3.8. the German machine guns

3.9. tanks

3.10. the British and the French won