Watch History Documentaries Breaking The Deadlock

 Attrition; lions led by donkeys; the slaughter only ceasing for brief truce one Christmas - traditional and mistaken views of the war on the Western Front. But there was constant movement along the 500-mile front, with generals wanting to break through the trench systems. Hundreds of them, on both sides, died leading their men into battle. The battle of Verdun became a battle for France herself. The Germans tried new tactics, but in the end lost the ground they had won at such cost. Three quarters of a million men - French and German - lost their lives at Verdun.


Some men adapted to trench warfare, adopting a system of "Live and Let Live," with countless informal, local truces. Generals on both sides tried to stir things up, with raids across No Man's Land and big offensives. After the terrible failure of the Somme offensive the allies continued to develop new tactics and weapons to break the German line. In November 1917 at Cambrai, British tanks rolled five miles beyond the German lines. Church bells rang out across Britain. But the Germans soon re-occupied lost ground. The Victors on the Western Front would have to learn how to consolidate success.




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