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Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of fortifications dug into the ground, facing each other. Trench warfare arose when there was a revolution in firepower without similar advances in mobility and communications. Periods of trench warfare occurred during the American Civil War (1860s) and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and reached peak brutality and bloodshed on the Western Front in the First World War.
1 Background
Fortification is almost as old as warfare itself; however, because of the relative smallness of the armies and the lack of range of the weapons, it was traditionally not possible to defend more than a short defensive line or an isolated strongpoint. The very long fortifications of the ancient world, such as the Great Wall of China or Hadrian's Wall, were exceptions to the general rule and were in any case not designed to completely prevent entry of enemy troops, but simply to make it difficult for the invader to mount a penetration in strength. The Great Wall of China, for example, was not intended to keep raiders out, but merely to prevent them from bringing their horses.
Although both the art of fortification and the art of weaponry advanced a great deal in the second half of the second millennium, the advent of the longbow, the muzzle-loading musket, and even of artillery did not substantially change the traditional rule that a fortification required a large body of troops to defend it. Small numbers of troops simply could not maintain a volume of fire sufficient to repel a determined attack.
1.1 Siege warfare
Most of the techniques used in trench warfare had existed for years in siege warfare. It was the implementation of these techniques between two armies in the field which was new.
Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars describes how at the Battle of AlesiaThe Battle of Alesia ( 52 BC) was the turning event of the Gallic Wars, which marked the last major engagement between Gaulish and Roman armies. Julius Caesar defeated Vercingetorix after a siege of several months, which is often cited as an example of th the RomanRoman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens but also applicable to typography math and a commune''. Roman The noun Roman means a citizen of Rome. The adjective Roman means pertaining or related to Rome. The name Romans in legionLegion can refer to: # A Roman legion # A Polish Legion # A Foreign Legion # Legion (model), a computer programming model.s created two huge fortified walls around the city. The inner circumvallationCircumvallation is a standard military tactic of siege used in ancient and modern warfare. It describes the process of the attacking army building a line of fortifications around the besieged city facing towards the city (to protect itself from sorties by, 10 miles, held in VercingetorixVercingetorix ( 72 BC 46 BC), chieftain of the Arverni, led the great Gallic revolt against the Romans in 53- 52 BC. His name in Gaulish means "over-king" ver-rix of warriors cingetos . As described in Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars Rome had secured dominati's forces, while the outer circumvallation kept relief from reaching them. The Romans held the ground in between the two walls. The besieged Gauls, facing starvation, eventually surrendered with their relief force standing by helpless.
Once siege guns were developed the techniques involved in assaulting a town or a fortress became well known and ritualised. The attacking army would surround a town. Then the town would be asked to surrender. If they did not comply the besieging army would invest (surround) the town with temporary fortifications to stop sallies from the stronghold or relief getting in. The attackers would then build a length of trenches parallel to the defences and just out of range of the defending artillery. They would then dig a trench towards the town in a zigzagA zigzag is a pattern made up of many small corners at an acute angle, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. From the point of view of symmetry, a regular zigzag can be generated from a simple mo pattern so that it could not be enfiladed by defending fire. Once within artillery range another parallel trench would be dug with gun emplacements. If necessary using the first artillery fire for cover, this process would be repeated until guns were close enough to be laid accurately to make a breach in the fortifications. So that the forlorn hope and support troops could get close enough to exploit the breach, more zigzag trenches could be dug even closer to the walls with more parallel trenches to protect and conceal the attacking troops. After each step in the process the besiegers would ask the besieged to surrender. If after the forlorn hope stormed the breach successfully the defenders could expect no mercy.
