By 1940, Nazi Germany had successfully employed the tactics in various invasions, including those in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Poisonous gas and tanks were ultimately used to break the stalemate, ending the war.īlitzkrieg was first used by the Germans against Poland in 1939. In the end, although the death count increased, no progress was made on either side. The trenches were also susceptible to flooding, causing drowning or supply damage. In addition, due to its enclosed nature, trenches became infested with pests including rats and lice causing illnesses within the militia. Since battles were both fought on a defensive front, this eventually caused a stalemate on the Western Front (along Belgium and northern France). Seeking protection, troops moved underground in trenches, bunkers, and tunnels. This scenario later came to be known as “No Man’s Land”. Fighting out in the open was therefore no longer an option, as attackers would be met with thousands of rounds of artillery fire. Bolt action, breech loading rifles and machine guns were prominent in the war zone, firing 400 rounds per minute at over 2000 yards (compare this with rifles in 1914 that fired 15 rounds per minute). Alongside attrition warfare was the technological progression of artillery power. Attrition warfare relied on the strategy of winning war through wearing down the enemy through personnel and material lost, while trench warfare, as the name implies, were fought in dugouts. The doctrine of the Blitzkrieg tactic emerged between the dates of 19, in response to the attrition and trench warfare deadlock of World War I.
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