The History of~World War 1(Part 4: Breakthrough)

As we left off from our last part (click here) we talked about how there were battles in other parts of the world such as Africa, The Middle East, and Asia.

For the last 2 years, both sides are now looking to break the stalemate on both fronts. The question is now, who would do it first?

This is what Part 4 of this wiki page series will try to cover. The battles that will finally break the stalemate.

## The Western Front

### The Battle of Verdun

On February 21, 1916, German forces were about to enclose a French town called Verdun after capturing a nearby fort.  This battle would be fought for 9 months, which during that time, the Germans tried to extending their attack at the French river of Meuse, but French and British artillery halted their advance. As the Germans took another French fort but had to recall many of its troops for the upcoming Battle of the Somme (more on that later). Eventually, when the battle was over on December 18, both sides suffered many casualties (380,000 WAs and 430,000 Germans) and the casualty rate was very high at some point during the battle where 70,000 soldiers would die in a month. But the Western Alliance beat back the Germans and successfully defended Verdun.

### Battle of The Somme

On July 1 (still in 1916), The Alliance wanted to make a breakthrough. So they tried to break through the tough German lines around the French river, The Somme.

The Battle of the Somme on the very first day would see an immediate and horrific start, especially for the British Royal Army, as a result of being bogged down by barbed wire and even mowed down by heavy machine-gun fire, they suffered 58,000 Casualties.

The Alliance was more determined than ever to break the stalemate of war. So what do they do, they designed a new horrific war machine, the tank.

Built under the inspiration of warships, the first tanks were designed to do what is considered impossible for the infantryman. Cross trenches, handle heavy fire better and make huge advances.

Did it do its job? Well.............................sort of. These tanks were put to the ultimate test during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge on September 26, and it was this day where the Alliance saw the tanks' strengths as well as its weaknesses. It struck terror in the hearts and minds of German soldiers as it crossed trenches and shot at the enemy, but if the trench was too wide, it could get stuck. It also wasn't mechanically reliable as a lot broke down, and there wasn't a lot of these tanks at one time. By the end of the first day, only 9 tanks were still operational.

More on Tanks in a special part of this wiki series.

Despite the entire battle lasting for about 4 months, and nearly equal casualties on both sides (around 600,000), and a seeming failure to the Alliance. The Alliance made a breakthrough as they took around 6 miles of German-occupied territory.

## The Eastern Front

With the Western Alliance making somewhat of a breakthrough on the Western Front. The Central Powers (unfortunately) would have better luck on the Eastern Front as Russia (not really ready for war) and Romania (having a very small army) would go through problems.

### The Lake Naroch Offensive

The Russians were having difficulties fighting against the Germans since the start of the war, but it was in 1916 that these problems got worse for Russia. The Lake Naroch Offensive was a request by French General *Joseph Joffre* to relieve some pressure on the Western Front. So the Russians led the German Army to Lake Naroch (in Modern-Day Belarus). On March 18, the armies met and fought nearly a 2-week battle, and the battle ended lopsidedly for the Germans as the Russian would suffer 100,000 casualties (compared to only 20,000 Germans).

Russia would continue to lose more territory to Germany (such as the Baltics).

One of Russia's closest allies: Romania was also having problems of its own.

Romania encountered the Central Powers (including Bulgaria) on August 27 in Transylvania, but Romania was easily outnumbered and was forced to retreat. After nearly 3 months of fighting, the Romanians would continue to lose ground and the Central Power forces seized Bucharest and took Romania's natural resources such as grain and oil. In total, the Romanian Army suffered approximately 450,000 casualties.

As it turned out, the Western Alliance would make a breakthrough on the Western Front, and the Central powers would make a breakthrough on the Eastern Front, nevertheless, the stalemate continues especially on the Western Front.

But the problems in Romania and Russia would continue, especially for Russia as their defeats to the Germans as well as a blockade by the Ottoman Empire would worsen these problems.

That is what we'll talk about in our next part of this wiki series about World War 1. How Russia got out of the war (causing the Western Alliance to lose an ally) and the USA got in (causing the Western Alliance to gain an Ally). Just click here to continue reading. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.