Quote:
Originally Posted by Buehler445
Yeah, WWI is an underrated hellhole. WWII gets all the glory, but It's hard for me to think any point in history was worse than The Somme or Verdun. ****ing horror show.
If you haven't listened to Dan Carlin's Blueprint for Armageddon, it's a good listen. I don't think it's free anymore, but my GOD it's a fantastic listen.
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WW1's death toll, like the extreme death in the Civil War, was due to commanders using antiquated battle methods in wars where the weaponry was far superior to the tactics.
The British lost 20,000 KIA in ONE DAY in the first battle of the Somme, because generals kept sending infantry in wave after wave into interlocking machine gun fire. WWI saw the first widespread use of chemical weapons, barbed wire, hand grenades, and high explosive artillery. The sad thing is, they never really altered their tactics until the very end of the war, and even then they were sending guys over the top in trench warfare. Just insane. Furthermore, both sides built the trenches to be "temporary shelter," which of course led to flooding, rats, trench foot, horrible disease, etc. Lots of soldiers died from sickness in the trenches instead of bullets or artillery.