Stephen Bull - World War I Trench Warfare (1): 1914–16

French infantryman, November 1915, still awaiting issue of the horizon-blue uniform ordered the previous autumn; judging from his age he may be a reservist. The red kpi is hidden by a low visibility cover of mechanics blue cloth; the red trousers have been replaced with corduroy, probably brown but possibly blue or grey, confined with long puttees. The dark grey/blue M1877 greatcoat is still worn, with M1888/92 leather belt and brace equipment incorporating three cartridge pouches each carrying three to five 8-round packets for the 8mm Lebel M1886/93 rifle a total of between 88 and 120 rounds per man. The Lebels 20.5in-long cruciform needle bayonet looked frightening, but broke easily. (Author'scollection)

TRENCH WARFARE (1) 191416

THE GREAT WAR

THOUGH THE GREAT WAR is rightly remembered as one of the costliest conflicts of history, much of it fought over a comparatively narrow and bloody swathe of France and Flanders, the period 1914 to 1918 was as striking for great change and innovation in the military arts. The outbreak of war saw armies march to battle with a common expectation of a quick resolution, decided by rifles, field guns, cavalry, sweeping manoeuvre and fighting spirit. The traditional, professional and relatively simple virtues of personal leadership, lan and skill at arms were expected to carry the day. Four years later strategy, tactics, and the material of war had altered almost beyond recognition: and society itself had changed with them. Campaigns could now be decided by demography, citizen soldiers, technology, and industrial effort: battles, by a combination of rapid long range bombardments, new small unit tactics, automatic weapons, concrete, and tanks. Individual will to succeed, battlecraft, the empty battlefield, and the ability to accept casualties had changed the very idea of war, bringing into question the concept of an officer class, and prompting many to ask whether this Great War might be the last.

THE ARMIES IN 1914

From the end of the first decade of the 20th century, arms races, imperial ambitions, complex international alliances, Balkan wars, Frances wish for revenge for the humiliations of 187071, and perhaps most importantly Germanys claim for a place in the sun, all conspired to make a major European conflict seem all but inevitable.