World War I Trenches (1914–1918) 1914–1917: Classic trench phase: static lines from the North Sea to Switzerland, minimal territorial change despite Verdun, the Somme, and Passchendaele. 1918: Trenches still used, but warfare shifts. • German Spring Offensive (Mar–Jul): launched from trenches with stormtrooper infiltration tactics to break Allied lines. • Allied Hundred Days (Aug–Nov): began from entrenched positions and finally pushed Germany back, ending the stalemate. Even as the front grew more fluid, trench systems remained the base of operations until the Armistice on Nov 11. Why were trenches set up? Modern weapons, especially machine guns and rapid-fire artillery, made open attacks suicidal. After mobile battles stalled, both sides dug the first continuous Western Front trenches in mid-September 1914 and the front hardened into defensive networks. Daily life: Dawn stand-to, sentry duty, sandbag and duckboard repairs, rifle cleaning. Rain, rats, lice, mud. Little sleep. Sur...