II - Land Warfare

Summary

1. Manoeuvre warfare

The 1914–1918 war was conducted primarily on the land, but there was also war on the oceans and seas, as well as airborne warfare. However the crucial form of warfare which determined the final outcome was the action undertaken by land forces. Before August 1914 the generals had imagined that they would be able to achieve the aims the politicians set them by manoeuvre warfare. This was the type of war they had been preparing for, studying its potential variants and checking its diverse scenarios for years. Its success would be determined by the rapid movement of troops and the chief part in combat was to be played by the infantry. The first weeks of the war confirmed these expectations as well as the role ascribed to cavalry, which was useful in reconnaissance and for carrying out raids on communication lines, and efficient in combat as a “mounted infantry.” On the Eastern front there were a few heroic cavalry charges at enemy forces. However, in the autumn of 1914 manoeuvre warfare petered out on the Western front, turning into trench warfare. On the Eastern and Balkan front it took a mixed form in view of the vast distances and scattered distribution of forces. At times it was more reminiscent of manoeuvre warfare; at other times it resembled trench warfare. On the Alpine front it was trench warfare from the very start.