The western front

After the battle of the Marne (Sept.

1914) in which the French resisted, there was the stabilization of the front.

This stabilization, however, characterized all fronts, since from the war of movement there was a war of position.

This change in characteristics, key to the ferocity that characterizes the First World War, was due to the massive use of the machine gun, which made the attacks of the huge masses of infantry and cavalry vain.

The main feature of the First World War is that, for the first time in history, defensive weapons did not find equally effective offensive weapons.

While the defense, in fact, was in the trenches, well protected by machine guns and barbed wire, the attack, which had kept all forces hidden, provoked a fire in a row even for two consecutive days, in the hope of destroying the opposing forces and to send the infantry.

This, however, was mowed for the use of machine guns.

The war of position on the western front, therefore, is located around an immense trench line, about 800 km long, which went from the English Channel to the border with Switzerland.

You can read an extraordinary book that tells - the true story of Remarque, the author - the story of some German boys who volunteered, at the age of seventeen.

You can also listen to the book by downloading its podcast from the Radiotre Rai website.

The book is "Nothing New on the Western Front", by EM Remarque.

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