The Deep Impacts and the Effectiveness of the Trenches Strategy during WWI (1914-1918)

Abstract

This thesis explores the strategic efficacy and deep human implications of trench warfare in World War I, stressing its military, psychological, environmental, and cultural aspects. The primary objective is to conduct a critical analysis of the operational dynamics of trench warfare as a military strategy, to assess its short- and long-term effects on soldiers and societies, and to examine its influence on future military strategies. Employing an analytical approach that merges historical scholarship with literary and cultural criticism, this study analyzes both archive materials and trench poetry in an effort to comprehend the actual experience underlying the strategic context. The emphasis of this study is situated at the point of intersection between strategic theory and personal narrative, where military objectives encounter human misery. The research demonstrates that although trench warfare provided temporary tactical protection, it was incapable of ensuring a conclusive victory and only resulted in a protracted and brutal stalemate. This effect was not confined to military gridlock but also encompassed long-term psychological traumatization, socio-political reconfigurations, and environmental devastation. In totality, the dissertation confirms the thesis that trench warfare was an inherently flawed military strategy whose effects remolded warfare and collective memory. This study presents a more subtle reconsideration of the heritage of trench warfare and invites additional research based on comparative military studies and analysis of personal items such as letters and poetry from the trenches.