Editing Trench (section)

== Military engineering ==
{{Main|Trench warfare}}

Trenches have often been dug for military purposes. In the pre-[[firearm]] era, they were mainly a type of hindrance to an attacker of a fortified location, such as the [[moat]] around a [[castle]] (this is technically called a [[ditch (fortification)|ditch]]). An early example of this can be seen in the [[Battle of the Trench]], a [[religious war]], one of the early [[List of expeditions of Muhammad|battles]] fought by [[Muhammad]].<ref name="Sa">{{Cite book |last=Sa'd |first=Ibn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vnXAAAAMAAJ&q=jandal |title=Kitab al-tabaqat al-kabir |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society |year=1967 |volume=2 |pages=82–84 |asin=B0007JAWMK}}</ref>

With the advent of accurate firearms, trenches were used to shelter troops. Trench warfare and tactics evolved further in the [[Crimean War]], the [[American Civil War]] and [[World War I]], until systems of extensive main trenches, backup trenches (in case the first lines were overrun) and communication trenches often stretched dozens of kilometres along a front without interruption, and some kilometres further back from the front line. The area of land between trenches in trench warfare is known as "[[No man's land|No Man's Land]]" because it often offers no protection from enemy fire. After [[World War I|WW1]] had concluded, the trench became a symbol of [[World War I|WW1]] and its horrors.

=== Gallery ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:Tuyuti1.jpg|Allied troops entrenched in the [[Battle of Tuyutí]].
File:Soldiers in trench.jpg|Soldiers in a trench during the [[Gallipoli Campaign]] of World War I.
File:Boer Trench.jpg|The [[Boer]] trench at the [[Battle of Magersfontein]] contributed to the surprise defeat of the Highland Brigade on 11 December 1899 during the [[Second Boer War]].
File:Snow at the front (4687960129).jpg|Soldiers in a trench on the Western Front in [[World War I]] in winter.
File:UA EDM4S anti-drone rifle 01.jpg|A Ukrainian soldier, equipped with an [[Directed-energy weapon#Anti-drone rifle|anti-drone gun]], in a trench during the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]].
</gallery>