Editing Trench warfare (section)

== Cultural impact ==

Trench warfare has become a powerful symbol of the futility of war.<ref name=g4>{{harvnb|Griffith|1996|p=4}}.</ref> Its image is of young men going "over the top" (over the parapet of the trench, to attack the enemy trench line) into a maelstrom of fire leading to near-certain death, typified by the [[First day on the Somme|first day]] of the [[Battle of the Somme]] (on which the British Army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties) or the grinding slaughter in the mud of [[Battle of Passchendaele|Passchendaele]].{{sfn|Edmonds|1991|p=24}} To the French, the equivalent is the attrition of the [[Battle of Verdun]] in which the [[French Army]] suffered over 380,000 documented combat deaths.<ref>Lavalle, John in ''World War I – a student encyclopaedia'', ABC-Clio, 2006, p. 1886</ref>

Trench warfare is associated with mass slaughter in appalling conditions. Many critics have argued that brave men went to their deaths because of incompetent and narrow-minded commanders who failed to adapt to the new conditions of trench warfare: class-ridden and backward-looking generals put their faith in the attack, believing superior morale and dash would overcome the weapons and moral inferiority of the defender.{{sfn|Ellis|1977|pp=80–87}} British public opinion often repeated the theme that their soldiers were  "[[lions led by donkeys]]".{{sfn|Griffith|1996|pp=5–6}}

World War I generals are often portrayed as callously persisting in repeated hopeless attacks against trenches. There were failures such as Passchendaele, and [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Sir Douglas Haig]] has often been criticised for allowing his battles to continue long after they had lost any purpose other than attrition.{{sfn|Griffith|1996|p= 10}} Haig's defenders counter that the attrition was necessary in order to cause attrition in the German army.<ref>{{cite book|author=Carter Malkasian|title=A History of Modern Wars of Attrition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxu2iEEKi-IC&pg=PA40|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood|page=40|isbn=9780275973797}}</ref>

The problems of trench warfare were recognised, and attempts were made to address them. These included improvements in artillery, infantry tactics, and the development of [[Tanks in World War I|tanks]]. By 1918, taking advantage of failing German morale, Allied attacks were generally more successful and suffered fewer casualties; in the [[Hundred Days Offensive]], there was a return to mobile warfare. However, if both sides have comparable equipment, capability, and conditions, the trench is still seen in modern wars.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 18, 2023|title=Ukraine war: why WWI comparisons can lead to underestimates of Russia's strengths|url=https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-why-wwi-comparisons-can-lead-to-underestimates-of-russias-strengths-201267|website=The conversation}}</ref>