Major World War I Battles Essay

1914- The First Battle of the Marne. Up until September of 1914, the German army had steadily advanced through Belgium and France and was nearing the capital of France, Paris. Luckily, in the First Battle of the Marne, six French armies and one British army were able to stave off the German advance and set the stage for trench warfare for the next four years. 1915- Second Battle of Ypres- This was the second battle for the city of Ypres, which was located in western Belgium. For the Germans, this marked their first widespread usage of poison gas during the war. At Gravenstafl, Canadian troops were able to hold off the Germans by urinating into cloths and covering their faces with it. 1916- Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun was meant to be Germany’s final push to break through French lines. A common expression was â€Å"to bleed the French white†. Both sides suffered immense casualties; however there was no clear victor even though the Germans were forced to withdraw. 1917- Battle of Caporetto. In this battle, otherwise known as the 12th Battle of Isonzo, Austro-Hungarian forces reinforced by German infantry finally broke through the Italian front line and routed the entire Italian army. Poison gas and storm troopers effectively contributed to the massive collapse of the Italian army. 1918- Battle of Cantigny. This was the first major battle involving U.S. forces up until that point in World War I. While, Cantigny was a relatively easy objective and was overshadowed by larger battles occurring elsewhere on the front, this battle was significant in demonstrating that the U.S. forces could be trusted to hold their own. 1. Up until the U.S. entrance into the war, the U.S. had already been providing massive amounts of supplies to the French and British, despite their claims of neutrality. This one-sided trading led to German attacks on U.S. merchant vessels and was one of the reasons the U.S. entered the war. The American Expeditionary Force did not actually face many battles as they arrived in Germany in early 1918. They did prove their worth and strength however in the Battle of Cantigny, where solely U.S. troops were able to capture the town of Cantigny and repulse several fierce German counterattacks. 2. Women had a huge role in the war effort at home, while African Americans directly contributed to the war effort. Women filled many of the jobs men left behind, especially in factories that were now facing huge demands for war supplies and low numbers of workers. Without women rising to fill these ranks, the American war effort would have been severely hindered. African Americans, although still discriminated and segregated in units, fought bravely and fiercely in World War I and earned the respect of many soldiers around them. 3. U.S. society