Why did trench warfare develop?
Trench Warfare developed because of the failure of the Schlieffen Plan. When Germany realised, that they would have to split their already small army in two, Count Von Schleiffen, Chief of the German General Staff, thought of a plan which would solve this problem. The plan involved invading France through neutral Belgium and catching them off-guard. They would then defeat France within six weeks and be ready to fight Russia, who by this time should have mobilised their army. However, the plan failed, and this led to the introduction of trench warfare. Trench warfare consisted of parallel rows of trenches. During World War 1 trenches had begun to appear by late 1914. On the western front, trenches ran from the Belgium border to the Swiss Border, and they soon became home to millions of soldiers.
