Why were allied casualties on the so much higher than German casualties, despite the Germans being outnumbered most of the time? Were Germans better soldiers?
The short answer is yes, the Germans were better soldiers: better trained in the areas that mattered, and better equipped. Because the Germans had taken most of Belgium and part of France, the Allies were politically compelled to attack, while the Germans could attack or defend based on military factors alone. While the allies eventually found ways to attack successfully, it took much time and hundreds of thousands dead to learn this. Another consequence of this compulsion to attack was that, while the Germans could fortify their efforts into making their line as impregnable as possible, the allies always viewed their trenches as temporary places to stay before the next big push. As a result, German trenches were of much better quality. For example, most allied trenches lacked holes for the soldiers to shoot through without exposing their heads, known as loopholes. It is questionable whether the moderately successful German attacks of the spring of 1918 would have succeeded at all vers
Related Questions
- Why were allied casualties on the so much higher than German casualties, despite the Germans being outnumbered most of the time? Were Germans better soldiers?
- How many Allied and German casualties were there on D-Day, and in the Battle of Normandy?
- Who is the most famous german boxer of all time, was he in Hitlers time?
